Stourbridge

Wildlife

Meetings are usually on the 3rd Thursday of each month in the afternoon.

The April meeting will be to Saltwells Nature Reserve to see the bluebells and other signs of spring. Last year we saw and heard a few nuthatches as well as lovely stretches of bluebells.
The March meeting was a walk along the canal/river area in Wordsley - to see the 'waterfall' and birds on and around the water.
In February we joined the canal group for a talk from the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust about the rivers and canals in our area. Please contact me via the messaging service for more details.

Our last meeting of 2023 was a walk round Ridgehill Woods.

In September we had a walk round Mary Stevens Park, trying to identify trees and galls of varying kinds. We finished with a walk around the lake where we were pleased to see a little egret, as well as the resident heron and cormorant. The little egret is seen there frequently now.

For the July meeting we walked along Wide Waters and Grove Pool (part of the Fens Pools Reserve). We spotted a small copper butterfly (one we learned about on our Kinver visit) amongst others and enjoyed the variety of adult and juvenile waterfowl. Binoculars were useful to watch a beautiful pair of great crested grebes, in full summer plumage and swimming in formation. They are one of the species which keep the same mate for the breeding season, possibly for life.

Thanks to Tess for sharing some photos, from our Kinver visit and others. In June we met near the Rock Houses on Kinver Edge from where one of the wardens, Robin, gave us a guided tour across some of the site - in particular looking at butterflies. The weather was good for spotting butterflies and birds (and the long horned cattle) and Robin explained how the work which has been done, clearing trees in some areas and opening up more areas of dappled shade, helps the plants on which the butterflies lay their eggs to thrive. We were fortunate to see a marbled white (only found on a few sites in the UK), a small copper and other less rare species.

In May we walked a circuit from the end of Ounty John Lane, Pedmore. We heard skylarks and great spotted woodpeckers, but unfortunately didn't manage to spot them. Nevertheless it was a good walk identifying some birds, butterflies and wild flowers.

In April we had a lovely afternoon for our Bluebell walk in the Saltwells Nature Reserve. The carpet of blue is always a joy and we heard noisy nuthatches as well as spotting other birds and butterflies.
The March meeting was a short walk around Leasowes Park. Spring flowers were beginning to be seen, the damp weather limited the sighting of birds and insects.
In February we walked along the River Stour from the the bottom of Stamford Road (off Birmingham Street) towards Lye. It was interesting to see all the work done by a local group, restoring paths, clearing unwanted vegetation and cleaning up the river.
In January one of our members shared photographs taken during his visit to the Masai Mara last year.

We are always pleased to welcome new members to the group. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please get in touch with me using the message box.

If you would like to know more about the group or share wildlife experiences please email Jane Williamson who is the current leader and can be contacted via the message box.