Two Sparrowhawks were over the car park, male and female going off size. Plenty long-tailed, blue and great tits around and a couple coal tits. Thrush numbers were up, with a notable increase in blackbirds, a Song Thrush and a few redwings in the L Shaped hedge near to Mortons Dairy (see site guides) but the best bird was undoubtedly a female/1st Winter type RING OUZEL flitting around with the Redwings. The pale panel on the wings and scaly underparts really standing out.

Tuesday 09 October 2018

Redwing heard overhead at dusk.

14 'Alba' Wagtails in the second horse paddock included at least 1 White Wagtail. Difficult to check the others as most were silhouetted or at best moderately backlit. The one that was a clear 'White' was a stunningly clean bird. Cracking pale grey mantle contrasting with the black on the nape and head.

A single Hobby came bombing through from the Wigan Flashes direction this afternoon, spent a few minutes circling over the stables (eyeing up the hirundines I presume) before heading back in the direction of Horrocks Flash. From the brief glimpse I had of the plumage it appeared to be an adult bird - clean grey wings, mantle and tail with no sign of pale fringes, obvious black mask and moustacial stripe. Didn't get to see the red trousers unfortunately as it was below head height when it flew past first time then remained silhouetted for the rest of the time it was visible.

Its been a bit quiet at Viridor this year - and its never been particularly exciting if I'm honest - so quiet, that I haven't really seen any point in posting the very limited sightings from my much reduced visits. Anyway, the last couple of visits have shown a bit more promise and today was decidedly better.

I wasn't expecting much with a midday visit and the first 20 mins were again looking bleak, especially when the drizzle kicked in. I hadn't had anything until a flock of Goldfinches attracted my attention near the farthest west paddock. I had gone to count them but was distracted by a sizeable flock of Pied wagtails - 15+ which also contained a nice surprise in the form of 3 juvenile Yellow Wagtails. A site tick for me.

Around the rest of the site there were a few Blackcaps, single Willow Tit, small flocks of Goldfinches probably 50 in total, and good numbers of swallows including many juveniles still being fed on the fence lines. Unsurprisingly on a midday visit there were very few birds calling so Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs etc were few and far between.

Saturday 24 March 2018

A Chiffchaff was singing in the wooded area between the car park and the totems, late morning.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 25th of March 2018 09:52:23 AM

50+ Fieldfares in the paddocks around Lily Lane stables. 22 were making use of a small patch of open water in the flooded field but as they flew off and landed in a field to the south I could see at least another 28 birds join them and there were clearly other birds in the same field which could have been Fieldfares or other Thrushes.

6 Meadow pipits and 2 Grey Partridge in the field near the muck heaps.

There was a large number of gulls in the fields on the northern boundary following the plough and muck spreading tractors. Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed(1), Common and Black-headed were all present in numbers but impossible to count as they were constantly up and moving between the tractors. There were at least 600 mainly Black-headed resting in the field behind the police building.

Walked the circuit around Viridor Wood then crossed the road and
walked over to Three Sisters Country Park . Not much about .
Birds seen as follows .
Wood Pigeon x 30
Magpie x 4
Robin x 2
Lesser Black Backed Gull x 1
Goldfinch x 8
Swallow x 7
Blue Tit x 6
Great Tit x 3
Wren x 1
Coal Tit x 2
Mute Swan x 2
Canada Goose x 12
Mallard x 20
Common Tern x 1
Carrion Crow x 3
Herring Gull x 1
Collared Dove x 5

A bit of a raptor fest this afternoon. Well, sort of. There were three Sparrowhawks circling together in what I took to be a family party. I was too far away to see any plumage details, but there was no obvious size difference so I am guessing that they were all the same sex, and as they were circling less than 10m apart I'm also guessing they were recently fledged siblings from the same nest. I certainly haven't seen that number here before today but have heard a Sparrowhawk calling in the area on a frequent basis. Also in almost the same area a Female Kestrel took up with one juvenile, also a very young looking bird - as it flew over I was pretty sure I could still see evidence of a yellow gape. The female on the other hand looked very very tatty!

Well over 250 Wood Pigeons flew over the eastern side this afternoon, mainly in one large flock. There were a considerable number of swifts which were also difficult to count due to their movement all around the site. A conservative guesstimate would be 150. Otherwise quiet.

A covey of Grey Partridge with a few youngsters nearly gave m ca heart attack when they exploded out from the side of the path this evening.lots of wood pigeons about, probably due to the harvesting in nearby fields. Otherwise quiet - some more non- bird stuff on the Wildlife Sightings section.

Quite a number of Grasshopper Warblers this evening on the eastern half. More than I've heard all year with at least 4, possibly 5 reeling in an area where I had consistently only heard 2 earlier in the season. Why the sudden jump in numbers I have no idea. Do recently fledged juveniles 'reel'? Have some new birds moved in? If so, why would they be singing now - seems a bit late for a bird to come in, set up a new territory and attempt breeding.

Signs of plenty youngsters around today with juvenile Great and Blue Tits aplenty, plus at least three juvenile Bullfinches. I'm also fairly sure now that a Sedge Warbler snuck into the western part of the site and must have immediately started breeding. Up until last week I had only heard one very briefly, but it was singing again last week, suggesting a possible second brood. Today I saw an adult carrying food so looks like a potential successful year for these too. Plenty Chiffchaffs 'hu-eeting' but no sign of any juveniles yet. Also a single Grey Partridge acting like she had some youngsters around - didn't see em, but the way she was running around and calling certainly suggested there were some nearby.

-- Edited by Craig Higson on Sunday 25th of June 2017 09:25:04 PM

A single Sedge Warbler on the eastern side this evening was the first for the year. There were two Grasshopper Warblers in the same location - two territories side by side by the look of things. The numbers of Grasshopper Warblers is massively down on normal. Previous years have seen good numbers on the site, with maybe as many as 8 across both sides. This year just three so far (and one of those has been very quiet the last few days so may have done a runner!). Little else of note unfortunately.

Two Ravens over the eastern fields today. Blackcap and Grasshopper Warbler new in.

A few more Willow Warblers today, plus the first Sand Martins (4) and a single Swallow.

4 Chiffchaffs today so Spring is picking up. Not a lot else though

Better day today - finally feels like spring is arriving. Plenty birds in song considering I was quite late visiting this morning. The first Chiffchaff of the year was on site and, perversely singing in a tree next to 23 Fieldfares and 4 Redwings, which were quite late for here. There was a large (200+) flock of Starlings on the fields to the north, feeding around a large pool that has formed in the last few months. Also around the pool were a few Lapwings and plenty Black-headed Gulls. quite a few Goldfinches were still around plus the usual Kestrel, Jays, Magpies and Woodpigeons. A single female Goosander flyover was a nice surprise.

Still very quiet overall, but quite a few Siskins and Redpolls moving around today, 10 of the former but didn't get to see the whole of the Redpoll flock. Long tailed tits still around in small parties but not a lot else. Hoping spring injects some new life.

A mooch this lunchtime was rewarding simply because I had my first Woodcock of the year. Also of note a flock of 28 Redwings, 2 Willow Tits, a single very dark Buzzard plus usuals.

Its been very quiet these last few weeks with very little of note at all, irrespective of what time of day . A walk around late this afternoon was no different - three Bullfinches and a couple of Coal Tits were new birds for the site for the year. There was a good number of Wood Pigeons around most coming off the rape in the fields adjacent to the northern boundary. single flock of c200 plus smaller flocks around site must have taken the total to at least 250 or more likely 300+. There has also been a massive increase in the number of Magpies in the area in the last 3/4 weeks. Th tother day I counted 25 in one small area and there were lots of others around the site. I'd estimate a total in the region of 40-45 birds.

Very late evening walk. Two tawny owls calling. Sadly outside the site boundary so not a site tick. One from around the Three Sisters Wetland Area, one from the mature woodland to the north adjacent to Bryn Gates Lane. Plenty of snipe flying over, probably feeding in the very wet paddocks.

Quiet this morning. Three Bullfinches were a nice sight and the first in a while. There seemed to be quite a few thrushes around, pretty evenly split between Redwings and Fieldfares. Plenty Goldfinches as usual and just a single Buzzard. Other than that all the usual suspects.

Late report from Thursday 24th - 3 Greylag Geese flying west to east across the site were a new tick for me here. Surprised Ive not had them before given how close the site is to Horrocks Flash.

6 Snipe over were about he most interesting thing this afternoon. Quite a few mixed thrush flocks were about but tended to be on the 'back side' of the hedges so difficult to gauge numbers or actual proportion of species involved. The last few days have seen quite a large (50ish) flock of Meadow Pipits but these had dispersed today.

-- Edited by Craig Higson on Saturday 29th of October 2016 07:08:12 PM

Brambling over, and six Red-legged Partridges were both new species for the site for me today. 27 Redwings over and 20 in plus a few thrushes but no indication of the big influxes seen over on the east coast. Guess birds haven't filtered inland yet. A few skylarks seemed to be moving but other than that pretty quiet.

First Redwings today - 13 feeding on the Hawthorns. Plenty Goldcrests around and the first Redpolls and Siskins in ages. Also. Skein of Pink Footed Geese over - see relevant thread.

A reasonable number of 'hirundines' today for the time of year - approx 40 house martins and a smattering of swallows were all present early evening so presumably roosting nearby. Surprisingly most of the swallows seemed to be adults based on the length of their outer tail feathers; I would have expected more juveniles. Also 4/5 chiffchaffs around including one that was exceptionally plain faced - no hint of a supercillium at all. Never seen one so plain before.

Goldfinch flock starting to build with a group of 40 this evening. Two Chiffchaffs and a party of 5 Mistle Thrushes were the only other birds of note.

From yesterday: approx 80 swallows heading south over the site towards Three Sisters Wetland area around dusk suggesting a roost somewhere around the Three Sisters site. A couple of chiffchaffs still calling.

Yesterday a flock of 80 approx. Lapwings were disturbed from the fields adjacent to the Northern boundary. There was also a rather confusing 'Phylloscopus' warbler - its call was midway between Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, very worn plumage so really difficult to get any clues from that, very dark legs but a rather longer primary projection that I'd expect for a Willow Warbler. A proper id challenge.

On the eastern side a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling this evening.

-- Edited by Craig Higson on Thursday 21st of July 2016 09:50:25 PM

Sedge Warblers have arrived on site and it looks like there might be a new territory this year which in fairness is a 100% increase in numbers on the western side. Also sounds like a new Grasshopper Warbler territory might have been established. First Swift of the year too.

First Whitethroat today.

At least two Grasshopper Warblers on the western side today

First Grasshopper Warbler of the year heard this evening. Plenty Chiffchaffs back and singing and more than a few Willow Warblers too.

There's been a suggestion of a redwing/fieldfare roost forming for the last few weeks. I'm pretty sure there is one now but its not huge, perhaps 50+ redwings and similar fieldfare numbers.

Otherwise quiet. Having traipsed round here for the whole winter for very little reward - mainly wood pigeons, magpies and the odd buzzard - I am fully expecting that the law of averages will even out and I'll be finding several rarities on this site in spring.

Late for yesterday a Barn Owl was out over some of the meadow areas on the western side yesterday evening.

Single woodcock this evening. Seems like a good winter for them at this site at least.

Single Whooper swan flew over this morning in the direction of Horrocks Flash.

2 Woodcock together in the gloaming this evening as I was out on a run. Not seen one here for ages so two together (and the first real good bird of the year) was a bonus.

Great views of Barn Owl this afternoon quartering the roadside grassland then again on several locations on the western half. Came really close but sadly not close enough for a picture on a mobile phone.

Nipped out during my lunch hour. Very quiet and the best bird, a Dunlin, was a new flyover species for me here.

A quick 3/4 hr after being on the Moors. 39 Redwings, 21 Goldfinch, 19 Siskin 1 Chiffchaff and a couple of Goldcrests and Willow Tits were the highlights.

Perhaps a precursor to what could/should happen this weekend if the last weather report I saw is correct - the first Redwings of the year were on site, a small party of 6 in Big Hedge. At least three or four Song Thrushes were in the hedgerows which are birds I haven't seen before. Blackbirds haven't really increased though.

Obviously some passage happening today, unfortunately I couldn't hand around. But, in the 1/2 hr or so I was round with the dog there were at least 10 Skylarks, over 40 Meadow Pipits, 5 or 6 Grey Wagtails plus various finches and a few hirundines all going south.

two visits this weekend. Sat on eastern side, today on western side.

Sat - very quiet. Highlights were 150 Lapwings over - disturbed from neighbouring farmland, Willow tit, two, maybe three Chiffchaffs.

Sunday - I'd guess between 300 and 400 Swallows and House Martins over and adjacent to the site. Difficult to get accurate counts, but probably split 70/30 in favour of swallows. 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Buzzard.

Eastern side.

7 Grey Partridge
8 Stock Doves
3 Chiffchaffs
20+ Siskin