Lunchtime today a presumed feral single Barnacle Goose on the mere in with the Greylags, Canadas and Emden Geese. Possibly on the flanks had hints of been a Barnacle x Greylag hybrid.
Little and Great Crested Grebe - two of each. Male Goldeneye present, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Coot and Moorhen lapping up the veg the family brought to feed them.
Two Mute Swans.
Best of the day though brief was Barn Swallow (year tick) coming through with six or so Sand Martin North.
Two male Goldeneye, 14 Tufted Duck, Coot, Mallard, five Great crested Grebe, Moorhen, two male Goosander, Jackdaw, Rook, Grey Partridge in fields adjacent, 147 Black-headed Gull including immatures 2F68 and 2F69 on blue leg rings (possibly a 2C52 also on an adult but kept moving).
Anyone remember the website you could put the rings into to report, my bookmark no longer works and my Google-fu is weak tonight.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 10th of February 2024 06:32:48 PM
John Williams said
Wed Mar 22 3:51 PM, 2023
10.00-13.30
Redsmere:
30 Tufted Ducks, 4 Great Crested Grebes and 2m+4f Goldeneyes.
2 Treecreepers and a singing Chiffchaff were in the adjoining woodland.
A Peregrine soared high above the surrounding fields, were a single Kestrel was also seen.
Capesthorne Hall Pools :
10 Tufted Ducks.
Phil Oddy said
Tue Mar 14 9:31 PM, 2023
Female Red-breasted Merganser present from car park but elusive. Was on nearby Lapwing Hall Pool a couple of days ago
Mark Shaw said
Wed Nov 30 7:33 PM, 2022
The GN Diver is still holding residence on the Mere
Great Northern Diver still present today as well as over 20 Goldeneye and the usual Waterfowl.
Mark Jarrett said
Sun Nov 20 6:36 PM, 2022
The juvenile Great Northern Diver was present this morning, its eighth day. Viewing is best from the car park at the southern end of the mere. It has a tendency to circuit the mere, so if you have time on your hands, it will return to the car park area every 45 mins or so. Views there, especially when it turns round in the south west corner, can be good.
Plenty of other birds about, Canada Geese, feral geese, Great crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, and plenty of fly over corvids.
A Great Northern Diver was just off the car park just after 7:30. A first for me at this site. It stayed close to the car park area before disappearing and being re-found over towards the sailing club. There were up to 8 Goldeneye, also at the sailing club end. At first light there thousands of Wood Pigeon streaming over. Very large flocks heading south east. Quite a spectacle.
Apart from the numerous feral geese, Mallards, Coots and Black headed Gulls, the following were seen.
Redesmere area :
1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Buzzard, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Nuthatch.
Capesthorne Hall (Lakes and pastures) :
A flock of 36 Rooks, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Buzzard, 1m Mandarin Duck (Now out of eclipse), 1 Grey Heron and 3 Gadwall.
Dave Riley said
Fri Jan 1 9:04 PM, 2021
Interesting Adam, I had 25 Whoopers flying north west over No1 bed at Woolston Eyes at 12.00 today, must have been the same birds
Adam Jones said
Fri Jan 1 4:25 PM, 2021
Friday 1st January 11am
25 Whooper Swans were just taking off West as I arrived this morning. Not what I was expecting to find, but a great start to the birding year. 28 Goldeneye Good numbers of the usual Coots, Mallards and gulls plus Fieldfare and Redwings overhead.
Totally agree, Ian, as I said in my last post I think adult female too. The 'darker' neck area is real, it is present and is seen in the links to other sites that I posted re female plumage too. Also as I said in my last post the rear neck area of the Redesmere bird shows, in the pic I attached, as darker than the rest of the head and neck, but not black, and that is how it looked in the field. This is consistent with female plumage. But you are right, Ian, posture made it darker in the field at times as did lighting, the clouds were dark and glowering in the first pics giving a strange, eerie light. I also agree having watched my drake bird at Newchurch mature, that a drake in November would (and did) show a red bill and a pretty much adult plumage (see pic of my 1w drk on Nov 6th 2016 attached here).
My original question was always somewhat loaded of course!
It's most often quite perilous to base what can be subtle features/colour hues on one, two even a few images where the lighting and any other photographic effects are unknown (particularly eye colouration). I haven't seen the bird of course, but is the darker area of the rear neck really emerging darker male feathering (that's a no from me), a photographic effect or just the more 'compressed' feathering in that area or angle it is viewed at, due to the bird's posture making it appear darker? The latter is certainly an evident factor in some similar images.
As it is, young males moult really quite quickly and I'd expect one to already display much more emergent adult male like plumage at this time of year. Having seen lots on the continent my own observations certainly back that up.
Careful and prolonged field observations are still king and I think the original observer has it right
Doc Brewster said
Wed Nov 11 5:12 PM, 2020
Dave Cropper wrote:
You would also expect the beak to be more intensely red in a male by November. I couldnt see any other feature that James picked up on other than that dark patch and, as in most cases Paul, you have seen the bird in real life and therefore best placed to make a judgement.
I agree Dave re bill colour, it's always a good indicator in this species. Also, in the past, I watched a juvenile that arrived at Newchurch 2 years ago develop into a first-year drake watching and photographing it most days and this bird doesn't match any of the plumage variations that I saw. Gut feeling is that the finder, who is a very experienced birder with high levels of ID skills, has called this correctly, a female, probably adult given bill colouration.
James Walsh said
Wed Nov 11 5:05 PM, 2020
It was just the overall colouration in the first photos, plus the collar effect that made it look slightly different to most female Red-crested Pochards that I've seen - looking into the identification, a first-winter male should have a lighter eye colouration than the bird at Redesmere, is it a first-winter female or an adult female ?
You would also expect the beak to be more intensely red in a male by November. I couldnt see any other feature that James picked up on other than that dark patch and, as in most cases Paul, you have seen the bird in real life and therefore best placed to make a judgement. Over to you James!
Doc Brewster said
Wed Nov 11 4:33 PM, 2020
I had thoughts too re 1st-w drake when I first started to process my pics. But trawling through Google (admittedly not the best research tool as we rely on the labelling being correct!) I found similar plumaged birds to the Redesmere one labelled female, with a hint of the black 'collar' (e.g. here : https://www.birdimages.net/birds/anatidae/red-crested-pochard and here : https://www.allevamentopoggiodiponte.com/our-breeding/ducks/coloured-ducks/red-crested-pochard# (which seems like a well researched website)). I think the lighting and camera artifacts make the black darker in my first montage. Here's a closer better lit one, but the hint of dark in that area is still present!
The bird is still present today, same area all the time
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 11th of November 2020 04:40:21 PM
Hi Ian
Just pre-empting any reply from James, Im guessing its the black around the base of the neck which isnt usually found in female birds and obviously would become more extensive when mature in a male. Just my view - well see if James thinks the same.
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Nov 11 2:36 PM, 2020
James Walsh wrote:
Just wondering, from the photos, if the Red-crested Pochard could be a first-winter drake ?
What features are you seeing which makes you think that James?
James Walsh said
Wed Nov 11 2:05 PM, 2020
Just wondering, from the photos, if the Red-crested Pochard could be a first-winter drake ?
Robert Taylor said
Tue Nov 10 6:20 PM, 2020
Female Red Crested Pochard still in middle of lake at 4pm.
Doc Brewster said
Tue Nov 10 6:18 PM, 2020
Dave Cropper wrote:
Hi Paul Red-crested Pochard is already in both category A and C on British List. Whilst the Cat. C birds are primarily in SE England, there does seem to be an increase in naturally occurring winter birds. Two or three seem to be touring our region at the moment with carrier species. Get it ticked!
I meant our native breeding population being accepted as tickable for those that follow that system. The species overall is actually categorised as AC2E, so is already in A, C2 and E on the BOU List. There was an article in BB re the UK population being self-sustaining now. We also get birds from the Dutch population which is still not Cat A according to BBRC. But I don't give a hoot what category they say it's in - I keep my own list for my own pleasure in my own hobby No committee tells me what I can or can't list
Judy Denison said
Tue Nov 10 5:42 PM, 2020
Many thanks for the info re the goose
John Watson said
Tue Nov 10 5:34 PM, 2020
There are some 200 Red-Crested Pochard at Cotswold Water Park (saw ~80 a couple of years back). It's no surprise that they're drifting around. Nice, though
Hi Paul
Red-crested Pochard is already in both category A and C on British List. Whilst the Cat. C birds are primarily in SE England, there does seem to be an increase in naturally occurring winter birds. Two or three seem to be touring our region at the moment with carrier species. Get it ticked!
Doc Brewster said
Tue Nov 10 3:40 PM, 2020
Judy Denison wrote:
With the resident white geese was this one in the photo. I haven't seen it before. Is it likely to be a juvenile or a cross breed? The colouring on its neck appears to stop suddenly and I woundered if this was likely in a juvenile or not.
Sorry no-one answered you Judy. It's a feral goose, colouring is just a genetic throwback to grey feral goose genes in its lineage. White farmyard geese like these are a Heinz 57 genetically and occasionally odd bits of colour appear in the plumage.
Back to today. As it is now advised to stay local my trips are limited to under 15 miles away. Exactly that is Redesmere where I went today for a walk. The draw was a report of an interesting duck. A quick scan revealed plenty of Goldeneye, a Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Ducks. A quick call to a local birder had me walking up the path on the east side. Going past the sailing club I viewed the bay that is tucked away at that end which aythya flocks tend to favour. Eventually there was my quarry - a smart female Red-crested Pochard. As she preened she was fully-winged and was with a good carrier flock. They are a strong candidate to be added to the 'official' British List soon as they breed widely here now. She was always on the far side from the bank that I was on and light wasn't great but I got a few record shots (attached).
On my daily walk from home this morning I went down to Redesmere.
With the resident white geese was this one in the photo. I haven't seen it before. Is it likely to be a juvenile or a cross breed? The colouring on its neck appears to stop suddenly and I woundered if this was likely in a juvenile or not.
Watched a number of singing blackcaps in the woodland close to the sailing club and also up the road by the fishermans' gate into the pool at Henbury Hall.
-- Edited by Judy Denison on Thursday 9th of April 2020 01:10:40 PM
Having seen a recent report re: the White-fronted Goose still being in the area, I decided it was time it was added to my 2020 list. Finally caught up with it on Capesthorne Lake after a local dog owner perversely did me a favour by letting his dog chase the entire Greylag flock from the fields and onto the water where they could be easily viewed. The White-front stood out, as did 4 Pink-footed Geese with whom he was keeping company.
On the walk back to Redesmere car-park I had my first Chiffchaff of the year. This one was seen but not heard and is probably my earliest ever.
-- Edited by Paul Flackett on Monday 9th of March 2020 05:31:06 PM
Robert Taylor said
Sun Feb 9 9:45 AM, 2020
Redhead Smew on the lake left of the main car park.
Steven Nelson said
Mon Jan 20 10:43 PM, 2020
Ive had some information back regarding the ringed Black-headed Gull (Blue ring with white lettering 2E72) I saw on 3rd Jan.
It seems I misread the letter E which was in fact a letter F. So the ring number is actually 2F72 .
It appears that the bird maybe a regular at Redesmere, having been ringed there in January 2013, and reported again in February 2014 also at Redesmere. No reports have been submitted of the bird since then. No doubt the people feeding the ducks provides easy pickings for the gulls as well.
I may get some more details over the next few weeks.
Huw Morgan said
Sat Jan 11 7:51 PM, 2020
No sign of the White-fronted Geese at Redesmere this morning with Goldeneye at the far side the most notable birds seen.
I did manage to find the geese in the field north of Catchpenny Pool along Catchpenny Lane nearby. Good views of two adults and a juvenile along with two Pink Footed Geese and masses of Greylag and Canadas. There were also two interesting looking Canada/Greylag hybrid geese in the flock.
Had at least 8 Egyptian Geese in a field just off the A54 north of Redesmere on the way back to Manchester too.
-- Edited by Huw Morgan on Saturday 11th of January 2020 07:52:56 PM
Phil Oddy said
Mon Jan 6 7:38 PM, 2020
No sign of any White-fronted Geese this afternoon but 10+ Egyptian Geese in roadside fields off A34 near entrance to Capesthorne hall
Adam Jones said
Sun Jan 5 2:03 PM, 2020
3 White-fronted Geese still present on the water this morning. As I only ever see them in the water, I've never seen their belly markings. Getting quite frustrated now.
Steven Nelson said
Fri Jan 3 8:31 PM, 2020
Couldnt locate the White-fronted Geese or Egyptian Geese this afternoon. Saw a Black-headed Gull with blue leg ring 2E72 on left leg and a silver ring on right leg. Photo attached
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Friday 3rd of January 2020 11:24:13 PM
3 Whitefronted Geese today with 2 Pinkfeet on the field opposite the sailing club.No Egyptian Geese seen though. On water usual Coots,Tufted Ducks ,Mute Swans etc as well as at least 2 Great Crested Grebes,5 wigeon and 5 Golden Eye.
markwoodhead said
Sat Dec 14 10:16 AM, 2019
Yes, in the field behind the sailing club with the goose flock
Phil Oddy said
Thu Dec 12 6:56 PM, 2019
markwoodhead wrote:
Also 8 Egyptian Geese.
Were they by the sailing club?
markwoodhead said
Thu Dec 12 2:21 PM, 2019
The two Russian White-fronted Geese were still present yesterday in fields behind sailing club. Also 8 Egyptian Geese.
Two White-fronted Geese (Adult+ juv) present this afternoon in the Greylag flock by the car park. The flock can be difficult to see due to the dips in the field.
Adam Jones said
Sat Nov 30 10:15 PM, 2019
Saturday 30th November 2:30pm
In amongst a large flock of Greylag Geese this afternoon, was a White-fronted Goose. Fantastic light, and despite keeping it's distance was nicely viewable from the car park area. Was still there when I left at 3pm.
A family party of 2 adults and 4/5 juvenile Spotted Flycatchers this afternoon. Great to watch them together. c50+ Swallows over the fields adjacent to the mere.
2 Great white Egret. One on pond behind car park kept walking into the field, the other was on the edge of the mere under the overhanging trees very close to the left side of the car park, but then flew to the other end of the mere. Also Goosander, 2f, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 12th of November 2018 01:13:51 PM
Redesmere : 2f Goosanders, 3 adult + 1 juv Great Crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Buzzards, 1f Pochard, 6 Nuthatches, 2 Goldcrests and 3 Grey Herons.
2 of the numerous Black Headed Gulls perched on the railings by the car park had blue rings on their left legs, and silver BTO rings on their right leg.
One bird's blue ring was 2F69 and the other was 2F88.
Capesthorne Hall Pools : 1 Kingfisher, 2 Little Grebes and a group of 6 Gadwall (No Gadwall were on Redesmere).
1 Pink Footed Goose was with 18 Greylags on cattle pasture at Capesthorne.
Nigel Troup said
Sun Feb 5 6:04 PM, 2017
I walked the full length of the mere this morning, but saw no sign of the Smew. It was not a wasted trip - the weather was glorious and there were a few good birds around. My first local Oystercatcher and Shelduck of the year were the highlights. A list of 36 species also included Goldeneye (7), Goosander (3), Siskin (4), Nuthatch and a big mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing. I used to find Tree Sparrows in the lanes around here, but had no luck today.
Doc Brewster said
Thu Feb 2 2:51 PM, 2017
I was sent the following yesterday:
Redesmere - redhead Smew still. at far end beyond Sailing Club 14.15. (per John Spottiswood, thanks)
This is the 2nd day for the bird to be present here, I haven't seen any reports for today so far. Interestingly the female Smew at Newchurch wasn't seen yesterday or today!
Lunchtime today a presumed feral single Barnacle Goose on the mere in with the Greylags, Canadas and Emden Geese. Possibly on the flanks had hints of been a Barnacle x Greylag hybrid.
Little and Great Crested Grebe - two of each. Male Goldeneye present, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Coot and Moorhen lapping up the veg the family brought to feed them.
Two Mute Swans.
Best of the day though brief was Barn Swallow (year tick) coming through with six or so Sand Martin North.
here's the reporting site
https://waterbirdcolourmarking.shinyapps.io/sightings2/
Two male Goldeneye, 14 Tufted Duck, Coot, Mallard, five Great crested Grebe, Moorhen, two male Goosander, Jackdaw, Rook, Grey Partridge in fields adjacent, 147 Black-headed Gull including immatures 2F68 and 2F69 on blue leg rings (possibly a 2C52 also on an adult but kept moving).
Anyone remember the website you could put the rings into to report, my bookmark no longer works and my Google-fu is weak tonight.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 10th of February 2024 06:32:48 PM
Redsmere:
30 Tufted Ducks, 4 Great Crested Grebes and 2m+4f Goldeneyes.
2 Treecreepers and a singing Chiffchaff were in the adjoining woodland.
A Peregrine soared high above the surrounding fields, were a single Kestrel was also seen.
Capesthorne Hall Pools :
10 Tufted Ducks.
Female Red-breasted Merganser present from car park but elusive. Was on nearby Lapwing Hall Pool a couple of days ago
The GN Diver is still holding residence on the Mere
The juvenile Great Northern Diver was present this morning, its eighth day. Viewing is best from the car park at the southern end of the mere. It has a tendency to circuit the mere, so if you have time on your hands, it will return to the car park area every 45 mins or so. Views there, especially when it turns round in the south west corner, can be good.
Plenty of other birds about, Canada Geese, feral geese, Great crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, and plenty of fly over corvids.
A Great Northern Diver was just off the car park just after 7:30. A first for me at this site. It stayed close to the car park area before disappearing and being re-found over towards the sailing club.
There were up to 8 Goldeneye, also at the sailing club end.
At first light there thousands of Wood Pigeon streaming over. Very large flocks heading south east. Quite a spectacle.
Apart from the numerous feral geese, Mallards, Coots and Black headed Gulls, the following were seen.
Redesmere area :
1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Buzzard, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Nuthatch.
Capesthorne Hall (Lakes and pastures) :
A flock of 36 Rooks, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Buzzard, 1m Mandarin Duck (Now out of eclipse), 1 Grey Heron and 3 Gadwall.
25 Whooper Swans were just taking off West as I arrived this morning. Not what I was expecting to find, but a great start to the birding year.
28 Goldeneye
Good numbers of the usual Coots, Mallards and gulls plus Fieldfare and Redwings overhead.
Red-crested Pochard still there today. Another piccy attached.
Totally agree, Ian, as I said in my last post I think adult female too. The 'darker' neck area is real, it is present and is seen in the links to other sites that I posted re female plumage too. Also as I said in my last post the rear neck area of the Redesmere bird shows, in the pic I attached, as darker than the rest of the head and neck, but not black, and that is how it looked in the field. This is consistent with female plumage. But you are right, Ian, posture made it darker in the field at times as did lighting, the clouds were dark and glowering in the first pics giving a strange, eerie light. I also agree having watched my drake bird at Newchurch mature, that a drake in November would (and did) show a red bill and a pretty much adult plumage (see pic of my 1w drk on Nov 6th 2016 attached here).
My original question was always somewhat loaded of course!
It's most often quite perilous to base what can be subtle features/colour hues on one, two even a few images where the lighting and any other photographic effects are unknown (particularly eye colouration). I haven't seen the bird of course, but is the darker area of the rear neck really emerging darker male feathering (that's a no from me), a photographic effect or just the more 'compressed' feathering in that area or angle it is viewed at, due to the bird's posture making it appear darker? The latter is certainly an evident factor in some similar images.
As it is, young males moult really quite quickly and I'd expect one to already display much more emergent adult male like plumage at this time of year. Having seen lots on the continent my own observations certainly back that up.
Careful and prolonged field observations are still king and I think the original observer has it right
I agree Dave re bill colour, it's always a good indicator in this species. Also, in the past, I watched a juvenile that arrived at Newchurch 2 years ago develop into a first-year drake watching and photographing it most days and this bird doesn't match any of the plumage variations that I saw. Gut feeling is that the finder, who is a very experienced birder with high levels of ID skills, has called this correctly, a female, probably adult given bill colouration.
http://www.oncfs.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Guide-age-sex-european-ducks.pdf
I had thoughts too re 1st-w drake when I first started to process my pics. But trawling through Google (admittedly not the best research tool as we rely on the labelling being correct!) I found similar plumaged birds to the Redesmere one labelled female, with a hint of the black 'collar' (e.g. here : https://www.birdimages.net/birds/anatidae/red-crested-pochard and here : https://www.allevamentopoggiodiponte.com/our-breeding/ducks/coloured-ducks/red-crested-pochard# (which seems like a well researched website)). I think the lighting and camera artifacts make the black darker in my first montage. Here's a closer better lit one, but the hint of dark in that area is still present!
The bird is still present today, same area all the time
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 11th of November 2020 04:40:21 PM
What features are you seeing which makes you think that James?
Female Red Crested Pochard still in middle of lake at 4pm.
I meant our native breeding population being accepted as tickable for those that follow that system. The species overall is actually categorised as AC2E, so is already in A, C2 and E on the BOU List. There was an article in BB re the UK population being self-sustaining now. We also get birds from the Dutch population which is still not Cat A according to BBRC. But I don't give a hoot what category they say it's in - I keep my own list for my own pleasure in my own hobby
No committee tells me what I can or can't list 
Many thanks for the info re the goose
https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u18/downloads/publications/wituk200708_5.pdf
Sorry no-one answered you Judy. It's a feral goose, colouring is just a genetic throwback to grey feral goose genes in its lineage. White farmyard geese like these are a Heinz 57 genetically and occasionally odd bits of colour appear in the plumage.
Back to today. As it is now advised to stay local my trips are limited to under 15 miles away. Exactly that is Redesmere where I went today for a walk. The draw was a report of an interesting duck. A quick scan revealed plenty of Goldeneye, a Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Ducks. A quick call to a local birder had me walking up the path on the east side. Going past the sailing club I viewed the bay that is tucked away at that end which aythya flocks tend to favour. Eventually there was my quarry - a smart female Red-crested Pochard. As she preened she was fully-winged and was with a good carrier flock. They are a strong candidate to be added to the 'official' British List soon as they breed widely here now. She was always on the far side from the bank that I was on and light wasn't great but I got a few record shots (attached).
On my daily walk from home this morning I went down to Redesmere.
With the resident white geese was this one in the photo. I haven't seen it before. Is it likely to be a juvenile or a cross breed? The colouring on its neck appears to stop suddenly and I woundered if this was likely in a juvenile or not.
Watched a number of singing blackcaps in the woodland close to the sailing club and also up the road by the fishermans' gate into the pool at Henbury Hall.
-- Edited by Judy Denison on Thursday 9th of April 2020 01:10:40 PM
Having seen a recent report re: the White-fronted Goose still being in the area, I decided it was time it was added to my 2020 list. Finally caught up with it on Capesthorne Lake after a local dog owner perversely did me a favour by letting his dog chase the entire Greylag flock from the fields and onto the water where they could be easily viewed. The White-front stood out, as did 4 Pink-footed Geese with whom he was keeping company.
On the walk back to Redesmere car-park I had my first Chiffchaff of the year. This one was seen but not heard and is probably my earliest ever.
-- Edited by Paul Flackett on Monday 9th of March 2020 05:31:06 PM
Redhead Smew on the lake left of the main car park.
It seems I misread the letter E which was in fact a letter F. So the ring number is actually 2F72 .
It appears that the bird maybe a regular at Redesmere, having been ringed there in January 2013, and reported again in February 2014 also at Redesmere. No reports have been submitted of the bird since then. No doubt the people feeding the ducks provides easy pickings for the gulls as well.
I may get some more details over the next few weeks.
No sign of the White-fronted Geese at Redesmere this morning with Goldeneye at the far side the most notable birds seen.
I did manage to find the geese in the field north of Catchpenny Pool along Catchpenny Lane nearby. Good views of two adults and a juvenile along with two Pink Footed Geese and masses of Greylag and Canadas. There were also two interesting looking Canada/Greylag hybrid geese in the flock.
Had at least 8 Egyptian Geese in a field just off the A54 north of Redesmere on the way back to Manchester too.
-- Edited by Huw Morgan on Saturday 11th of January 2020 07:52:56 PM
No sign of any White-fronted Geese this afternoon but 10+ Egyptian Geese in roadside fields off A34 near entrance to Capesthorne hall
Saw a Black-headed Gull with blue leg ring 2E72 on left leg and a silver ring on right leg. Photo attached
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Friday 3rd of January 2020 11:24:13 PM
12 Egyptian Geese today - 5 in image below! Feeding in field on West side of A34 just after entrance to sailing club travelling south.
Also 7 Goldeneye (3 drakes) and 3 Russian White fronted Geese (although latter not seen by me)
3 Whitefronted Geese today with 2 Pinkfeet on the field opposite the sailing club.No Egyptian Geese seen though.
On water usual Coots,Tufted Ducks ,Mute Swans etc as well as at least 2 Great Crested Grebes,5 wigeon and 5 Golden Eye.
Yes, in the field behind the sailing club with the goose flock
Were they by the sailing club?
The two Russian White-fronted Geese were still present yesterday in fields behind sailing club. Also 8 Egyptian Geese.
Two White-fronted Geese (Adult+ juv) present this afternoon in the Greylag flock by the car park. The flock can be difficult to see due to the dips in the field.
In amongst a large flock of Greylag Geese this afternoon, was a White-fronted Goose.
Fantastic light, and despite keeping it's distance was nicely viewable from the car park area. Was still there when I left at 3pm.
A family party of 2 adults and 4/5 juvenile Spotted Flycatchers this afternoon.
Great to watch them together.
c50+ Swallows over the fields adjacent to the mere.
Redesmere
3m+1f Mandarin Ducks, 8 Great Crested Grebes, 1m+2f Reed Buntings, 2m+1f Blackcaps, 1f Goosander, 2 singing Chiffchaffs,
2 Nuthatches, 1 Raven, 4 Buzzards and 1 Treecreeper.
No sign of the 2 Gargeney seen 3 days ago, although there was lots of water sports activity so they may well have found somewhere to hide.
Capesthorne Estate Pools
1f Goosander and 2 Great Crested Grebes.
Smew (f) - kept hiding under tree roots along the margin so quite difficult to spot and keep track of!
Also Goosander (f), Great White Egret, Kingfisher
Monday 12th November
2 Great white Egret. One on pond behind car park kept walking into the field, the other was on the edge of the mere under the overhanging trees very close to the left side of the car park, but then flew to the other end of the mere. Also Goosander, 2f, Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 12th of November 2018 01:13:51 PM
Redesmere : 2f Goosanders, 3 adult + 1 juv Great Crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Buzzards, 1f Pochard, 6 Nuthatches, 2 Goldcrests and 3 Grey Herons.
2 of the numerous Black Headed Gulls perched on the railings by the car park had blue rings on their left legs, and silver BTO rings on their right leg.
One bird's blue ring was 2F69 and the other was 2F88.
Capesthorne Hall Pools : 1 Kingfisher, 2 Little Grebes and a group of 6 Gadwall (No Gadwall were on Redesmere).
1 Pink Footed Goose was with 18 Greylags on cattle pasture at Capesthorne.
I was sent the following yesterday:
Redesmere - redhead Smew still. at far end beyond Sailing Club 14.15. (per John Spottiswood, thanks)
This is the 2nd day for the bird to be present here, I haven't seen any reports for today so far. Interestingly the female Smew at Newchurch wasn't seen yesterday or today!