This a.m. with Brian, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Teal and over 100 Tufted on the res, Buzzard over, Little Owl near Crow Trees.
Cheers Ian

1st light to 9.30a.m. with Brian Fielding, 4 Little Grebe, 4 Teal, 1 Pochard and 1 Wigeon on the res with 1 Curlew over.
Cheers Ian

2 Peregrine, 7 Jay, Several Meadow Pipits, Grey Wagtail, Bullfinch 4 Little Grebe and a chap waving his arms and runniong about with a yapping dog on the north shore which put an end to anything else.

Mid afternoon,

1 Dunlin by the creek
3 Little Grebe
2 Wigeon
77 Tufted Duck
4 Chiffchaff
1 Treecreeper
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Peregrine
6 Siskin over south
15 Redwing
2 Goldcrest
Kingfisher
3 Meadow Pipits flew SW with a further 35+ around the newly cut grass along the wall.

4 Jays spead about, several flocks of Redwing up to 30 strong, Fieldfare, Snipe, 2 Dunlin North Shore, 3 Wigeon 6 Teal, Little Grebe and Grey Wagtail and other more usual species

0730 till 1200, 1 juvenile tern was probably arctic but couldnt rule out common because it wasnt on long, 13 wigeon and 7 teal first thing but soon moved on, 1 willow warbler below withins, 1 great spotted woodpecker, plenty of meadow pipits and a few redwings around.

0730 till 0830, 1 whinchat, corner of old hall marsh nr stile below pumphouse, 1 gadwall on res.

0730 till 1200 with ian campbell, 1 willow tit nr bennys, 1 raven over, 3 little grebe on res, plenty of meadow pipits and redwings around, large tit flock along canal didnt have anything exciting with them.

Not much meadow pipits, 2 Jay, flocks Long Tailed Tits and 80 Tufted Ducks on withins

Early a.m. Juv Arctic Tern circled res twice, landed on a bouy for 3 mins then flew off South. 3 Little Grebe in creek and approx 50 Meadow Pipit.
Cheers Ian

08:30 to 11:15 NW Wind Cloudy
5 Whooper Swan on Res till 10:40
1 Wigeon flew onto res at 10:15
4 Little Grebe in creek
20+ Meadow Pipit in field below pump house
1 Willow Tit in a Large flock of tits mainly Long Tailed Tit along canal.
1 Sparrowhawk over canal
7 Redwings in hedge near Creek

0730 till 0930
single peregrine sat on pylon the only bird of note.

0715 till 0845, still very quiet here, 3 little grebes in the creek and 3 redwings over.

0715 till 0845, still very quiet here, 3 little grebes in the creek and 3 redwings over.

stayed on until 1200, can only add 10 redwings over and 2 common buzzards over, info from peter baron.

7.15-9.45 a.m. with Brian Fielding, 34 Pink-feet over SE, 3 Swallow, 1 Little Grebe and a Sparrow Hawk were the birds of note.
Cheers Ian

7-8.45 a.m. 70 Tufted Duck, 3 Teal and 1 Pochard with 31 Cormorant on pylon near boathouse, also 2 Swallow. 130 Pink-footed Geese over SE at 8.30.
Cheers Ian

10am-12.30am

The hedges from wader point to the dip where full of common birds - mainly thrushes, finches and tit's but no Yellow-browed Warbler

2 Redwing in the dip with a further 12 east
55+ Blackbird mainly the creek and dip
28 Song Thrush (9 withins to wader point 12 in the creek and 7 in the dip)
15 Bullfinch in the dip (feeding on plants near the marsh at the bottom)
5 Chiffchaff (2 dip & 3 creek)
2 Blackcap wader point
Great spotted Woodpecker - dip
Coal tit - dip
5 Reed Bunting - creek
15 Goldfinch - creek also present in the dip

4 Wigeon and 3 Teal dropped into res

8am to 10:30 low clouds with light rain Very quite large flock of long tailed tit with blue tit and Great Tit, all along hedge from Creek to Capsticks Marsh The Dip was most productive with 2 Chiffchaff 1 Kingfisher and 1 Bullfinch of note

Quiet seems to be an understatement - cant add much more

43 Collared Dove flew east in a loose flock
2 Siskin
2 Chiffchaff

still quiet here the past few days, single peregrine over and one little grebe the only birds of note.

This afternoon -

2 Raven in cattle field below Within's Res.
7 Snipe
Male Sparrowhawk on fence post along canal

4 little Grebe on the res this a.m.
Cheers Ian

8 to 10 am Walk Around Elton res.
1 Chiffchaff, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Dip
6 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler, 11 Cormorant, 1 Kingfisher on Elton Res
5 Snipe (3 circled over res before leaving over old hall farm 2 flew towards Bury)
1 Sparrowhawk

8:30 TO 12 Noon
In Dip 3 Chiffchaff
Hedge Below Pump House 2 Spotted Flycatcher,
On Elton Res 7 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Kingfisher,
4 Lesser Blacked Backed Gulls, 1 Common Gull,
40+ Tufted Duck ( 3 Females with Scaup Faces)
Crow Trees 1 Little Owl
Canal 2 Reed Bunting, 3 Meadow Pipit,


-- Edited by Steven Higginbottom on Wednesday 25th of September 2013 10:53:16 AM

32 pink-footed geese flew west over withins
kingfisher - withins over flow
230 House Martin passing through
8 Skylark se plus another on res banking
10 snipe (8 south plus another 2 landed in fields at crow trees)
3 Jay

8 great crested grebe and 30+ tufted duck on res

helen j wrote:

---

Hi I have walked around crow trees a couple of times recently hoping th see the little owl. Would be extremely grateful if you could let me know where the usual spot is? Many thanks

---

I've sent you a PM.
Cheers Ian

Hi I have walked around crow trees a couple of times recently hoping th see the little owl. Would be extremely grateful if you could let me know where the usual spot is? Many thanks

All the Swallows and Martins over the res have departed, approx 50 Tufted Duck present. At Crow Trees 65 Swallows sat on wires all suddenly took to the air and flew off South when totally surprised I noticed a Tree Pipit sat on the roof of the barn where it remained for 5 Mins before also flying off South, Little Owl again present.
Cheers Ian

Early morning with Brian and Paul, lots of swallows and House Martins still about occasionaly harrassed by a Sparrowhawk, 2 Wigeon and 2 Shoveler with over 40 Tufted, also a Kingfisher. Little Owl in usual spot near Crow Trees.
Cheers Ian

Three of the seven swans this morning were ZW 6474 ZW 6496 ZW 6041 all from Moses Gate
ZW 6041 was seen at Moses on 18/9/13 first seen in 03/06/13
ZW 6474 was seen at Moses on 13/09/13 first seen 03/06/13
ZW 6496 was seen at Moses on 28/08/13 first seen 11/06/13
They all left flying east after circling over Radcliffe

7-9am aroundres
Hundreds of Swallows, House and Sand Martins split roughly 60, 30, 10 percent.
At least three singing Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, 12 Meadow Pipits 3 Reed Bunting, Kingfisher, 7 Mute Swans landed then were off but not before I clocked three rings in exchange for some grub, 2 Grey Wagtails, Pied Wagtails, 3 Teal, 2 Jay, flocks of Long Tailed Tits and Goldfinches, 4 Lapwing, 19 Tufted Ducks and 9 more flew over, Several Herons, Large flock of Starlings and House Sparrows.

8:10am TO 11am Heavy showers with Sunny intervals.
1 Barnacle Goose with 60+ Canada Geese on field near car park, With another 50+ Canada Geese on Res.
30 Tufted Ducks an increase in numbers, 9 Cormorants, 4 Great Crested Grebes on Elton res +1 on Withins, Wood pigeons Everywhere, 1 Chiffchaff, 12 Meadow Pipits below pump house, lots of Swallows, House Matins and 4 Sand Martins flying over Res.
2 Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap (male) 2 Reed Buntins along Canal.

22 Pink-footed Geese currently in fields at spenmoor

Plus Skeins of 15 14 c80 c60 46 and 58 all over heading in westerly direction

Juvenile Hobby flew SW

4 Common Buzzard seen out towards pilsworth

2 Sparrowhawk

-- Edited by Simon Johnson on Wednesday 18th of September 2013 04:11:40 PM

-- Edited by Simon Johnson on Wednesday 18th of September 2013 08:03:54 PM

very quiet for mid september
strong winds and heavy rain, the joys of local patch birding!
1 female goosander
1 teal
flock of aprox 70 lapwings

and to add

7 Shelduck circled the res a few times before going south
6 Goosander south
Gadwall (a 2nd bird flew south with Mallards)
Buzzard over withins
Whitethroat along canal
4 Grey Wagtail

7am-12 noon with Ian Campbell (early) and Simon Johnson

Highlights:

1 Dunlin (Ian only)
1 Green Sandpiper (over)
4 Spotted Flycatcher (2 near Crow Trees 2 in creek near bridge)
2 Redstart (Crow Trees - back of field near black bales)
1 Garden Warbler (hedgerow before pumphouse)
4 Blackcap
6 Whitethroat
5 Willow Warbler
2 Chiffchaff
3 Stock Dove (field near creek)
18 Tufted Duck
1 Wigeon
1 Gadwall
1 Kingfisher (Withins overflow)
1 Little Owl
c100 Goldfinch
c20 Meadow Pipit
Loads of House Martins plus good numbers of Swallow and Sand Martin.


-- Edited by Paul Wilson on Saturday 14th of September 2013 12:50:08 PM

This afternoon:

Female / juvenile Redstart below Withins Res. in hawthorn hedge near double gates.

Also early morning, barnacle goose in with the canada geese and a wheatear on the wall nr pumphouse.

Early morning, 2 Spotted Flycatchers in the Creek (one in large sycamore and one in hedge in southern corner), also one drake Gadwall on the res, 15 Wigeon flew west, 7 teal dropped in briefly. 85 Swallows flew in from the north to join the 300+ present also 36 Meadow Pipits flew south-west.

Ten Mute Swans landed in the Fog this am
Darvic Rings
ZY 6995 BD6 was last seen at Moses 11/09/13 first seen 10/06/13
ZY 1352 IP4 was last seen at Moses 04/09/13 first seen 03/05/13
VX6 XH6 Not Clear where from
Clearly a group as they took off circled well out over Radcliffe and then re-landed

This morning, in thick fog. At least 2 Spotted Flycatchers still in the Creek, now in the large Sycamores on the south side, often with the impressive Long-tailed Tit flock, also 10+ Willow Warblers still and Lesser Whitethroat present as well. Plenty of Meadow Pipits heard moving over the fog.

Early morning, 3 Spotted Flycatchers showing well from the bridge in the Creek also 10+ Willow Warblers.

Few birds moving overhead with 10 Snipe and a steady passage of Swallows heading south, 60+ in 40 mins this morning.

7 till 10 1 whinchat on pumphouse wall, 1 wheatear,1 spotted flycatcher in hedge below pumphouse, 1 buzzard over, 1 little grebe in creek

Common crane over withins at 1905, info thanks to ian peters

0700 till 1100
no sign of yesterdays redstart or whinchat
nothing of note on res
5 spotted flycatchers reported today, 2 below pumphouse and 3 on north side between creek and capsticks.

Also this morning, male redstart in hedge below old hall farm, 3 spotted flycatchers and garden warbler in hedge below pumphouse, single dunlin nr creek.

This afternoon:

Still 2 Whinchat in the same area as yesterday.

8-1.30pm

old hall farm

1 male redstart
2 whinchats
4 snipe
13 lapwings
1 chiffchaff singing

crow trees farm

2 little owls
1 buzzard

on res

13 tufted ducks
1 teal
3 great crested grebes
mostly swallows, sand martins & house martins over res

and a very impressive flock of birds in the hedge below pumphouse..

2 spotted flycatchers
1 sedge warbler
2 blackcaps, 1 singing
2 whitethroats
lots of willow warblers
goldfinches, greenfinches, great tits, blue tits
and also 2 whinchats ( probably the same 2 from old hall farm) later on


nice to meet other forum members

-- Edited by steven burke on Sunday 8th of September 2013 08:18:39 PM

-- Edited by steven burke on Sunday 8th of September 2013 08:20:45 PM

4-7pm, thanks for letting us know about the Whinchats Peter, all 7 still on view this evening, a superb count for Elton. The juvenile Wheatear was also still in the field below Old Hall Farm along with 100 Starling, 20 Pied Wagtails around the cattle and 10 Meadow Pipits dropped in. The usual female Sparrowhawk was hanging around.

Also 3 additional Spotted Flycatchers were in the hedge that runs between Elton and Withins Res along with a nice imm. Redstart. Other birds seen included Kingfisher, Teal and 2 Little Owls.