Mike, I think we owe it to the gull to at least call it R-b Gull! Abbreviations cause many problems and I still am asked regularly what HWH and BWP are (I recall having to ask what HWH was myself ) and with both so many users and so many posts on this forum and thread many don't have the time or just don't, read previous posts.
Mike Mulholland said
Thu Feb 7 4:51 PM, 2013
Hi Terry, I think when an odd looking gull is found it is a good idea to alert other birders-with so many gulls on our patch a RBG is a distinct possibility - although it is a scarce bird within the area. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours around Upper Moss-side - it was surprisingly quiet-no tree sparrows and a covey of grey partridge, 1 skylark and 3 snipe were the highlights. There was no sign of the brent goose at HWH but the smew was still on BWP.
sid ashton said
Thu Feb 7 10:45 AM, 2013
Steve Suttill wrote:
I've just looked up Red-Breasted Goose in Birds of the Western Palearctic, but what the is HWH?
Steve
HWH is Halfway House, a small derelict building on the northern bank of the Manchester ship canal. I understand it so called because it is halfway between the two bridges at Moore and Runcorn and formally occupied by canal workers. At this point the river and the canal are pretty much at their closest.
PS I guess BWP is Birchwood Pool - hope that helps
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 7th of February 2013 11:07:21 AM
Steve Suttill said
Thu Feb 7 9:32 AM, 2013
I've just looked up Red-Breasted Goose in Birds of the Western Palearctic, but what the is HWH?
SMS
-- Edited by Steve Suttill on Thursday 7th of February 2013 09:33:17 AM
John Doherty said
Thu Feb 7 1:51 AM, 2013
Visit today in fine sunshine yielded: Smew (Lifer - Birchwood Pool) 3 Buzzards, 1 Sparrowhawk, Goldeneye pair (Birchwood) Good mix of waterfowl throughout including quantities of Teals, Shoveler, Gadwall, and c8 Pochard (drakes mostly, and looking stunning in the sunshine) 1 Little Grebe, 2 Ravens over
Feeders - 1 Nuthatch, 1 Willow Tit, 2 x Great Spotte Woodpeckers, sev Reed Buntings plus usuals.
Terry Long said
Wed Feb 6 9:54 PM, 2013
i think squatter rather than dumpier would have been a better description sorry , it was lower to the water and slightly longer looking. im thinking it was probably a common but with longer than usual feathers covering the furthest back crescent stripe. Sorry for description ive just looked at the name of the feathers i mean and forgot it again.
John O'Neill said
Tue Feb 5 7:42 AM, 2013
re Iceland Gull...no, saw it from road on way up to Eastern Reedbed...this seemed to be where most of the gulls present then were gathered.
Jon Bowen said
Mon Feb 4 3:37 PM, 2013
John,
was that viewed from the hide. If so I may have just missed it but will check my photos again in case
John O'Neill wrote:
Pumphouse Pool
10.30 ish juv Iceland Gull with mixed flock of mobile gulls. Flighty, not settling...flew off completely after a couple of minutes.
John O'Neill said
Mon Feb 4 3:50 AM, 2013
Pumphouse Pool
10.30 ish juv Iceland Gull with mixed flock of mobile gulls. Flighty, not settling...flew off completely after a couple of minutes.
Jon Bowen said
Sun Feb 3 3:32 PM, 2013
A couple of hours this morning following an early morning trip down to Astbury Mere.
Female smew was showing well on Pumphouse Pool Good numbers of gulls for a Sunday. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary but a good test of identification of various ages of the commoner gulls Also Gadwall 6 Grey Heron Goldeneye Good numbers of Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallard Single Widgeon Shoveler Pochard
Flocks of circa 50 jackdaws and similar of carrion crow
Around feeding station Nuthatch Willow Tit Coal Tit Blue Tit Great Tit Reed Bunting Chaffinch Lesser Redpoll Long Tailed Tit
-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Sunday 3rd of February 2013 03:32:24 PM
John Williams said
Sat Feb 2 7:16 AM, 2013
14.00-17.00
Should of opted for a morning visit, it started raining when I got there and did'nt stop until I was leaving
The Bittern showed briefly at the Eastern Reedbed, also there 60+ Teal and 4 Grey Herons.
On Lapwing Lane Pool :- 26 Tufted Duck and 6 Teal.
Birchwood Pool
A good scan through the masses of gulls produced 1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull and a few "Argentatus" too, but no sign of white wings.
No sign of Smew either, 47 Shovelers, 2 Goldeneye (m+f), 2 Little Grebe, a pair of Great Crested Grebes that seem to have family ideas, plus masses of Tufted Ducks etc,.
In Birchwood a big flock of Redwings erupted from the undergrowth.
Pumphouse Pool again held masses of gulls, mainly Black Headed but no sign of the lipstick beak of a Med.
The Common Gulls were being aggressive as usual and bullying the Black Heads, one even gave chase to an adult Great Black Back which fled in panic.
Mike Mulholland said
Fri Feb 1 12:29 AM, 2013
Hi Terry, I spent a couple of hours on the reserve today mainly focussing on the gulls, no sign of a RBG - you describe the bird you saw as dumpier than the common gulls - do you mean smaller? Smew was on Birchwood Pool today close to the west hide and I had a record count of 446 Tufted duck on the pools (didn't check Lapwing Lane Pool) and 51 Shoveler was a good count. Also Peregrine, kingfisher, water rail and treecreeper
Austin Morley said
Thu Jan 31 5:31 PM, 2013
Hi Terry thanks for the reply, I managed to get to Moore yesterday and saw the female Smew hanging around pumhouse pool, flying from one side to the other can be viewd at time from the hide in birchood.
Other highlights included two Redpoll around the back of the top hide at pumphouse, Siskin around the track laeding towards this hide and two Goldeneye on birchwood pool, see my Blog post for photos and full report
Cheers
www.austinmorley.blogspot.com
Terry Long said
Thu Jan 31 4:36 AM, 2013
Smew on pumphouse pool today around 12ish not sure on exact time , well out in the open about 20 yds from left hand bank viewed from first hide on pumphouse near birchwood pool, with tufted ducks and coots. Also on pumphouse pool viewed from the top hide off track I had a gull in with commons that was dumpier and paler with a ring on bill , didn't have scope so cant rule out a common but possible ring-billed. the crescent stripe wasn't thin there wasn't one at all as far as I could see so not 100%
Austin Morley said
Wed Jan 30 3:40 AM, 2013
Hi guys
Any news on Moores Smew? Is it long gone? or still around? Any info would be great, cheers
www.austinmorley.blogspot.com
Doc Brewster said
Sun Jan 27 7:55 AM, 2013
A flying visit this afternoon produced little of note but there was a single Brambling near the feeding station in Pond Wood, it never came down though. Nice to see on one fat ball was a group of 4 tits - amazingly one each of Great, Blue, Coal & Long-tailed
pete berry said
Fri Jan 25 11:39 PM, 2013
2 Iceland Gulls on Pumphouse Flash at 1pm,a 1st winter and a 2nd winter bird.
Most of the gulls seemed to be on Pumphouse rather than Birchwood Pool.
Mike Mulholland said
Fri Jan 25 6:33 PM, 2013
I last saw the Smew on the 22nd when it was frequenting the N/W corner of Birchwood Pool. I received a text late pm on the23rd and it was still present. If it is tucked into the corner of BWP it can be difficult to see from the west hide.
Pete Hines said
Fri Jan 25 6:02 PM, 2013
I spent an hour at the first hide at Birchwood Pool on Wednesday afternoon (23rd), the pool wasn't frozen though no sign of the Smew (and hardly any gulls). The Smew hasn't been recorded since 20th.
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Jan 25 4:02 PM, 2013
Patrick Earith wrote:
JOHN TYMON wrote:
Ian Campbell wrote:
Hi all Can anyone tell me if the Smew is still present as I'm thinking about a visit on Saturday a.m. if it is. Cheers Ian
and if Birchwood pool is frozen or not as I am the same and may pop in after work :)
I was there on Tuesday (when it was colder than it is today) and Birchwood was not frozen, though the pool off Lapwing Lane (?) was. Lots of gulls around but no sign of the Smew. I wasn't there for long though and didn't go around the other side of Birchwood, so, it could well have been hidden.
Thanks
Pat
cheers :)
Patrick Earith said
Fri Jan 25 3:52 PM, 2013
JOHN TYMON wrote:
Ian Campbell wrote:
Hi all Can anyone tell me if the Smew is still present as I'm thinking about a visit on Saturday a.m. if it is. Cheers Ian
and if Birchwood pool is frozen or not as I am the same and may pop in after work :)
I was there on Tuesday (when it was colder than it is today) and Birchwood was not frozen, though the pool off Lapwing Lane (?) was. Lots of gulls around but no sign of the Smew. I wasn't there for long though and didn't go around the other side of Birchwood, so, it could well have been hidden.
Thanks
Pat
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Jan 25 3:30 PM, 2013
Ian Campbell wrote:
Hi all Can anyone tell me if the Smew is still present as I'm thinking about a visit on Saturday a.m. if it is. Cheers Ian
and if Birchwood pool is frozen or not as I am the same and may pop in after work :)
Ian Campbell said
Fri Jan 25 3:17 PM, 2013
Hi all Can anyone tell me if the Smew is still present as I'm thinking about a visit on Saturday a.m. if it is. Cheers Ian
Brian Baird said
Fri Jan 25 4:52 AM, 2013
Walked down to Upper Moss Side this morning - very quiet in the snow covered fields. Of interest were :-
Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail,Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Jay, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, plus an overflying Curlew and a Treecreeper at a frozen Lapwing Lake.
Mike Mulholland said
Tue Jan 22 3:58 PM, 2013
Goosander is a good record John, they are suprisingly scarce on the patch (although marginally more common than Pintail!). I had a few records in 2011 but none last year.
John O'Neill said
Mon Jan 21 7:48 AM, 2013
Birchwood Pool : f Smew still present showing v well 9.00 am ish this morning. m Goosander gave double saw-bill sighting.
Mike Mulholland said
Mon Jan 21 3:41 AM, 2013
Brambling at feeding station today and Willow Tit near Bob's Bridge: 87 species recorded on the patch thus far-pretty good start to the year.
sid ashton said
Mon Jan 14 5:47 AM, 2013
A full circuit of the western part of the reserve this afternoon before the snow came. Not big numbers of birds about but saw of interest Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit, Kestrel (m&f), Raven also Lesser Redpoll and Tree Sparrow at Upper Moss side and a distant Short-eared Owl over Norton marsh.
Going to be fit with all of this walking
Mike Mulholland said
Thu Jan 10 11:17 PM, 2013
A juv/1st winter Glaucous Gull briefly on BWP early afternoon- noticebly paler than the individual filmed recently. Also an interesting large third winter Herring Gull - obvious dark 'hood' (a couple of other adjacent HG's had streaking on the head and neck but not as dark or extensive as this), bill pale pink with a dark subterminal band. Smew still present and Goldeneye, didn't hear or see anyWaxwings.
Gordon Taylor said
Thu Jan 10 12:54 AM, 2013
Smew skulking in the northeast corner of Birchwood Pool, seen fron first screen. 10 Waxwings were near the tree with small white berries behind third screen anticlockwise round Birchwood Pool briefly
Mike Baron said
Tue Jan 8 9:51 PM, 2013
Smew still present on Birchwood Pool this morning. Juvenile Iceland Gull on Pumphouse Pool.
Mike Mulholland said
Tue Jan 8 1:46 AM, 2013
Adult Med Gull briefly on PHP today; smew and waxwings still present.
Mike Mulholland said
Mon Jan 7 2:56 AM, 2013
Bittern showed very briefly mid afternoon today, Woodcock and a few snipe UMS earlier. Iceland gull on PHP yesterday. Lesser pek just east of usual area on thursday.
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Jan 7 2:26 AM, 2013
PM Smew -redhead still present this afternoon on Birchwood pool Waxwings - 11 at the east end of birchwood pool,but only a few berries left Bullfinch -2m+1f -feeding with the Waxwing
David Wilson said
Sat Jan 5 4:23 AM, 2013
Also from today.. Waxwings present all day at eastern end of Birchwood pool above hide. Looking very relaxed and makes a change to see them without the usual traffic noise. Green woodpecker Colins meadow. Female smew present in western corners of Birchwood pool most of the day. Missed the bittern. :|
Mike Baron said
Sat Jan 5 3:35 AM, 2013
Called in to Eastern Reedbeds late afternoon. Bittern showed in the reeds, a pair of Willow Tits were next to the hide and good views of Jupiter and moons just before the clouds came over.
Nick Isherwood said
Fri Jan 4 3:38 AM, 2013
Called in briefly at lunchtime in a vain hope of connecting with yesterdays Glaucous Gull.
Plenty of gulls present on both the Birchwood and Pumphouse pools but unfortunately no Glaucous. I did have the good fortune though to bump into Jason Atkinson who very kindly pointed out a juvenile Yellow Legged Gull. He also gave me a couple of pointers of what to look for with this species too. Great advice and very much appreciated. Thanks Jason.
The female Smew was still present on Birchwood Pool but was quite elusive at times. Also eight Waxwings were present near to the hide at the eastern end of Birchwood pool.
Other notables were a small flock of Siskin and Goldfinch near the car park and four Wigeon circling around as I was leaving.
Pete Hines said
Wed Jan 2 9:35 PM, 2013
I documented a couple of white wingers on film late morning today. Comments on plumage and ageing welcome.
-- Edited by Pete Hines on Thursday 3rd of January 2013 06:38:01 AM
-- Edited by Pete Hines on Thursday 3rd of January 2013 06:39:37 AM
john brookes said
Wed Jan 2 3:43 AM, 2013
Pair of jack snipe today on pathway by pumping station.
Mike Mulholland said
Wed Jan 2 1:04 AM, 2013
Interesting record Ian, not had RLP since 2005. Also on the patch today - male Goldeneye on PHP, Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker near Millbrook Pool. (Bittern was reported)
Ian McKerchar said
Wed Jan 2 12:48 AM, 2013
A single Red-legged Partridge running in front of the car along the road above Birchwood Pool this afternoon, finally took to the air and flew over the industrial units there.
JasonAtkinson said
Tue Jan 1 8:24 PM, 2013
Female Smew and 9 Waxwings still present this am on/around Birchwood Pool.
Cheers Jason
John Williams said
Tue Jan 1 6:57 PM, 2013
Nice to meet you to John, perhaps we'll have a longer chat next time.
JOHN TYMON said
Tue Jan 1 5:11 PM, 2013
John Williams wrote:
12.00-16.00
1 Mealy Redpoll in a flock of mixed Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinches, 80% the later. Impossible to count whole flock as they constantly flitted from alder to alder along Lapwing Lane.
A single group of 60 Goldfinches in alders near Moss Wood, plus a flock of 12 Redwings.
Lapwing Lane Pool
9 Wigeon amongst the usual waterfowl.
Birchwood Pool
33 Shoveler, 2 Little Grebes, 10 Pochard plus the single female Smew and usual waterfowl.
Masses of gulls but apart from a few big "Argentatus" Herring Gulls nothing else unusual. An adult Med. Gull and 1st winter Iceland had been seen on the pool in the morning though.
The Waxwing flock was nowhere to be seen at 13.30, much to the disappointment of several birders, but at 15.00 a flock of 9 flew in to roost. There were 10 last here last Friday.
Pumphouse Pool
Again masses of gulls, mainly Black Heads. 6 Shoveler, 6 Pochard and a single Little Grebe amongst the waterfowl.
Eastern Reedbed
52 Teal, 3 Grey Herons and 2 Buzzards amongst the usual birds. A single Goldcrest in the copse.
Same on Birchwood apart from 41 shoveler at one point ,Must have bumped into you John as I was sat in the corner of the west end birchwood pool hide for 3 hours 1300-1600 gull watching ,and saw the Waxwings fly above the island and into roost behind the south hide. :) nice to meet you as im sure we had a chat . :)
John Williams said
Tue Jan 1 7:35 AM, 2013
12.00-16.00
1 Mealy Redpoll in a flock of mixed Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinches, 80% the later. Impossible to count whole flock as they constantly flitted from alder to alder along Lapwing Lane.
A single group of 60 Goldfinches in alders near Moss Wood, plus a flock of 12 Redwings.
Lapwing Lane Pool
9 Wigeon amongst the usual waterfowl.
Birchwood Pool
33 Shoveler, 2 Little Grebes, 10 Pochard plus the single female Smew and usual waterfowl.
Masses of gulls but apart from a few big "Argentatus" Herring Gulls nothing else unusual. An adult Med. Gull and 1st winter Iceland had been seen on the pool in the morning though.
The Waxwing flock was nowhere to be seen at 13.30, much to the disappointment of several birders, but at 15.00 a flock of 9 flew in to roost. There were 10 last here last Friday.
Pumphouse Pool
Again masses of gulls, mainly Black Heads. 6 Shoveler, 6 Pochard and a single Little Grebe amongst the waterfowl.
Eastern Reedbed
52 Teal, 3 Grey Herons and 2 Buzzards amongst the usual birds. A single Goldcrest in the copse.
Nick Hilton said
Mon Dec 31 3:19 AM, 2012
The Smew and 10 Waxwings were still around today at midday.
Mike Mulholland said
Sun Dec 30 7:08 PM, 2012
Myself and several of the patch regulars are doing a year list challenge in 2013, if anybody fancies getting involved please let me know. Also if anybody finds anything good on the patch (Moore n.r, UMS. HWH, Norton Marsh, Richmond Bank) and is willing to text me so I could feed it into the patch grapevine it would be appreciated.
Cheers, Mike.
(Just hope the Smew and Waxwings hang around for a few more days)
Tanmay Dixit said
Sun Dec 30 5:30 PM, 2012
laete post for yesterday: smew showed quite well although often hidden behind the small island on Birchwood Pool.
Not many other highlights, a flock of finches near the feeding station of which at least 1 was a fem siskin, all I saw before they flew off, and no calling! anyway, jackdaws, crows, gulls and a calling buzzard were making so much of a racket it would have been difficult to pick out any calls.
Good numbers of teal, pochard, gadwall, shoveler etc
Nice to meet John Tymon and others
John Williams said
Sun Dec 30 8:30 AM, 2012
No worries Sid I'm usually in a hurry at Moore anyway. It's a huge site I could easily spend an hour or two checking the massed gulls at this time of year, but then there's always a chance
the Teal flock at the Eastern Reedbed could produce a Green Winged, and that would be a nice bonus for the reserve. So I'm usually like a cat on a hot tin roof anyway. I'll probably walk to Halfway
House next time and cover the Western End of the reserve, the canal as produced Scoter, Smew etc, and there's always the chance of a shrike on the Hawthorn thickets. It's a case of trying to be
everywhere at once. I usually take more leisurely strolls in summer, but then Clegs can be a real problem at Moore. Birding is supposed to be relaxing, either way Sid I'm sure we'll have more time
for a chat next time.
p.s Sandbach is always a good place for quality debate amongst birders, there's less area to cover and the regular guys are friendly. Joint runner up goes to Horrocks Hide at Penny,
and the John Morgan hide at Woolston, but then the tower viewpoint at Risley Moss is a friendly debating spot too.
sid ashton said
Sun Dec 30 6:11 AM, 2012
John Williams wrote:
28/12/12 09.30-13.00
Nice to meet Sid Ashton.
Good to meet you as well John - sorry if I was a bit vague but my mind was elsewhere most of the time I was at Moore yesterday. I am told that I usually talk too much anyway
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours around Upper Moss-side - it was surprisingly quiet-no tree sparrows and a covey of grey partridge, 1 skylark and 3 snipe were the highlights.
There was no sign of the brent goose at HWH but the smew was still on BWP.
Steve
HWH is Halfway House, a small derelict building on the northern bank of the Manchester ship canal. I understand it so called because it is halfway between the two bridges at Moore and Runcorn and formally occupied by canal workers. At this point the river and the canal are pretty much at their closest.
PS I guess BWP is Birchwood Pool - hope that helps
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 7th of February 2013 11:07:21 AM
SMS
-- Edited by Steve Suttill on Thursday 7th of February 2013 09:33:17 AM
Good mix of waterfowl throughout including quantities of Teals, Shoveler, Gadwall, and c8 Pochard (drakes mostly, and looking stunning in the sunshine) 1 Little Grebe, 2 Ravens over
Feeders - 1 Nuthatch, 1 Willow Tit, 2 x Great Spotte Woodpeckers, sev Reed Buntings plus usuals.
was that viewed from the hide. If so I may have just missed it but will check my photos again in case
10.30 ish juv Iceland Gull with mixed flock of mobile gulls. Flighty, not settling...flew off completely after a couple of minutes.
Female smew was showing well on Pumphouse Pool
Good numbers of gulls for a Sunday. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary but a good test of identification of various ages of the commoner gulls
Also
Gadwall
6 Grey Heron
Goldeneye
Good numbers of Teal, Tufted Duck, Mallard
Single Widgeon
Shoveler
Pochard
Flocks of circa 50 jackdaws and similar of carrion crow
Around feeding station
Nuthatch
Willow Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Reed Bunting
Chaffinch
Lesser Redpoll
Long Tailed Tit
-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Sunday 3rd of February 2013 03:32:24 PM
Should of opted for a morning visit, it started raining when I got there and did'nt stop until I was leaving
The Bittern showed briefly at the Eastern Reedbed, also there 60+ Teal and 4 Grey Herons.
On Lapwing Lane Pool :- 26 Tufted Duck and 6 Teal.
Birchwood Pool
A good scan through the masses of gulls produced 1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull and a few "Argentatus" too, but no sign of white wings.
No sign of Smew either, 47 Shovelers, 2 Goldeneye (m+f), 2 Little Grebe, a pair of Great Crested Grebes that seem to have family ideas, plus masses of Tufted Ducks etc,.
In Birchwood a big flock of Redwings erupted from the undergrowth.
Pumphouse Pool again held masses of gulls, mainly Black Headed but no sign of the lipstick beak of a Med.
The Common Gulls were being aggressive as usual and bullying the Black Heads, one even gave chase to an adult Great Black Back which fled in panic.
Smew was on Birchwood Pool today close to the west hide and I had a record count of 446 Tufted duck on the pools (didn't check Lapwing Lane Pool) and 51 Shoveler was a good count.
Also Peregrine, kingfisher, water rail and treecreeper
Other highlights included two Redpoll around the back of the top hide at pumphouse, Siskin around the track laeding towards this hide and two Goldeneye on birchwood pool, see my Blog post for photos and full report
Cheers
www.austinmorley.blogspot.com
Also on pumphouse pool viewed from the top hide off track I had a gull in with commons that was dumpier and paler with a ring on bill , didn't have scope so cant rule out a common but possible ring-billed. the crescent stripe wasn't thin there wasn't one at all as far as I could see so not 100%
Any news on Moores Smew? Is it long gone? or still around? Any info would be great, cheers
www.austinmorley.blogspot.com
Most of the gulls seemed to be on Pumphouse rather than Birchwood Pool.
cheers :)
I was there on Tuesday (when it was colder than it is today) and Birchwood was not frozen, though the pool off Lapwing Lane (?) was. Lots of gulls around but no sign of the Smew. I wasn't there for long though and didn't go around the other side of Birchwood, so, it could well have been hidden.
Thanks
Pat
and if Birchwood pool is frozen or not as I am the same and may pop in after work :)
Can anyone tell me if the Smew is still present as I'm thinking about a visit on Saturday a.m. if it is.
Cheers Ian
Of interest were :-
Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail,Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Jay, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, plus an overflying Curlew and a Treecreeper at a frozen Lapwing Lake.
f Smew still present showing v well 9.00 am ish this morning. m Goosander gave double saw-bill sighting.
Going to be fit with all of this walking
Also an interesting large third winter Herring Gull - obvious dark 'hood' (a couple of other adjacent HG's had streaking on the head and neck but not as dark or extensive as this), bill pale pink with a dark subterminal band.
Smew still present and Goldeneye, didn't hear or see anyWaxwings.
Iceland gull on PHP yesterday.
Lesser pek just east of usual area on thursday.
Smew -redhead still present this afternoon on Birchwood pool
Waxwings - 11 at the east end of birchwood pool,but only a few berries left
Bullfinch -2m+1f -feeding with the Waxwing
Plenty of gulls present on both the Birchwood and Pumphouse pools but unfortunately no Glaucous. I did have the good fortune though to bump into Jason Atkinson who very kindly pointed out a juvenile Yellow Legged Gull. He also gave me a couple of pointers of what to look for with this species too. Great advice and very much appreciated. Thanks Jason.
The female Smew was still present on Birchwood Pool but was quite elusive at times. Also eight Waxwings were present near to the hide at the eastern end of Birchwood pool.
Other notables were a small flock of Siskin and Goldfinch near the car park and four Wigeon circling around as I was leaving.
juvenile Glaucous Gull (1) here
juvenile / 1st winter Iceland Gull (1) here
redhead Smew (1) here
9 Waxwing
Lesser Redpoll
Siskin
Bullfinch
-- Edited by Pete Hines on Thursday 3rd of January 2013 06:38:01 AM
-- Edited by Pete Hines on Thursday 3rd of January 2013 06:39:37 AM
Also on the patch today - male Goldeneye on PHP, Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker near Millbrook Pool.
(Bittern was reported)
Cheers
Jason
Same on Birchwood apart from 41 shoveler at one point ,Must have bumped into you John as I was sat in the corner of the west end birchwood pool hide for 3 hours 1300-1600 gull watching ,and saw the Waxwings fly above the island and into roost behind the south hide. :) nice to meet you as im sure we had a chat . :)
1 Mealy Redpoll in a flock of mixed Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Goldfinches, 80% the later. Impossible to count whole flock as they constantly flitted from alder to alder along Lapwing Lane.
A single group of 60 Goldfinches in alders near Moss Wood, plus a flock of 12 Redwings.
Lapwing Lane Pool
9 Wigeon amongst the usual waterfowl.
Birchwood Pool
33 Shoveler, 2 Little Grebes, 10 Pochard plus the single female Smew and usual waterfowl.
Masses of gulls but apart from a few big "Argentatus" Herring Gulls nothing else unusual. An adult Med. Gull and 1st winter Iceland had been seen on the pool in the morning though.
The Waxwing flock was nowhere to be seen at 13.30, much to the disappointment of several birders, but at 15.00 a flock of 9 flew in to roost. There were 10 last here last Friday.
Pumphouse Pool
Again masses of gulls, mainly Black Heads. 6 Shoveler, 6 Pochard and a single Little Grebe amongst the waterfowl.
Eastern Reedbed
52 Teal, 3 Grey Herons and 2 Buzzards amongst the usual birds. A single Goldcrest in the copse.
Cheers, Mike.
(Just hope the Smew and Waxwings hang around for a few more days)
smew showed quite well although often hidden behind the small island on Birchwood Pool.
Not many other highlights, a flock of finches near the feeding station of which at least 1 was a fem siskin, all I saw before they flew off, and no calling! anyway, jackdaws, crows, gulls and a calling buzzard were making so much of a racket it would have been difficult to pick out any calls.
Good numbers of teal, pochard, gadwall, shoveler etc
Nice to meet John Tymon and others
the Teal flock at the Eastern Reedbed could produce a Green Winged, and that would be a nice bonus for the reserve. So I'm usually like a cat on a hot tin roof anyway. I'll probably walk to Halfway
House next time and cover the Western End of the reserve, the canal as produced Scoter, Smew etc, and there's always the chance of a shrike on the Hawthorn thickets. It's a case of trying to be
everywhere at once. I usually take more leisurely strolls in summer, but then Clegs can be a real problem at Moore. Birding is supposed to be relaxing, either way Sid I'm sure we'll have more time
for a chat next time.
p.s Sandbach is always a good place for quality debate amongst birders, there's less area to cover and the regular guys are friendly. Joint runner up goes to Horrocks Hide at Penny,
and the John Morgan hide at Woolston, but then the tower viewpoint at Risley Moss is a friendly debating spot too.