We decided to go for a walk on Cannock Chase this afternoon in the hope of seeing Redwings and other winter visitors. Birds seen – Redpoll, Siskin, Long-tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Crow, Kestrel, Magpie, Blackbird, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Fieldfare, Rook, Wood Pigeon, Jay, Green Woodpecker, House Sparrow, Robin. There were quite a few mixed flocks of birds about, but we didn't manage to see any Redwings amongst them!

Today we all met up on Cannock Chase for mornings birding we saw --Blackbird, Magpie, Blue Tit, Stonechat, Swallow, House Martin, Crow, Kestrel, Wood Pigeon, unfortunately that was about all the birds we saw.  But we had a an enjoyably mornings walk looking at all the butterflies that were about and trying to work out just what they were!

After lunch my mate and I went over to Belvide to see if we could improve our bird count there we saw – Buzzard, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Great Tit, Willow Tit, Chaffinch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Common Tern, Mute Swan, Mallard, Lapwing, Canada Geese, Black-headed Gull, Black-backed Gull, Ruddy Shellduck, Greylag Geese, Gadwall, Shovler, Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Coot, Moorhen, Pochard, Little Owl, Tree Sparrow, Hobby, Pheasant, Wood Pigeon.  So a good afternoon was had.

Today the group had arranged to meet at Branston Water Park, however the weather gods were against us as it poured with rain!! so a diversion to Croxall seemed the best option. Whilst waiting in the car at Branston we saw--- Mallard, Canada Geese, Black-headed Gull, Tufted Duck, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Coot and Moorhen. At Croxall we saw--- Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Sand Martin, Common Tern, Ringed Plover, Black-headed Gull, Redshank, Grey Wagtail, Canada Geese, Mallard, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Lesser-Black-backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Coot, Moorhen, Great-crested Grebe and a few of us who 'lingered longer' saw Yellow Wagtail.  After lunch as it had stopped raining we had a walk along the river at the National Memorial Arboretum where we saw-- Black-headed Gull, Common Tern, Oystercatcher, Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Blackbird, Sand Martin, Pied Wagtail, Lapwing, Canada Geese, Mallard, Goldfinch, Crow, as we walked along my friend said she wished she could see a Yellow Wagtail close up, as the one we saw at Croxall was in the distance, and low and behold one appeared on a nearby tree as if by magic!!

On Monday we met up at Croxall for a mornings birding we saw -- Canada Geese, Teal,  Great-crested Grebe,  Common Tern, Ringed Plover, Goldeneye, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Tufted Duck, Greylag Geese, Lapwing, Mallard, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Curlew, Swallow, Sand Martin, Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Rook, Chaffinch, Skylark, Buzzard, Magpie. The Curlew giving us great views in a fly past whilst calling. At Whitemoor we saw -- Pied Wagtail, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Black-headed Gull, Mute Swan, Redshank, Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Shellduck, Mallard, Teal, Yellowhammer, Robin, Dunnock, Stock Dove,  Wood Pigeon, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Crow, Rook, Magpie. 

This morning we met at Belvide it's been ages since I have been here! Birds seen -- at the feeder station Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Pheasant, Great Tit, Blue tit, Willow Tit, Dunnock, Nuthatch, Greenfinch, Robin, Around the reservoir -- Songthrush, Buzzard, Reed Bunting, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Coot, Canada Goose, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Lapwing, Redshank, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Shoveler, Teal, Great-crested Grebe, Crow, Rook, Greylag Goose, Wood Pigeon, Swallow, Pochard, Grey Heron, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Snipe, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Yellowhammer.  Back at the Feeder station we added Great-spotted Woodpecker.  After lunch we went to Cannock Chase where we saw -- a large flock of Crossbills, Stonechat, Jay, Magpie, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Stockdove, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Rook, Crow, Robin. Also a fox and some deer.  A short visit to another area of the Chase produced --Blackbird, Willow Tit, Pheasant, Jay, Robin, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Kestrel.  On the drive home we added Red-legged Partridge and Jackdaw to our list.

Today we all met up at Chasewater, which as many of you may already know can be a 'trifle breezy' on the best of days.  Today the car park was turned into a dust bowl, things didn't look good for a mornings birding!!  Anyway we had a good walk around and this is what we saw - Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Moorhen, Great-crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Canada Geese, Goldeneye, Lapwing, Gadwall, Sand Martin, Jay, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit. I also heard my first Chiffchaff of the year.   Just as we got back to the car for some lunch the heavens opened!!  After lunch we headed over to Whitemoor haye where we saw- Tufted Duck, Redshank, Canada Geese, Barnacle Geese, Mallard, Lapwing, Goldeneye, Pied Wagtail, Wigeon, Oystercatcher, Greylag Geese, Robin, Teal, Crow, Rook, Wood Pigeon, Heron, Jackdaw, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Stock Dove, Starling,there was also a Skylark singing, couldn't see it though. On our way back via Cannock Chase  we saw - Yellowhammer, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Magpie, Dunnock, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Pheasant, Willow Tit.

At last I managed get out for a days birding again, we decided on Cannock Chase as Crossbills had been seen also the Hawfinch, neither of which I had seen this year or in fact for a long time, I also hoped to catch a glipse of the Waxwings before they upped and left!!  on our way to Cannock Chase we saw - Red-legged Partridge, Lapwing, Wood Pigeon, Buzzard, Pheasant, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Starling.  Cannock Chase - Raven, Great Tit, Crossbills, Yellowhammer, Stonechat, Chaffinch, Jay, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Kestrel, Robin, Hawfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Jackdaw, Willow Tit, Blackbird, Crow, Kestrel.  After a break for lunch we went to Wolseley Bridge to see what we could see there - Canada Geese, Mallard, Nuthatch, Grey Wagtail, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wood Pigeon, Kingfisher, Mute Swan, Blackbird, Magpie.  Not a bad day out especially as I hadn't been birding for ages, shame I couldn't find any Waxwings though!!!

This morning I went for a short walk with my other half, we went to the area near the old rifle ranges, unfortunatly we didn't see many birds but this is what we saw - Great-spotted Woodpecker, Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin and a small flock of Coal Tits, we also saw a Fox.  It was a lovely sunny morning, though it was a bit cold!  I hope to able to go out again soon, as I seem to be way behind my fellow birders and bloggers with my sightings.   

The title on this report should be Chasing Waxwings not Chasewater!!!!!!!!!! Anyway this afternoon we decided to try and find either the Hawfinch on The Chase or the Waxwings around Chasewater, we decide on the later.  When we got to a very cold Chasewater we looked from the bridge over the toll road for them suddenly we saw a large flock of birds in flight which could have been them, to far away to tell!!! so we decide to have a walk around to see if we could see any sign of them, but had no luck.  Then we went back to look across the water at Chasewater, a nice chap told us where the waxwings were so off went.  when we got there, again no sign of them, then a chap in a van stopped and gave us directions to where he had seen them.  So off we drove again,   had a look around and nothing to be seen just as we got back to the car there was a flock of birds in flight again to quick for us to get a look.  So with that and the failing light we gave up!!!  So not a good start to the year I can only hope it will improve!  Birds we saw at Chasewater - Crow, Blackbird, Tufted Duck, Starling, Great-crested Grebe, Heron, Cormorant, Coot, Black-headed Gull, we saw lots of gulls coming in but my Gull knowledge is too poor to ID them all. Perhaps we should have gone for the Hawfinch!!!

I managed to get out for a couple of hours this morning and headed over to the Whitehouse Car Park in the hope that the Waxwings may still be there, unfortunatly they weren't though two birds flew out of tree as I approached but alas I couldn't get a good enough view to ID them!!!!  Anyway a short walk around the area produced -Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Robin and Great Tit.  Then over to the feeding station at Marquis Drive to look for the Bramblings, no joy there either!!!  But I did see Chaffinch, Robin, Siskin, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Coal Tit, Magpie, Great Tit and Blue Tit.  A quick cuppa then home!

Today we went to Belvide we saw-  a flock of Redwing, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Coal Tit, Blackbird, Tree Sparrow, Robin, Great-crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Widgeon, Coot, Moorhen, Lapwing, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Goldeneye, Crow, Great black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Jay, Wood Pigeon, Pheasant, Shellduck, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Pied Wagtail, Magpie, Nuthatch, Songthrush, Heron, Willow Tit. After lunch we drove home via our usuall spot on Cannock Chase and saw- Bullfinch, Robin, Magpie, Kestrel, Crow, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Pheasant, Yellowhammer, Long-tailed Tit and a large flock of Fieldfare.  We also saw a large number of Deer.

Today we went to Blithfield it was very windy and cold!!!  The water level was very high so little chance of any waders.  We stopped at the hide and had a look across Tad Bay, we saw- Buzzard, Goosander, Heron, Canada Goose, Goldeneye, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cormorant, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Teal, Mute Swan, Robin, Crow, Kestrel, Coal Tit.  We then had a walk towards Blithe Bay and saw nothing but a few brave mallards fighting the strong wind, as we had little chance of seeing anything else we headed back for lunch.   After lunch we went over to Wolseley Bridge to the Staffordshire Wildlife Centre and had a walk around and along the river we saw- Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Crow, Long-tailed Tit, Chaffinch, Goosander and at least 2 Kingfishers.  The river was very high and running very fast.  Later on Cannock Chase we saw- Magpie, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin and Yellowhammer. 

Today we decided to go to Belvide as we hadn't been there for a while this what we saw - Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Jay, Mute Swan, Tufted duck, Great-crested Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Lapwing, Cormorant, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Gadwall, Pheasant,  Black-headed Gull, Teal, Wigeon,  Shellduck,  Golden Plover,  Grey Heron, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Shovler, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Starling, Crow, Blackbird, Magpie, Wren, Tree Sparrow,  Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel. Then we decided to head back for some lunch, on our walk back as werounded a bend in the path there siiting on a tree a few feet away was a Tawny Owl, what better end to a mornings birdwatching!!On our way home via Cannock Chase later in the day we managed to add Greenfinch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Jackdaw, and Swallow to our days list. 

with some decent weather forecast we headed off to Blithfield to see if we could see any of the birds that had ben reported, as soon as we got there it started to rain quite heavily, so much for the weather forecast!! We did get out by the causeway to have a look but with the rain we could see very little, but what we did see was - Lapwing, black-headed Gull, Great-crested Grebe, Mallard, Greylag Geese, Pied Wagtail, Crow, Canada Geese, Mute Swan. And that was about it!!! So we moved on to Kings Bromley We saw - Wood pigeon and a mixed flock of finches which mainly consisted of Goldfinches and Greenfinches.  We then went to Whitemoor Haye where we saw - Pochard, Mallard, Tufted duck, Kestrel, 'a very light coloured Buzzard', Sparrowhawk, and Long-tailed Tit. We then went over to Croxall and from the car park we saw - Teal, Mallard, Moorhen, Lapwing, Great black-backed Gull. The rain had eased of a bit, but we decided to make our way home and stopped briefly at our usual spot on Cannock Chase we saw  Great Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer, Willow Tit, Magpie, Chaffinch, Robin,  and Dunnock.  So nothing exciting to see today through the rain, perhaps we will have better luck and weather next time!!!

Off to Blithfield again in search of the Osprey and the Black Terns,  We started off by a walk along the causeway we were lucky enough to see - Black Tern, White-winged black Tern, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Wheatear, Lapwing, Swallow, House martin, Pied Wagtail, Great Crested Grebe, Starling, Goldfinch, Barnacle Geese, Greylag Geese.  Still no sign of the Osprey though, so on to the centre for a walk around to see what we could add to the list we saw- Pochard, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, little Grebe, Buzzard, Canada Geese, Common Tern, Long-tailed Tit, Rook, Mute Swan, Kestrel, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Jay, Stock Dove,  oh! and would you believe it at last an Osprey!!!! It didn't stay around for long but long enough for me to get a good view in my scope as it perched in a bare tree.  On our way home via Cannock Chase as usual, we saw- Great Tit, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Magpie, Blackbird, Dunnock, Greenfinch. So it was a good days birding and it didn't rain!

 Today we went to Blithfield reservoir in search of the Osprey and the Black terns that had been seen.  In fact I think every other birder in the county has seen them except for me and today didn't change that!!!  Oh well, nobody said birding was easy!!!  This is what I did see-  Dunlin, Ringed Plover,  Kestrel, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Great-crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Heron, Black-headed Gull, Lapwing, Gadwall, Canada Geese,  Barnacle Geese, Little Egret, Wigeon, Pintail, Mallard, Greylag Geese, Coot, Moorhen, Pied Wagtail, House Martin, Goldfinch, Swallow, Long-tailed Tit,  Wheatear, Starling.  On the way home we called at our usual spot on Cannock Chase we saw- Chaffinch, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Yellowhammer, Robin, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Jay, Magpie, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Crow and Stockdove.

Today we spent the morning at the Arboretum, well until it started to pour with rain that is!!  Birds we saw- Common Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Lapwing, Heron, Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Tern, and Kestrel.  There was a large flock of gulls and waders that took flight as soon as they saw us approaching, seems they didn't want to be observed today!!

We then went on to  Whitemoor Haye we saw-  Canada Geese, Mute Swan, Tree Sparrow, Great-crested Grebe, Crow, Lapwing, tufted Duck. We made our usual stop on Cannock Chase on our way home and saw- Jay, Willow Tit, Yellowhammer, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Magpie, Crow, Robin and Nuthatch.

 Today we had a  mornings birding at Cannock Chase, followed by the afternoon at Blithfield in search of the Osprey that has been reported there.  Cannock Chase birds-

Stonechat, Redstart, jay, Mistlethrush, Buzzard, Crow, Chaffinch, Great tit, Robin, Whitethroat, Bluetit, Swift, Swallow, Housemartin. Blithfield Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Great-crested grebe, Common Tern, Common Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Black-tailed godwit, Cormorant, Starling, tufted Duck, Pochard, Herring Gull, Buzzard, Stock Dove, Kestrel, Pheasant. No views of the Osprey though!!

On a drive home via Cannock Chase we saw- Jackdaw, Coal tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Magpie, Crow, Yellowhammer, Great tit, Bluetit.