Marsh Harrier over M60 near Clifton, seen from the train at 11:15am today.

Info thanks to Ian Peters

PM

Marina

Mute Swan 3, 2 adult + 1 juv
Gadwall 15
Tufted Duck 18
Great Crested Grebe 3


River

Teal 6
Goosander 1 adult Male
1 Jay in Giants Seat Wood.

Friday 4th Nov. 12.30 to 3.15p.m.
A walk round the marina, arboreatum and river bank.

A large number of Canada Geese, Coots, Black-headed Gulls and Mallards
Mute Swans 10
Tufted ducks 4
Moorhens 5
Woodpigeons 3
Kingfisher 1 (on river)
Magpies 6
Jays 12
Great Tits 2
Blue Tits 2
Long-tailed Tits 7
Wren 1
Starlings 4
Blackbirds 3
Mistle Thrush 1
Robins 2
House Sparrow (female) 1
Pied Wagtail 1
Chaffinch (male) 1
Goldfinches 10
Bullfinch (male) 1

Late pm

Marina

16 Gadwall
40 Tufted Duck
10 Mute Swan (2 adult, 8 juvs)

River

3 Fem/imm Goosander
6 Teal (1 fem, 5 male)

Woods

Stock Dove on bird table
Jay 3
Long Tailed Tits many

10 till 11.45
Towards the 13 Arches
3 long tailed tits
single Robin
Heron on the Irwell
loads of Mallards
5xJays
No Raptors (gutted)
single Wren
Cheers Jay

Late post for yesterday (6th) pm

10 Mute Swan, 2 Adult + 8 well grown juvs
3 Great Crested Grebes
16 Tufted Duck in eclipse.

Marina has Blue Green Algae

Walked to Clifton Aqueduct (south of M60) and back

Many Juvenile Willow Warblers
Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Goldcrest

29/06/2011 - 2pm with James Walsh, scan of the lake and over to the footbridge:

1 Mute Swan - all 8 cygnets doing well
2 Great Crested Grebes
31 Tufted Ducks - 2 females only
2 Stock Doves
22 Sand Martins
3 Blackcaps
1 Coal Tit
1 Jay

The pair of Mute Swans in Princes Park, Irlam have had 8 cygnets in each of the last 2 years at least. Unfortunately 1 died last year but the year before all 8 survived. I haven't checked this year yet.

AM before the rain

Still 8 Cygnets present, more than doubled in size.

2 Great Crested Grebe
18 Tufted Duck
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Family parties of Blue Tit & Great Tit


-- Edited by Alan Warford on Sunday 12th of June 2011 02:05:06 PM

Late PM on Marina

The resident Mute Swans blue ring numbers LX4 + LV4,

have 8 very cute Cygnets.

(Can anyone beat 8 ?)

Also

27 Tufted Ducks

5 Great Crested Grebes

Thursday 31st March 10.30-12.10 Around Marina Mute swans Tufted Ducks with partners Canada Geese Mallards with partners GB Grebe Cormorant (juv) various Tits Goldfinches Chaffinches Dunnock Chiff Chaff Treecreeper Sand martin Cheers Jay

Late PM

Marina

9 Mute Swan
29 Tufted Duck
2 GC Grebe
6 Sand Martin

Woods

Stock Dove on bird table
2 Treecreeper
Jay
+ usual

Buzzard over Giants Seat.






-- Edited by Alan Warford on Saturday 26th of March 2011 08:06:56 PM

3rd March am visit.

On the marina - 7 Mute Swan, 3 Gadwall (2m), 1 male Pochard and 2 Cormorant.

In surrounding woodland - 1 Stock Dove was apparently prospecting for a nesting site, 2 Nuthatch - 1 singing and another watched for a while was seen on several occasions collecting wet clay and then seemingly plastering it at random in different places on a small tree. After it had left, I had a good look at the tree and there were no suitable nest holes present. Might it have been polishing up on its plastering techniques, as this may later be used to impress any prospective mate and show that it really is more than up to the job of doing the "DIY" when they both come to choosing and preparing any nest site a little later? Just guessing really! Also 2 Coal Tit, 2 Goldcrest and 1 male Great Spotted Woodpecker. 2 Magpies nest building. 2 Buzzards soared and circled on thermals over the western end of the park late morning.

On the Irwell - 24 Teal just downstream of the metal bridge and a Kingfisher near the garden centre.

Cheers,


Bill.

Sunday afternoon

A large flock of LT Tits 40+ in the trees beside the river at Giants Seat Garden centre also had 2 Goldcrests, 2 Blue and a single Coal tit.

The garden centre is selling their well made Woodpecker bird boxes at £9.99 .They are excellent for attracting nesting Starlings if you place them high up under the eaves of your house.

22 Gadwall, 35 Teal, 6 Goldeneye, 16 Goosander,Little Grebe, Goldcrest. No sign of Smew on river or lake.

9/1/11

Three hours this morning with Mr Meadows. Much the same as Joe`s sightings, but additional:

6 Goosander (2drk)
33+ Teal (river)
8 Gadwall
1 Treecreeper
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Goldcrest
1 Coal Tit
1 Grey Heron
2 Mistle Thrush
1 Bullfinch

skein of c80 Pink-footed Geese over E @ 10:00ish

Cheers Phil. No sign of the Smew on the Lake or the immediate River, must be further up the river today. Still, a nice male Pochard on the Lake, with a load of tufties, and on the river 4 Goldeneye (all Females), 5 Goosander (3 Male 2 Female), 4 Teal (3 Femal 1 Male), a Little Grebe and countless mallards. Shame about the smew, but there's always this evening...

Joe Wynn wrote:

---

Hi, I was just wondering how long the smew is sticking around on the marina in the morning before going out for the day, as i'd like to have a look at t, but can only get there for about 10. Does anyone know whether it is likely to be on the marina for 10, or is it out on the river by then. Also, is the marina near the entrance to the country park at the car park?
Cheers,
Joe

---

Nothing is guaranteed with birding Joe, but it does appear to spend most of the day on the river before coming back to the Marina around dusk.

Park in the main car park and check the lake first, then the river which are in walking distance.

The river runs around the lake so depending on what time you have available, give it a go.

Good luck!!!

Hi, I was just wondering how long the smew is sticking around on the marina in the morning before going out for the day, as i'd like to have a look at t, but can only get there for about 10. Does anyone know whether it is likely to be on the marina for 10, or is it out on the river by then. Also, is the marina near the entrance to the country park at the car park?
Cheers,
Joe

After presumably being on the river again, the Smew flew back onto Clifton Marina by the wooden platform at 4:30 this evening.

Info thanks to Nev Wright

Redhead Smew showing very well in front of viewing platform. 10.30 to11.30 this am.
Swimming and diving in free area and preening on edge of ice. Seen earlier to fly in from river.
Gadwall and 3 female Goldeneye present.Nuthatch on feeders.
I left Jill(Bolton RSPB) ,Martyn Jones and Andy Makin to continue the watch.
Nice to meet them and Jill promised me a picture.

Edited by keith mills on Saturday 8th of January 2011 12:27:29 PM

-- Edited by keith mills on Saturday 8th of January 2011 03:35:24 PM

Redhead Smew present on Clifton Marina at 11:15 this morning, showing well from the wooden platform.

Info thanks to Pete Berry

I dipped the other day and left at 4pm but reports suggested it arrived back to the marina after that time, i.e. right before dark. Seeing it on the river involves quite a bit of luck though.
Thanks.

I suspect the best time to visit the site for the smew is late on, as it comes back to roost. In the day there are endless places on the river and other local water bodies it could be exploring, but from the thread of its sightings it seems to faithfully return before dusk on a daily basis.

Must have been hiding somewhere as a visit between 1000 and 1130 failed to reveal it. I was there at the same time as at least 4 other birders (inc Phil Kelly plus at least one other contributor to this site - nice to meet you) and having walked down the river from the footbridge to below the garden centre, I checked out the hole in the ice on the lake on the way back to the car park but to no avail.. Dipped on the Preston Iceland too, but the Fairhaven RNG saved the day!

Popped in to the Park this afternoon just before 4pm on my way home. Ice still over most of the lake, with the only area ice-free still by the platform. Redhead Smew popped up out of the water just in front of me whilst I was counting the Gadwall (17) and Tufties (17) . Cracking little bird as most people have already stated and very uninterested in observers. It continued to dive about after I left about 4:20pm and looked like it had made itself at home??

Smew on Irwell under Green foot bridge, 11am, also Woodcock, Green Sandpiper,2 Dipper. In woods 3 Nuthatch, Treecreeper, 6 Bullfinch.

smew still present on river veiw from green bridge 11.15

The smew was on the river this morning, near the garden centre. Also 6 goosander, 3m 3f, about 24 teal, at least 8 moorhen, a heron and various mallard on the stretch between garden centre and the footbridge.

Lots of tit flocks about, ltt, blue and great as well as goldcrests.

On the lake the resident mute pair and their three surviving young have a visitor who they have consigned to sitting on the ice at the end of the lake looking v forlorn. In the small patch of open water are numerous coot, tufties and canada geese as well as 10 gadwall. They would welcome any scraps if you come down to see the smew (don't forget the lone swan on the ice, if he is still there he is probably hungry).

On the bird tables at the visitor centre, usual things including at least two nuthatches and 5 stock doves.

Redhead smew sat on the edge of the ice by the platform at 4:30pm having a good old preen. Lovely little bird

-- Edited by Shezjen on Tuesday 4th of January 2011 05:53:47 PM

Redhead Smew still feeding happily on the Irwell at the Giants Seat entrance to Clifton Country Park, great views from the green footbridge. (12.30pm)

-- Edited by Neil Collier on Monday 3rd of January 2011 01:30:15 PM

Redhead Smew flew onto the marina at 4:18pm this afternoon to roost and was still present at 4:30pm.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

The bird was definitely on the river this afternoon, l finally found it at 2pm. It was in a little alcove opposite a water tunnel, quite far down the river. Very active and l was lucky enough to watch it catching fish.

Great little bird and a lifer for me

Also seen along the river were plenty of Teal, two Goosander (F) and a Grey Wagtail.


As l was leaving the park, literally just as l passed under the bridge, l flushed a Snipe on the edge of the road , he flew and settled again where l enjoyed a few moments close viewing before a car also leaving the park, wanted to get past me

Ivan Ellison, Iain and myself saw the bird fly off at 12.10. It made a couple flights before it decided to go the whole hog and and fly over to the river. The amount of water available that wasn't iced up has reduced by 50% from yesterday and in the time I was there it had not caught any fish.

-- Edited by Adrian Dancy on Saturday 25th of December 2010 01:43:10 PM

Smew flew south-east towards the river at 12:10 and dropped behind the tree line (so presumably onto the river).

Info thanks to Iain Johnson

Smew still present this morning.

Info thanks to Adrian Dancy

Nice to meet everyone today while watching the Smew, great close up views and it even caught a small fish.

I went for a quick look around the top car park at Giants seat garden centre overlooking the river. Four of Simon's Goldeneye were still in view and also Kingfisher, 4 Siskins, 2 Redwings and 5 LT tits were seen.

I spent 5 minutes looking in the trees trying to find what was making a clicking noise only to find a Song thrush at the edge of the road just in front of me breaking Snail shells on his '"anvil". The bird had found 8-9 Snails grouped together at the base of a tree and it carried them over one by one to his stone and smashed them open. Brilliant to watch

24/12/10 9-11am

In addition to the fine redhead Smew a single Green Sandpiper on the river behind the marina, near the garden centre, also Dipper and a Kingfisher on the stretch immediately behind the marina. 10+ Gadwall also along the river with 55+ Teal, 10 Goldeneye and 4 Goosander. The Smew had a fly around at one point but didnt quite get over the Bolton border unfortunately before landing back by the viewing platform.

Thanks Kate for putting the news on here of the birds presence, hopefully visitors to see the bird will also feed all the starving wildfowl there.

I found 2 dead Black headed gulls at Moses gate this afternoon and several others i could have picked up easy enough. Feeding the ducks and swans at Moses Gate is not good for your legs, ive never been attacked so much.

Adrian Dancy wrote:

---

I hope the bird is there tomorrow.

---

me too, l'm hoping to go see it

Good to meet you John. I only brought my little lens but as battered as it is, it has served me well. Dappled light and the bird's white cheeks and dark plumage were an exposure nightmare. I hope the bird is there tomorrow.

Ian McKerchar wrote:

---

Still showing staggeringly well early afternoon (so close it must be an escape ). You simply won't get a better view of this species, anywhere

---

May be the bird of the year photographic wise,down to 6 feet at times,and we left Adrian lying in the snowwhat a man will do for his art-so expect some stonkin shots soon

Still showing staggeringly well early afternoon (so close it must be an escape ). You simply won't get a better view of this species, anywhere

Great news ....I hope it is still there when I get to the park...it's a bloody long walk from my flat!

Redhead Smew still present this morning and showing down to 10 feet on a very small patch of open water.

Info thanks to Simon Warford

Red head smew on the very small area of open water left on the lake. It was happily diving under the ice only about 30 feet from the platform. We were busy retrieving a poorly juvenile mute swan at the time. Also present were the resident mute swans (now down to 3 juveniles since one died overnight on Monday and has now fed the local fox) many coots, 3 moorhens, various mallard and domestic ducks, 3 tufties and one drake gadwall.

Smew was there 10am-10.45 at least when I left with the swan.

The swan later was picked up by RSPCA but had to be euthanised, it was very under weight having been bullied for some time by the resident family. Further examination also found it's gullet obstructed by fishing line, also a contributory factor in it's death.

11th December.

Am.

A nice visit to the country park and a walk alongside the River Irwell from the footbridge at the north-western end of the park, down river for about 1 mile or so to where the M60 crosses over the river and then back to the car park via a different route.

Clifton Marina - the small area of unfrozen water held:- c85 Coot, c35 Canada Goose, c30 Mallard, 19 Tufted Duck, 15 Gadwall, 6 Mute Swan, 5 Moorhen, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Pochard and 1 Teal.

Along the approx. 1 mile long stretch of the Irwell - totals of 51 Teal, 15 Mallard, 16 Moorhen, 6 Goosander, 2 Grey Wagtail and 1 Cormorant. Plus 1 Mink.

In surrounding woodland and farmland;- c12 Goldfinch, 6+ Long-tailed Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 4 Jay, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 probably 3 Nuthatch, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Redwing and 1 Stock Dove. Both Siskin and Redpoll heard but not seen.

Cheers,

Bill.

34 Gadwall, 37 Tufted Duck, 2 Common Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Dipper.

female Greater Scaup, + 47 Tufted Duck, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker feeding on grass near farm, also 30 Lesser Redpoll.

Mute Swans 2 with 4 young, 4 Teal, 20 Goosander on river irwell behind marina, also 2 Common Buzzard over Hurst woods, and 4 Treecreepers. + Nuthatch in Ringley church yard.

7 Gadwall, 16 Teal, 4 Goosander, Kingfisher, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pair of Nuthatch.