Paul,

from what I've been told you can only see it from New Hide. If you look across at the big island (to the left) there is a large elder, and its been low down in that.

Monday 17th March - late afternoon...

Horrock's Hide:

4 Redshank
Ringed Plover
Oystercatchers... then a quick dash back to the car because i remembered that i'd forgotten to pay & display
couldn't be bothered going back to the hides cuz it was a bit too busy (or is it cuz im too tight to pay for the car-park? ) so i went to the sailing club:

6 Goosander
4 Sand Martin
3 Buzzards (distant)
3 Shelduck
Redshank
Woodcock
and i'm fairly certain i could hear a L-S Woodpecker drumming somewhere over the other side of that little pond past the sailing club, couldn't see it though...

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe at 20:14, 2008-03-17

female scaup opp sailing club small numbers of sand martins, no further sign of little ringed plover or long eared owl up to 11.30.

Monday 17th, first light (just!)

Little Ringed Plover- single on Teal Scrape
Ringed Plover- single on spit (may have flown off west after I heard one in flight whilst walking across the rucks)
Sanderling- single flew off west after coming off the spit. An unseasonal record (?)
Shelduck- 4
Plenty of Redshank, Oyks and still Goosander

No sign of any Scaup however

after 4 frantic trips to see scaup on pennington I managed to catch up them this morning 9.30ish way out by the boathouse,very happy to put them on my g m list as number 150,and many thanks to barry and ian for sharing the info

cheers geoff

27 Whooper Swans flew NW over Pennington at 6:20pm this evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

apart from the pintail and scaup,10 oystercatcher,22 goosander,and 41 goldeneye,2 redshank.

Three Pintail (1male) flew east over Rammies this afternoon also.

Info thanks to John Tymon

4 scaup still present at midday in ramsdales including 3 cracking drakes, long-eared owl still from new hide but dropped out of site and 4 sand martins through. also redshank and oystercatchers from horrocks hide.

16/3/08

4 Scaup (3 drakes & a duck) on the end of the spit @ 07.35

Info thanks to Barry Hulme.

called for a bit this morning at 6.30am on the way to leighton moss, but couldn't see it... any pointers would be appreciated!

LEO STILL SHOWING 4PM TODAY

gonna pop in on the way to leighton moss early tomorrow, if somebody would be so kind as to pm me roughly where the leo has been seen i'd appreciate it!

LEO still present at 18:00

14/3/08

Long-eared Owl roosting in its usual tree @ 07.00 - viewable from New Hide only.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme.

12/03

29 Bullfinch in the feeding station 1pm today.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme

Ian Woosey wrote:

---

11/3/08

1st W. Kittiwake past Horrocks Hide @ 06.30

2 Ravens heading SW @ 10.30

Info thanks to Barry Hulme. (Don`t know where he`s been, but he`s BACK )

-- Edited by Ian Woosey at 11:48, 2008-03-11

---

I've a strong suspicion that when Barry goes missing he's actually out and about collecting his choice of good birds for the next couple of months. Dont know where he gets em from or where he keeps em before release, but he has a 'nasty' habit of turning good stuff up on a regular basis. Usually when I'm not there.

-- Edited by Craig Higson at 16:42, 2008-03-12

11/3/08

1st W. Kittiwake past Horrocks Hide @ 06.30

2 Ravens heading SW @ 10.30

Info thanks to Barry Hulme. (Don`t know where he`s been, but he`s BACK )

-- Edited by Ian Woosey at 11:48, 2008-03-11

Monday, 10th

Adult Iceland Gull on the spit again at 11:40 today.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme

An escaped Emperor Goose x ? hybrid was on the spit today, alongside the usual odd Canada Goose.

Nothing much else during a fairly brief visit:
Willow Tit, 4+ Snipe, drake Wigeon etc

i found an adult iceland gull by point at 2.30pm.it arrived from the NW and left SE AT 3.15pm after being disturbed by a wayward yacht />paul-that canadas been on the flash for a couple of years,in fact i think ian did a little peice on it somewere,in the dim and distant past.

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 16:21, 2008-03-08

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 16:21, 2008-03-08

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 17:54, 2008-03-08

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 17:56, 2008-03-08

very much the same as garys day except single redshank on the spit also small canada goose with a very dark chest looking just like the goose on plate 186 of the birds of the western paleartic concise edition,
no sign of L E owl,
bramling and treecreeper at feeding station.
keep birding

brambling,willow tit,several bullfinch,reed buntings,great_ blue_ long tailed tits from bunting hide.

new hide no sign of the leo.6 tufties,16 shovelers,4 teal,1 great crested grebe,4 canadas,1 gadwal.

teal hide 15 gadwal,4 goosander,12 teal,4 shoveler.

horrocks 6 oysters,10 cormerants,20ish lapwings,6 goldeneye.

time 2-4pm very windy conditions

also reports of sparrowhawk making several raids around the feeding station:

LE Owl is still present but very hard to see as it was very low down and well covered by the vegetation.
Brambling and up to 16 Bullfinches at the Bunting hide.

1 Redshank, 7+ Oystercatcher, lots of Lapwings and at least 8 Snipe from Horrock's this morning.

sat 1.03.08- long eared owl-1,brambling-1,oystercatcher-1 pair-shellduck-3,cormorant-37,golden eye-21,plus all the usual stuff.

10 till 3 today, nothing of note exept brambling at the feeding station, 3 oystercatchers on the main spit and a wigeon from new hide.

-- Edited by brian fielding at 16:24, 2008-02-26

SUNDAY 24.02.08- WOODCOCK-1 FLEW EAST OVER NEW HIDE,19 GOOSANDER,13 COMMON SNIPE,BRAMBLING -1 MALE,WIGEON-3,OYSTERCATCHER-1 PAIR,REED BUNTING-12,LOADS OF SHOVELER,TEAL,TUFTED,POCHARD,GREAT CRESTED GREBE-21,GOLDEN EYE-19,BULLFINCH-12,CORMORANT-37,B.H GULL -2000+ WHEN I LEFT AT 4.30.

MORE OR LESS THE SAME ON SATURDAY,BARRING THE WOODCOCK
P.S-DO WE NOT GET A POINT FOR WOODCOCK IN THE TOURNIMENT

Adult Mediterranean Gull in the roost tonight.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

I've noticed a number of stock doves flighting in to roost with the usual woodpigeon since new year, so decided to count them in from New Hide. I've visited three times this month, last evening I counted in 27, though I was late arriving (around 4.30pm) and the birds were possibly early due to overcast, misty weather conditions, so many pigeon were already roosting. On 2nd Feb I counted in 35 stock doves then, coincidentally, on 13th Feb I also counted in 35. On each occasion I've had to leave the hide when there was still enough light for more birds to come in, due to the warden locking up.

Jonathan

Adult Med Gull on the ice beyond the spit late morning (from Horrocks Hide).

Lost it when the gull flock went up and failed to relocate.

watch for a large influx of wigeon at pennington today/or wigan flashes as 120 were pushed of houghton green pool by 2 idiots on on inflatable dingys yesterday at 3pm,don't want any of you thinking theres been a large cold weather movementp.s for details of what happened at houghton green with these 2 idiots see the thread in the out of county

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 08:38, 2008-02-17

horrocks hide
200+ LAPWING
8 CORMERANT one with white headand white flanks siness or something like that
1 female goldeneye
6 great crested grebe
2 little grebe
4 crows

scrape not much about and needed sunglasses as sun was very low

new hide
1 heron
15 teal
8 shoveler
1 litle grebe
6 lapwing

teal hide
20 teal
15 shoveler
10 goosander
4 lapwing
8 gadwal

bunting hide
fairly quiet and just missed a great spotted woodpeckera few great,blue and long tailed tits on show along with a few chaffinch,bullfinch and greanfinch.

plenty wrens and robins singing but no migrants as yet even with this early spring

Andy Makin found a 1st W Iceland Gull inthe roost there tonight (the last bird to arrive). Also 84 GBB Gulls.

1st winter Glaucous Gull in the roost at Pennington tonight, although large gull numbers were relatively low by recent standards at no more than 300 birds.

A 2nd winter Iceland Gull was in the roost at Pennington Flash this evening at 4:50pm until dark.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes.

no sign of scaup this afternoon, but weather conditions pretty bad, unable to stand up in wind.
18 tufted duck
5 goldeneye
4 heron
2 goosander
teal at plank lane end

everything else was out of the water sat in the carpark mute swan nearly got a parking ticket,
stonechat just near new hide and a further 8 herons from new hide, plus bullfinches etc from bunting hide.
keep birding this wind must blow something in

Thursday 31st Jan.

Drake Scaup at the Slag Lane (western end) of the flash at 11:55 atleast.

Info thanks to Barry Hulme

brambling, willow tit, f GSW, lots of reed bunting and all the usuals at the bunting hide, no grebes at all on any of the pools, but i did see master heaton making a sharp exit after making sure nothing needed rescuing on site!

Barry Hulme reports a 1st winter Iceland Gull this Morning flying SE at 08.30.

27.01.01-PM.BRAMBLING 1 MALE,STONECHAT 1 FEMALE,SHELLDUCK-3, GOOSANDER 24,TREECREEPER-1,GOLDCREST-1,WATER RAIL-1,WILLOW TIT-2,GOLDEN EYE-15,TUFTED-180,TAME PINK FOOT-1, SINENSIS TYPE CORMORANT-1,MASSIVE GULL ROOST,WIGEON 1MALE.SHOVELER-52,TEAL 150+,GREAT CRESTED GREBE-27,POCHARD-18,LOADS OF LONG TAILED TITS,

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 17:37, 2008-01-27

short visit this morning nothing out of the ordinary to report, oystercatcher on the spit with large numbers of lapwing, canada geese had a number of odd birds with them plus a very friendly pink-foot behind the burger bar.
shoveler teal etc but no sign of any shelduck this morning..as for the firecrest as one birder put it this morning, It just an urban myth

26.01.08-brambling-1m,goosander-23,shoveler-52,goldeneye-18,shellduck-3,bullfinch-15,very large gull roost,but only about 30 gbb,sparrowhawk-1 male,and a weasel from the bunting hideplus all the other usual stuff

193 GBBG and 8800 BHG tonight in conditions more akin to a sea-watch

Gull roost tonight at Pennington, 20th January from 3:45pm until darkness:

Despite small numbers of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, it soon became apparent that Great Black-backed Gulls were appearing in large groups of 20-30 birds from the ENE direction. A quick count early on yielded 164 birds, with birds still arriving and the final 4 birds came in to roost at 4:47pm, bringing the total Great Black-backed roost to a massive (for Pennington Flash) 358 birds!

Black-headed Gulls were also in large numbers and were 'carefully' estimated at 8000 birds.

lacking the horizontal white line is common enough due to it being concealed by the scapulars (as per the article) and the head lines can appear vague. If you look at enough teal closely you'll get the idea and atleast were all looking a bit closer now it seems- great stuff

JOHN TYMON wrote:

---

hi craig i saw that strange male teal at the back of the teal scrape 2pm-i wonder if it was a immature male?definately didn't have the horizontal stripe.apart from female stonechat and 18 goosander penny was realy quiet today.i think penny is a good bet for re-finding the wigan rare teal as plenty come into penny from that area

---

Cheers John, at least I know I wasnt imagining it. If I remember my moult and ageing right even if it was an immature male, the only difference in plumage at this time of year would be that it would have rounded tips to the greater coverts as opposed to squared off tips. I could be completely wrong with this, cause its a while since I aged any, but I do remember they were an absolute nightmare sometimes, which makes me think that this was just a bit too different to be a first winter/second summer bird. Perhaps Ian could shed some light. I certainly cant find any specific variation referred to in any of my texts. Ultimately it could be just an abberant/melanistic bird I suppose.

Otherwise, yes it was very quiet, particularly in th eFirecrest department.

hi craig i saw that strange male teal at the back of the teal scrape 2pm-i wonder if it was a immature male?definately didn't have the horizontal stripe.apart from female stonechat and 18 goosander penny was realy quiet today.i think penny is a good bet for re-finding the wigan rare teal as plenty come into penny from that area

Seeing as there were afew GM forum users out at PFCP today, was wondering if anyone else saw the slightly dodgy Teal in, strangely enough, Teal Scrape. Now I'm not tyring to string anything along here but there was a drake teal at the far side of teal Scrape. Noticeably it had no hrizontal white stripe above the flank - I watched it for quite a while and saw no evidence of one. The buff patch on the undertail was also smaller or less noticeable than on the other birds and the thing that stood out most to me was a complete lack of any cream lines around the green face/head stripe. Over all the bird looked very dark and 'plain'. However it did'nt, as far as I could see have the all key vertical white stripe. Honest I'm not seeing things after Ians article.

About the only other things of note were 6 wigeon, Water Rail squealing at New hide and a male Brambling at Bunting Hide.

Bumped into Pete Berry(nice to see you again Pete, long time no see) but would have been nice to put faces to some of the other names on here.

-- Edited by Craig Higson at 19:11, 2008-01-19

No sign of firecrest this morning, plenty of goldcrest, bullfinch etc, water levels high lot of teal but could not turn one into GW teal.
and loads of forum birders present this morning, Rezmole Warfy Pete berry simon johnson and others a regular little hive of GM Birders.
But no Blooming birds.
keep birding