Smelly birding

Countless, cloud-like swarms of martins and swallows swoop, turn and dive and over dark waters.  The local sparrow hawk glides silently overhead, checking out her chances amongst the dancing flock.  corvids squabble and scuffle over the best perches, while pied and grey wagtails march at ground level, in a seemingly never-ending hunt for insects.  What an idyllic spot for a spot of bird watching...

...at our local sewage works!

prime spot!

Here in Warwick, there are very few sites for quality birding and even fewer with contained, still water to attract wildlife.  So, the water treatment plant on the Stratford Road has become one of the team's regular locations to visit, to attempt to spot potential additions to our list.  It appears we are not the only ones to hold our noses in hope. 

Bird species seen across UK sewage works make for impressive reading over the years - dipper, glossy ibis, breeding green sandpipers and Siberian chiffchaff to name a few.  Beckton Sewage treatment works, East London, has clocked up 148 species including curlew, dunlin and Caspian gull, along with records of grass snakes and bank voles.  Northumbrian Water have planted reed beds at Birtley water treatment plant, attracting bittern, gadwall and jack snipe.  A 'Waste to Warblers' tour of the site was even offered back in 2016.  Swindon, Salford and Bicester have all also turned their sites into mini nature reserves to balance human need with protecting biodiversity.  Brilliant!

So, why do these manmade and rather smelly locations draw so many birds?  Well, the percolating filter beds in sewage treatment works have high macroinvertebrate densities, don't you know... (in other words, the water is full of oxygen and nutrients, so has lots of bugs in it that are big enough to see with the naked eye).  Fly larvae hatches, providing aerial food for birds (and bats, according to other studies) and providing plenty of opportunity for a healthy food chain.  As Tom Stephenson, US birder and author, puts it so concisely,  'Water, heat and fertilizer...what more could you ask for?'

Breakfast for hirundines...? 

So, we will continue to visit our little sewage treatment works; holding our noses, enjoying the regulars, hoping for rarities.  You never know what might turn up...

Lizzy

Happy New Year!

 So here we are, the New Year is almost upon us and, for many birders, that also means a new notepad and a new Year List - when spotting blackbirds and robins becomes exciting all over again!

This is certainly the case for the Warwick 100 - a small group of enthusiasts who set an annual target of noting 100 species of birds within a two mile radius of St Mary's Church over a twelve month period.

Last year, we smashed it with 116 different species - a brilliant and memorable year with a visiting hoopoe the star of the show.

But the slate is now wiped clean, we are back to zero again and a new list can begin!  It is likely to be much more of a test this year, as our most prolific bird-finder will only be able to contribute on rare occasions, but we are ready to take on the Warwick 100 challenge once more.

Join us as we log and blog our way through 2022 and...bring on the birds!

End of Year roundup for 2021

This year has been another good year for our little area of Warwick and its 2 mile radius.  As a small group we managed to find 116 different species of birds in total making this our best ever year.   This is another great achievement considering 90% of the species found involved no car travel and the other 10% involved car journeys of less than 3 miles.  

We started the year off well with at least 8 Stonechats over-wintering at 4 different locations within the Warwick area, 1 Woodcock, 1 Brambling, 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Merlin, our returning Whooper Swan and a Russian White Fronted Goose that only stayed for 24 hours.  We also had a record number of 5 Green Sandpipers at one location and our highest count of Common Snipe was a maximum of 25 birds.

Spring was quiet this year with just 2 Wheatear and 1 Common Redstart being the highlights.  Summer was also quiet but the Racecourse area had its best season of breeding Skylarks for several years with a small increase in breeding pairs.  Autumn, after achieving just 1 Whinchat was saved by our star bird of the year, a Hoopoe at IBM.

Hoopoe by Alec Cuthbertson

Winter is always our best season for recording species and this winter has had a promising start with at least 2 Stonechats overwintering as well as a Cetti's Warbler but no sign so far of our Whooper Swan yet.

We reached our target of 100 birds within the first 100 days of 2021 which is the first time we have managed to do that, with the 100th bird being a Yellow Wagtail found by Lizzy.  

The full list of species seen during the year can be found here.

Want to stay in Warwick and while here read about Warwick then look no further

If you are planning to stay in Warwick then look no further and take a look at The Secret Space.  It is centrally located not that far from Smith Street with its host of independent shops, restaurants and Cafes and is run by one of our Warwick 100 members who is a superhost on airbnb.

Before you come, take a look at some images taken in and around the town (instagram access needed).

Then while you are here, why not read all about our birds seen in one of our local parks.  Park Life is written by one of our other members and is available from here or Amazon, Waterstones etc.

Welcome

Welcome to this new blog which will provide a list of species seen within the Warwick 100* area (2 miles radius of Old Town Square) per year or over all time (see the tabs above). 

*Our yearly challenge is to find 100 species within the area!