it was the weather that kept me away,and the road works that still on going,if it helps anyone there is access to the site from westwood cemetry,i park outside the gates and walk down the hill , there,s metal stile in the concrete wall,onto a path which then leads to the reedbed.

cheers geoff

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves at 20:59, 2007-12-03

I've not heard of any Pete, but this is likely to be due to our proccupation with Pennington today and the very poor weather

Any news today ?.

was there yesterday and again today, bird still present, calling from 8 till 1030 but stayed in the centre of the reedbed. my phone was on the blink so didnt get the info on the cattle egret till i got home. who said birding was easy!

A few of us were there from 8-12 today and the bird was singing and calling quite alot from 8 till 11ish when it went quiet. With a bit less wind i think we might have seen it, as it was it was just that bit too dificult. The bird is very mobile but can be followed around the reedbed by its loud song. At one point it was within 15 feet of us and we still couldnt see it.

Any one was was present today deserve a medal could not make it myself but what a bird for GM , will do my best to catch up with it next week
have a week off but have to do xmas shopping etc, but will find time for birding somewhere

Still singing 4:15pm, though not showing of course! (per Phil Rhodes)

Still present Saturday 1st December (thanks to several observers for keeping me updated), calling very well and often very close from the reedbed.

Typically it remains as elusive as ever and although it appears a few observers have glimpsed possible flight views, I think you'd have to be pretty sure it was the Cetti's if you're claiming to have seen it, put it this way, I won't be counting it on my personal list unless I have views adequate enough to compile a description which would be acceptable by the county rarities committee.

Andrew Newall wrote:

---

i plan on being down 1st thing in the morning, where is the best place to park ? as my last trip i walked from pennington and im not doing that again.

cheers

Andrew

---

probably best to park at the welham road entrance, off carr lane. by the school.

I go down that way quite a lot, sometimes jogging, sometimes dog walking. there are some good routes down that way. but theres no way i could identify a cettis warbler just by the song. having never seen or heard one before.

while i was there the bird certainly did a little circuit of the reedbed, calling every so often but appeared to go back to the central area which has several small saplings just visible in it one of which still bore bright yellow leaves. This little patch must be slightly drier than the other areas in the reedbed so might be preferred by this bird but i still felt there was only 1 bird here, as for other areas of the wigan flashes...

i plan on being down 1st thing in the morning, where is the best place to park ? as my last trip i walked from pennington and im not doing that again.

cheers

Andrew

I ask myself the following questions:
How long has this bird been there - given this is an area relatively unfrequented by birders and even if covered, the bird can go half an hour or more without calling? This is a species expanding its range and the habitat in the Wigan Flashes is ideal for it.
How many are there? If only one, it certainly got about the reedbed whilst I was there (0920-1100). And from what Brian Fielding says, it moved yet again.
Just for the record, I had a stunning, half-second view of the whole bird in sideways profile, at about 10ft, at the bottom of the banking parallel with the cemetery chapel. It then appeared to fly off into the reedbed. It was pure luck.

brian,we heard it from the path parrellel to the cemetry,and from the paths around the reed bed it seems to cover the whole area,the bittern was last seen from the warfords bench at the front of bryn marsh,but the viewing screen and up the hill both provide more panoramic views of the
marsh,best of luck

cheers geoff(county first 'heard' listing whatever next)

where exactly are people standing to see/hear this bird? is it near the hide/screen at the back of pearsons. or on the path parallel to the cemetary? that reedbed is a pretty difficult place to access if i remember rightly.

hope to head down there sat morning. and while im at it, where is the best place to stand for hours on end in the hope of seeing the bittern?

was there from 1 till 330 , heard it call twice around 245 in the corner of the reedbed nr the back of the sewage works. as ian says this could be very difficult to see but i will be back over the weekend for another go.

For those visiting the site in the future, and let us hope it sticks around for some time to come, could I ask that the playing of tapes/CD's/MP3 files etc. in an attempt to lure the bird not be attempted. It has already been tried and has proven entirely ineffective, so in order to keep disturbance to a mimimum or for causing any adverse effects to the bird from playing song it is best we just sit, wait and try to get lucky in our attempts to see it.

Obviously it is going to be painfully difficult to see for anybody but it is not without hope that it could stay for some time and perhaps even start Greater Manchester's first colonisation , so our effects on the bird and it's surroundings are paramount.

Either way it's a superb find by Dave Broome (would've been worth 60 points had he been in the Tournament!) and just listening to it call was nice enough...well, almost!

30/11/07

The Cetti`s was seen briefly (J.Smith) and heard (D.Broome, I.McKerchar, G.Hargreaves, I.Woosey) this morning. It was heard mostly between 10.00 and 11.00, and at least eight or nine times. It appears to be moving around a lot, always sticking to the reed-bed, never breaking cover.........................It`s going to be hard !

I had a word with Brian Martin at Woolston Eyes about the Cetti's Warblers there. The current situation is that there is one bird on No. 3 bed in the reedbed in front of the tower hide (that's the one with the long ladder) which has been trapped at least twice. There is also one, possibly 2 birds on No. 1 bed there. if I remember correctly at least one Cetti's was present last winter too there, so maybe they have bred.
My point in ringing Brian was to find out what type of habitat they favoured, knowing from experience that they often like the drier scrubbier parts round the edges of reedbeds. However, he said that at Woolston both birds were in pure phragmites.

With regard to Pennington Flash, several years ago now - probably about 1995, I was contacted by a chap w.r.t. a possible Red-breasted Flycatcher in Manchester. He told me a convincing tale about he and his wife hearing a Cetti's at PF one spring (before 1992). He tried to find a ranger to share the news with...but could not.

The Woolston bird is still there as far as I know John and it isn't their first record unless it's the same bird, resident or returning? With Cetti's at Woolston to the south and Marton Mere to the north, our first county Cetti's is long overdue, infact it has been Peter Alker's prediction for Pennington Flash for a couple of years now and I'd even searched there specifically for one in the previous month after hearing about the Woolston bird(s). Typical, wrong place, wrong time...here's hoping

could be the same bird as reported last weekend at woolston eyes warrington

At approx. 11am this morning Dave Broome heard what he is almost certain was a Cetti's Warbler singing, albeit breifly and faintly from the back of Pearsons Flash (Wigan Flashes) by the cemetary. Unfortunately, despite several birders turning up to assist in locating the bird (my thanks to you all for your efforts) it was not seen or heard again, although the ever increasing wind velocity helped none at all!

The bird will continue to be looked for starting again tomorrow morning, as if it was indeed a Cetti's (and Dave's not often wrong) it should stick around for atleast a bit.

Please note that this post has also been included in the Wigan Flashes thread to continue that threads completeness but was also included seperately here as, well...it would be county first after all

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 20:10, 2007-11-29

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 15:53, 2007-11-30

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 16:10, 2007-11-30