2.30-4.30pm - A rather damp afternoon!

At least 4 Quails calling in f62 sounding very close to the road but frustratingly remained hidden. Stopped calling during heaviest rain but carried on when the rain was much lighter

Also:
male Yellow Wagtail showing well on the telegraph wires along edge of f62
female Sparrowhawk - f20
1 Kestrel
displaying Meadow Pipit -f62
Skylark - f62
4 Stock Dove - f19
Reed Bunting - f62

I missed the Marsh Harrier over f62 by 10mins !

All's well that ends well Joe

Let me know directly if you have any other problems.

Ian McKerchar wrote:

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Joe Wynn wrote:

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No sign (or sound) of any quails this morning when I went. Just checking, was I right in going to the fields after whitehouse rd (one on the left is high grass), just I couldn't hear anything quail-like, couple of linnets and yellowhammers about though.
Cheers,
Joe

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Sorry Joe, you've certainly lost me there

Have you checked the Chat, Irlam and Barton mosses site guide on the website? It gives details of access points and the map helps too. Fields 62/63 are along Astley Road, just south of Olive Mount Farm.

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Cheers Ian, I was looking at carrington moss field numbers

It's always a possibility Rob but given the recent UK influx of Quail plus the fact that these two fields have almost annually been the species favourites in early June especially, I'd still favour wild birds.

Is there any chance that Quail could have been released here? I remember that a couple of years ago when Carrington Moss was invaded there were suspicions voiced that released birds might have been involved.
(I'm not making any allegation here, just curious)

Joe Wynn wrote:

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No sign (or sound) of any quails this morning when I went. Just checking, was I right in going to the fields after whitehouse rd (one on the left is high grass), just I couldn't hear anything quail-like, couple of linnets and yellowhammers about though.
Cheers,
Joe

---

Sorry Joe, you've certainly lost me there

Have you checked the Chat, Irlam and Barton mosses site guide on the website? It gives details of access points and the map helps too. Fields 62/63 are along Astley Road, just south of Olive Mount Farm.

This morning,
At least 2 Quail calling in f62 in between the gaps in the rain with another calling from f63.
Also,
2 Kestrels
Curlew calling
Yellowhammers
M Pipits
Plenty of Swallows

2 Grey partridge were in f15 along 12 Yards road

Another Quail was calling from f20 heard halfway down the track to the ringing pits. In f19 were;
6 Lapwings
Oystercatcher
2 Yellow wagtails over which headed for the Ringing pits and were seen again later
2 Pied wagtails
3 Stock dove
Lots of Wood pigeon

Ringing pits area
Sparrowhawk
2 Whitethroat
Willow warbler
Pied wagtail
Buzzard over

Nice to meet Pat and her husband again while listening to the Quail, thanks for the cake

No sign (or sound) of any quails this morning when I went. Just checking, was I right in going to the fields after whitehouse rd (one on the left is high grass), just I couldn't hear anything quail-like, couple of linnets and yellowhammers about though.
Cheers,
Joe

5/6/11 (06:30 - 09:30)

Chat Moss:

3 Quails still singing in fields south of Olive Mount Farm; one seen in flight over the road
1 Marsh Harrier (f)
1 Cuckoo

Nice to chat with Steve Collins and to meet Steve Ashworth as we stared over the corn listening to them tease us. A second vigil 6 - 6.30pm produced no sighting for me though one bird was calling in field 63.

A cycle along Twelve Yards Road 5 - 6pm out to where it ends at the railway line crossing to Botany Bay Wood produced a female yellow Wag carrying food on the wires where the pylons are plus singing Corn Bunting at Bartonmoss Farm.

Thanks to Steve C for the big consolation GM tick of Marsh Harrier

Also got a brief view in flight this afternoon for a county tick and lifer too!
Same guestimate of the number of birds present as others. Didn't hear any in field 63 but the Marsh Harrier flew across low right to left putting a pheasant up before disappearing behind the fenced off area.
Steve

quails still calling at 3.30 in 3 different parts of the field excellent veiws of one flying for about 5 or 6 seconds. Nice to meet tim wilcox and the stockport boys

Hmm,would be nice to think I had a special power but it,s sheer luck,tempered of course by gleaning the free information off the main website and updates from the forum,The Holy Quail cracked,ticked, lifer happy days

cheers geoff

dave broome wrote:

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10:00-13:10 Quails still calling fairly frequently, at least 3, probably 4 in field 62 plus one which called occasionally in 63

One flew up almost from under us off the roadside edge of field 62 at 13:05 - only about 15 minutes after Geoff 'quail whisperer' Hargreaves had arrived for the late shift

Marsh Harrier late morning
Yellow Wagtails in the vicinity

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I think there were four Dave. Pleased to meet you btw.

Also in area:

12 sightings of Yellow Wags - at least 6 birds
2 Kestrels
Sparrowhawk
3 Buzzards
7 Yellowhammers

10:00-13:10 Quails still calling fairly frequently, at least 3, probably 4 in field 62 plus one which called occasionally in 63

One flew up almost from under us off the roadside edge of field 62 at 13:05 - only about 15 minutes after Geoff 'quail whisperer' Hargreaves had arrived for the late shift

Marsh Harrier late morning
Yellow Wagtails in the vicinity
Cuckoo flew past Olive Mount Farm



-- Edited by dave broome on Saturday 4th of June 2011 03:45:09 PM

Well done Ian. Perseverance pays off!!

Marsh Harrier again seen at back of field 63 this a.m., GM tick for me.
Cheers Ian

4/6/11 7am - 9am Astley Road

Quails reconvened at 8.30am, this time possibly four singing in field 62.

Other birds seen/heard:
c5 Blue Tits
10 Long Tailed Tits
c5 Goldfinch
3 Chaffinches
2 Whitethroat
1 Yellowhammer
1 Blackbird
1 Magpie
c10 Swifts and plenty of Swallows
Plenty of Skylarks
1 Kestrel
3 Buzzards
1 Hobby over heading North and landed in a tree on edge of field 62/60

Little Owl and Marsh Harrier seen by other birders.

Nice to meet everyone this morning. I hope you got some more flight views.

An early morning visit today from 6.00 to 7.30 produced 3 singing quail in f62 and one in f63. After waiting around for an hour i managed to get a very brief view of one in flight in f62. It was intriguing to note that the birds all began to sing at 6.15 and then all suddenly stopped at 7.30. Nice to meet Richard Norris and Nik Grounds down there as well.

A visit from 8.20-9pm produced three Quail calling in field 62 close to the track with two more in flight chasing each other more distantly out in the field. At least one of these two could have been a bird calling earlier as only two were calling when they were seen in flight. But there must have been four or five birds present, all in field 62. The two chasing may have been rival males in a dispute or even a male chasing a female.

The slightly sour note was a car hitting a female Blackbird along the track as I drove up, the occupants did look a bit upset but failed to stop. I got out and checked and the bird which was very badly injured but just alive, the body crushed, so I put the poor thing out of its misery. The couple in the car could have been birders, if anyone ever hits a bird please go & check it if you can rather than let it die painfully and slowly.

After spending 2 hours listening to Quail and a 10 second sighting of these hard to see birds I wandered down Astley road towards Irlam. Birds seen included a Spotted flycatcher, 2 more Yellow wagtails, Sparrowhawk and a Cuckoo over the Ringing pits area.
Also saw a Curlew attacking a Buzzard on the far side of f63

3 Quail calling in f62. Just had Quail briefly flying over f63. 2 yellow wagtails also seen

Three Quail still singing by early afternoon, with two in field 62 and one in field 63. Surprising how quickly they can move location as I tracked one moving parallel with Astley Road and it moved at a searing pace! Nothing from field 17 though.

Five Yellow Wagtails at various locations around Chat and Irlam Moss

0815 till 1100
1 female marsh harrier showed 3 times in total along the back of field 63
2 hobbys flew north over at 1040
excellent 2 days on the mosses with quail, marsh harrier,hobby,cuckoo and yellow wagtail.

Female Marsh Harrier still around field 63 at 08:30 this morning.

Info thanks to Brian Fielding

Arrived at fields 62/63 at 06.15 - quite misty then but as the sun got higher and cleared the mist the Quail started calling - at about 06.50 had my first flight view - after many, many attempts I finally did it, I saw a Quail

By now it was getting quite warm and eventually there were 2 birds calling in both fields. As I was about to leave one of the field 63 birds flew across the road no more than 10m from me - I stayed a little longer and there were still 2 birds calling from that field so there are possibly 5 birds in the two fields - didn't check field 17.

I arrived from the Irlam direction and Astley Road past Twelve Yards Road is really pot-holed, worse than I recall from previous visits.

-- Edited by sid ashton on Saturday 4th of June 2011 08:27:07 AM

One Quail seen flying across Astley Road from field 63 to field 62 on Chat Moss at 6:55 this morning. Then two calling in both fields (so four birds total) at 07:35.

Info thanks to Sid Ashton

i sent um a fax Riggers



Sorry to the 2 guys i met tonight who missed out, the last couple who hung round till eightish with nowt going on ans said they would try again saturday, i waited a bit longer, that OCD persistence kicking in and then at 8.17 a quail started its call from the center of feild 63 and then a further 2nd bird calling from feild 62,

also of note 2 jays flew over, a few yellow wagtails flying around, whitethroats singing, some great looking yellowhammers near train crossing, curlew over

three great spotted woodpeckers together in rindle woods

JOHN TYMON wrote:

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don't call them using phones

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Just e-mail them instead sorry John.

Quail still singing from field 63 at 8:20pm.

Info thanks to Dennis Atherton

There is a fairly comprehensive site guide on the website Sarfraz which covers access points. Look under the 'Chat, Irlam and Barton Mosses' site guide.

I am from Rossendale and would love to visit this place. How do I get there and where do you park up?

Excellent afternoons birding this today. Walked from Rindle Road all the way down to beyond 12 yards road. Highlights being: -

4 Quail singing (2 in field 63, 1 in field 62 and 1 in field 17) unfortunately not seen though.
1 female Marsh Harrier over field 64.
1 Little Owl
2 Curlew
1 Cuckoo (over the railway line)
1 female Yellow wagtail in horse paddock along Rindle road on my way home.

Nice to meet the Elton gang down there too. Brian Fielding, Ian Campbell and Ian Peters. Thanks for the lift back to my car fellas, sorry you missed the Marsh Harrier.

0945 till 1515
with ian campbell and ian peters
quail seen in flight by all of us, flew from field 63 across the lane and into adjacent cereal field, county lifer. there are now 2 and probably 3 quail in these fields.
1 female yellow wagtail in field 24
male and female cuckoos at the sssi
missed the marsh harrier by a couple of minutes over field 63.
no sign of hobby.

John Doherty wrote:

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but as there is no field number guide for Astley, Chat and Irlam Mosses as per Carrington Moss

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Head...wall...bang...again...

I would sdvise anyone going to keep disturbance to a minimum with the quail as they are very rare -don't call them using phones,as they may just move on

John,

Field 63 is just over the railway line at the end of Rindle Lane coming from the Astley Green end (by what appears to be called Olive Mount Farm). There is a map with field numbers for Chat, Astley and Irlam Moss on the site guide pages under Chat Moss.

Hope that helps - I may see you there myself if you are going this evening.

Richard

Where would field 63 be exactly? I am keen to see if I can see the bird/s and would attempt tomorrow, but as there is no field number guide for Astley, Chat and Irlam Mosses as per Carrington Moss I am quite apprehensive, and also, I don't know Astley Moss well at all - I would appreciate the heads up.

Now two singing male Quail present in field 63, one of which flew across the road into the field opposite at one point.

Info thanks to Brian Fielding

19.45 till 21.30 almost sure I was around field 62 63 (also known as the end of the road of bones),alas didn,t hear,see,smell or sense the quail,but I did see

3 grey partridge,2 crouched down flat against the grass which had my heart racing till i got the scope on them

1 blue headed wagtail,good enough views and my collins to pop flava on my doesn,t count list

smashing, geoff

Quail still calling at 2pm in field 63 though distant.

Male Yellow Wagtail on field 24

Quail calling from field 63 this morning and female/immature Marsh Harrier over.

Info thanks to Karen Foulkes

Seen on Astley moss this evening;

Hobby seen over the SSSI at 7.25pm
2 Cuckoo's heard
Curlew in the field behind Rindle woods and another 3 over at 7.45pm
Heron trying to catch Mallard chicks also on the SSSI.
Sparrowhawk chasing a Reed bunting
Adult and juv GS Woodpeckers on the same telephone pole on Rindle road
Lots of the usual about including a Lesser Whitethroat near the scrapes

Spotted Flycatcher in trees alongside Moss Lane at 2:45 this afternoon.

Thanks Dave

Hi Dave
It will be posted to you first thing tomorrow

Good evening Dave. the lens cap is mine, I lent my spare pair of binoculars to my son this afternoon and he dropped the cap somewhere on the way around.

My address is:

5, Holden Fold
Royton Oldham
Lancashire
OL2 5BY

Many thanks.

This evening,

If anyone has recently lost a plastic lens cap with the letters VTX printed on it around Astley moss then please pm me with your address and I will send it to you.

A bit quieter than usual around the mosses tonight, birds seen included;
3 Blackcaps
3 young Greater Spotted woodpeckers with 2 adults
4 juv Reed buntings
3 juv Tree sparrows
Best of all 2 young well developed Tawny owls which I found last week are both doing OK
Grasshopper warbler heard briefly around the scrapes
Distant Cuckoo heard
23 Canada geese over the SSSI in a perfect V formation
Buzzard and Kestrel over

A LT tits nest and nearby Wrens nest both which contained chicks and which I had been keeping an eye on have been ripped out and destroyed. They were both very close to the ground and easy to get at by a Stoat or a watching Magpie

Barton/Irlam Moss vicinity, today:

1 Buzzard (over)
Lots of Whitethroat and Goldfinch
Sev Swifts and at least 1 Swallow among them
At least a dozen Lapwing
1 Blackcap
Several Chaffinch and Great Tit

Was nice to get a feel of the area but I would love to go back when the fields are ploughed!

15.30-19.30 this afternoon.

Astley moss area

A Peregrine which flew in from Chat moss and went over the SSSI towards Moss lane at 16.10pm.
Also seen on a pretty quiet damp afternoon walk;

16 Mistle thrush together in the ploughed field with 5 Lapwings and one Oystercatcher
6 Yellowhammers
3 Linnets
3 Willow tits including 2 adults carrying food in two different areas
2 GS Woodpeckers
Treecreeper also carrying food
3 LT tits
Greenfinch
2 Goldfinch
5 Pied wagtails
12 Stock doves
Cuckoo heard
Sedge warbler
Willow warbler
2 Blackcaps
4 Teal
4 Mallard
2 Moorhen
Kestrel
Lots of Swallows flying in the rain.