Bird watching on the Lichfield Canal

Bird watching on the Lichfield Canal, Spring 2023

by Amanda Hilmarsson-Dunn

After a pretty rotten Winter, lasting much longer than it ought, when the sun at last pokes through the window, it is time to grab one’s binoculars and head out onto the towpath to do a bit of bird spotting.

There are two sections of the Lichfield Canal close by my residence: the first is opposite across Tamworth Road, next is Fosseway, slightly further away. There are some differences in the habitats on each site. The former is partially in water, with some trees on one side of the canal and a lovely large field, soon to be filled with houses. The latter has a few trees and a lot of low scrubby bushes, such as gorse, with fields each side. Of course, there is a third section of canal nearby too: Darnford Moors, which should soon be in water and open to the public.

I walk almost daily between Gallows Wharf and Bobby’s Bend, alongside Tamworth Road and always see and/or hear birds. This May, my sightings included the following: magpie, crow, rook, wood pigeon, grey heron, moorhen, mallard, robin, chaffinch, gold finch, green finch, song thrush, wren, chiffchaff, dunnock, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, grey wagtail and pied wagtail. Some features which might aid identification of some of these follow.

The grey wagtails are handsome looking birds with bright lemon yellow colouring under their long tails, which they wag up and down. I think they have been nesting this year in the old lock 25.

Wrens have tails which stick up and an incredibly loud song in relation to their size. They are often spotted low down in the scrub. The wren is the third smallest bird in UK, beaten to the top spot by the goldcrest and firecrest.

The greenfinch is one of my favourites. It has a varied song, a mixture of twittering and a sort of wheeze on a descending musical scale, which it delivers from a high, often visible, perch. The male is a yellow/green colour with a bright yellow wing.

The song thrush’s song always makes me smile. It is loud and consists of various repetitive sounds, usually in the early morning and dusk. Good to know they are about, as numbers are declining. They have speckled creamish underparts and brown back.

Our common blackbird has the  most gorgeous song. Blackbirds are the ‘calling birds’ in the Christmas song ‘A partridge in a pear tree’.
Plenty of rabbits have been seen as well, frolicking in the field.

A few days ago, I also saw or, rather, heard an incredibly loud whistling song, which turned out to be an unassuming brownish bird, warbler size, high up in a tree, which I could not identify. This always peeves me somewhat. Its tail quivered as it whistled. My best guess is that it was a marsh warbler, a Summer migrant, but if so, it was north of its normal range. Ideas anyone?

One lunchtime walk to Fosseway – not the best time to spot wildlife, I saw, including some of the birds listed above, many house sparrows flying in and out of the old signal box over the disused railway, a pheasant, two pairs of white throats, which are Summer migrants, and a yellowhammer. The latter has a lovely song, which ends in a kind of ‘cheese’ sound. I am sure that others will have seen many more species than the above, particularly if they are early birds! Once Darnford Moors is open to the public, there may be some different species turning up in that area too. It is much more fun and more interesting to be able to give names to the birds that you spot and to get to know their songs.

Below are some pictures from the Countryfile website: countryfile.com/wildlife/birds
Click on the picture for a video of each bird, with sound, from YouTube:

There are plenty of photo opportunities on the watered section. Here’s just a few: