First wander this way for quite some time yesterday, spent an hour from 2pm around cloughend farm area.
4 Buzzards
100 starlings though there were most like more.
3 skylarks with one displaying
1 sparrowhawk
Usuals as well re tits and finches.
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Mon Mar 3 1:22 PM, 2014
Highlights: 2 Little Owls apparently prospecting nest holes in a drystone wall. When a Carrion Crow swooped down close by they scurried to hide within the wall, eventually peeping out and re-emerging when the danger passed. 2 Tree Sparrows singing at Cloughend Farm. Hopefully the start of a satellite colony. 9 Skylarks (but only 1 in song flight) 3 Buzzards 42 Lapwings
Many common birds in song on a spring-like morning: Reed Bunting, Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Robin.
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Thu Feb 13 5:43 PM, 2014
Common Gull 89 Buzzard 2 Tree Sparrow 6 Redwing 82 Fieldfare 54 Jay 4 Snipe 1
Cheers, John
John Rayner said
Mon Feb 10 1:51 PM, 2014
6 Skylarks - including 1 in full song flight 6 Lapwings 7 Common Gulls 33 Rooks feeding with Jackdaws 5 Tree Sparrows
Cheers John
Andy Bissitt said
Sun Feb 2 8:40 PM, 2014
Nice day to get out to the Moor for the first time this year, although action pretty subdued.
Minimum of 9 tree sparrows (max of 11 probable). c 100 Fieldfare c 20 redwing. 2 buzzards (not exciting at all as I had as a garden bird today!)
A bit worried about the tree sparrows despite their healthy number as the old farm building that I'm sure some must have used for nesting has been replaced by a hermetically sealed barn complete with solar panels and such. Yes that's right, save the planet, but stuff the wildlife! If anyone locally has any spare nest boxes going, this might be a good time to come forward.
John Rayner said
Mon Jan 13 1:19 PM, 2014
Common Gull 26 Starling c400 Fieldfare 21 Meadow Pipit 28 Tree Sparrow 5 Raven 2 Snipe 2
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Sun Nov 24 12:10 AM, 2013
1 Snipe very high over April Cottage was unusual until I saw 2 shooters systematically quartering the rushy fields below the quarry. Plenty of gunshot but I didn't witness them down a Snipe - it it didn't look like they were after Pheasants. They certainly downed something but their dogs couldn't locate it. One of the dogs flushed a Woodcock from nearby scrub but it escaped un-noticed.
Goldfinch 48 (including single flock of 37) Buzzard 1 Kestrel 1 Magpie 14 Blackbird 8 Fieldfare 1 Woodpigeon 39 Collared Dove 2 Stock Dove 2 Chaffinch 16 Tree Sparrow c10 Redpoll 1 Reed Bunting 3
Cheers, John
John Rayner said
Wed Nov 13 10:17 PM, 2013
Meadow Pipit 54 (inc flock of 42 at quarry) Redpoll 2 Pheasant 2 Greenfinch 5 Starling 550 (impressive flock around Upper Bradshaw Farm)
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Sun Nov 10 7:37 PM, 2013
Pink-footed Goose 220 (east at 08.30) Collared Dove 5 Tree Sparrow 2 Raven 1 Goldfinch 12 Blackbird 14 (influx) Fieldfare 28 Redwing 2 Song Thrush 1 Bullfinch 8 Redpoll 2 Lapwing 19 Kestrel 1 Woodpigeon c60
[Brown Hare, melanistic Rabbit]
Cheers, John
Tim Wilcox said
Fri Nov 8 6:00 AM, 2013
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Andy Bissitt wrote:
Hi Mark,
You should report this to the police, or some other authority. If you were on a footpath, and you feel that the dogs came from a particular property, then you have all the ammunition you need to press charges or such I'd say. It's typical of farmers that the only 'wild' animals they allow to exist on their land are those which are an actual danger to other people. These are the kind of hypocrites that stand between us having the wolf, lynx and bear back in the U.K., and an all but tamed wilderness.
I agree with Andy here Mark; the next person along with a family pet or worse still with young children might not be so lucky!
Also and very importantly if you don't have an up to date tetanus jab you should get one. I got bitten by a dog riding my bike in Wales a. I went to the Police who went to give the owner a warning they would be prosecuted if there was a repeat incident b. I went to the doctor back in Manchester who gave me a tetanus jab.
John Rayner said
Fri Nov 8 5:55 AM, 2013
Mark Walsh wrote:
I was attacked by two medium sized dogs from Far Bradshaw while on the public footpath heading up to gun road, I had gone past the farm and up into the reedy field to the east and was about 30mtrs from the east facing fence of their garden so quite a bit past what might be considered their 'immediate property' though still walking through their land (on the public footpath). There was no provocative action by myself and as mentioned I was well past their garden boundary when the dogs came. I got bitten several times on my lower leg and had I not been a relatively healthy 31yr old I might have gone down. I don't want to postulate what might have happened then but I don't think it would have been pretty.
So what I'm basically saying is I would advise people to avoid far bradshaw for the time being.
I think those who head around Ludworth need to know this so I hope it's ok to have in the thread.
Regards
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the heads up on this and I agree with everyone else that it should be reported. I frequently walk this area (last visit 9th Sept) and whilst the largish black dog at Bradshaw Barn is a noisy barker it has always been confined or tethered. I wonder if the more recently renovated Far Bradshaw (no longer a farm) has acquired some new dogs.
Cheers John
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Nov 8 5:25 AM, 2013
Andy Bissitt wrote:
Hi Mark,
You should report this to the police, or some other authority. If you were on a footpath, and you feel that the dogs came from a particular property, then you have all the ammunition you need to press charges or such I'd say. It's typical of farmers that the only 'wild' animals they allow to exist on their land are those which are an actual danger to other people. These are the kind of hypocrites that stand between us having the wolf, lynx and bear back in the U.K., and an all but tamed wilderness.
I agree with Andy here Mark; the next person along with a family pet or worse still with young children might not be so lucky!
Andy Bissitt said
Fri Nov 8 5:00 AM, 2013
Mark Walsh wrote:
Headed up to Ludworth about midday today so I could have a mooch around, decided to head up past Far Bradshaw as I hadn't gone that way for a while...........big mistake but I'll come to that in a minute.
Now as a word of warning for those heading up and around Ludworth, I was attacked by two medium sized dogs from Far Bradshaw while on the public footpath heading up to gun road, I had gone past the farm and up into the reedy field to the east and was about 30mtrs from the east facing fence of their garden so quite a bit past what might be considered their 'immediate property' though still walking through their land (on the public footpath). There was no provocative action by myself and as mentioned I was well past their garden boundary when the dogs came. I got bitten several times on my lower leg and had I not been a relatively healthy 31yr old I might have gone down. I don't want to postulate what might have happened then but I don't think it would have been pretty.
So what I'm basically saying is I would advise people to avoid far bradshaw for the time being.
I think those who head around Ludworth need to know this so I hope it's ok to have in the thread.
Regards
Mark
Hi Mark,
You should report this to the police, or some other authority. If you were on a footpath, and you feel that the dogs came from a particular property, then you have all the ammunition you need to press charges or such I'd say. It's typical of farmers that the only 'wild' animals they allow to exist on their land are those which are an actual danger to other people. These are the kind of hypocrites that stand between us having the wolf, lynx and bear back in the U.K., and an all but tamed wilderness.
Mark Walsh said
Fri Nov 8 3:59 AM, 2013
Headed up to Ludworth about midday today so I could have a mooch around, decided to head up past Far Bradshaw as I hadn't gone that way for a while...........big mistake but I'll come to that in a minute.
Now as a word of warning for those heading up and around Ludworth, I was attacked by two medium sized dogs from Far Bradshaw while on the public footpath heading up to gun road, I had gone past the farm and up into the reedy field to the east and was about 30mtrs from the east facing fence of their garden so quite a bit past what might be considered their 'immediate property' though still walking through their land (on the public footpath). There was no provocative action by myself and as mentioned I was well past their garden boundary when the dogs came. I got bitten several times on my lower leg and had I not been a relatively healthy 31yr old I might have gone down. I don't want to postulate what might have happened then but I don't think it would have been pretty.
So what I'm basically saying is I would advise people to avoid far bradshaw for the time being.
I think those who head around Ludworth need to know this so I hope it's ok to have in the thread.
Regards
Mark
John Rayner said
Mon Nov 4 9:13 PM, 2013
What a difference 24 hours makes. Glorious weather today with clear blue skies. Still not a super abundance of birds though.
Tree Sparrow 11 Lapwing 141 (2 flocks of 41 and c100) Common Gull 56 Buzzard 2 Sparrowhawk 1f Little Owl 1 Golden Plover 1 (H) Skylark 1 Meadow Pipit 6
Cheers John
Andy Bissitt said
Wed Oct 23 3:25 AM, 2013
Mark Walsh wrote:
A late post for yesterday
2 hr walk around the picking rods area and the quarry;
6 Snipe 2 Jack Snipe (both birds only flew when I was within a couple of meters, silent and a short flight before going to ground, good views of the second bird so I managed to see a much shorter bill in comparison to the several snipe already flushed) 1 Reed Bunting c70 Starling
Cheers
Mark
Mark,
Where exactly were the jack snipe. I walked quite a bit of the area myself on Sunday but had only three common snipe. I was hoping for 'jacks' and waded through lots of suitable terrain but was once again disappointed.
Mark Walsh said
Mon Oct 21 8:40 PM, 2013
A late post for yesterday
2 hr walk around the picking rods area and the quarry;
6 Snipe 2 Jack Snipe (both birds only flew when I was within a couple of meters, silent and a short flight before going to ground, good views of the second bird so I managed to see a much shorter bill in comparison to the several snipe already flushed) 1 Reed Bunting c70 Starling
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Thu Oct 17 3:23 AM, 2013
Nice to meet you John
A few additions;
c80 Lapwing 12 Meadow Pipits E 4 Ravens Around Brown Low 192 Redwing S 1 additional Skylark over in between the redwing 1 Goldcrest
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Wed Oct 16 8:11 PM, 2013
A walk (in part) with Mark Walsh (9.00 - 10.30)
Common Gulls 19 Starlings c80 Fieldfare 147 south (largest flock of 55) Redwing 18 south (Mark had more) Meadow Pipits 9 ( " ) Skylark 8 Lapwing c70 Snipe 4
Cheers, John
John Rayner said
Fri Oct 11 6:35 PM, 2013
Small flocks of winter thrushes landing on Rowans.
Fieldfare 38 (flocks of 20, 15 and 3) Redwing 1 Mistle Thrushes 4 Tree Sparrow (small number at Larkhill heard only) Meadow Pipit 14 Goldfinch 17 Sparrowhawk 1 Black-headed Gulls 30 Common Gulls 13
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Wed Oct 9 8:13 PM, 2013
John Rayner wrote:
9th October (9.15 - 11.30)
Very few birds around at first, eerily quiet in fact with nothing overhead. But eventually found my first local winter thrushes.
Low cloud soon lifted as I arrived and I had the feeling I was too late for any decent migration. A few Pied Wagtails were either grounded or heading east. A party of Skylarks landed and Meadow Pipits seemed to be milling around with no clear direction - largest party was 9. Everything else was regulation stuff. I must get up in the morning.
Pied Wagtails 19 Meadow Pipits 48 Skylarks 11 Raven 1 (heard before the cloud lifted) Blue Tits 5 Starlings 15 Buzzard 1 Reed Bunting 1 Snipe 2 Little Owl 1
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Mon Oct 7 10:05 PM, 2013
11:00 - 12:30
Not much different from John though I had a great spotted woodpecker just below the quarry and while watching that a Curlew called back up towards Gun Road, the starlings were in Derbyshire and numbered around 200 again.
I didn't have the numbers of migrating Meadow Pipits though with only 7 birds flying through SW, there were probably more though.
Cheers
Mark
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Monday 7th of October 2013 10:06:43 PM
Had a walk midday in search of Stonechat which didn't disappoint with the bird in the bracken opposite the entrance to the actual quarry.
Other than that;
37 Starling 4 Buzzard 1 Kestrel 3 Chiffchaff heard 2 Reed Bunting 5 Teal in the pool on the Derbyshire side however these flew over to the quarry pool as I walked along the path.
A Stonechat was feeding around the bracken below the quarry. A local scarcity since breeding ceased with only 1 or 2 sightings per year, usually Sep/Oct.
Otherwise quiet with just a few Meadow Pipits (c18) flying east.
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Mon Sep 23 6:46 PM, 2013
A late post for yesterday evening
Bumped into Andy up there and it was nice to have a quick chat.
It was a beautiful evening but sadly apart from a couple of small flocks not very much about;
37 Starling 2 Chiffchaff seen more heard 17 Mistle thrush 1 m Sparrowhawk 1 m Kestrel 2 Buzzard
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Sat Sep 14 1:20 AM, 2013
10.30 - 12.00. Very quiet and much the same as usual except a noticeable increase in Meadow Pipits
4 Chiffchaffs (1 singing) 5 Chaffinches 6 Swallows (1S & 5N) 1 House Martin (S) 1 Reed Bunting 1 Song Thrush (1st cy) c93 Meadow Pipits (Flocks of c50, 22 & 19)
1 Brown Hare
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Fri Sep 13 6:25 AM, 2013
A brief 1 and a half hour visit this afternoon/evening between 18:00 - 19:30
1 Spotted flycatcher in the trees near cloughend bungalow 2 Chiffchaff same area 6 Mistle Thrush
Few great tits, blue tit's, Robins etc.
Other than those not much though the rain was beginning to come down by then.
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Mon Sep 9 9:34 PM, 2013
A circular walk starting at Far Bradshaw 10.30 - 12.50
Best sightings today:
4 Whinchats together (well below quarry area and towards Far Bradshaw) 6 Snipe (Far Bradshaw) 29 Swallows mostly moving south 5 House Martins south 2 Chiffchaff in song 4 Willow Warblers 1 Buzzard Only 5 Goldfinches Only 3 Meadow Pipits 1 Jay 1 juvenile Dunnock 4 LBB Gulls north 8 BH Gulls north 3 Reed Buntings
No large flocks of Wagtails, Pipits, Goldfinches or Starlings
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Mon Sep 9 1:42 AM, 2013
Decided to go out again today 15:00 - 17:50
A bit of a change from yesterday with a few largish flocks
c90 Starlings Mixed group of Tit's and Chiffchaff with at least 10 of the latter Buzzard 12 Goldfinch 4 Meadow Pipit
Unfortunately Derbyshire held the best pickings with;
A Mixed flock of Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipits with at least 30 of each bird in the field opposite the entrance to the Kennels, while I didn't have my scope I gave the Pipits a quick scan for any obvious signs of Tree Pipit and forgot about that when I came across a Juvenile Yellow Wagtail, shame the bird was in Derbyshire.
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Sun Sep 8 1:47 AM, 2013
John Rayner wrote:
Who was the birder walking past Larkhill as I was driving away? Light blue rucksack and what looked like Swarovski bins.
Cheers John
That would have been me, sadly there wasn't overly much about for me either.
12:00 - 14:30
8 Tree Sparrow 6 Chiffchaff seen over various locations, more heard though. 4 Swallow through 3 Snipe 21 Meadow Pipit 1 Female Linnet 1 Kestrel
I think I need to have a few morning visits
John Rayner said
Sat Sep 7 9:58 PM, 2013
10.00 - 12.00
Not a lot this morning.
2 Buzzards 26 Goldfinches (mainly juvs) 9 Meadow Pipits 26 Starlings (juvs) 1 Reed Bunting 3 Chiffchaffs 6 Swallows through SE 3 House Martins through SE
Who was the birder walking past Larkhill as I was driving away? Light blue rucksack and what looked like Swarovski bins.
Earlier Anthony Marriott had a male Ring Ouzel at the quarry but it flew east towards Robin Hood's Picking Rods
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Mon Sep 2 3:06 AM, 2013
1700 - 1930
A wander around ludworth visiting the area above Gun farm, the Quarry area and around the plantation.
2 Whinchat still in the quarry though no sign of the third 3 Skylark 6 Meadow Pipit 5 Chiffchaff 1 Willow Warbler Pair of Bulfinch 2 Snipe 1 Kestrel 1 Buzzard and best of all a Peregrine over the kennels heading in the GM direction though I lost sight before I could see if it did enter our airspace.
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Mon Aug 26 8:18 AM, 2013
1600 - 2000
Decided to mooch on over to Ludworth in search of Whinchats and Lesser Whitethroats after seeing Andy's post, missed the latter but caught up with the Whinchats which I was rather chuffed about as it's been ages since I saw any.
Other than that there was quite a lot of activity including my first Wheatear up here;
95 Lapwing 4 Snipe 1 Golden Plover with the Lapwing 6 Whitethroat within the area covered Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler 30 Meadow Pipit in a flock
Cheers
Mark
Andy Bissitt said
Sun Aug 25 8:47 PM, 2013
Between approx 10.00 a.m. 11.30 a.m.
At least 4 whitethroats in area previously described below, plus a lesser with them, and a male blackcap. Another lesser whitethroat down by the Glossop Rd (fishponds). Best was 3 whinchats (looked like a fem & 2 juvs) in the quarry area amongst the bracken south of the path. Also 300+ starlings, 15-20 mistle thrushes, and just a nice feeling about the morning.
I'll be back!
Mark Walsh said
Sun Aug 25 12:07 AM, 2013
A late posting for yesterday 08:00 - 11:00
Quite a lot showing itself despite a strong breeze at times;
4 Chiffchaff seen of which 2 were Juveniles 2 Willow Warblers 3 Bullfinch inc 1 juv 2 Whitethroat 1 ad 1 juv opposite Hillside 2 Raven 34 Meadow Pipits of which 27 were in one largish flock 10 Linnets 7 Redpoll 10 Common Gull
Worth a note though they were in Derbyshire;
c130 Lapwing c150 Starlings
The day really belonged to Raptors though with a really good diversity for Ludworth;
1 Buzzard 2 Sparrowhawk m+f seen at different times 2 Kestrel m+f, the male sat on telephone wires near Larkhill while the female hunted. Amusingly there were two green finches also on the wire about 3 mtrs along trying desperately to appear unfazed.....they flew in the end. 1 Hobby seen multiple times with one brief cracking view as it flew low to the left of the road while I was heading up from Cloughend to Hillside.
An enjoyable stroll.
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Wed Aug 21 11:51 PM, 2013
Hillside Farm......at least I know the name now.
I was stood there for 10 minutes hoping to see the Garden Warblers but saw and heard nothing, all I got for my vigil was a mass of flying ants that seemed to view me as a landing point
John Rayner said
Wed Aug 21 4:55 AM, 2013
I was there a couple of hours earlier than Mark,
1 Willow Warbler 1 ad, 1 juv Whitethroat (opposite Hillside Farm - the farm that was 'un-named' in previous posts) 24 Meadow Pipits 15 Goldfinch 1 Little Owl Many juv Jackdaws
At least 5 male and 2 female Common Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker, 12 Black Darters, c30 Emerald Damselflies
Cheers, John
Mark Walsh said
Wed Aug 21 3:21 AM, 2013
17:00 - 19:00
A few birds of note about this evening
3 Redpoll 20 Meadow Pipit just above Far Bradshaw 1 Willow Warbler seen more heard 1 Chiffchaff, as with WW more heard 6 Grey Wagtail, Hollywood End 12 Mistle Thrush 1 Common Gull
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Mon Aug 12 4:53 AM, 2013
Actually I think they were just in, looking at streetmap the boundary follows the wall next to the entrance to the farm (I need to find out what its called ) running across the fields on both sides of the road. In which case they were in a shrub on this side of the border by about 2 meters.
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Mon Aug 12 4:40 AM, 2013
Andy Bissitt wrote:
Mark,
What do you mean, the next farm up from Clough End? Do you mean up the steep road running sharply away from Clough End? If so, then you've gone out of county!! Greater Manchester ends approximately under the electricity pylons there. It's a close call.
Andy B.
P.S. I was in a different part of the 'Ludworth' area today insect watching and hardly saw a bird, certainly nothing of note. Redpoll and swift probably caught the eye, plus some rooks that I didn't stop to count. Naughty.
Andy that's the area, I knew the border was somewhere round there but was hoping they were on the GM side, oh well maybe next time they'll be on the right side.
I did see a blue Skoda at the parking area and noticed the RSPB and Dragonfly Society stickers and thought it might be yourself, I kept an eye out but didn't see you.
The Redstart was initially on the gate near Cloughend that leads up to the quarry but flitted into the gorse and woodland as I approached. There was a bird about 3 weeks ago in the same area that gave a brief view of a red tail as it flew and as I wasn't sure it was my imagination I didn't post, might be the same bird in which case there is a good chance it might be resident (for the time being).
Andy Bissitt said
Mon Aug 12 4:15 AM, 2013
Mark Walsh wrote:
Up for a brief visit this afternoon produced much the same as John yesterday, I missed the Skylarks, Snipe and Raven though managed 3 Garden Warblers opposite the next farm up from Cloughend, not sure what it's called.
Interestingly the Juv Redstart had a willow warbler/chiffchaff chaperoning today, not sure if it was the same yesterday.
Cheers
Mark
Mark,
What do you mean, the next farm up from Clough End? Do you mean up the steep road running sharply away from Clough End? If so, then you've gone out of county!! Greater Manchester ends approximately under the electricity pylons there. It's a close call.
Andy B.
P.S. I was in a different part of the 'Ludworth' area today insect watching and hardly saw a bird, certainly nothing of note. Redpoll and swift probably caught the eye, plus some rooks that I didn't stop to count. Naughty.
Mark Walsh said
Mon Aug 12 2:38 AM, 2013
Up for a brief visit this afternoon produced much the same as John yesterday, I missed the Skylarks, Snipe and Raven though managed 3 Garden Warblers opposite the next farm up from Cloughend, not sure what it's called.
Interestingly the Juv Redstart had a willow warbler/chiffchaff chaperoning today, not sure if it was the same yesterday.
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Sun Aug 11 9:57 PM, 2013
Hi Mark,
The county boundary is a little further up the road than under the pylons. All the scrub on the LHS is in GM. The boundary follows the drystone wall that bounds the end of this scrub and crosses the road just about where the un-named farm entrance starts. I saw a Garden Warbler here singing in GM in May - following Robert Adderley's post. It could well have stayed around to breed.
Cheers John
Ed. Posts crossed.
-- Edited by John Rayner on Sunday 11th of August 2013 10:03:05 PM
2 Little Owls apparently prospecting nest holes in a drystone wall. When a Carrion Crow swooped down close by they scurried to hide within the wall, eventually peeping out and re-emerging when the danger passed.
2 Tree Sparrows singing at Cloughend Farm. Hopefully the start of a satellite colony.
9 Skylarks (but only 1 in song flight)
3 Buzzards
42 Lapwings
Many common birds in song on a spring-like morning: Reed Bunting, Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Robin.
Cheers John
Buzzard 2
Tree Sparrow 6
Redwing 82
Fieldfare 54
Jay 4
Snipe 1
Cheers, John
6 Lapwings
7 Common Gulls
33 Rooks feeding with Jackdaws
5 Tree Sparrows
Cheers John
Minimum of 9 tree sparrows (max of 11 probable).
c 100 Fieldfare
c 20 redwing.
2 buzzards (not exciting at all as I had as a garden bird today!)
A bit worried about the tree sparrows despite their healthy number as the old farm building that I'm sure some must have used for nesting has been replaced by a hermetically sealed barn complete with solar panels and such. Yes that's right, save the planet, but stuff the wildlife! If anyone locally has any spare nest boxes going, this might be a good time to come forward.
Starling c400
Fieldfare 21
Meadow Pipit 28
Tree Sparrow 5
Raven 2
Snipe 2
Cheers John
Goldfinch 48 (including single flock of 37)
Buzzard 1
Kestrel 1
Magpie 14
Blackbird 8
Fieldfare 1
Woodpigeon 39
Collared Dove 2
Stock Dove 2
Chaffinch 16
Tree Sparrow c10
Redpoll 1
Reed Bunting 3
Cheers, John
Redpoll 2
Pheasant 2
Greenfinch 5
Starling 550 (impressive flock around Upper Bradshaw Farm)
Cheers John
Collared Dove 5
Tree Sparrow 2
Raven 1
Goldfinch 12
Blackbird 14 (influx)
Fieldfare 28
Redwing 2
Song Thrush 1
Bullfinch 8
Redpoll 2
Lapwing 19
Kestrel 1
Woodpigeon c60
[Brown Hare, melanistic Rabbit]
Cheers, John
Also and very importantly if you don't have an up to date tetanus jab you should get one. I got bitten by a dog riding my bike in Wales a. I went to the Police who went to give the owner a warning they would be prosecuted if there was a repeat incident b. I went to the doctor back in Manchester who gave me a tetanus jab.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the heads up on this and I agree with everyone else that it should be reported. I frequently walk this area (last visit 9th Sept) and whilst the largish black dog at Bradshaw Barn is a noisy barker it has always been confined or tethered. I wonder if the more recently renovated Far Bradshaw (no longer a farm) has acquired some new dogs.
Cheers John
I agree with Andy here Mark; the next person along with a family pet or worse still with young children might not be so lucky!
Hi Mark,
You should report this to the police, or some other authority. If you were on a footpath, and you feel that the dogs came from a particular property, then you have all the ammunition you need to press charges or such I'd say. It's typical of farmers that the only 'wild' animals they allow to exist on their land are those which are an actual danger to other people. These are the kind of hypocrites that stand between us having the wolf, lynx and bear back in the U.K., and an all but tamed wilderness.
Of note on my brief walk;
c200 Lapwing
53 Wood Pigeon through SW
1 Buzzard
1 Comorant overhead
1 Kestrel
1 Sparrowhawk
Now as a word of warning for those heading up and around Ludworth, I was attacked by two medium sized dogs from Far Bradshaw while on the public footpath heading up to gun road, I had gone past the farm and up into the reedy field to the east and was about 30mtrs from the east facing fence of their garden so quite a bit past what might be considered their 'immediate property' though still walking through their land (on the public footpath). There was no provocative action by myself and as mentioned I was well past their garden boundary when the dogs came. I got bitten several times on my lower leg and had I not been a relatively healthy 31yr old I might have gone down. I don't want to postulate what might have happened then but I don't think it would have been pretty.
So what I'm basically saying is I would advise people to avoid far bradshaw for the time being.
I think those who head around Ludworth need to know this so I hope it's ok to have in the thread.
Regards
Mark
Redpoll 1
Starling c100
Pheasant 2
Goldfinch 10
Bullfinch 3
Blackbird 6
Mistle Thrush 2
Jay 1
Magpie 8
Meadow Pipit 6
Black-headed Gull 32
Common Gull. c50
Cheers John
Tree Sparrow 11
Lapwing 141 (2 flocks of 41 and c100)
Common Gull 56
Buzzard 2
Sparrowhawk 1f
Little Owl 1
Golden Plover 1 (H)
Skylark 1
Meadow Pipit 6
Cheers John
Mark,
Where exactly were the jack snipe. I walked quite a bit of the area myself on Sunday but had only three common snipe. I was hoping for 'jacks' and waded through lots of suitable terrain but was once again disappointed.
2 hr walk around the picking rods area and the quarry;
6 Snipe
2 Jack Snipe (both birds only flew when I was within a couple of meters, silent and a short flight before going to ground, good views of the second bird so I managed to see a much shorter bill in comparison to the several snipe already flushed)
1 Reed Bunting
c70 Starling
Cheers
Mark
A few additions;
c80 Lapwing
12 Meadow Pipits E
4 Ravens Around Brown Low
192 Redwing S
1 additional Skylark over in between the redwing
1 Goldcrest
Cheers
Mark
Common Gulls 19
Starlings c80
Fieldfare 147 south (largest flock of 55)
Redwing 18 south (Mark had more)
Meadow Pipits 9 ( " )
Skylark 8
Lapwing c70
Snipe 4
Cheers, John
Fieldfare 38 (flocks of 20, 15 and 3)
Redwing 1
Mistle Thrushes 4
Tree Sparrow (small number at Larkhill heard only)
Meadow Pipit 14
Goldfinch 17
Sparrowhawk 1
Black-headed Gulls 30
Common Gulls 13
Cheers John
Low cloud soon lifted as I arrived and I had the feeling I was too late for any decent migration. A few Pied Wagtails were either grounded or heading east. A party of Skylarks landed and Meadow Pipits seemed to be milling around with no clear direction - largest party was 9. Everything else was regulation stuff. I must get up in the morning.
Pied Wagtails 19
Meadow Pipits 48
Skylarks 11
Raven 1 (heard before the cloud lifted)
Blue Tits 5
Starlings 15
Buzzard 1
Reed Bunting 1
Snipe 2
Little Owl 1
Cheers, John
Not much different from John though I had a great spotted woodpecker just below the quarry and while watching that a Curlew called back up towards Gun Road, the starlings were in Derbyshire and numbered around 200 again.
I didn't have the numbers of migrating Meadow Pipits though with only 7 birds flying through SW, there were probably more though.
Cheers
Mark
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Monday 7th of October 2013 10:06:43 PM
Some visible migration this morning:
Skylark 21 (NW)
Pied Wagtail 20
Chaffinch 13
Meadow Pipit 63 (mostly SW)
Starling c200
Bullfinch 3
Linnet 11
Sparrowhawk 1
Kestrel 1
Buzzard 1
Mistle Thrush 2
Blackbird 3
Goldfinch 14
Reed Bunting 2
Snipe 6
Cheers John
Little in the way of visible migration with just a few small groups of 1 - 4 Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails all heading south.
Meadow Pipits 51
Pied Wagtails 11
Wheatear 3
Snipe 6
Golden Plover heard only
Goldfinches 18
Teal 4
Mallard 9
Canada Geese 12
Black-headed Gulls 6
Cheers John
Had a walk midday in search of Stonechat which didn't disappoint with the bird in the bracken opposite the entrance to the actual quarry.
Other than that;
37 Starling
4 Buzzard
1 Kestrel
3 Chiffchaff heard
2 Reed Bunting
5 Teal in the pool on the Derbyshire side however these flew over to the quarry pool as I walked along the path.
Cheers
Mark
15 Mistle Thrushes
180 Starlings
1 Kestrel
2 Bullfinches
38 Lapwings
441 Jackdaws (to roost)
2 Meadow Pipits only
No Owls
Cheers, John
Otherwise quiet with just a few Meadow Pipits (c18) flying east.
Cheers, John
Bumped into Andy up there and it was nice to have a quick chat.
It was a beautiful evening but sadly apart from a couple of small flocks not very much about;
37 Starling
2 Chiffchaff seen more heard
17 Mistle thrush
1 m Sparrowhawk
1 m Kestrel
2 Buzzard
Cheers
Mark
4 Chiffchaffs (1 singing)
5 Chaffinches
6 Swallows (1S & 5N)
1 House Martin (S)
1 Reed Bunting
1 Song Thrush (1st cy)
c93 Meadow Pipits (Flocks of c50, 22 & 19)
1 Brown Hare
Cheers, John
1 Spotted flycatcher in the trees near cloughend bungalow
2 Chiffchaff same area
6 Mistle Thrush
Few great tits, blue tit's, Robins etc.
Other than those not much though the rain was beginning to come down by then.
Cheers
Mark
Best sightings today:
4 Whinchats together (well below quarry area and towards Far Bradshaw)
6 Snipe (Far Bradshaw)
29 Swallows mostly moving south
5 House Martins south
2 Chiffchaff in song
4 Willow Warblers
1 Buzzard
Only 5 Goldfinches
Only 3 Meadow Pipits
1 Jay
1 juvenile Dunnock
4 LBB Gulls north
8 BH Gulls north
3 Reed Buntings
No large flocks of Wagtails, Pipits, Goldfinches or Starlings
Cheers, John
A bit of a change from yesterday with a few largish flocks
c90 Starlings
Mixed group of Tit's and Chiffchaff with at least 10 of the latter
Buzzard
12 Goldfinch
4 Meadow Pipit
Unfortunately Derbyshire held the best pickings with;
A Mixed flock of Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipits with at least 30 of each bird in the field opposite the entrance to the Kennels, while I didn't have my scope I gave the Pipits a quick scan for any obvious signs of Tree Pipit and forgot about that when I came across a Juvenile Yellow Wagtail, shame the bird was in Derbyshire.
Cheers
Mark
That would have been me, sadly there wasn't overly much about for me either.
12:00 - 14:30
8 Tree Sparrow
6 Chiffchaff seen over various locations, more heard though.
4 Swallow through
3 Snipe
21 Meadow Pipit
1 Female Linnet
1 Kestrel
I think I need to have a few morning visits
Not a lot this morning.
2 Buzzards
26 Goldfinches (mainly juvs)
9 Meadow Pipits
26 Starlings (juvs)
1 Reed Bunting
3 Chiffchaffs
6 Swallows through SE
3 House Martins through SE
Who was the birder walking past Larkhill as I was driving away? Light blue rucksack and what looked like Swarovski bins.
Cheers John
12 Goldfinches
1 Blackcap
1 Garden Warbler (probably but poor view)
3 Skylarks
c60 Meadow Pipits
1 Buzzard
Didn't see any Whinchats today
Cheers John
2 Whinchats still below quarry
18 Meadow Pipits
11 Swallows
2 Snipe
1 Reed Bunting
1 fem Kestrel
1 Buzzard
5 Willow Warblers
Earlier Anthony Marriott had a male Ring Ouzel at the quarry but it flew east towards Robin Hood's Picking Rods
Cheers, John
A wander around ludworth visiting the area above Gun farm, the Quarry area and around the plantation.
2 Whinchat still in the quarry though no sign of the third
3 Skylark
6 Meadow Pipit
5 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Pair of Bulfinch
2 Snipe
1 Kestrel
1 Buzzard
and best of all a Peregrine over the kennels heading in the GM direction though I lost sight before I could see if it did enter our airspace.
Cheers
Mark
Decided to mooch on over to Ludworth in search of Whinchats and Lesser Whitethroats after seeing Andy's post, missed the latter but caught up with the Whinchats which I was rather chuffed about as it's been ages since I saw any.
Other than that there was quite a lot of activity including my first Wheatear up here;
95 Lapwing
4 Snipe
1 Golden Plover with the Lapwing
6 Whitethroat within the area covered
Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler
30 Meadow Pipit in a flock
Cheers
Mark
At least 4 whitethroats in area previously described below, plus a lesser with them, and a male blackcap. Another lesser whitethroat down by the Glossop Rd (fishponds). Best was 3 whinchats (looked like a fem & 2 juvs) in the quarry area amongst the bracken south of the path. Also 300+ starlings, 15-20 mistle thrushes, and just a nice feeling about the morning.
I'll be back!
Quite a lot showing itself despite a strong breeze at times;
4 Chiffchaff seen of which 2 were Juveniles
2 Willow Warblers
3 Bullfinch inc 1 juv
2 Whitethroat 1 ad 1 juv opposite Hillside
2 Raven
34 Meadow Pipits of which 27 were in one largish flock
10 Linnets
7 Redpoll
10 Common Gull
Worth a note though they were in Derbyshire;
c130 Lapwing
c150 Starlings
The day really belonged to Raptors though with a really good diversity for Ludworth;
1 Buzzard
2 Sparrowhawk m+f seen at different times
2 Kestrel m+f, the male sat on telephone wires near Larkhill while the female hunted. Amusingly there were two green finches also on the wire about 3 mtrs along trying desperately to appear unfazed.....they flew in the end.
1 Hobby seen multiple times with one brief cracking view as it flew low to the left of the road while I was heading up from Cloughend to Hillside.
An enjoyable stroll.
Mark
I was stood there for 10 minutes hoping to see the Garden Warblers but saw and heard nothing, all I got for my vigil was a mass of flying ants that seemed to view me as a landing point
1 Willow Warbler
1 ad, 1 juv Whitethroat (opposite Hillside Farm - the farm that was 'un-named' in previous posts)
24 Meadow Pipits
15 Goldfinch
1 Little Owl
Many juv Jackdaws
At least 5 male and 2 female Common Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker, 12 Black Darters, c30 Emerald Damselflies
Cheers, John
A few birds of note about this evening
3 Redpoll
20 Meadow Pipit just above Far Bradshaw
1 Willow Warbler seen more heard
1 Chiffchaff, as with WW more heard
6 Grey Wagtail, Hollywood End
12 Mistle Thrush
1 Common Gull
Cheers
Mark
Cheers
Mark
Mark,
What do you mean, the next farm up from Clough End? Do you mean up the steep road running sharply away from Clough End? If so, then you've gone out of county!! Greater Manchester ends approximately under the electricity pylons there. It's a close call.
Andy B.
P.S. I was in a different part of the 'Ludworth' area today insect watching and hardly saw a bird, certainly nothing of note. Redpoll and swift probably caught the eye, plus some rooks that I didn't stop to count. Naughty.
Andy that's the area, I knew the border was somewhere round there but was hoping they were on the GM side, oh well maybe next time they'll be on the right side.
I did see a blue Skoda at the parking area and noticed the RSPB and Dragonfly Society stickers and thought it might be yourself, I kept an eye out but didn't see you.
The Redstart was initially on the gate near Cloughend that leads up to the quarry but flitted into the gorse and woodland as I approached. There was a bird about 3 weeks ago in the same area that gave a brief view of a red tail as it flew and as I wasn't sure it was my imagination I didn't post, might be the same bird in which case there is a good chance it might be resident (for the time being).
Mark,
What do you mean, the next farm up from Clough End? Do you mean up the steep road running sharply away from Clough End? If so, then you've gone out of county!! Greater Manchester ends approximately under the electricity pylons there. It's a close call.
Andy B.
P.S. I was in a different part of the 'Ludworth' area today insect watching and hardly saw a bird, certainly nothing of note. Redpoll and swift probably caught the eye, plus some rooks that I didn't stop to count. Naughty.
Interestingly the Juv Redstart had a willow warbler/chiffchaff chaperoning today, not sure if it was the same yesterday.
Cheers
Mark
The county boundary is a little further up the road than under the pylons. All the scrub on the LHS is in GM. The boundary follows the drystone wall that bounds the end of this scrub and crosses the road just about where the un-named farm entrance starts. I saw a Garden Warbler here singing in GM in May - following Robert Adderley's post. It could well have stayed around to breed.
Cheers John
Ed. Posts crossed.
-- Edited by John Rayner on Sunday 11th of August 2013 10:03:05 PM