West Midland Bird Club
Grimley Pits News from 2006
Grimley Gravel Pools, Worcestershire, are on the west bank of the River Severn, 4.5 miles to the north west of Worcester, on the A443 Tenbury Road and a mile off the main road near to the village of Grimley. Map reference: SO833597 
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Unless otherwise stated, reports on this page are anecdotal, and have not been verified by the relevant country recorder or rarities committee.
For the scientfic names of these birds, and their local status, see our county lists.
December 2006
December turned out very much like the previous month — very quiet in the first part, with things picking up towards the latter. The highlight was a Black Redstart that was sighted on the roof of a property known as Holt Grange, very close to Holt Church, in the very last week of the month and into the New Year. This was only the second sighting for Grimley, the first was back in 2001. Another record for was of 5 Goldeneye at the New Workings, (2 male and 3 Female). Generally the norm has been just a single female.
Two other species that have showed regularly for during the month were the first-winter Willow Tit that was using the feeders at the Old Workings by the Island pool, also Golden Plover that were regularly spotted in and amongst the flocks of Lapwing. Due to a dramatic rise of the water level on the New Workings the number of duck looked quiet healthy with up to 30 Pochard, 50 Gadwall, 20 Wigeon and — due to the very high water on the Severn — exceptionally high counts of up to 140 Tufted Duck.
Another bird that returned to the New Workings was a male Stonechat on the fencing; we normally see this species late summer and autumn. Other sightings of interest included Dunlin, Redshank, Green Sandpiper, regular sightings of 1–2 Kingfisher and a particularly good sighting of a juvenile Merlin in the vicinity ofHolt Church on two occasions.
Finally, on the very last day of the month, there were brief sightings of a Goosander and a Little Egret, bringing the total number of species recorded for 2006 to 146 (one fewer than in 2005). Thank you to everybody who made recording this total possible.
November 2006
November was a very quiet month for Grimley with the main sighting being of large numbers of Golden Plover (30–150) which were present for most of the month in along with good numbers of Lapwing on the muddy islands of the pools or on the adjacent plough of the new workings. Also at the beginning of the month a single female Goldeneye at the new workings was soon joined by a juvenile female and a brilliant male in full winter plumage.
A Willow Tit showed well all month on the newly sighted bird feeders at the old workings, from the island pool. Duck numbers were still low for the time of the year, apart from the Tufted Duck whose numbers increased due to the high flow of water on the River Seven close by. However, numbers of Pochard slowly increased in the last week of the month. Teal numbers were disappointing throughout the month, with the number of Gadwall also dropping.
One piece of good news was the numbers of Little Grebe, whcih in 2006 showed a dramatic increase. The number of Canada Geese showed quite a drop. Sadly there was no sighting of our wintering Barnacle Goose with the flocks, which have returned to the pools for the last 4 Years.
October 2006
October was one of the quietest months of the year, with very little bird movement. However, the passage of numbers of late Autumn and Winter migrant Fieldfare and Redwing ended, creating a lot of local interest while it lasted.
The main highlight of the month was a single Little Stint arriving on the 6th and staying for 4 days, accompanied on most days with a Dunlin that stayed another 2 days.
The rest of the month progressed on a very low key with the last of the House Martins present until the last few days. A female Goldeneye remained with us until the beginning of November. The numbers of Gadwall and Tufted Duck slowly increased throughout the month, with the addition of a few Teal, and Pochard reaching double figures, plus a solitary Wigeon.
Away from the pools, in the pastures behind Grimley Church there were regular sightings in the large finch flocks of Redpoll, Siskin, Brambling and also Stonechat. In close proximity to the churchyard there were at least 3–12 Mistle Thrush feeding on the abundance of Yew berries.
Back on the pools at the new workings the long staying Green Sandpiper showed throughout the month. This has been a good year for sightings of Jack Snipe at the Old and New Workings, but the number of Common Snipe has dropped.
Other sightings of interest included Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, Kingfisher, Wheatear, Raven, Golden Plover and Herring Gull.
An albino Lapwing was a regular sighting on the new workings pool for at least 8 days.
The current total of species recorded to date, for 2006 is 145.
September 2006
September was exceptional, especially the autumn migrating species, returning south. The highlight was 3 Little Stints at Grimley New Workings: first a single bird that stayed for 4 days, then another, a few days later. Not only that, 2 more arrived staying for four days.
A first for our area was a female Pied Flycatcher seen in the Holt church area. Who says that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place? Well it has here, on the following day a Red Kite over Holt Church, was observed being mobbed by the resident Crows.
Another good sighting was of a migrating Osprey. There were two separate sightings of Ruffs on the New Workings, the Black-tailed Godwit was present for a great part of the month and a Greenshank was sighted regularly on the New Workings, as were Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper.
As the month progressed the numbers of Swallows and House Martins were down to single figures. Wheatear showed well throughout the month, and Yellow Wagtail were seen among exceptionally large flocks of Pied Wagtail.
With the water level on the pools being very low there was a good feeding edge for the waders including Common Snipe. Other sightings of interest were Raven, Stonechat, Whinchat, Little Owl, Barn Owl, Common Gull, Dunlin, Mandarin, Kingfisher, Peregrine, Spotted Flycatcher and Golden Plover, raising the total species recorded so far in 2006 to 144.
August 2006
August started off very slowly, with very few sighting of interest. However, this changed in the last few days, with a rare Wood Sandpiper arriving early one evening and staying until dusk, but sadly there were no further sightings. The last visit by this species was back in 2004.
Throughout the month there were numerous brief visits by Greenshank. By the second week, sightings of the Little Egrets had come to an end, the birds possibly flying south to their wintering grounds. The pair of Oystercatcher, that sadly failed to breed this year, moved on. The Common Tern and their young from the two broods that successfully fledged were still present.
Throughout the month, there were regular sightings of Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper and a couple of sightings of Black-tailed Godwit. With autumn advancing, there were regular sightings once again of Common Snipe, with the number of Gadwall increasing day by day, the last count at 50+. The numbers of Teal and Shoveler increased daily.
One piece of good news was the return of a male and female Garganey — a species that has always given us a display in the autumn months. Also increasing in numbers is the Canada Goose population, which reached the 600 level — you either love them or hate them!
Other species of interest were Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Gull, Lesser Whitethroat, Wigeon, Garden Warbler, Turtle Dove, Whinchat, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kingfisher and a Ruff, making the total number of species sighted in 2006, 136 to date.
July 2006
July was another very quiet month with not a lot to report.
A Little Egret showed well all month, on the pools and on the River Severn close by. During the last week of the month this bird was joined by a second. Both were juveniles.
A single Black-Tailed Godwit appeared on two occasions, albeit briefly.
There were two or three Dunlin. Green Sandpipers have been in resident most of the month with a few Common Sandpiper. The last of the Redshank, adult and juvenile, had also left by the end of the month as had the Little Ringed Plover.
Good numbers of Sand Martin and House Martin remained over the pools, as did Swallow, but the Swifts had begun to leave.
With the water level dropping over the preceeding weeks, the pools became shallow in places where small shoals of small fry fed, hence there were regular sightings of 2 Kingfisher skimming over the pools.
Other sightings included Barn Owl, Little Owl, Yellow Wagtail, Turtle Dove, Common Gull, Redstart, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher and Garden Warbler.
Finally, as the season comes to an end, the breeding results were very good: Common Tern, Lapwing, Redshank, Little Ringed Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Little Owl, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Gadwall and Tufted Duck. Sadly the pair of Oystercatcher failed to breed, after many attempts.
June 2006
The month was very quiet with very little movement of new species to the pools. There will not be a lot of movement until the Autumn migration, southwards.
The highlights were a Greenshank arriving early in the month and staying 3 days. A Long-tailed Duck was on the pools, possibly the same bird that was sighted at the end of May. We also had brief sightings of a Black-tailed Godwit and a male Garganey and also what is very pleasing is the return of Turtle Doves to the area. There were also a couple of sightings of a Spotted Flycatcher.
Other sightings of interest were Ringed Plover, Hobby, Red-legged Partridge, Curlew, Herring Gull, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler.
June was a very successful month for breeding as mentioned previously, the introduction of a raft to the pools has been a great success with a pair of Common Tern rearing 3 chicks. Other species which bred this year included Lapwing, Redshank, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Little Owl, and Tufted Duck.
May 2006
May was a month of mixed fortunes, the highlight being a Long-tailed Duck on the New Workings. It stayed for just 3 days and was the first ever recorded at Grimley. Another rare sighting for these parts, albeit very briefly, was a female Marsh Harrier, a species last seen in the Grimley area back in 2000. There was also another brief sighting of a Black Tern reported over the New Workings. A Little Egret, the first Turtle Dove for 2006 at the Old Workings and a very late Pink-footed Goose (last recorded in 2004) were all noteworthy.
All has not been so good as far as the breeding side on the pools so far, with the water level rising at the most crucial time of the year it has caused the loss of the nesting habitat of Little Ringed Plover and Little Terns and the death of a breeding tern.
But putting all the bad new behind us: with the level of water on the pools at the beginning of the month still rising we launched our first tern raft and with the water level remaining high this could be very successful in future years. It seemed that the water level was not going to drop drastically and in the last week of the month a pair of terns staked claim to the new nest site.
Other sittings of interest included Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, White Wagtail, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Barnacle Goose, Dunlin, Redstart and Peregrine.
April 2006
Yet another good month for the Gravel Pits, the main highlight being a Grasshopper Warbler in the vast reed bed at the Old Workings; the first recorded sighting in 8 years. Another very good sighting at the Old Workings was a brief view of a Tree Pipit.
As April progressed, Cuckoo and their hosts, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler, all arrived in very good numbers. By the middle of the month the hedgerows became alive with the song of the Common Whitethroat. Sightings of a few Lesser Whitethroats were good news.
Once again Sand Martins arrived in good numbers and hopefully will start to nest very soon. By the end of the month the House Martins had started to build their nests in the village, but it was not until the last few days of the month that Swifts arrived in any number.
The pair of Oystercatcher were showing signs of starting to nest and hopefully the Redshank will nest again this year.
There were regular sightings of Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail and Wheatear under the cliff workings, with 2 pairs of Little Ringed Plover regularly seen in the area.
In the last few days of the month, Common Terns once again returned to the pools and there was a brief sighting of a Little Egret flying north up the river Severn.
Other sightings of interest included Shelduck, Dunlin, Greylag Geese, Ruddy Duck, Merlin, Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper, Sparrowhawk, Barnacle Goose, Curlew, Snipe and Little Owl and Barn Owl.
March 2006
Once again we reached the time of year when most ornithologists and birdwatchers start to get excited: that period of the calendar when the spring migration starts. Grimley Old and New Workings started off well with the first arrival, well before March of a single Redshank. Then, with the beginning of the month, once again 2 Oystercatchers were sighted at Grimley New Workings — since increased to 2 pairs. By the middle of the month, Little Ringed Plover were sighted in small muddy pools at the north end of the New Workings. As the month drew to a close the first Sand Martins arrived in ones and twos for the first 2 days and then by the third day an explosion of 150+ followed. The next day just a few Swallow had arrived, also the first male Wheatear was on the mounds of fresh top-soil.
Curlew has shown well all the month appearing on the pools at Dusk. Once again the two species of Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper, were present throughout the month, with the odd sighting of a single Dunlin.
Three species of hawk have been prominent, i.e. Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Merlin. As the winter has come to a close the numbers of Canada Geese have dropped dramatically, with the odd sighting of a Barnacle and Greylag
The best sighting of the month was a Mediterranean Gull.
February 2006
February will go down in the records for a sighting of the rarest bird recorded at Grimley, and a first for Worcestershire: a male Lesser Scaup. This duck is so rare that there has been a maximum of just six in the country this year. Brian Stretch, a local bird watcher, made the discovery early on the morning of the 11th, on the River Severn, 300 yards north of the locks at Bevere, amongst 50 Tufted Duck. By mid-day the mobile phones were getting hot as the news was travelling fast. By the second day, people were arriving from as far a field as Yorkshire and Somerset to view the rare visitor. All in all the bird stayed for 4 days, moving from the river to the gravel pools on odd occasions. It was estimated that the bird had an audience of 300+ birders.
While all that was going on, there were still some interesting birds on the pools: a Ferruginous Duck (possibly an escapee), a male Pintail and a female Goosander; both present for about a week.
There have been regular sightings of Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper, with sightings of a solitary Redshank. The two pairs of Great Crested Grebe that successfully bred on the pools last year have once again returned from their winter break on the river. Another sign that things are moving in the right direction, towards Spring, is the return of an Oystercatcher, two weeks earlier than last year, followed by two more in the last few days of the month.
Other species recorded included Stonechat, Barnacle Goose, Merlin, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Brambling, Wigeon, Little Owl and a Raven.
January 2006
January was relatively quiet, as once again the water level on the pools remained high, hence the feeding margins around the edge of the pools were very sparse and the number of wading species was very limited. Saying that, there were a few sightings of interest, e.g. Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, 2 Dunlin that stayed for 3 days and a couple sightings of a Redshank which is very unusual for the time of the year.
Raptors were prominent through the month with five differentr species recorded, the best being of a Peregrine and a Merlin (female) that was sighted at the new and the old workings and a Sparrowhawk that was skimming the top of the hedgerows. Not forgetting the pair of Kestrel that have been sighted daily; and the resident Buzzards.
Duck numbers were consistent throughout January, with 7 species: Mallard, Tufted, Teal, Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon. Love them or hate them by the middle of the month the numbers of Canada Geese had peaked at about 600, accompanied by one Barnacle Goose and a Greylag Goose.
As with the previous month, at the old workings and Top Barn there were good sighting of Redpoll; also a couple of Mealy Redpoll, Siskin and Brambling. A pair of Stonechat has taken up residence at the new workings, with daily sightings for over 7 months.
Other sighting of interest, Snipe, Grey Wagtail, Kingfisher, Water Rail, Raven, Herring Gull, 3 Jack Snipe and a Marsh Tit.
By the end of the month, a total of 80 different species had been recorded in 2006.
Reports by Roger O. Blackmore.
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