Mandarin 2
Little Grebe 6
Raven 5
Willow Tit 1
Chiffchaff 7
Redwing 20

Mandarin 4, 2m 2f & 5 ducklings

We caught up with the Goosander female with 21 youngsters in tow as well - a very impressive sight.

Also saw a single male Mandarin Duck.

45 species including

Goosander female with 21 ducklings, plus one flyover
Sedge Warbler 1 (actually on the Sale side of the Mersey just down from the Millenium footbridge)

Goosander crèche of 5 adult female and 20 duckling
Mandarin, 3 2 male and 1 female

Winter Thrush number high although difficult to count between fields as they kept moving around.

Fields on Riverside walk held 400 + Redwing 4 Fieldfare.
other fields held counts of 100 + birds.

Two buzzards,
mixed flock of finches in trees 75+

keep Birding

Late report from Saturday 24-1-15.

My first mooch of the year (more of a hobble, as awaiting ankle surgery which has ruined birding for me so far this year) in pleasant conditions between 1400 - 1630hrs.

Firstly Mike, in response to your Little Egret sighting ( sounds extremely possible ) spoke with 2 ladies whom were tending to their horses and they have seen the " White Heron" a couple of times, in the last few weeks. One said she had also seen 1 a fair few times last summer as well..

Nice to see the work Red Rose are doing in the area coming to fruition , with the ditches now cleared and free flowing water first bird I saw was a Kingfisher, could locate it again, but whilst stood trying to find it a couple of dog walkers stopped and said they see them on a daily basis and " there is definitely a few" so well done Red Rose as last year these said ditches were full of weeds, stagnant water and rubbish, keep up the good work.

The horse fields held numbers of Redwings I have seen before must have been over 600 in the fields, trees and bushes, everywhere you looked they were there, had hoped for Fieldfare, but I couldn't see one...

Grey Heron 2 of in the flooded Horsefields.

Great Tits,
Blue Tits
Magpies
Wrens
Blackbirds
Wrens

All in good numbers along the paths and in the 2 Hay meadows good numbers of Woodpigeons and 2 Carrion Crows.

At Eeasbrook,

The river has been at its devastating best here, adding another couple of feet to the width of the river with fresh erosion clearly visible on both banks, the pylon seems to have crept closer to the edge...
No Kingfisher heard or seen in this area which is unusual, although their ususal vantage points seem to have been washed away.
The Sandmartin holes have also all been washed away, so they are going to be busy when they arrive back later in the year,.

2 Buzzards were settling on tree stumps in the distance beyond the pylon, not sure if this is Banky Meadow or not ..

Didn't venture down to the beach, but there were plenty of Mallards about, 6 Teal, 1 Goosander, were making use of the flooded areas.
Little Grebe was also spotted further up the River.
Willow Tits Heard in an amongst all the trees.

Steve

Had a report from a local (not a birder but a keen naturalist) of what he is pretty sure was a Little Egret on the horse fields near Riverside Drive Sunday afternoon, feeding with a Heron...

Late report from yesterday..

Took advantage of a bank holiday and had an early morning mooch around Eeasbrook from 0700-1000, taking in a few footpaths that had really ventured down and finding some really good view points along the way.

Highlights were
11 Goosander were at Eeasbrook, but then took off towards bend , caught up with them further up..
2 Little Grebe, seemed to be a pair,
1 Blackcap (m)
1 Whitethroat
4 Willow Tits, nice to actually see them rather than hearing them.
Large flock of Longtailed, Great an Blue tits must have been near 40/50 birds flitting around the Balsam, under Pylon on far bank.
3 or 4 Kingfishers along the river

Cheers Steve

Early visit this morning (6 am) along the river, but the balsam and Japanese knotweed was sodden so I didnt get far. I find that almost all of my previously good vantage points over the river are now inaccessible. Generally disappointing with no waders, but I did hear a Kingfisher, and a flock of 8 Goosanders flew upstream.

Steve,

The Sedgie was on the edge of Stretford Tip (think it's known as Stretford Meadows now - it'll always be the Tip to me!), just a single bird.

I came in off Torbay Road on Sat - but I prefer to make a walk of it so I'll head towards Stretty Tip, turn up Poplar Road and then work my way around to the Meadows via Kickety & the Mersey. My usual lurk is Stretford/ Chorlton Ees so it's not just generally, but I'm personally guilty of overlooking Urmston simply coz I can get to the wildlife quicker with the Bridgewater Canal 5 mins walk away & heading me onto the Ees. You're right about some of the rougher paths through the Meadows, definitely need boots in good nick - seems to be the norm! And yeh, hopefully run into you some time...

Jeff,

That's interesting, never knew those kind of birds were in there. I've seen 'shanks flying over my house in Stretford on a Salford Quays heading before, that's all. A few days ago I'll swear blind I saw Whimbrel over... annoying, just couldn't make a definite ID. The birds were on a Sale Marina heading.

Jeff,

Yeah its definately Himalayan balsam city down there, have seen some paths through it but in the mud and rain didnt fancy wandering to far down them, in case I ended up in the brink..
At minute, still sussing it out, but pretty sure there will be some great veiwpoints that I havent found yet.

Tend to stick to the bend at Old Ees Brook, and to be fair see different species every time..only seen Herons in the wader bracket so far...

Thanks
Steve

A bit of historical info which may be of some interest:
In the 1980s I used to cover this area regularly from both sides of the river. The highlight of the year was going along the river in the very early mornings in August when I could often find Greenshank and Green Sandpiper, especially when the river was low and there were exposed sandbanks. This was before the Himalayan balsam had spread into the area and now it can be difficult to find vantage points from which to view the river.

Colin,

It was mainly hear say about the gangs.

Think your right it does seem to be have been underwatched for several years, I personally have lived in Urmston now for 8 years and only recently started on the Meadows.
I normally park on Riverside and walk through to the Mersey, venturing down onto the beach, but have never followed the path through the Willow out the back think thats towards Kicketty Brook.
Saying that the weather has been curtailing any further exploration due to the state of said paths / mud baths and a pair of leaky boots...

Interested on the Sedge Warbler, where abouts did you find it?

Hopefully bump into you soon, as am planning to get down at least once a weekend, was doing the odd night as well, but they seem to be closing in quite quickly now.

Saying that excited about next Spring already...

Take care
Steve

Glad you're liking the look of Urmston Meadows, I think it is an often overlooked area. Not sure what you mean about 'gangs'; the main thing I've seen is lads taking their motorbikes up there, usually evening time - but not every evening.

I was there an hour after you on Saturday. I didn't do a proper circuit though, headed straight for the Mersey then walked back to Stretford via Kicketty Brook and the old tip. Didn't see much, pick being Cormorant, Grey Heron & H. Martins, also a single Sedge Warbler. I did see that 'farm yard' duck you mentioned as well, paddling with a few Mallards & a BH Gull! Mainly just Magpies, Woodpigeons & Crows...

A late post from Saturday 16-08-14.

Had an early morning mooch 0645-1000am.

Birds of note,
1 Goosander on river at Old Eesbrook
1 Teal on river at Old Eesbrook
1 Willow Tit in usual balsam
1 Cormorant with grey chest perched on usual pylon.
3 Sandmartins flying around and one young perched on edge of nest hole. Got some cracking (for me anyway) pictures of it..
2 Reed Buntings

Large tit flocks containing Blue, Great and Long tailed in several locations, 1 of 40-50 around the horsefields and 1 of just Long tailed tits numbering 20-30 in Balsam and Willow at Old Eesbrok.

2 Confused Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers on top on Pylon in the horsefield, doing more damaged to themselves i imagine pecking away at metal cant be good for them.

Lots of young wrens around, as well as family parties of Magpies and Jays..


And met a really interesting chap walking his dog, whom was full of useful info about the species that are found on the Meadows and the ones which used to be extremely frequent visitors, that he rarely sees anymore, only downside to this conversation was he seemed to be in his big coat, wellies and Pyjamas.....

Cheers Steve

Another quick visit last night to take Josh to try and see some Kingfishers down at Old Ees Brook.

Not much about unfortunately as it turns out Tuesday night is dog agility/training club and the barking seemed to have scared everything off.

But we did manage to get down to the beach as the river wasnt as fast flowing as weekend, so great veiws of

2 Sand Martin, with definately 2 young crawling towards the edge of nest hole to be fed, hoping to get some digiscoped pics on Saturday AM..
2 Mallard.
1 Willow tit calling from in the Himalayan Balsam down nr the beach.
10-15 Woodpigeon


1 Charm of approx 40-50 Goldfinches high in the trees nr Horse Stables, normally we get 10-12 in our garden and their chattering call is pretty good, but his was something else

Cheers
Steve

This little gem of a site was introduced to me by Red Rose Forest on an evening stroll a couple of weeks back. I had heard stories from various sources of gangs maruding around at night and weekend, so up until then it had never crossed my mind to go for a wander.

Now having met Mike Savage of Red Rose and upon hearing their plans for the area, its somewhere I will be mooching a couple of times a week and most weekends.

There are large areas of woodland also 3 large Hay crop Meadows and if you want to wander further you can also cover the banks of the Mersey as it winds its way along the back of Urmston/Carrington.

The main footpath circumnavigates the whole site, which is in generally a good state, its when you venture towards the Mersey the paths trail across meadows, some disappear down towards the Mersey and are a tad steep, but generally you have good vantage points along the way.

So yesterday wasnt really the ideal weather for a trek around, but with 5 kids at home all playing up decided to get out for a bit.

I headed out towards the Mersey, which was a great plan as it looked to be brightening up a touch, but by the time I was parking the car it wasnt such a good one.
The heavens had opened and all the paths were like rivers and water was getting where water shouldnt, well not when fully clothed anyway.

I got to the area think its called Old Ees Brook, which is the bend on the river and all but 3 of my sightings were in this area


Mallards 30 plus
White Farmyard type Duck 1
Cormorants 2 on Pylon drying wings, one with an extremely white/grey chest.
Grey Heron 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Kestral 1
Sand Martins were actively removing fecal sacs from at least 1 nest hole.
Blackheaded Gulls 3
Woodpigeon on a whole must have been 30/40 around.
Goldfinch 3
Willow Tit at least 4/5 but the Balsam they were in was full of them calling, so could have been many more, unfortunately to get a better view, would have meant descending a mini water fall on the path , so will save that for next time.
Kingfisher at least 2, great views again, watching them fly up and down the river. Just wish i had taken my scope for some pictures.

Then on way back to car I had

2/3 Willow tits near the bridge to the Haycrops
Wren inbetween the horse fields.
2 Willow Warblers again nr the Haycrops.

A really productive , wet walk for the first proper mooch round this area and many more to come..

So heres till Thursday when hopefully the sun will be out for a evening wander....

Word of warning there are Horseflies about, as Mike can vouch for....

Anyone wants any further parking hints for the area, please feel free to ask.



Cheers
Steve