Tuesday 1st February 2022 - Oldbury Power Station

 

This week’s trip for the 3 Amigos took us to Oldbury Power Station, an ex-nuclear power station which is currently being decommissioned. This is a first for me as I have never been here before. On the way a Buzzard was spotted sat in a field and a Pheasant was seen later again in a field and as we approached Oldbury another ran across the road in front of us, so you can see why so many get run over every year. Parking in the visitor’s car park, we had no idea what was the best way to go but in the far right hand corner of the car park was a footpath that we decided to follow. Magpie and Carrion Crow were soon noted, and a few Goldfinch flew into the top of a tree with a Chaffinch in another. All went quiet until we reached a scrubby area where David heard and found a Bullfinch but when looking we noted 9 were present, a great find and one of the largest flocks I have ever seen.

Bullfinch-Oldbury(bath Birdwatcher)

A Sparrowhawk drifted over, and the 1^st of many Blackbirds flew over the footpath a Great Tit and a Goldcrest was in a bush and several Woodpigeons were sat in a tree. As we walked on Bryan spotted 2 Jackdaw on the chimney of a distant house. 2 Ravens flew by and a flock of Lapwing which included some smaller waders that we were unable to identify drifted over. On arriving at the estuary, a Great Black Back Gull flew down river and a Curlew flew down onto the muddy riverbank joining 8 others. A single Oystercatcher was also seen and as we wandered upstream a small flock of Teal a Grey Heron was spotted with a few Black Headed Gulls. David noticed movement in the field to our right when a male Stonechat flew up onto a fence post followed by the female. 

Stonechat-Oldbury(Bath Birdwatcher)

As we looked David again saw more movement in the grass Meadow Pipits. Looking back over the estuary on a falling tide I noted a few Shelduck, and through the telescope I found a small flock of ducks made up of Mallard and Wigeon. All the birds around us lifted into the air when a female Marsh Harrier flew down river turned round and flew back. Time to get back to the car for lunch and on the way adding Pied Wagtail and Robin to the days total. After lunch we walked to a footpath, we had seen earlier here we added Blue and Long Tailed Tits to our quite small total. The path took us to the estuary where Common Gull and Herring were the only new daily ticks and as we returned to the car a Cormorant flew by in the distance. The day was slightly disappointing as we did not add to our year list and a bird, we were hoping to find a Black Redstart did not show. On the way home a Kestrel flew over the motorway.

We walked about 5 miles during the day and i assure you my legs know it !!