Horrocks Flash,mid morning amble
plenty birds on the front pool this morning,gadwall,teal,shoveler,pochard,mallard,coot and moorhen
all probably 'pushed' off the the other sections by fisherpeople(bless em).
usual tit flock
35 jackdaw over
160 blackheaded gulls
1 herring gull
and apart from chatting to Mr.Broom highlight of the day was a peregrine hunting over rainfords ,it made 5 passes low and fast over the area,smashing superinterestingly
the teal,gadwall and mallard stuck glued to the water as it went over them,i,m guessing that
a panicky flight would be certain death

cheers geoff

A pleasant wander this morning, nothing unexpected, but 49 species, plus a cross-canal chinwag with Mr Hargreaves who was also scanning Bryn Marsh, I'd been just down the towpath from him for a while

totals noted included 161 Tufted Duck on Pearson's (plus 3 on Scotman's), 3 Goldeneye on Pearson's, 4 Goldcrest, 4 Willow Tit, 16 Blue Tit, 13 Great Tit, 39 Long-Tailed Tit, 2 Treecreeper, 6 Bullfinch, 10 Robin, 3 Buzzard over Bryn Marsh/Ochre Flash and a Water Rail squealing in Bryn Marsh

Late post for 15/10/2011 - 1 Peregrine on pylon near Horrocks. 2 Raven over Pearsons. 1 Blackcap (male) near Horrocks viewing screen.

Tuesday 18th Gull roost on Scotman's again, which seems to have developed recently

adult Yellow-Legged Gull
54 Lesser Black-Backed Gull
1600+ Black-Headed Gulls still present at dusk rather than departing to Pennington as usual

c450 Starlings went to roost in reeds at Pearson's close to the canal

A very speedy reply via Steve Christmas (N W swan study group) reveals that the dead swan was ringed as a male cygnet on Pearsons 04/12/2010 it was also fitted with a darvic ring YN4 which was missing.

cheers geoff

8 Wigeon and approx 1800 Black-Headed Gull on Scotman's this evening
c250 Starling appeared to drop into Hawkley Reedbed

Dawn raid ont flashes a wander including horrocks,bryn marsh,scotmans and pearsons

usual crowd,highlights
3 siskin
1 grey wagtail(first of the year)
1 treecreeper
70 pink-footed geese over(west)13.00(2nd outing)
not a raptor or winter duck to be had hence an sp of 42 noted

also the sad demise of a male mute swan that flew into the high voltage cables over bryn marsh and was retrieved from the canal(ring noted BTO informed).

cheers geoff

Friday 14th: Scotman's early a.m. birds inc 11 Wigeon - same as at Pennington?, 7 Pochard, Kingfisher, Treecreeper in Willows
Hawkley reedbed/feeding station 2 Water Rail calling, Coal Tit and Willow Tit

east end of Pearson's early evening 4 Water Rail calling, 80-odd Starling on pylon with a Kestrel for company

Rear of Pearsons 8.30 while 11.00 an extendend 'reed watch' 37sp noted with quite a few 'sitters' not showing,of note
1 sparrowhawk
1 kestrel
4 water rail ,heard only
6 mistle thrush
2 coal tit (always a treat ont flashes)
1 raven ,on the pylon 'cronking' seems to be a regular spot

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash 17.30 front pool only
4 mute swan adults having a domestic
3 mute swan very well grown juvs
gadwall,mallard,teal,tufted,shoveler,moorhen,coot all present
34 canada geese

Brynn Marsh till dusk(wrong side of canal only)
water rail and pheasant calling,coot and moorhen.
The starling roost comprised of 2 magpie,4 woodpigeon and 2 crows,it,s a while since I got the chance to check the pylon,I,ll have try a follow the starlings from home as there,s still quite a good gathering on the estate pre roost.

cheers geoff

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves on Wednesday 12th of October 2011 10:14:46 PM

Horrocks Flash,am wander
usual water fowl
3 snipe
1 kingfisher perched up for five minutes

cheers geoff

2 adult argentatus Herring Gulls on Scotman's this morning (the only two Herring Gulls present), also 2 Great Black-Backed
Chiffchaff singing
a concentration of 18 Blackbird feeding on a clump of Hawthorn
at least 2 Water Rail squealing Hawkley Reedbed

Pearsons Flash,early am 10.30
2 water rail calling
1 snipe
2 raven
1 wigeon
15 reed buntings in one group around the sewage plant
plus all the usual waterfowl.

Horrocks Flash midday,little of note 6 bullfinch was the highlight

cheers geoff

Geoff, it was a lunchbreak spent on the old railway embankment at the N end of Scotman's, a fine vantage point. I'd seen a few raptors about as I drove in to Wigan and figured the heat would have 'em up and about. Unfortunately, the impressive showing didn't include any hoped for Marsh Harrier...

Dave,that,s an impressive half hour,put,s my nine day quest to tick chaffinch to shame please don,t tell us it was from your dad,s kitchen window

i,m not bitter just in awe,Geoff

12:00-12:30 today over the Flashes area: 7 Buzzard, Hobby, Peregrine, 2 Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Raven

Horrocks flash,full circiut friday,saturday and today

Little of note friday or saturday, sunday am a tadge better
1 kestrel
1 sparrow hawk
9 mistle thrush
4 buzzard in one group(over)
8 snipe 1 over 3 sleeping 4 feeding on rainfords 'mudflats'

cheers geoff

Pearsons flash,early doors till 10.30
Usual waterfowl,coot,moorhen,mallard,shoveler,gadwall,teal,tufted,mute swan and great crested grebe a plenty.
2 grey heron
1 great spotted woodpecker
1 buzzard (on the pylon, moved along by 2 magpie and 3 crows)
numerous wren,blue tit,reed bunting in the reeds
1 sparrow hawk
1 kestrel
2 raven,putting on a great show flying between pylons and a nice display of mutual preening.
6 jay

cheers geoff

The Grand Tour,all the flashes visited today,a five hour amble in some pleasant weather for a change.All as expected, highlights
1 green sandpiper rear of horrocks
1 marsh harrier couple of minutes over bryn marsh,departed towards scotmans
1 buzzard hovering in the wind over scotmans
water rail heard at pearsons,horrrocks,hawkley and bryn marsh
2 willow tit at the feeding station

cheers geoff(i,m on an all inclusive staycation this week)

Brynn Marsh,12.00 14.30

6 wood pigeons(slow birding)
7 coot
2 moorhen
1 grey heron
1 buzzard
1 sparrow hawk (3 appearances)
2 grey heron
and despite rubbing the 'warfords' bench not a sniff of bittern

Horrocks Flash ont way home
slim pickings i,m afraid ,usual suspects but numbers well down,strange but someones done a reggie perrin and left a pile of soggy swimwear at the rear screen and a trail of
footprints leading into the flash.might have some vultures tommorrow

cheers geoff

Saturday 17 September
07:30-13:30 with Thorpe senior

1 Hobby - over Westwood
2 Bittern - 1 at Bryn Marsh, 1 at Pearson's Flash
7 Wigeon - 4 on Pearson's Flash, 3 on Horrock's Flash
lots of Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows moving south

Pearsons flash early doors ,a few hours at the back,

usual waterfowl and 3 wigeon
2 raven east at 8.30 then back west at 10.30
2 crows and 14 mistlethrushes on the pylon
4 reed bunting,1 juv wren,blue tits in the reed beds
at least 4 water rail calling all the time
2 grey heron

Horrocks flash afternoon check
3 snipe
usual watefowl but only 15 lapwings
1 spotted flycatcherborough tick 2nd gm tick

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash midday amble

3 wigeon on rainfords pool was of note,birding abandoned due to a rather heavy and prolonged shower

cheers geoff

The two Scoter still on Scotman's this evening
10 Meadow Pipit SW in 30 minutes this morning, 1 Redpoll west

The two drake Common Scoters still present this afternoon at 3.00pm.


-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 14th of September 2011 05:41:08 PM

Two drake Common Scoters on Scotmans Flash this morning.

Info thanks to Dave Broome

adult Little Gull and first calendar-year Mediterranean Gull this evening on Scotman's among 900 Black-Headed Gulls
3 Sand Martin among 15+ House Martins

Horrocks Flash 8 while 11.30

Much as yesterday but of note 5 common snipe and 2 ruff,the ruff where on the mudflats viewed from the level crossing area but only for five minutes when they were lost to view.

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash 7am 10.30 a thorough thrashing didn,t produce any surprises

259 lapwings on the front pool with groups around the others approx 500
1 green sandpiper
2 kestrel
2 grey heron
tufted,mallard,shoveler,gadwall,coot,teal,moorhen,great crested grebe,greylag,canada
1 little grebe
1 large flock of little un,s blue,great and coal tit,bullfinch and willow tit in attendance but bird of the day 1 treecreeper

cheers geoff

adult Common Tern on Scotman's today, Blackcap and Whitethroat feeding alongside each other in Brambles on the old railway embankment at the N end

Horrocks Flash midmorning amble in fine rain

3 common snipe
1 kingfisher(on the front pool then on the canal)the first i,ve seen for a while
1 kestrel
1 ringed plover(juv)
1 tufted with brood down to three ducklings already
plus all the usual crowd

cheers geoff & buster(it was his last stand today he,s gone home for another year)

adult Common Tern and 1 Sand Martin at Scotman's this morning

Horrocks Flash,mid morning wander,
usual residents,1 buzzard high over pearsons 1 sparrow hawk 1 common snipe,little of note,apart from the weather(not the best).

cheers geoff & buster

Horrocks Flash,midday full circuit

Usual residents,1 sparrow hawk 1 kestrel 50 house martins,1 great spotted woodpecker on the railway stantions and last but not least a tufted duck with a brood of 5 young under a week old on the canal.

cheers geoff & buster

3 Swift feeding over Pearson's-Ince Moss late afternoon
male Blackcap on embankment N end of Scotman's

Pearsons early doors
6 Wigeon then they flew west at 07:05
1 Garganey
15 Gadwall
36 Mute Swans
1 Kingfisher
Tawny Owl calling from landfill.

Cheers Jimmy

Horrocks Flash,couple of visits today mid morning,dusk only thing of note apart from the residents
1 common snipe
1 sparrowhawk,straight through the lapwings and gulls fast and low

Bryn Marsh,friday,s starling watch pm,good numbers of birds on the pylon and then a peregrine flew in and perched up 600 starlings dropped like stones into the bushes a few flocks came in after but they air braked and dived for cover on spotting the visitor.

cheers geoff&buster

Whitethroat and Chiffchaff this evening in the 'big hedge' through the fields between Park House Farm-Ochre Flash
Yellowhammer Park House Farm
5 more Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Treecreeper around Bryn Marsh-Ochre Flash

7 Goosander on Scotman's today, departed SW at 18:00hrs
Peregrine, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk at the N end of Scotman's

Willow Tit Scotsmans Flash, 4 Greylags Horrocks

Horrocks Flash,evening visit

only thing,s of note 250+ black headed gull in a pre roost gathering 2 adult and 2 juv herring gulls,all departed heading for Scotmans (best guess)

Bryn Marsh starling watch,just got there at 19.45 to see a loose flock of 500ish swirlng ect but they went straight down to roost,then loose groups of 20s 50s coming in and dropping directly into reed beds,there,s also some maintaince work going on in the marsh
jcb and tractor,s working till dark.

cheers geoff

Prior to my visit to Pennington Flash I decided to have another go on Pearson's for the Garganey.

I wasn't disappointed either as I finally managed to track it down as it was feeding up in the muddy shallows at the north end of the flash. The head features were very distinctive and a nearby Mallard was good for a size comparison which can be lost sometimes when viewing through a scope.

Unfortunately no waders present on Pearsons this morning though.

Horrock,s Flash,early doors with Mr.Meadows,mid afternoon to check for Ruff,dusk visit with my new best mate Buster my daughter,s dog who,s staying for a while

a host of resident water fowl
1 green sandpiper
1 common snipe
1 kestrel
a tadge of rain but no ruff found

cheers geoff

1 Dunlin on Pearson's Flash this morning, 15 Shoveler, 14 Gadwall
1 adult Common Gull on Scotman's

Horrocks Flash,

5 ruff still showing well at 12.00,my second visit today I couldn,t find the ruff earlier
1 greenshank ,on the north pool(aka rainfords) but only for about 5 minutes then was lost to view.

cheers geoff

Just back from a mooch around the flashes.

Pearsons
Greenshank
4 Pochard
6 Shoveler
plus the usual Lapwing, Tufteds, Mallards, Gadwall, etc.
Still couldn't pick out the Garganey despite really scrutinising all the ducks.


Horrocks
5 Ruff all huddled together on the north pool.

Also the odd sight on the way back of a Buzzard soaring around an orange kiddies balloon.

5 Ruff still present on Horrocks Flash this morning

Info thanks to Geoff Hargreaves

Pearsons AM
1 Garganey
1 Greenshank
3 Snipe

Plus all usual crowd

Cheers Jimmy

Garganey and 5 Wigeon on Pearsons Flash this afternoon.

Info thanks to Judith Smith

Five Ruff and two Green Sandpipers on Horrock's Flash north pool this early afternoon.

Info thanks to Judith Smith