Reminiscing with young Adam (13) about walks round the Keg Pool back in the mid to late 1980s - I'm not a great keeper of records so I've nothing written down but I can recall either a Marsh Tit or a Willow Tit hanging round the trail where it splits and you can go downhill to the Keg Pool - I can remember it scolding me so I will have identified it by its call but it's so long ago that I've simply forgotten which it was - recent sightings of Willow Tit at Pennington Flash and Marsh Tit at Leighton Moss have obviously stirred my memories - Can any birders of a certain age who were Etherow CP regulars (not so many in those days) back then please help me out? Which is the most likely? I'm sure it was a Willow Tit but stand to be corrected. I also seem to recall regularly hearing Wood Warbler but could simply be losing my marbles.
Andrew Johnson said
Mon Mar 12 5:19 AM, 2012
Glad the Egyptian Goose made himself known to you - I've had him eating seed out of my hand in the past whilst making his customary noise.
kevin kelly said
Mon Mar 12 1:12 AM, 2012
A morning visit today produced. 1 Egyptian goose right of keg pool at the bottom of the field. A lifer for me! Single counts of common buzzard and sparrowhawk over the woods 6x nuthatch 27x mandarin largely males, including a small gathering of five birds high up in the trees at the path start to keg wood. 2x great crested grebe 2x goosander in flight A single dipper flying up river from in front of the hide 1x green woodpecker heard at first then seen taking off from field leading up to the woods. Great morning especially with the Egyptian goose and the photos I got! Thanks for the info on the site!
kevin kelly said
Fri Mar 9 6:20 AM, 2012
Thanks Andrew that's a great help!
Andrew Johnson said
Fri Mar 9 5:50 AM, 2012
I managed 25 years of not knowing there was a hide... :)
Go up beyond the weir and where the path goes up into Ernocroft Woods, head instead on the level up what looks like a private farm road with a pond fringed with reeds on your left. After this pond is a [private] gate to the farm flanked by fields but immediately to your left is a small gate held closed with string through into the nature reserve - follow the path in there round to the hide.
kevin kelly said
Fri Mar 9 5:29 AM, 2012
Thanks I'll head there Sunday. I've been to etherow once before but couldn't find a hide? Thanks
Andrew Johnson said
Fri Mar 9 4:52 AM, 2012
For a supposedly pretty silent species this one often makes a hell of a racket. Sometimes it's up on the main lake near the front but I've also seen it on or by Keg Pool, or close to the hide, or even sitting ON the bird table by the hide or with other geese in the field adjacent to the nature reserve area where the hide is. I think it's always around somewhere - listen for its harsh incessant honking!
There used to be quite a gang of them there when I was a kid - usually at the sandy area by the grass where they'd all come out to be fed.
kevin kelly said
Fri Mar 9 4:42 AM, 2012
Hello! Would really like to see an Egyptian goose as it would be a life tick for me! Is It easy to locate here or does it come and go? I'm gonna take a trip there on Sunday, any advice would be great! Kevin
Chris Greene said
Mon Mar 5 1:41 AM, 2012
14:30 Not much to add,but now a pair of great crested grebes on main lodge.
Cheers Chris
Phil Panton said
Sun Mar 4 10:48 PM, 2012
12.30 - 14.00
1 Grey Wagtail Buzzard over Woodheys Plenty of Mandarin, as previously mentioned, Male outnumbering female. Blue, Great, Coal & Longtailed Tits Good numbers of Nuthatch & a couple of Treecreepers
Watched a pair of Dipper 'to' ing & 'fro' ing from what looks like a possible 'des res'
Ian Boote said
Sun Mar 4 8:47 PM, 2012
Popular place today Can only add 3pm-4pm Keg lots of Nuthatches and treecreepers as stated Great Spotted Woodpecker five Goosander pool six Tufted Ducks Pool similar river near pool and back of sluice house Cormorant over Egyptian Goose side of pool making a racket Several Signs saying keep dogs on leads so as not to fret the mute swans and no one taking any notice. and saw four Great Crested Grebes on main res
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 4th of March 2012 09:24:08 PM
The Peet family said
Sat Feb 25 11:31 PM, 2012
Monday:
Nuthatch Great Spotted Woodpecker Blue Tit Great Tit Coal Tit Long Tailed Tit Jay
Kingfisher flew past
Cormorant and Mandarin
Thanks for saying I had to take seed
Chris Greene said
Sat Feb 25 2:29 PM, 2012
Late post for yesterday ,13:00 - 14:30 ... Great crested grebe on main lake , I counted 21 male mandarin on the canal section, ( probably more though,) And 27 males behind the pump - house . The males appear to outnumber the females by about 2:1 !!! Also great spotted woodpecker ,teal and treecreepers from hide + all usuals.. including several mating pairs of Canada geese .
Cheers Chris.
Adam Jones said
Sun Feb 19 9:29 PM, 2012
Sunday 19th February 7.30-10.00am
The usuals on the main lake. No Goosanders at all for me today. 4 Manadarins and 2 Cormorants. 3 Dipper sightings on the river Goyt.
From the hide: 4 Teal 3 Tufted Ducks 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker Kingfisher seen on 4 occasions Flock of 8 Siskin Many Nuthatch, Great, Blue, Long Tail and Coal Tits. 2 Treecreepers 12 Cormorants 2 Mandarins
Lots of Mandarins between the main lake and the weir. Are they taking over the neighbourhood? Not seen so many here before.
Chris Knight said
Sun Feb 19 9:09 PM, 2012
Such a beautiful morning, squeezed in a v. quick circuit by bike. 17 male and at least 8 female mandarins looking stunning by the pump house, three goosander (2 female) still on the big lake though there could have been more hiding somewhere.
Geoff Walton said
Fri Feb 17 10:20 PM, 2012
Good on you Chris. As I was still under the weather, we all went for a coffee at Bruntwood Park and a stoll. We had never been before, but will go again.
Chris Greene said
Fri Feb 17 9:09 PM, 2012
Main lake 12:15... 8 male and 4 female goosanders present. No sign of a deceased goosander around the lake ,so hopefully, the mysterious dissappearing goosander from Wednesday is OK Also present on main lake 2m and 1f tufted duck,amongst the usual bread-munchers.
Cheers Chris.
Chris Greene said
Fri Feb 17 12:08 AM, 2012
Now you've got me worried,I'll nip back to have a look in the morning,but chances are they have moved on( either three or four of them) I suppose there is a chance that the male might have re-surfaced at the other side of the island,but I would say that was about 60 yards away at the time.
Cheers Chris
Geoff Walton said
Thu Feb 16 9:40 PM, 2012
Thanks Jeoy. Chris, I must have been half and hour behind you, so it does not sound good. I would go back, but have been smitten with something, and at all well.
Joey Eccles said
Thu Feb 16 7:47 PM, 2012
I found this on the University of Michigan's website. It's the same species (I think) just a different name:
Common mergansers can remain underwater for up to 2 minutes, but maximum recorded dive times are 52 seconds in 2 to 3 m water and 37 seconds in 18 to 37 m water, with a typical dive lasting less than 30 seconds.
So it doesn't look too good if it didn't resurface anywhere in that time
Chris Greene said
Thu Feb 16 3:35 PM, 2012
Hi Geoff, nice to see you again. Funny you should say that you only saw three goosanders,because on the way back to the car park ,I was watching the four goosanders, one of the males dived under the remaining thin sheet of ice that the bh gulls were stood on ... I watched for a good 3 or 4 minutes, but didn't see him re-surface ! By this time my missus was getting worried, so I reassured her that goosanders, can swim a long way underwater ( hopefully !!! ) and we carried on . Also 6 teal upstream from hide ,and good numbers of treecreepers and nuthatch.
Cheers Chris
Geoff Walton said
Thu Feb 16 1:37 AM, 2012
Nice to see you both again Chris. Did not find any Dippers, but loads of Tuffties behind the pump house. Mandarin on the Canal and 75% of two pairs of Goosander on the main lake. Assume the other male was somehwre.
Geoff
jason fisher said
Wed Feb 15 11:47 PM, 2012
2 pair of goosander on the main lake
plenty of the usual woodland birds about and a grey heron flying up and down the river were todays highlights
Alan Turner said
Sat Jan 14 6:57 PM, 2012
Short walk 12.30 - 2.30, highlight was 2 kingfishers darting up and down river from hide. Also views of nuthatch , treecreeper and usual tits along main path.
Chris Greene said
Tue Jan 10 4:26 PM, 2012
Two male and two female shovellers, on main lake,between islands,this afternoon at about 2pm. Female greater spotted woodpecker, from C.W.T. hide, Two male teal far upstream, 28 cormorant in roost tree , 20+ tufties on river.
Cheers Chris.
Chris Greene said
Sat Jan 7 4:49 PM, 2012
Brief visit to hide today,@ 13:00 ; All usual birds present plus: Large flock of long-tailed tits,feeding on suet pellets and fat balls, Great views of goldcrest - about 8 feet away for a few minutes, Two treecreepers, At least two jays, Little grebe, cautiously eating a stickleback!
Cheers Chris.
The Peet family said
Thu Jan 5 9:03 PM, 2012
Thank you,
Adam (13)
Chris Greene said
Wed Jan 4 5:15 PM, 2012
The Peet family wrote:
What birds would likely visit the table if you were there for a day
The usual birds that visit the table by the hide are:chaffinches, blue,great and coal tits,plenty of nuthatches, robins and dunnocks.Quite often jays and great spotted woodpeckers put in an appearance. The Egyptian goose has also been known to visit the table for an easy meal!!!
Cheers Chris P.S Don't forget to take food to put on the table,as it's usually empty!!
-- Edited by Chris Greene on Wednesday 4th of January 2012 05:19:38 PM
The Peet family said
Wed Jan 4 4:32 PM, 2012
What birds would likely visit the table if you were there for a day
Albert Zijlstra said
Wed Jan 4 9:15 AM, 2012
A pleasant walk on a stormy day with the river higher and faster flowing than I had seen before. The birds were mostly hiding in the shrub or sheltering in calm waters. The mandarins are absolutely beautiful at the moment. The egyptian goose (does it count as a wild bird?) and mute swans on keg pool were out hunting walkers. Four goosanders (2m, 2f) had moved from the river to the calm waters of keg pool. The tufted ducks were flocking on the river upstream from the hide, and the little grebe was on the opposite side from them sheltering under branches. Cormorants fishing on the higher reaches of the river in the fastest running water: funny to see the snake-like necks sticking out of the water in the most unexpected places, well away from each other. Two jays in the shrubbery opposite the hide. 'All the usuals' were hiding apart from some siskins braving the wind. It was interesting to see the different ways birds react to the conditions.
Chris Harper said
Mon Jan 2 1:28 PM, 2012
Quick visit with the family High Lights were at least 37 Mandarin Ducks, males now in all their splendour Female Goosander on the river 20 Tufted Ducks Keg Pool Plus all the usuals
Chris Greene said
Sun Dec 11 7:52 AM, 2011
Brief visit yesterday pm , between showers !! Highlights from CWT hide : Little grebe, 30+ tufted ducks, 2 M and 1 F teal, Female goosander , 16 cormorants in roost tree ... 2 grey wagtails near weir .
Cheers Chris
vic chatterton said
Wed Nov 23 5:54 PM, 2011
1230 -1430
Kingfisher Little Grebe 5 Teal 8 Tufted Duck 20+ Redwings
Karen Foulkes said
Sun Nov 20 9:11 PM, 2011
1020-1400
Mostly same as Steven's post
The Egyptian Goose was at the Keg Pool when I caught up with it. Also present: 2 Mute Swan 1 Little Grebe
Also around Keg trail and nature reserve
Lesser Redpoll at least 5 birds in the area, possibly more 2 Nuthatches on nature reserve path
A pair of Dippers exhibiting signs of courtship behaviour, with the male singing whilst chasing the female high around the weir area
The one that really got me though was 11 Tufted Ducks coming to bread on the river
steven burke said
Sun Nov 20 8:45 PM, 2011
12.30-4.30pm 1 kingfisher 6 teals 8 tufted ducks 1 grey wagtail 1 egyptian goose 29 cormorants (all in the usual tree) all the above seen from the hide, also water rail (heard only). lots off mandarins around,mainly on the river. 1 buzzard green woodpecker (heard only) tawny owls (heard only) nice flock off 50+ siskins & goldfinches (mostly siskins) redwings, fieldfares, nuthatches, treecreepers huge numbers off jackdaws over going into roost. plus all usual birds around.
Andy Bissitt said
Tue Nov 15 8:21 PM, 2011
A semi-rarity for the park yesterday with only my second ever record of a goldeneye there in over 25 years. A female, it was on the keg pool but wary, swimming to the other side when I or other walkers used the path round it.
Not a great deal else. About a dozen siskins, 4+ goldcrests, 4 treecreepers, a few redwings heard, loads of mandarins going through the early stages of courtship, and mid-teens of cormorants.
Chris Greene said
Fri Nov 4 8:46 AM, 2011
Late post for yesterday ,03/11/11 @ 11:30 - 13:00 Highlights from hide : Two very vocal kingfishers showing well . M+F teal seen upstream, 20 + tufted duck, Male greater spotted woodpecker, 3 jays seen at once, Plus usual tits ,finches and nuthatches On leaving hide : three goldcrest,feeding with blue tits- in bushes near the semi-submerged punt on the pond near the gate. No sign of any Mandarin ducks anywhere, I presume they are lurking along the river .
Cheers Chris
vic chatterton said
Tue Nov 1 5:38 PM, 2011
c 35 Siskin and a flock of 5+ Siskin. Not much else. Redwings and Fieldfares totally absent.
Adam Jones said
Sat Oct 15 1:30 PM, 2011
Saturday 15th October 8.15-10.15am
Highlight this morning was a flock of 10 Bullfinches and 14 Redpoll in Keg Wood above the path down to Keg Pool. Feeding in the birch over head, they stayed in the same area while I watched for a good 25 minutes. Nothing else out of the ordinary on a lovely bright morning. 4 Cormorant 1 Grey Wagtail (by weir) 8 Nuthatch 1 Buzzard 9 Mandarin Ducks Lots of Tit flocks
12-3pm in the drizzling rain. 1 dipper 1 kingfisher 1 grey wagtail 3 teal 6 cormorants 2 grey herons plenty off mandarins around,also nuthatches & jays. 4 goldcrests in with flock off tits. plus all usual birds around.
Karen Foulkes said
Tue Aug 9 7:20 PM, 2011
8/8/11 Afternoon visit
c20 Mandarin in various plumages 1 Dipper viewed from platform by river 1 Grey Heron on pool opposite nature reserve entrance 2 Great Crested Grebe 1 Tufted Duck
steve ashworth said
Sun Jul 31 8:54 AM, 2011
3 young manderin in different locations plus one adult female manderin. From the hide kingfisher, cormerant, egyptian goose and two mute swans with only one cygnet
Scott Reid said
Sat Jul 9 12:21 AM, 2011
Myself and a friend set out to keg wood after sunset this evening with a goal to photograph tawny owls, and we weren't dissapointed. Between 21:30 and 23:30 we heard atleast 6 individuals, saw atleast 3 individuals and managed to photograph one bird that happily sat within range of our spotlights for around 30 seconds, allowing us to get the desired shots. A great adventure with brilliant results!! Topped off by an EXTREMELY close encounter with a badger on the walk back to the car!
Joe Wynn said
Thu Jun 30 10:25 PM, 2011
1 Kingfisher flew up and down river etherow twice this evening, with 5 young grey wags visible on the river itself. 4 young Manderin on the far end of the lake.
vic chatterton said
Fri Jun 24 6:09 PM, 2011
No sign of Crossbills until 4.10pm when at least 6 were seen to fly into larch trees calling (probably more). Real neck achers this time unlike Monday, feeding at the very top of tall larch. They were on path on right of main path just before sharp left bend. The path going left from the top of the tramway - larches near to where the path is partially blocked by logs and piles of stones. The birds appeared to fly in from outside the reserve from the Marple direction.
Other birds present were - at least 100 Swift feeding overhead. 2 Buzzards - mobbed by 3 LBB Gulls good view of Tawny Owl being mobbed by Blackbirds 1 Sparrowhawk.
Rick Donkin said
Tue Jun 21 5:03 PM, 2011
10:45 to 13:00
A maximum count of 12 Crossbills, including 2 adult males, this morning - the first Crossbills I've seen for about 10 years.
Met up with fellow forum members Jon Beckett and his father as I was just entering Erncroft Wood and with John Rayner and Ken Dunning who were viewing the birds as I arrived. Nice to put faces to postings.
A walk further up the path to Glossop Rd and back produced sightings of: 5 Coal Tits (adults with juveniles chasing them around). Several Great Tits, Blue Tits, Wrens and Blackbirds. 2 singing Chiffchaff. 1 Adult Nuthatch with 2 young. By the time I returned to where the Crossbills had been seen they had moved on.
From/near the hide: 1 Grey Heron. Several Mandarin Ducks with ducklings and 1 very 'eclipsed' male. 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker. Chiffchaff. Blackcap. Jay. Many Canada Geese with goslings. 3 Tufted Ducks.
Rick.
Jon Beckett said
Tue Jun 21 12:13 PM, 2011
Spent about an hour there from 10am this morning, saw 11 crossbills. View through the 'scope was fantastic. No adult males though.. Saw a kingfisher flash past as leaving so enjoyable morning
vic chatterton said
Mon Jun 20 6:12 PM, 2011
At least 15 Crossbills still present in Ernocroft Wood, between 2 and 3.30pm. Excellent views of some birds perching for long periods on dead branches at eye level. They were also the quietest Crossbills I have ever come across with not a sound for the whole hour and a half until they flew off for a short distance at 3.30pm. Birds were still in general area feeding a few yards below the main path. Walk up the main path in Ernocroft until you come to an oak tree covered in wild Honeysuckle - birds feeding about 15-20 yds below there. Also 2 Treecreepers on larch where Crossbills feeding.
At least 3 broods of Mandarin Ducks in front of hide. 3 pairs of Lapwings on field adjacent to top path (above canal section) with at least 2 very well developed young - must have been an early nesting from size of birds + plumage.
jason fisher said
Sun Jun 19 7:34 PM, 2011
i only managed to see them this morning because they happened to fly up while i was in the right place other wise you can be staring at the trees you know they're sat in and still not see them.
nice to meet stephen this morning, we also passed 3 people heading in the opposite direction as we were on our way out 1 of which i know was a forum member as i've met him before.
Adam Jones said
Sun Jun 19 6:36 PM, 2011
No luck for me on the Crossbill front between 2.45 and 3.45pm. I know I was in the right area as passing park ranger kindly pointed me in the right direction. Still plenty of cones around, and I am sure they are probably in the vacinity. Time just ran out for me.
1 Egyptian goose right of keg pool at the bottom of the field. A lifer for me!
Single counts of common buzzard and sparrowhawk over the woods
6x nuthatch
27x mandarin largely males, including a small gathering of five birds high up in the trees at the path start to keg wood.
2x great crested grebe
2x goosander in flight
A single dipper flying up river from in front of the hide
1x green woodpecker heard at first then seen taking off from field leading up to the woods.
Great morning especially with the Egyptian goose and the photos I got! Thanks for the info on the site!
Go up beyond the weir and where the path goes up into Ernocroft Woods, head instead on the level up what looks like a private farm road with a pond fringed with reeds on your left. After this pond is a [private] gate to the farm flanked by fields but immediately to your left is a small gate held closed with string through into the nature reserve - follow the path in there round to the hide.
There used to be quite a gang of them there when I was a kid - usually at the sandy area by the grass where they'd all come out to be fed.
Kevin
Not much to add,but now a pair of great crested grebes on main lodge.
Cheers Chris
1 Grey Wagtail
Buzzard over Woodheys
Plenty of Mandarin, as previously mentioned, Male outnumbering female.
Blue, Great, Coal & Longtailed Tits
Good numbers of Nuthatch & a couple of Treecreepers
Watched a pair of Dipper 'to' ing & 'fro' ing from what looks like a possible 'des res'
Can only add 3pm-4pm
Keg
lots of Nuthatches and treecreepers as stated
Great Spotted Woodpecker
five Goosander pool
six Tufted Ducks Pool similar river near pool and back of sluice house
Cormorant over
Egyptian Goose side of pool making a racket
Several Signs saying keep dogs on leads so as not to fret the mute swans and no one taking any notice.
and saw four Great Crested Grebes on main res
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 4th of March 2012 09:24:08 PM
Nuthatch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Jay
Kingfisher flew past
Cormorant and Mandarin
Thanks for saying I had to take seed
Great crested grebe on main lake ,
I counted 21 male mandarin on the canal section, ( probably more though,) And 27 males behind the pump - house . The males appear to outnumber the females by about 2:1 !!!
Also great spotted woodpecker ,teal and treecreepers from hide + all usuals.. including several mating pairs of Canada geese .
Cheers Chris.
The usuals on the main lake. No Goosanders at all for me today.
4 Manadarins and 2 Cormorants.
3 Dipper sightings on the river Goyt.
From the hide:
4 Teal
3 Tufted Ducks
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
Kingfisher seen on 4 occasions
Flock of 8 Siskin
Many Nuthatch, Great, Blue, Long Tail and Coal Tits.
2 Treecreepers
12 Cormorants
2 Mandarins
Lots of Mandarins between the main lake and the weir. Are they taking over the neighbourhood? Not seen so many here before.
8 male and 4 female goosanders present. No sign of a deceased goosander around the lake ,so hopefully, the mysterious dissappearing goosander from Wednesday is OK
Also present on main lake 2m and 1f tufted duck,amongst the usual bread-munchers.
Cheers Chris.
I suppose there is a chance that the male might have re-surfaced at the other side of the island,but I would say that was about 60 yards away at the time.
Cheers Chris
Chris, I must have been half and hour behind you, so it does not sound good. I would go back, but have been smitten with something, and at all well.
Common mergansers can remain underwater for up to 2 minutes, but maximum recorded dive times are 52 seconds in 2 to 3 m water and 37 seconds in 18 to 37 m water, with a typical dive lasting less than 30 seconds.
So it doesn't look too
good if it didn't resurface anywhere in that time
Funny you should say that you only saw three goosanders,because on the way back to the car park ,I was watching the four goosanders, one of the males dived under the remaining thin sheet of ice that the bh gulls were stood on ... I watched for a good 3 or 4 minutes, but didn't see him re-surface ! By this time my missus was getting worried, so I reassured her that goosanders, can swim a long way underwater ( hopefully !!! ) and we carried on .
Also 6 teal upstream from hide ,and good numbers of treecreepers and nuthatch.
Cheers Chris
Did not find any Dippers, but loads of Tuffties behind the pump house. Mandarin on the Canal and 75% of two pairs of Goosander on the main lake. Assume the other male was somehwre.
Geoff
plenty of the usual woodland birds about and a grey heron flying up and down the river were todays highlights
Female greater spotted woodpecker, from C.W.T. hide,
Two male teal far upstream,
28 cormorant in roost tree ,
20+ tufties on river.
Cheers Chris.
All usual birds present plus:
Large flock of long-tailed tits,feeding on suet pellets and fat balls,
Great views of goldcrest - about 8 feet away for a few minutes,
Two treecreepers,
At least two jays,
Little grebe, cautiously eating a stickleback!
Cheers Chris.
Adam (13)
blue,great and coal tits,plenty of nuthatches, robins and dunnocks.Quite often jays and great spotted woodpeckers put in an appearance. The Egyptian goose has also been known to visit the table for an easy meal!!!
Cheers Chris
P.S Don't forget to take food to put on the table,as it's usually empty!!
-- Edited by Chris Greene on Wednesday 4th of January 2012 05:19:38 PM
High Lights were at least 37 Mandarin Ducks, males now in all their splendour
Female Goosander on the river
20 Tufted Ducks Keg Pool
Plus all the usuals
Highlights from CWT hide :
Little grebe,
30+ tufted ducks,
2 M and 1 F teal,
Female goosander ,
16 cormorants in roost tree ...
2 grey wagtails near weir .
Cheers Chris
Kingfisher
Little Grebe
5 Teal
8 Tufted Duck
20+ Redwings
Mostly same as Steven's post
The Egyptian Goose was at the Keg Pool when I caught up with it. Also present:
2 Mute Swan
1 Little Grebe
Also around Keg trail and nature reserve
Lesser Redpoll at least 5 birds in the area, possibly more
2 Nuthatches on nature reserve path
A pair of Dippers exhibiting signs of courtship behaviour, with the male singing whilst chasing the female high around the weir area
The one that really got me though was 11 Tufted Ducks coming to bread on the river
1 kingfisher
6 teals
8 tufted ducks
1 grey wagtail
1 egyptian goose
29 cormorants (all in the usual tree)
all the above seen from the hide, also water rail (heard only).
lots off mandarins around,mainly on the river.
1 buzzard
green woodpecker (heard only)
tawny owls (heard only)
nice flock off 50+ siskins & goldfinches (mostly siskins)
redwings, fieldfares, nuthatches, treecreepers
huge numbers off jackdaws over going into roost.
plus all usual birds around.
Not a great deal else. About a dozen siskins, 4+ goldcrests, 4 treecreepers, a few redwings heard, loads of mandarins going through the early stages of courtship, and mid-teens of cormorants.
Highlights from hide :
Two very vocal kingfishers showing well .
M+F teal seen upstream,
20 + tufted duck, Male greater spotted woodpecker,
3 jays seen at once,
Plus usual tits ,finches and nuthatches
On leaving hide : three goldcrest,feeding with blue tits- in bushes near the semi-submerged punt on the pond near the gate.
No sign of any Mandarin ducks anywhere, I presume they are lurking along the river .
Cheers Chris
Redwings and Fieldfares totally absent.
Highlight this morning was a flock of 10 Bullfinches and 14 Redpoll in Keg Wood above the path down to Keg Pool. Feeding in the birch over head, they stayed in the same area while I watched for a good 25 minutes.
Nothing else out of the ordinary on a lovely bright morning.
4 Cormorant
1 Grey Wagtail (by weir)
8 Nuthatch
1 Buzzard
9 Mandarin Ducks
Lots of Tit flocks
Keg Pool
1 Grey Heron
2 Tufted Ducks
2 Mute Swans
1 Egyptian Goose
1 dipper
1 kingfisher
1 grey wagtail
3 teal
6 cormorants
2 grey herons
plenty off mandarins around,also nuthatches & jays.
4 goldcrests in with flock off tits.
plus all usual birds around.
c20 Mandarin in various plumages
1 Dipper viewed from platform by river
1 Grey Heron on pool opposite nature reserve entrance
2 Great Crested Grebe
1 Tufted Duck
The birds appeared to fly in from outside the reserve from the Marple direction.
Other birds present were - at least 100 Swift feeding overhead.
2 Buzzards - mobbed by 3 LBB Gulls
good view of Tawny Owl being mobbed by Blackbirds
1 Sparrowhawk.
A maximum count of 12 Crossbills, including 2 adult males, this morning - the first Crossbills I've seen for about 10 years.
Met up with fellow forum members Jon Beckett and his father as I was just entering Erncroft Wood and with John Rayner and Ken Dunning who were viewing the birds as I arrived. Nice to put faces to postings.
A walk further up the path to Glossop Rd and back produced sightings of:
5 Coal Tits (adults with juveniles chasing them around).
Several Great Tits, Blue Tits, Wrens and Blackbirds.
2 singing Chiffchaff.
1 Adult Nuthatch with 2 young.
By the time I returned to where the Crossbills had been seen they had moved on.
From/near the hide:
1 Grey Heron.
Several Mandarin Ducks with ducklings and 1 very 'eclipsed' male.
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Chiffchaff.
Blackcap.
Jay.
Many Canada Geese with goslings.
3 Tufted Ducks.
Rick.
Saw a kingfisher flash past as leaving so enjoyable morning
Birds were still in general area feeding a few yards below the main path. Walk up the main path in Ernocroft until you come to an oak tree covered in wild Honeysuckle - birds feeding about 15-20 yds below there.
Also 2 Treecreepers on larch where Crossbills feeding.
At least 3 broods of Mandarin Ducks in front of hide.
3 pairs of Lapwings on field adjacent to top path (above canal section) with at least 2 very well developed young - must have been an early nesting from size of birds + plumage.
nice to meet stephen this morning, we also passed 3 people heading in the opposite direction as we were on our way out 1 of which i know was a forum member as i've met him before.