A Siskin was surprising today, flying from near the Bickershaw Caravan Site in to Low Hall

midday stroll,to have a look at the new amphibian ponds high lighted in this weeks wigan reporter, very nice although i,m not sure they will survive the floods.Not much around today,swan family still complete,only mallard,tufted,coot,moorhen on the lake small tit flock,six redwings very sparten otherwise

cheers geoff

also rescued a pensioner who.d strayed off the path and got his mobility scooter bogged down,i was tempted to walk away but couldn,t resist ticking him off for cutting up the grass in such a loutish manner

Lovely wander around the area this morning

on the lake,mallard,coot,moorhen,little grebe,b h gull,shoveler,gadwall, 2 mute swan with 6 juvall the usual garden birds.

Fields and hedgerows ,crammed with redwing,blackbird,lots of fieldfare around the prison fields.

cheers geoff

Sunday 22 August 2010

1 Spotted Flycatcher near the lake, late morning. Also:
2 Goldcrest
several Chiffchaff
Nuthatch heard
Great Spotted Woodpecker heard

Two eclipse type Mandarins on the main pool today.

Info thanks to Andy Makin.

A female Mandarin there today.

Sunday 25 April 2010

Early afternoon:
1 Kestrel
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Swallow
2 Lesser Whitethroat
4 Whitethroat
4 Blackcap
1 Grasshopper Warbler
a few Chiffchaff and countless Willow Warbler
2 House Sparrow

Also, in the grounds of HMP Hindley:
3 Lapwing
5 Whitethroat

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 26th of April 2010 09:50:06 AM

Dusk walk in chilly breeze 20/04/10

6 mallard
2 mute swan
2 coot very few waterfowl infact
willow warbler,blackcap,chiffcaff,crow,all other garden birds,no grasshopper,sedge as hoped but not the best evening for them.No sign of anything nocturnal.

should have twitched the pied fly at penny

cheers geoff

Rob,next winter ask to have a look inside the stables

Friday 09 April 2010

1 Ringed Teal (female) with 14 Gadwall on the lake this evening. Also Blackcap and several Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff.

7/3/10 (midday)

Sightings of note included:

2 Grey Partridge
4 Stock Dove
3 Coal Tit
2 Cormorant (over)
3 Gadwall
4 Tufted Duck
6 Mistle Thrush

There,s a piece in this weeks wigan reporter about the new sign and the bodies involved in managing the site,i,ve sent Ian Mck pictures for the main web site.

An extended and wide ranging search of the site this morning produced a 32 species list
the main lake was somewhat quiet
2 mute swans (1 belly up alas)
1 tufted
9 bh gull
4 shoveler
4 coot
some teal heard

Fields and railway line,usual tits,robins etc 2 raven 30 fieldfare 4 mistle thrush,50 starlings,5 greylag over,surprisingly no gs pecker,or siskin for that matter

Mr Woosey has some gossip on the site he might share with you

cheers geoff

6/2/10 am

2 Goosander (drk) over
5 Shoveler
8 Tufted Duck
1 Gadwall
3 Teal
1 Little Grebe
3 Siskin
4 Willow Tit
1 Skylark
2 Stock Dove
3 Bullfinch

c130 Pink-footed Geese NW @ 10:00

Quick check on the way back from bolton

main lake frozen over, 1 mute swan, 6 mallard and 2 tufted keeping a bit of water open

of note, a new information sign has been installed and bears the legend 'please keep dogs on a lead'

cheers geoff

After breakfast soaking,all signs of the ice have gone,a bit dull today but with one pair of raven making it a noteable visit

2 Raven
5 tufted
4 mallard
? teal hiding in the inner sanctum
1 coot
the usual tit flock and other garden birds

2 mute swan ,one happy on the lake the other (LLH)was up on the grass well away from the lake but seemed fit and able just 'displacedI,m guessing the missing birds decamped due to the weather.

cheers geoff

Saturday 09 January 2010

13:30-14:15
2 Kestrel (one took a mouse from the path no more than 3 metres from me!)
1 Water Rail (great views of it running along the moat)
1 Fieldfare
c15 Long-tailed Tit

28/12/09 am

Foggy conditions never lifted during a three-hour mooch ~ the only things of note being:

1 Green Woodpecker in the horse field
1 Reed Bunting
3 Bullfinch
1 Coal Tit
2 Redwing
2 Mute Swan (one with blue Darvic SFB)
6 Goldfinch

Heard Willow Tits from six different locations but never saw one.......and heard a fly-over Snipe, also unseen due to the fog.

Afternoon wander to brighten up a dull mood,

I,m still a novice here but only 2 dog walkers and no motorbikes,30+ tit flock ,lt,blue,coal,great tit.20 teal out in the open giving great views,g s woodpecker all usual waterfowl,with 1 solitary canada gooseand deep joy, a water rail dashing between a gap in the rushes.

Wigan Parks look after this site
Its got a few problems
And you need wellies to visit it (axe honed)

cheers geoff

Another quick check,no suprises the moorhens are back from holiday

cheers geoff

08/11/09

A quick check this morning, all the usual plus 1 pochard and a distinct lack of moorhens

cheers geoff

3/11/09 Early afternoon

1 Goldeneye (f)
7 Grey Partridge & 53 Lapwing in the horse paddocks
3 Kestrel
4 Little Grebe
2 Shoveler
1 Reed Bunting
3 Redwing

After bacon butty stroll

usual suspects but of note,2 cormorant fishing untill they saw me and took flight,18 mistle thrush in the horse paddock,1 large tit flock with at least 2 tree creeper amongst them(bit scarce in wigan),lots of teal (or one very vocal one) calling from the inner sanctum only 2 dogs encountered

cheers geoff

Saturday 24 October 2009

A quick look early afternoon produced... Not much:
7 Siskin
a couple of tit flocks including LT, Blue, Great and Willow
and a Sparrowhawk

Very nicely put ian,it should be noted that there is a second 'hidden' pool that is only visible to those born within the parish boundary.

cheers geoff

My dear Mr Hargreaves, when Mr Thorpe and I had completed the circuit of the site and came back to the pool the Pintails (f) had gone, so it is quite possible that when you first looked thay had not even arrived ! (How`s that for being diplomatic ? )

Other sightings included:

28 Gadwall
5 Shoveler
41 Moorhen
4 Tufted Duck
3 Little Grebe
12+ Teal
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
18 Lapwings & c200 Starlings in the horse paddock
1 Kestrel
2 Lesser Redpoll
1 Dunnock

Red letter day for this site

all the usual suspects plus 2 pintail
the pintail were found by ian and rob in a classic tournament manoeuvre nicking 2 points
off my best patch,were the ducks hiding when I looked?did ian and rob import them? or am I just cr** at watching ducks?

cheers geoff

10/10/09 am in the fog

1 buzzard
2 tree creepera bit special
1 coal tit
plus lots of others in the gloom but already on the list

cheers geoff

Ooop,s of course it should read 12 gadwall,never type stuff when the grandkids are plaugeing you and the beers are kicking in.

cheers geoff

12 Garganey Geoff my, didn't you do well

Low Hall, 11.00 while 1.00 a walk around this little used site

2 chiffchaff goldfinch,magpie,robin,wren,blackbird,kestrel,chaffinch,swallows,wood pigeon,crow,jackdaw,starling,collard dove,pheasant,blue,great,long tailed and coal
2 grey heron
1 g s pecker
20 teal
4 shoveler
5 little grebe,cracking family group
21 coot
32 moorhens
6 b h gulls
2 mute swans
7 mallard
6 tufted
1or2 water rail
12 gadwall(obvious correction of cock up) not garganey
only two dog walkers page 84 4a,park in church road or at the pub,cheers geoff

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves on Sunday 27th of September 2009 09:58:32 PM

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 22nd of October 2009 02:01:48 PM

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 6th of February 2010 11:10:16 AM