Juv / 1st winter Great Northern Diver on Budworth Mere from mid afternoon. Still present at dusk. Also 5 Waxwing over.
Greg Baker said
Tue Jan 22 6:22 PM, 2013
DavidBowman wrote:
Hi Greg, I couldn't get your Bittern link to work but would like to see the clip.
Cheers David
Have you tried highlighting the link wording, right-clicking and then clicking on "go to address"? That works for me. Otherwise I'll look at another way of setting the link.
John Williams said
Tue Jan 22 3:04 AM, 2013
09.30-12.00
Budworth Mere
I waited 30 minutes or so for the Bittern to emerge from the reedbed, alas it did'nt, the only sign of life here was a small flock of Blue Tits flitting around the Phragmites heads.
There was masses of activity at the feeding station though, and lots of Chaffinches amonst the usual garden birds, but no sign of Bramblings.
Lots of Moorhens below the feeders and on the edge of the mere, but no sign Water Rail, in icy conditions one used to be regular here, but that was many moons ago.
6 Great Crested Grebes on the mere. 14 Cormorants, 124 Lapwing, 2 Great Black Gulls, 11 Common Gulls and 3 Wigeon around the spit on the North bank.
A large number of Redwings flushed from the woodland floor near the old ice pit, leaving a few Blackbirds to continue rooting through the leaf litter.
6 Robins seemed to be tolerating each other at the woodland feeding station, but after a while war broke out. 4 male Blackbirds decided on aggro too, Springs not far away.
1 Goldcrest near the garden centre. 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming.
Hazel Rothwell said
Tue Jan 22 1:10 AM, 2013
Hello folks, I'm a newbie here and just wanted to say hello . This is my first posting; I visited Marbury last week (Wednesday, 16th Jan) and managed to see the Bittern albeit, a fair distance away and there was a Black Swan on the mere too so here are a couple of links to my Flickr. pics.
The Starling roost has become very unreliable, Pete. Several evenings recently have seen very little action by dusk. Local observers have seen roosts in other sites nearby so maybe the Starlings pick & choose which roost site is used on a nightly basis. There has been a recent reliable report of three Bitterns seen in the Cowrad Reedbed.
Pete Hines said
Tue Jan 8 5:32 AM, 2013
1 Bittern showing at dusk, light terrible 16.20-16.35. No Starling roost by then.
sid ashton said
Sat Jan 5 5:38 AM, 2013
On a late afternoon family walk to the park today had terrific views of one of the Bitterns on the flattened Budworth Mere reed bed. Despite many previous visits this was the first time that I have seen a Bittern on the Mere
The late afternoon light would have been ideal for picture taking as well.
Surprisingly, given earlier reports there was no Starling roost, with only a handful of them going around before dusk. Guess they had good views of the Bittern as well
Tanmay Dixit said
Wed Jan 2 11:13 AM, 2013
In addition to Rory's sightings, a few sightings of treecreeper, large flock of lapwing and at least 2 great-crested grebe
Nice to be there with you Rory, a good day
-- Edited by Tanmay Dixit on Wednesday 2nd of January 2013 11:14:26 AM
Rory Newton said
Wed Jan 2 1:12 AM, 2013
Flock of Siskin hanging around, 2 pochard, male Sparrowhawk which dropped in to have a look at the feeders.
richard howells 2 said
Fri Dec 28 7:26 PM, 2012
Dropped in towards dusk yesterday, to see one bittern clambering about in the flattened area of reeds, and around 10,000 Starlings doing their thing until a Sparrowhawk broke them up while collecting its supper.
John Williams said
Mon Dec 24 1:09 AM, 2012
9.00-10.00
Budworth Mere
14 Great Crested Grebes, 2 drake Pochard, 3 Great Black Backed Gulls, 4 Shelduck plus the usual waterfowl and gulls.
18 Curlew and 160 Lapwings on the pasture on the North bank.
John Williams said
Wed Nov 7 11:45 PM, 2012
09.30-13.00
Marbury CP/Budworth Mere
20 Curlew, 400+ Canada Geese, 1 Greylag Goose, 16 Common Gulls, 8 Cormorants, 15 Great Crested Grebes plus lots of Coot, BH Gulls etc.
10 Jays amongst the cattle on the pasture.
Haydn Pool
"Devoid of life"
Ashtons Flash
12 Common Gulls
Neumanns Flash
130 Teal, 6 Shoveler, 13 Mute Swans, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Goldcrest, 1 female Bullfinch plus lots of Coot and BH Gulls.
1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush plus several small flocks of Redwings flying around the Hawthorne hedges.
A single flock of 85 Lapwings flushed off farmland at Marston.
Dairyhouse Meadow
Several small flocks of Redwings (impossible to count) flying between the Hawthorne thickets.
1 Kestrel
Melanie Beckford said
Mon Nov 5 4:08 PM, 2012
Hi Graham, l was sat with you when the Sparrowhawk got his lunch
Simon and l had a walk around too..the woodland hide turned up four Nuthatch, plenty of Tits and Chaffinch and there was a Stock Dove too. We also had Tree Creeper on our walk, Jays, Redwing, Mistle Thrush,heard Goldcrest.
We saw one Red Admiral too.
The park (expectedly) was very busy of dog walkers and children on bikes and scooters...l'm guessing the land opposite the Mere is private ? There were two imbeciles shooting at the ducks Note to the wise, if it's a chilly day, bring your own flask. We bought two hot chocolates and a cake each...£8 +
Graham Smith said
Sun Nov 4 7:04 PM, 2012
Nice walk around the Mere this afternoon if a little cold nice to see the feeders are now being filled, lots of work being done around mere trees being cut down etc
at 1st hide by the lake Jay Nuthatches Coal tits Blue tits Great tits Chaffinches Robins and then a Sparrowhawk came in low and had a Blue tit for lunch
Around the Mere
6 Wigeon 35-40 Great crested grebes many where young ones up to 100 Canada geese no other geese seen up to 100 Black headed gulls 4Cormorants 2 Heron 7 Tufted duck 20 Lapwing In a freshly ploughed field 2 Buzzards searching for worms
Woodland hide
Treecreeper Wren Goldcrest plus all the usual
-- Edited by Graham Smith on Sunday 4th of November 2012 07:07:27 PM
-- Edited by Graham Smith on Sunday 4th of November 2012 07:55:11 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 4th of November 2012 08:00:59 PM
Doc Brewster said
Mon Oct 22 11:47 PM, 2012
2 redhead Goosander on Budworth Mere today, this morning at least, no news yet to me this afternoon. The finder reports that at least one was either a male moulting out of eclipse or a first winter male. There was also a Bar-headed Goose amongst the Canada Geese at Kid Brook, just for completeness of reports, despite its captive origins!
Doc Brewster said
Thu Oct 11 4:18 PM, 2012
First Redwing of the 'winter' today at Budworth Mere Nothing like the 238 Ian posts about at Horwich Moors today, but it's a start
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 11th of October 2012 04:20:16 PM
Doc Brewster said
Thu Oct 11 10:00 AM, 2012
A quiet spell at the moment but the highlight was a breif visit by 3 Scaup on Oct 9th, an eclipse male, female and juvenile. They were found late afternoon but unfortunately flew off in the direction of Neumann's Flash but were never relocated. Yesterday there were 24 Wigeon on the mere too and 3 Redshank on Kid Brook Spit.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 11th of October 2012 10:01:58 AM
John Williams said
Tue Sep 18 12:21 AM, 2012
09.30-13.00
Marbury Country Park
18 Mistle Thrush on cattle pasture
3 Chiffchaff and 1 (m)Blackcap in scrub area NE of ranger cabin.
Budworth Mere
13 adult Great Crested Grebes + 3 juveniles ( 1 still quite small), 6 Cormorants, 5 Common Gulls plus usual waterfowl.
Haydn Pool
1 Woodpigeon and 1 Stock Dove ( Looked virtually lifeless ), water level low. 1 Chiffchaff in the hawthorn hedge.
Neumanns Flash
316 Lapwings (Very nervous and edgy), 10 Mute Swans plus the usual waterfowl.
1 Nuthatch in the hawthorn hedge on the North bank ( The first time I've seen one here).
Lots of Speckled Wood butterflies along hedges, also 2 Small Tortoiseshells and a few Common Darter dragonflies about.
Doc Brewster said
Fri Sep 14 1:00 AM, 2012
One of the Common Terns seen by Graham is our very own 'Junior', the first Common Tern ever to fledge on the 'Patch'. It's a feisty young thing too, seeing allcomers off its favourite buoy by divebombing, never mind what size or shape they are!!
Graham Smith said
Mon Sep 10 1:57 AM, 2012
A pleasant walk today park was packed
Chaffinch's 2 Herons 40+ Great crested grebes with a lot of youngsters among them 1 Willow warbler 2 Goldcrest Song thrush 21 House martins over the mere 2 Common terns Nuthatch 2 Greylags
plus all the usual
Doc Brewster said
Wed Aug 15 5:28 AM, 2012
Glad you knew about the Mandarin, John, but it was a very hard bird to locate. It hasnt been seen for 3 days now, Sid, but could stil be around, although the bird may have returned to a local breeding site that I know of (kept quiet for obvious reasons!).
Nothing much today but a report on our grapevine of 3 Hobbies chasing House Martins in Comberbach on the edge of the Marbury CP area.
sid ashton said
Tue Aug 14 5:14 AM, 2012
A stroll around Budworth Mere in the early evening sunshine produced 5 Common Tern, 8 Sand Martins, 40+ Great Crested Grebe and a big flock of Greylag Geese coming off one the adjacent fields but alas no sign of the Mandarin.
John Williams said
Sun Aug 12 12:20 AM, 2012
No worries, I was chatting to a birder at Neumanns and he told me about the Mandarin. I can usually find them on Trentabank anyway, although I've not been up there this year.
It's just nice to see so many grebes together, I did'nt know you had a predation problem. A site in the north of the county seem to have resolved their Mink problem, but this is an emotive issue, some of
my friends think they're just cute little creatures and should be left alone. I wonder if they'd feel the same if Leopards were released in Tatton Park?.
Doc Brewster said
Sat Aug 11 10:23 PM, 2012
Our local group has been monitoring the Great Crested Grebes and have found a high level of pre-fledging mortality, including lots of predation by mink. Several young Mink have been seen, evidence of a successful year for them - unfortunately. The Common Terns have been around for several weeks now, having moved onto Neumann's Flash first & now onto Budworth Mere, from where we suspect breeding to have taken place (but kept quiet for obvious reasons - sorry!). A Greenshank has been seen & then heard (yesterday) in the area. There has also been a juvenile-type Mandarin favouring the far side near to the heronry, lurking under the overhanging vegetation so hard to see unless you know hat it is hanging around & are looking specially for it.
Sorry that I didn't post earlier about the Mandarin, John, we have our local patch-watchers grapevine text service so it has been on that several times, but I will try to put more unusual sightings onto here more quickly in future.
John Williams said
Sat Aug 11 5:50 AM, 2012
18.00-19.00
Budworth Mere
2 adult + 1 juvenile Common Tern.
45 Great Crested Grebes + 2 half grown youngsters.
Doc Brewster said
Sat Jun 23 10:23 PM, 2012
Gerry Flanagan wrote:
Hi Doc - I would be interested to learn what predator/s took Grebe eggs/chicks
Doc Brewster wrote:
3 Common Terns over Budworth Mere yesterday, but on the negative side I saw 2 Great-crested Grebe nests predated
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:53:10 PM
There was a huge terrapin sat on the nest whilst the adult was sitting (I have pics on my fb site). The GcGrebe constantly pecked at the terrapin but couldnt move it and seemed reluctant to do a nest changeover when its mate appeared. I went away & when I returned both nests had been predated (egges taken) - presumably by said terrapin
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 23rd of June 2012 10:23:54 PM
Tony Coatsworth said
Sat Jun 23 5:17 PM, 2012
I've seen Mink at Marbury :(
Gerry Flanagan said
Sat Jun 23 7:26 AM, 2012
Hi Doc - I would be interested to learn what predator/s took Grebe eggs/chicks
Doc Brewster wrote:
3 Common Terns over Budworth Mere yesterday, but on the negative side I saw 2 Great-crested Grebe nests predated
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:53:10 PM
Doc Brewster said
Thu Jun 21 8:52 PM, 2012
3 Common Terns over Budworth Mere yesterday, but on the negative side I saw 2 Great-crested Grebe nests predated
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:53:10 PM
John Williams said
Sun May 6 9:18 PM, 2012
08.15-09.00
Marbury CP
2 Garden Warblers in scrub/bushes N.W corner of park.
Anglers on main scrape of Budworth Mere so no waders.
Neumanns Flash 09.15-11.00
1 Garden Warbler SW corner. at least 12 Common Whitethroats singing
1 large Fox prowling around. 1 Raven 20+ Jackdaws.
Haydn Pool 11.15-12.00
2 broods Coot 1 brood Mallard 6 Sand Martin 4 Stock Dove 1 Redshank
4 Buzzards soaring over & high above them 1 Raven. 1 Sedge Warbler
lots of St Marks flies,a few Green Horned Moths, Peacock & Small White
butterflies.
Mark Evans said
Sat May 5 4:31 AM, 2012
Hobby chasing Swifts over the mere this afternoon. Also Yellow Wagtail by Fishermans path and a Treecreepers nest in Big Wood
John Williams said
Wed May 2 4:17 AM, 2012
08.00-30 Budworth Mere
1 Curlew only wader, no terns.
09.00-11.00 Neumanns Flash
1 Little Ringed Plover, 6m 2f Shoveler 1 pr Teal, steady trickle of Swifts
northward over Neumanns.
Water level high on both meres & scrapes flooded.
Doc Brewster said
Sat Apr 28 5:23 AM, 2012
Rob Smallwood wrote:
Doc Brewster wrote:
Some of the terns had departed whan I arrived at 9am on the way to Focalpoint :)
Why would terns go to Focalpoint - it's good but not really their sort of place? ;)
lol, cos they got gud taste ;) maybe we should look out for the Cheshire/Gtr Manchester Cranes on patch now - after they departed Astley Moss in a SW direction today :)
sid ashton said
Sat Apr 28 3:22 AM, 2012
One Black Tern, 2 Arctic Tern and 4 Common Tern present at 17.00 on this very wet and cold afternoon. Also Sand Martins, House Martins, Swallows and 3 or 4 Swifts.
Rob Smallwood said
Thu Apr 26 8:38 PM, 2012
Doc Brewster wrote:
Some of the terns had departed whan I arrived at 9am on the way to Focalpoint :)
Why would terns go to Focalpoint - it's good but not really their sort of place? ;)
Doc Brewster said
Thu Apr 26 4:23 PM, 2012
Black Tern Budworth Mere 8.45am (thanks to a phone call from a mate) with 7 Arctic Terns and 2 Little Gulls, also at least 9 Swifts. Some of the terns had departed whan I arrived at 9am on the way to Focalpoint but the Black Tern was still present :)
Doc Brewster said
Thu Apr 26 12:14 AM, 2012
Amazing afternoon on Patch, luckily I was there to see it unfold
I was on Neumann's Flash mound when 3 Arctic Terns flew straight through, sort of expected given numbers elsewhere today, but a tiny hint of what was to follow. We decided that Budworth Mere was a good bet so went to set off when I had a phonecall to say that about 50 terns and several Little Gulls were currently over the mere. On arriving I counted the terns present and G got aoround 130 terns at least & a colleague counted 21 Little Gulls. Some birds spiralled up & departed others seemed to be just arriving & dropping in. Soon we confirmed an earlier suspicion that despite the majority being Arctic Terns there was at least 1 (must have been more?) Common Tern, scoped at close quarters by 5 of us. The hirundine flock contained many Sand Martins, Swallows & House Martins still and earlier a Swift was seen over Budworth Mere.
I had to leave but have just taken a call from Mark Payne who had 27 Little Gulls through Neumann's Flash and then at least 40 Little Gulls on Budworth Mere still with the huge tern flock there!! Anything could happen this evening - we all wait with bated breath!!
Doc Brewster said
Sat Apr 21 5:44 AM, 2012
Three Yellow Wagtails were in the sheep field by Fisherman's Path with a large number of alba wagtails - all that we checked out were Pieds, not a single White amongst them - unusual!!
Doc Brewster said
Fri Apr 20 4:18 PM, 2012
3 Arctic Terns all day yesterday over Budworth Mere, favouring the Yacht Club end, in front of the Heronry. There at 5.30pm still, no news yet today.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Apr 9 6:12 PM, 2012
A large resident flock of Sand Martins over Budwirth Mere now holds several each of Swallow & House Martin. The numbers of Willow Warblers on patch is creeping higher but Lesser Spotted Woodpecker sightings are predictably dropping.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Apr 2 5:26 AM, 2012
First Willow Warbler of the year on 'Patch' today as several patchers were out & about. Also the 1st 2 House Martins amongst modest numbers of Sand Martins over Budworth Mere (always high up). The redhead Goosander that was seen last week was on the mere early morning but gone by 9am. Blackcaps & Chiffchaffs now everywhere!! 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers chasing in Big Wood.
Doc Brewster said
Wed Mar 28 12:20 AM, 2012
Had I known you were popping down we could have met up for a stroll The Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are getting more elusive but as you say plenty of Chiffchaffs around. It feels like that lull efore the storm down on 'Patch' at the moment, should anything break I will post on here
Melanie Beckford said
Mon Mar 26 10:35 PM, 2012
Gentile couple of hours here on Sunday morning. No Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but my first sighting of a Chiffchaff this year, there were several caling, along with Nuthatch (on every tree). Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Reed Bunting all by the hide. On the way back to my car, l counted four Buzzards and l had Peregrine flying over. By the hide l watched a little Bank Vole scurrying around (very cute)..
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 26th of March 2012 10:50:54 PM
Doc Brewster said
Fri Mar 23 9:27 PM, 2012
The first singing male Blackcap on Patch today. I heard this along the entrance road that leads to Witton Mill car park (the road by the tip next to Ashton's Flash in case folk don't know the car park name). Cheers Paul
Doc Brewster said
Mon Mar 19 3:40 PM, 2012
The first returning Little Ringed Plover was at Budworth Mere today, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker sightings are up with probably at least 2 pairs being seen, one in the mereside alders & one on Marbury Lane. A summer plumaged Brambling has been seen this week and at least 1 Tawny Owl is still in the roost tree. The Tundra Bean Goose was seen again on Saturday :)
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 19th of March 2012 03:41:16 PM
Brian Baird said
Sat Mar 17 5:59 PM, 2012
The Little Gull - non-breeding plumage - on Budworth Mere was seen well, though distant both in flight and preening this morning. Also of interest was a great view of a pair of Goldcrests, nest building, thanks to the Birders who pointed me in the right direction for both of these. Three Snipe were noted at Haydn Pool with a Buzzard overhead and a Chiffchaff singing nearby made it a great spring morning.
-- Edited by Brian Baird on Sunday 18th of March 2012 01:53:57 PM
Doc Brewster said
Tue Feb 28 6:58 AM, 2012
Not had any further reports of the Bean Goose - but all the feedback I have had is that the large Greylag flock, with which it & the 3 PfGeese were associating, has also been absent from the mere. this is pretty usual for this flock & it could turn back up at the mere any time - with or without the rarer cousins :)
Robert Adderley said
Sun Feb 26 3:59 AM, 2012
No sign of the Bean Goose, but a Bittern showed nicely late morning.
Have you tried highlighting the link wording, right-clicking and then clicking on "go to address"? That works for me. Otherwise I'll look at another way of setting the link.
Budworth Mere
I waited 30 minutes or so for the Bittern to emerge from the reedbed, alas it did'nt, the only sign of life here was a small flock of Blue Tits flitting around the Phragmites heads.
There was masses of activity at the feeding station though, and lots of Chaffinches amonst the usual garden birds, but no sign of Bramblings.
Lots of Moorhens below the feeders and on the edge of the mere, but no sign Water Rail, in icy conditions one used to be regular here, but that was many moons ago.
6 Great Crested Grebes on the mere. 14 Cormorants, 124 Lapwing, 2 Great Black Gulls, 11 Common Gulls and 3 Wigeon around the spit on the North bank.
A large number of Redwings flushed from the woodland floor near the old ice pit, leaving a few Blackbirds to continue rooting through the leaf litter.
6 Robins seemed to be tolerating each other at the woodland feeding station, but after a while war broke out. 4 male Blackbirds decided on aggro too, Springs not far away.
1 Goldcrest near the garden centre. 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming.
I visited Marbury last week (Wednesday, 16th Jan) and managed to see the Bittern albeit, a fair distance away and there was a Black Swan on the mere too so here are a couple of links to my Flickr. pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoot2thrillpolicy/sets/72157632537066487/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoot2thrillpolicy/sets/72157632289119520/
Cheers David
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/eurasian-bittern-botaurus-stellaris/individual-preening-wing-stretching-reed-bed
The late afternoon light would have been ideal for picture taking as well.
Surprisingly, given earlier reports there was no Starling roost, with only a handful of them going around before dusk. Guess they had good views of the Bittern as well
Nice to be there with you Rory, a good day
-- Edited by Tanmay Dixit on Wednesday 2nd of January 2013 11:14:26 AM
Budworth Mere
14 Great Crested Grebes, 2 drake Pochard, 3 Great Black Backed Gulls, 4 Shelduck plus the usual waterfowl and gulls.
18 Curlew and 160 Lapwings on the pasture on the North bank.
Marbury CP/Budworth Mere
20 Curlew, 400+ Canada Geese, 1 Greylag Goose, 16 Common Gulls, 8 Cormorants, 15 Great Crested Grebes plus lots of Coot, BH Gulls etc.
10 Jays amongst the cattle on the pasture.
Haydn Pool
"Devoid of life"
Ashtons Flash
12 Common Gulls
Neumanns Flash
130 Teal, 6 Shoveler, 13 Mute Swans, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Goldcrest, 1 female Bullfinch plus lots of Coot and BH Gulls.
1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush plus several small flocks of Redwings flying around the Hawthorne hedges.
A single flock of 85 Lapwings flushed off farmland at Marston.
Dairyhouse Meadow
Several small flocks of Redwings (impossible to count) flying between the Hawthorne thickets.
1 Kestrel
Simon and l had a walk around too..the woodland hide turned up four Nuthatch, plenty of Tits and Chaffinch and there was a Stock Dove too. We also had Tree Creeper on our walk, Jays, Redwing, Mistle Thrush,heard Goldcrest.
We saw one Red Admiral too.
The park (expectedly) was very busy of dog walkers and children on bikes and scooters...l'm guessing the land opposite the Mere is private ? There were two imbeciles shooting at the ducks
Note to the wise, if it's a chilly day, bring your own flask. We bought two hot chocolates and a cake each...£8 +
at 1st hide by the lake
Jay
Nuthatches
Coal tits
Blue tits
Great tits
Chaffinches
Robins
and then a Sparrowhawk came in low and had a Blue tit for lunch
Around the Mere
6 Wigeon
35-40 Great crested grebes many where young ones
up to 100 Canada geese no other geese seen
up to 100 Black headed gulls
4Cormorants
2 Heron
7 Tufted duck
20 Lapwing
In a freshly ploughed field 2 Buzzards searching for worms
Woodland hide
Treecreeper
Wren
Goldcrest
plus all the usual
-- Edited by Graham Smith on Sunday 4th of November 2012 07:07:27 PM
-- Edited by Graham Smith on Sunday 4th of November 2012 07:55:11 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 4th of November 2012 08:00:59 PM
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 11th of October 2012 04:20:16 PM
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 11th of October 2012 10:01:58 AM
Marbury Country Park
18 Mistle Thrush on cattle pasture
3 Chiffchaff and 1 (m)Blackcap in scrub area NE of ranger cabin.
Budworth Mere
13 adult Great Crested Grebes + 3 juveniles ( 1 still quite small), 6 Cormorants, 5 Common Gulls plus usual waterfowl.
Haydn Pool
1 Woodpigeon and 1 Stock Dove ( Looked virtually lifeless ), water level low. 1 Chiffchaff in the hawthorn hedge.
Neumanns Flash
316 Lapwings (Very nervous and edgy), 10 Mute Swans plus the usual waterfowl.
1 Nuthatch in the hawthorn hedge on the North bank ( The first time I've seen one here).
Lots of Speckled Wood butterflies along hedges, also 2 Small Tortoiseshells and a few Common Darter dragonflies about.
Chaffinch's
2 Herons
40+ Great crested grebes with a lot of youngsters among them
1 Willow warbler
2 Goldcrest
Song thrush
21 House martins over the mere
2 Common terns
Nuthatch
2 Greylags
plus all the usual
Nothing much today but a report on our grapevine of 3 Hobbies chasing House Martins in Comberbach on the edge of the Marbury CP area.
It's just nice to see so many grebes together, I did'nt know you had a predation problem. A site in the north of the county seem to have resolved their Mink problem, but this is an emotive issue, some of
my friends think they're just cute little creatures and should be left alone. I wonder if they'd feel the same if Leopards were released in Tatton Park?.
Sorry that I didn't post earlier about the Mandarin, John, we have our local patch-watchers grapevine text service so it has been on that several times, but I will try to put more unusual sightings onto here more quickly in future.
Budworth Mere
2 adult + 1 juvenile Common Tern.
45 Great Crested Grebes + 2 half grown youngsters.
There was a huge terrapin sat on the nest whilst the adult was sitting (I have pics on my fb site). The GcGrebe constantly pecked at the terrapin but couldnt move it and seemed reluctant to do a nest changeover when its mate appeared. I went away & when I returned both nests had been predated (egges taken) - presumably by said terrapin
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 23rd of June 2012 10:23:54 PM
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 21st of June 2012 08:53:10 PM
Marbury CP
2 Garden Warblers in scrub/bushes N.W corner of park.
Anglers on main scrape of Budworth Mere so no waders.
Neumanns Flash 09.15-11.00
1 Garden Warbler SW corner. at least 12 Common Whitethroats singing
around mere. 16 Mute Swans 4 Lapwing 1 imm Herring Gull 3 Linnet
Ashtons Flash
1 large Fox prowling around. 1 Raven 20+ Jackdaws.
Haydn Pool 11.15-12.00
2 broods Coot 1 brood Mallard 6 Sand Martin 4 Stock Dove 1 Redshank
4 Buzzards soaring over & high above them 1 Raven. 1 Sedge Warbler
lots of St Marks flies,a few Green Horned Moths, Peacock & Small White
butterflies.
1 Curlew only wader, no terns.
09.00-11.00 Neumanns Flash
1 Little Ringed Plover, 6m 2f Shoveler 1 pr Teal, steady trickle of Swifts
northward over Neumanns.
Water level high on both meres & scrapes flooded.
lol, cos they got gud taste ;) maybe we should look out for the Cheshire/Gtr Manchester Cranes on patch now - after they departed Astley Moss in a SW direction today :)
Why would terns go to Focalpoint - it's good but not really their sort of place? ;)
I was on Neumann's Flash mound when 3 Arctic Terns flew straight through, sort of expected given numbers elsewhere today, but a tiny hint of what was to follow. We decided that Budworth Mere was a good bet so went to set off when I had a phonecall to say that about 50 terns and several Little Gulls were currently over the mere. On arriving I counted the terns present and G got aoround 130 terns at least & a colleague counted 21 Little Gulls. Some birds spiralled up & departed others seemed to be just arriving & dropping in. Soon we confirmed an earlier suspicion that despite the majority being Arctic Terns there was at least 1 (must have been more?) Common Tern, scoped at close quarters by 5 of us. The hirundine flock contained many Sand Martins, Swallows & House Martins still and earlier a Swift was seen over Budworth Mere.
I had to leave but have just taken a call from Mark Payne who had 27 Little Gulls through Neumann's Flash and then at least 40 Little Gulls on Budworth Mere still with the huge tern flock there!! Anything could happen this evening - we all wait with bated breath!!
On the way back to my car, l counted four Buzzards and l had Peregrine flying over.
By the hide l watched a little Bank Vole scurrying around (very cute)..
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 26th of March 2012 10:50:54 PM
Cheers
Paul
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 19th of March 2012 03:41:16 PM
Also of interest was a great view of a pair of Goldcrests, nest building, thanks to the Birders who pointed me in the right direction for both of these.
Three Snipe were noted at Haydn Pool with a Buzzard overhead and a Chiffchaff singing nearby made it a great spring morning.
-- Edited by Brian Baird on Sunday 18th of March 2012 01:53:57 PM