31st August

Hobby 1 juvenile

A single Hobby flew high over the moss towards Silver Lane at about 16.15 and was lost to sight.

Tower Hide
6pmish
At least 2 Woodcock flying low round Tower as the sun set.

A Tawny Owl was calling from woods.

An early Bat was flitting over the birches.

Popped in towards dusk to catch up on the latest.

Common Snipe - 20 leaving mossland to the north
Woodcock - 4 to the east
P F Geese - 50 flew low to SE

Corvid flock - 600+ of crows, jackdaws and a few rooks. They gather along the southern edge before heading to roost in the woodland itself. This winter gathering has been around for several years now and its quite a sight but not necessarily a good thing as any birds of prey/owls which come onto the reserve are severely harassed!

Tawny Owls - 2 calling from behind the tower

Tower Hide

4:30 pm single Woodcock flying just above tree top height , seemed to be just one bird flying a circuit round.

Very close. Great views though getting dark.

Brief lunchtime stroll, quite productive but mostly heard-only:

Tower:
1 Buzzard
1 Kestrel
1 Sparrowhawk (f ?)
4 skeins of Pink-footed Geese, each >100 birds heading SE
1 Snipe (h)
1 Grey Wagtail (h)
2+ Redwing in Rowans
3+ Blackbirds in Rowans
sev Goldfinch (h)

Loop:
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (h)
1 Nuthatch (h)
~30 Redpoll sp over, heading SW, 1+ possibly lingering
1 Fieldfare (h)
2 Bullfinch (h)
1 Jay
Mixed flock, including
10 Long-Tailed Tits
1 Willow Tit (h)
10 Goldcrest
1 Treecreeper (h)
5 Blue Tit
2 Great Tit

No hobbies today but:
1 male yellowhammer
3-4 buzzards
1 oystercatcher
and 2 unidentifiable waders (most probably golden plover imo)

2 Hobbies, 1 Buzzard and 2 Sparrowhawk from observation tower.

Also close up views of Yellowhammers mating

PM

2 Hobbies, 6 Buzzards, 1f Sparrowhawk, 1f Kestrel, 2f+1m Yellowhammers, 1m Reed Bunting and 5 Lapwings.

A few Swifts passed through heading NE, at one point the Hobbies climbed above a group of 6 Swifts, which then veered away to the West.

One Hobby was seen to catch what looked like a small dragonfly or damselfly, and eat the insect in flight.

05/05/16 a walk over in my lunch hour provided 2 hobbies 2 buzzards (both at really close range at times) a sparrowhawk and a kestrel all which could be seen from the tower looking out over the moss

First Hobby over this afternoon though it didn't hang around, headed off north.

13.00-15.00

Glorious afternoon to watch the moss from tower area, but the nice weather seemed to have stopped bird passage, with little signs of migration.

1 male Stonechat was keeping a male Reed Bunting company on the bracken. 2 Sparrowhawks, 4 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels and 4 Jays were over the moss.

The only possible sign of passage were a dozen Lesser Black Backed Gulls that rode the thermals to gain tremendous height above the moss, before disappearing over Rixton.

No swallows or martins to be seen, and the Hobbies are long gone. A pair of adult Mute Swans circled the moss at one point. (Insect sightings on separate thread).

11.30-14.30

2 Hobbies, 2f+1m Kestrels, 1f +1juv Sparrowhawk, 1 Great Black Backed Gull and at least 7 Buzzards.

There was a trickle of Swallows passing through, and a one point the Hobbies & Swallows seemed to be trying to climb above each other.

Then the Hobbies plunged into a breathtaking dive and only levelled out a few feet above the moss, one was then seen carrying what looked like a dragonfly, on which it dined in flight.

A very pale Buzzard came close to the tower, whilst one flying over towards Rixton appeared to be massive, much bigger than the others, and was being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk.

The 2 female Kestrels had a vicious aerial squabble close to the woodland.

Common Darter dragonflies were plentiful by the tower, and several large hawkers were here too, but I could not properly ID which species.

1430hrs today, one Hobby put on a show with three Buzzard and a Kestrel also recorded, viewed from the tower. Plus two Blackcap and a Sparrowhawk close to the visitor centre.

10.00- 11.00am

Hobby 2 initially perched up together then hawking low over the pools
Kestrel
Buzzard 2
Yellowhammer
Blackcap 2
Common Whitethroat 2
Song Thrush
Nuthatch

An afternoon walk produced: 1 hobby, 2 kestrels, several buzzards, 1 yellowhammer and all the usual woodland suspects.

A Little egret spent all of three minutes on the reserve yesterday - a first on the reserve for several of the regulars however. A 1st summer Hobby is showing well on a daily basis at the moment.

Andy Isherwood wrote:

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Hi Johnathan

what about Bee-eater?

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It didn't look the right shape for a Bee eater Andy, looked more like one when I first saw it in level flight though. Once it started to circle up it looked like a long tailed swift. It was very distant however so I can't really rule anything out, we did come to a general consensus that it was probably a swift species. I'll speak to Dave and Pete tomorrow as they watched it through their scopes longer than I did - I was sharing Dave's as I'd stupidly not bothered to take mine!

Hi Johnathan

what about Bee-eater?

I picked up a bird flying west beyond the southern boundary of the reserve around 2.45pm today. Initially thought Hobby through binocs but through scope I thought it might be a Cuckoo as it appeared to have a long tail and shallow wingbeats (it wasn't a displaying Kestrel). However, it then started to circle up in tight circles, looking less like a Cuckoo, more Common swift-like. But flight pattern was different, flapping it's wings 95% of the time as it circled tightly, none of the extensive glides and direction changes ones sees in a Common swift. Pete Hilton had it briefly alongside a Common swift (I was sharing a scope with someone and we were swapping over at this point) and said it looked bigger. It circled high into the sky until we lost it. Three of us saw it - Pete, myself and Dave Beetham, all reasonably experienced birders. Watched it for five minutes, it was just a silhouette throughout, no plumage details whatsoever. Sizewise, somewhat bigger than a Common swift - as I said I thought it was a Hobby when I first picked it up - but size is almost impossible to judge at the distances involved. Shapewise, similar to Common swift, it would have been nice to see it glide to get a real idea of shape, but it flapped almost continuously.

We have considered the possiblity that the tail was something trailing behind a Common swift, and therefore making it keep up the almost continuous flapping. It didn't look like that, and a Swift is perhaps the last bird likely to get caught up in something, but we couldn't completely discount the idea.

Anybody any ideas?

A pleasant couple of hours at Risley Moss this afternoon in the sunshine.

Species noted:- Buzzard, Kestrel, Hobby, Swallow, Swift, Common Whitethroat, Bullfinch (pair), Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff.

10.30-14.00

1 Common Tern, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Cormorants, 1 Kestrel & 2 Ravens.

Common Whitethroat and Reed Bunting near the tower. A Moorhen with 1 small youngster. A pair of Tufted Duck were on the large pool.

The highlight was the sheer number of Swifts passing through, and a few Swallows too. Lots of large gulls were over the sight too, mainly Lesser Black Backs.

3:00-4:15

1 red kite circled high over observation tower for 5 mins around 4:00
1 hobby
3 buzzard
1 sparrowhawk
1 common whitethroat
3 jay

11am -till 1.30pm: 3 Hobby , 2 Buzzard , 1 Sparrowhawk , 1 Kestrel. (At one point all 4 were out together over the moss, and the Hobby's were attacking the Sparrowhawk! not something you see every day)

Female Hen harrier showing well this afternoon, apparently present since Sunday. Two Hobbies also present.

15.30-16.30
Flying visit Tower hide
Several Hobbys
Buzzard
Kestrel
Moorhen with 4 chicks
Cheers Jay
Don't twitch and drive.

Yesterday lunchtime 1 buzzard, 1 kestrel & 1 Hobby all hunting on the moss viewed from the tower along with several swallows and a chiffchaff which I could hear but not see and a backend of a gs woodpecker as it flew through the woods as I was leaving the reserve

Jonathan Platt wrote:

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Seven Hobbies this afternoon!

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Looking like a very good Hobby year at Risley- Beltin :)

Seven Hobbies this afternoon!

c20 Dunlin flew over NW yesterday. Up to three Hobbies earlier, though I only saw one 2-3.00pm.

Five Hobbies present between 2-3.00pm this afternoon.

12:00 until 14:00. From the Tower.
3 Hobbies
2 Sparrowhawk
6+ Common Buzzard
2 Kestrel
Flyover Great Spotted Woodpecker
Common Whitethroat singing from a Silver Birch on the Moss
2 Sand Martin flying North

First Hobby of the year over the moss at 2.30pm today.

Had a quick lunchtime walk round Risley Moss today after a possible red kite sighting on my way to work this morning so thought I'd see if I could spot it around there but saw a GS woodpecker male & female bullfinch, nuthatch, a chiffchaff, a treecreeper 4 long tailed tits along with numerous blue great and coal tits robins and chaffinches. also from the tower hide 4 or 5 very vocal Canada geese and a grey heron but unfortunately no raptors

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 1st of April 2015 03:13:16 PM

1 Red Kite flying over Birchwood @ 12:30 today

10.00-12.00

Mossland

3 Buzzards, 1f Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Yellowhammer & 1 Willow Tit.

1 Yellowhammer at the woodland feeding station too, plus 1m Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Also a couple of Treecreepers chasing each other around the woodland.

Brief visit, around 3pm.

I viewed the mossland for about 20mins, during which the only signs of life was the odd passing gull.

The mossland looked really bleak, with rain lashing down and a strong Southerly blowing.

More intereast though at the woodland hide, with Willow Tits frequently visiting the feeders, at least 3 different individuals.

Lots of Chaffinches too, but no sign of Bramblings. No squirrels either.

A quick hour around Risley Moss yesterday afternoon, weather was quite blustery but dry.
2x Great Spotted Woodpeckers (1 m, 1 f) at the woodland hide
1 Jay
5 or so Blackbirds
Great, Long Tailed, Blue and Coal Tit flock
Chaffinches
Robin
Woodpigeons/Magpies etc.

12-00-14.00

At one point there were 5 Buzzards soaring over the moss simultaneously, but otherwise just the usual crows and pigeons around.
Just common garden birds at the feeding station too.

Late post for Sunday 14th:

Short visit after shopping in Birchwood 3:10 - 3:45

Highlights were all from the Woodland Hide with a Nuthatch and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers showing very well. Also the usual Tits.
Most other birds were fly overs apart from a single Moorhen on the pond near the visitor's centre.

you're probably right there as the guardian always report things incorrectly.

As far as I'm aware it's Rixton, not Risley Moss. We were told about the incidents a couple of weeks ago but didn't put anything on the forum as investigations were on-going. The Red Kite (almost certainly the one I mentioned on 12th November) was found by a falconer and taken to a vets, unfortunately it died five days later. I believe the corpse was sent to a toxicologist. At the time it was believed the other birds may have been poisoned too, I haven't visited the moss since Tuesday so I'm not aware if anything has changed.