Wednesday,27th October.

AWTW:
Teal 20+
Mallard 5+
Gadwall 5+
Moorhen 10+
Coot 1
Grey Heron 1
Snipe 2
BH Gull 70+
Grey Wagtail 1
Pied Wagtail 5+

Walk from/to Isherwood Road:

Buzzard 2
Goldcrest 1
Goldfinch 1
Siskin 6
L Redpoll 9
Skylark 3
Kestrel 1m
Jay 2
Missel Thrush 3
Fieldfare 3
Chaffinch 30+

etc.etc.etc.

Todays sightings:

36 Long-tailed Tit
9 Stock Dove
1 Sparrowhawk
9 Skylark
8 Yellowhammer
3 Buzzard
2 Peregrine, field 19

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

Sightings for Altrincham SF 23rd September

20 Teal
2 Common Snipe
1 Common Buzzard
1 GS Woodpecker
1 Grey Heron

7th October 11am-1pm perimeter fence of Shell Pond & adjacent fields

2 Yellowhammer
2 Bullfinch
2 Linnet
c30 Skylark over in small groups (including one in song)
c15 Meadow Pipits
c300 Wood Pigeons
c300 crow spps
c50 Long-tailed Tits
c15 Great Tits
c10 Blue Tits
c20 Starlings
4 Common Buzzard
1 small falcon sp (seen briefly)
flock of c40-50 unidentified passerines seen briefly in field


8th October Altrincham SF 5pm-6pm

1 Little Grebe
1 Shoveler
1 Grey Wagtail
2 Common Snipe
3 Lapwing
c15 Teal


-- Edited by James Walsh on Saturday 9th of October 2010 04:16:01 PM

-- Edited by James Walsh on Saturday 9th of October 2010 04:16:13 PM

afternoon walk from Isherwood Road to AWTW and back.

Siskin 12 over field 4
Buzzard 2
Jay 3
Coll.dove 6
Corvids 200+ Jacks/Rooks/Crows
Woodpigeon 100+
Stock Dove 10+
Grey Wagtail 1

AWTW and environs:

Teal 16
Mallard 2
Moorhen 20+
Little Grebe 1
Lapwing 1
Reed Bunting 2
L. Redpoll 2
G. Heron 2
Willow Tit 1
Snipe 8
Chiffchaff 1 giving short song.
BH Gull 1

etc.etc.etc.

Saturday 2nd October

Buzzard 4
Jay 4
Skylark 40 (30 in field 5 and 10 in field 11, both stubble fields )

At swiss cottage -

Tree sparrow 4
Goldfinch 6
Chaffinch 10
Spotted Flycatcher 1

Etw-

Teal 12
Shoveler 4
Kestrel 2
Yellow wagtail 1
Yellowhammer 10 at field 11

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

3.00-4.15pm

Altrincham ETW:
1 Green Sandpiper flew from ETW pool and headed off south
10+ Teal
2 Mallard
1 Heron
4 Moorhen

Also:
16+8 LT Tits along cycle path
3 Blue Tit
1 Lesser Redpoll over
2 Chiffchaff
3 Jay
1 Buzzard



-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Thursday 30th of September 2010 09:50:25 PM

09/09/2010 - 7.20-8.20pm with Phil Owen, around the Sewage Works and Sinderland Lane:

2 Green Sandpipers (vocal, back lake of ASW)
7 Cormorants (over)
5 Teals
c20 Moorhens (3 roosting high up in a willow)
2 Little Owls (on south side of Sinderland Road towards Whitehouse Farm, flushed from usual field by farmer)
100's Jackdaws (going to roost in Brookheys/Hogswood Covert)

12 Snipe and 2 Green Sandpiper on the flooded area

Also a chiffchaff around the ETW

11 Snipe on the flooded paddock, ETW last night

Yellow Wagtail flew overhead calling at 8.25am this morning at barrier to MUFC

Evening cycle around the moss yesterday:

2 Snipe - ETW/ASW - flooded field
Green Woodpecker - ETW/ASW
4 Grey Partridge - Field 31

Increasingly desperate vain search for the mythical Little Owl - Green Woodpecker at Blackmoss Covert

Finished off with a a ride through Dunham Park and guess what .. yes .. Jackdaws! Also a Little Owl near the slaughterhouse.

Honey Buzzard seen circling and then flying south between Hogswood Covert and Altrincham sewage works at 11.15 a.m.

A full description has been submitted.

Morning bike ride. Dainewell woods to F1.

Lots of corvids Crows Jackdaw Rooks, Raven heard.
Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.

Whitethroat 4
Garden Warbler 1
Willow tit 1
Blue and Great tit double figures
Yellowhammer 7
Reed bunting 3
Whinchat 1 near F1

Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker.

BH Gull 40+
Lesser Black Backed 2

Keep Birding

Saturday 31.07.10:

2 Willow Tit
10 Long-tailed Tit
9 Yellowhammer
7 Whitethroat
4 Goldfinch
11 Chaffinch
2 Reed Bunting
1 Peregrine (flew from the orchard over f11 towards Sinderland Road)

On the ETW ponds:

14 Moorhen
2 Little Grebe (2 juvs)
12 Black-headed Gulls

All info thanks to Phil Kelly

had a brief trip to carrington moss finally on sunday about 3pm

was aropund the manchester united training ground

3 buzzards

1 green woodpecker
1 gs woodpecker

From Isherwood Road to the bridge at Dark Lane, 5am this morning.

Peregrine on pylon in field 11
3 Yellowhammer
1 Whitethroat
2 Oystercatcher
4 Skylark
2 Meadow Pipit
6 Yellow Wagtail (4 juveniles)
3 Linnet
1 Reed Bunting
1 Kestrel

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 15th of July 2010 09:01:22 AM

Poaching Garden warbler points on the Moss, perhaps the last time I do you a favour Mr Cook

Keep Birding

09/07/2010 - 7-10am amongst the usual stuff:

1 Kestrel
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Buzzard
4 Sand Martins
60+ Lapwings - large flock around Brookheys Covert
1 Yellow Wag - flew N. over Sewage Works
2 Garden Warblers - still at South edge of Danewell Wood
2 Corn Buntings - off Black Moss Road

Mike Baron wrote:

---

Last Friday I got bitten to death at Dersingham Bog, as did several other birders present. One guy, however, was strangely unbothered by the little bighters - he was using an insect repellant he had picked up in a cheap range supermarket and like Ian remained totally dignified and able to view the Nightjars in peace!

---

Can't agree more Mike.

On our visit to Dersingham in May, I don't know what I would have done without the aid of a kind birder who gave me some of the stuff you mentioned.

It really had got past the stage of being bearable and was extremely unpleasant.

It was a good job they brought it as it really helped me enjoy the Nightjars which would have been impossible to do without.

The alternative of course is to spray your companion with fizzy pop thereby making them a far more attractive proposition to the flies than yourself.

Last Friday I got bitten to death at Dersingham Bog, as did several other birders present. One guy, however, was strangely unbothered by the little bighters - he was using an insect repellant he had picked up in a cheap range supermarket and like Ian remained totally dignified and able to view the Nightjars in peace!

Try a mixture of 50% dettol and 50% cooking oil!

seriously it works!!!!!!

I discovered this whilst in the Cook Islands on a guided tour around a conservation area on Rarotonga. The guide, noticing that I was constantly 'slapping' mosquitos offer this mixture up and it worked a treat.

The stuff is called DEET developed in WWII by the US military. It will dissolve plastic including your Gore-tex jacket and rubber armouring on your optics. The higher % DEET in your repellent the moree effective it will be but the higher the liklihood of it damaging your kit. I once ruined a friend's microwave out in Alicante (eaten alive by evil mossies) by spilling a bottle over it and it literally dug a hole in the plastic cover. Use with caution and never spray yourself with your gear in the way.

Horse Flies,yes I do live in fear of them, as Ian said much arm flapping and general twitching did spoil a visit to Rindle road,but the white T shirt didn,t help and after a shower and a full cavity search I was amazed to find myself bite free.Although I,m sat here starting to itch at the thought of little beggars.And for those old enough it was a cracking impression of Jack Douglas 'phwaay'

cheers geoff

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves on Saturday 3rd of July 2010 09:45:28 PM

Ian McKerchar wrote:

---

I coat myself in expedition strength insect repellant and remain untouched, which is good especially as I'm particularly allergic to Horse Fly bites! Trouble is though that the stuff is so strong unless you can wash your hands after applying it you wonder what damage it does to anything you touch! It has already brought the 'paint' of the tin it comes in and is so strong you have to have a shower immediately as you come in to get the stuff off or run the risk of ruining your sofa and any other clothes other than you birding scruffs (if you're like me and have birding scruffs).

A recent excursion onto the mosses with an insect repellant free Geoff Hargreaves saw him covered in the beasts. Cue much arm flapping and sporadic alarming fits of what appeared to be Tourettets. Me, I remained dignified, though covered in foul smelling, acrid tasting paint stripper

---

i lasted 5 mins in mi shorts at rindle this aft,and got out with just 5 bitesDennis Ath had been on there for hours and was stopping another 3imagine he will look like the Elephant Man in the morning,think you need full body armour and a welding mask to go behind rindle at the moment,and even then they will go for ya neck-horse flies hate the beggars

I coat myself in expedition strength insect repellant and remain untouched, which is good especially as I'm particularly allergic to Horse Fly bites! Trouble is though that the stuff is so strong unless you can wash your hands after applying it you wonder what damage it does to anything you touch! It has already brought the 'paint' of the tin it comes in and is so strong you have to have a shower immediately as you come in to get the stuff off or run the risk of ruining your sofa and any other clothes other than you birding scruffs (if you're like me and have birding scruffs).

A recent excursion onto the mosses with an insect repellant free Geoff Hargreaves saw him covered in the beasts. Cue much arm flapping and sporadic alarming fits of what appeared to be Tourettets. Me, I remained dignified, though covered in foul smelling, acrid tasting paint stripper

It takes a brave birder to go out on the mosses a the moment!

Horseflies! - Stand in the breeze or keep moving!

Forgot to add, a Cockatiel is on the loose around Brookheys Covert. Its call alone initially had me thinking of some sort of rare wader! One to bear in mind if birding around the moss at the mo.

30/06/2010 - Couple of hours on the moss around Brookheys Covert and the sewage works were generally very quiet in the heat of the midday sun but a few bits were seen:

10 Gadwalls
2 Buzzards
44 Lapwings (all gathered in the marshy field at the sewage works. Possibly as most pairs failed breeding because water table so low out on the moss)
2 Oystercatchers
3 Stock Doves
1 Little Owl
1 Treecreeper (+juvs at the edge of Hogswood Covert)
2 Skylarks (numbers don't seem that good on the moss this year but still to be heard in most parts of the area)
2 Reed Warblers
1 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
3 Yellowhammers
3 Reed Buntings

Short walk of Northern Moss, curtailed due to excess insect activity, especially on me!

Buzzard 1 hovering/hunting.
Kestrel 1
Lapwing 3 Basell Site.
Yellowhammer 3 singing.
Yellow Wagtail 2 field 11.
Grey Partridge 2 field 2 and 2 field 11
Bullfinch 1 pair Isherwood Road.
Willow Tit 1
Skylark 2 singing.
Reed Bunting 3 singing.
Whitethroat 4 singing.
Chiffchaff 2 singing.
Blackcap 3 singing.
Swallows, Swifts, etc.etc.
Plus 1 Weasel.

Late news for the 20th June, 10:30-3:30

5 Chaffinch
2 Oystercatcher
3 Yellowhammer
1 Peregrine in field 16
4 Buzzard
40 Lapwing field 16
6 Whitethroat
1 Greenfinch
1 Garden Warbler
1 Kestrel
1 Jay
2 Long-tailed Tit
3 Yellow Wagtail (2 in field 5 and 1 in field 10)

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

21/06/2010 - 9am-2pm, checked out School Lane, Black Moss Road, Red House Lane, Sinderland Lane, ASW+Old Orchard:

3 Oystercatchers (ASW)
25 Lapwings (after seeing none for hours this whole flock was in the small marshy field behind the main lake at ASW, with a juvenile)
2 Stock Doves (+1juv)
5 Skylarks (quite a few breeding fields have had the hay cut so I hope a few fledged in time but didn't notice any juvs about)
2 Garden Warblers
1 Reed Warbler
1 Tree Sparrow (Dunham Town)
4 Linnets (+2 juvs)
13 Yellowhammers (+1juv)

Peregrine atop a pylon in field 16 at 11:10 today.

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

0900
Little Owl perched on telegraph pole.

-- Edited by Nev Wright on Sunday 20th of June 2010 11:06:16 AM

Slightly off topic here so forgive me but the 'summer doldrums' which have always been a reality to many are merely due to a lack of effort on ther behalf I'm afraid. Twas a time when many birders turned to moths in years gone by. In actual fact the June/July period is excellent and whilst sure it isn't migrant packed, for those with the right intentions it affords some great birding, even for us in GM! It has always been one of my favoured times as many birders seem to hibernate for a couple of months and that just leaves more birds and birding for me. It is my time to search out Quail and horse flies, to once again strive to prove the first record of breeding Hobby in the county (three years hard graft and counting!), to check those returning aythyas and to hope for the odd decent wader, tern or wandering raptor perhaps. Little Ringed Plovers steadily build up to their peak before mysteriously dissappearing almost overnight and it's a great time to prove breeding for a host of species. Nope, there's no such thing as a quiet birding time, never has been, in times gone by when it appeared that way it was simply due to a lack of birders out there looking.

Once all the action of spring migration is done and dusted it can feel like things go quiet sometimes, but it just takes a little adjustment in mentality and the summer months can be equally exciting in my opinion.

Henry Cook wrote:

---

No such thing as the summer birding doldrums when there is such frenzied activity to be observed and recorded.

---

When were these summer birding doldrums and when did I miss them

Thanks Bill. It was thrilling to stake out the singing male Garden Warb. which eventually piped down and collected food for waiting young lower down in the young willows and sallows.
Really getting into this atlasing now. No such thing as the summer birding doldrums when there is such frenzied activity to be observed and recorded.
Henry.

Hi Henry,

Sounds like a cracking visit - especially so the brilliant records for the Garden Warblers - really well done! I think I am correct in saying that at the end of the 2009 breeding season there were no confirmed breeding records for Garden Warbler on the GM Breeding Birds Atlas Project - so you well might the first , if not, there certainly won't be too many in front of you! Great stuff.

Best wishes,

Bill.

18/06/2010 - SJ79 K walk for breeding records for the atlas. Checked out ASW - Field 4 and back:

6 Garden Warblers (3 pairs, 2 of which have fledged young, just north of sewage works)
1 Reed Warbler
3 Sedge Warblers
6 Willow Warblers
7 Chiffchaffs (terratorial males)
7 Blackcaps (terratorial males)
14 Whitethroats
1 Siskin (flyover)
1 Goldcrest (Danewell Wood)
2 Coal Tits (+1+juv, Danewell Wood)
3 Linnets
3 Willow Tits (+2juvs at north of field 4)
1 Oystercatcher
7 Gadwalls
3 Tufted Ducks
3 Little Grebes (+1 juv on the back lake)
4 Lapwings
60+ Swifts
54+ House Martins (impressive flock over Sinderland Lane)
1 Yellow Wagtail (flew over sewage works)
1 Grey Wagtail

also a wildflower first for GM, details on the wildlife forum.

There was a Harris Hawk that loitered around that area for a while a year or two ago ?????

Highlights for Thursday, 10th June pm.

General area:
Buzzard 3
YellowHammer 3 singing
Yellow Wagtail 1 field 2

Basell Site:
Lapwing 2 ad plus 2 juv
Stock Dove 3

ETW and environs:
Garden Warbler 1 singing
Reed Warbler 1 singing
Reed Bunting 1 singing
Linnet 2
Tufted Duck 1m
Moorhen
Coot
Canada Geese
Mallard
BH Gull
Grey Heron 1
Starling 100+

Also 2 idiots digging large holes along ride between f11 and f12/14. About as cracked as the pottery they find!

Thanks Rob.
Sorry forgot to mention we were a bit far away to be sure of colour/markings.
Seemed a bit big for the hen harriers I've seen before. But the light can play tricks and in the end I suppose it was probably a buzzard!
Unless anyone else saw this bird and got better views it'll have to remain a puzzler.

Sounds a little like a male harrier, which would be a great record which ever one it turned out to be....

Any Moss watchers out this morning 0930?
Sorry only had my bins (), but my wife and I saw a long-winged raptor, bigger than a buzzard, tail seemed quite long too, flat or v shallow silouhette flying from Black Moss Covert area north towards the Moss. We've seem loads of buzzard around here, but this seemed quite different. My impression was it appeared white/pale underneath with prominent black wing tips. No obvious carpal angle, but flying away so difficult to judge. My impression was not. Mobbed by crows and some smaller birds. Quite 'elastic' wing beats. Probably will have to remain unidentifiable, but did anyone else see it?

I have seen it on the maps but I meant I had no idea where it was previous to that. I ll probably be there tomorrrow around fields 1,2 ie what looks like the top end.

Sarfraz Hayat wrote:

---

Thanks! I did not realise it was so big! Its huge. Next to Dunham Massey too. I have no idea where the MUFC training ground is. Although that wotn be the hardest thign to find!

---

The MUFC training ground is marked MUFC Training Ground on the Carrington Moss field numbers map - hope that helps

Thanks! I did not realise it was so big! Its huge. Next to Dunham Massey too. I have no idea where the MUFC training ground is. Although that wotn be the hardest thign to find!


I am going with a non-birder who may have less patience than me and we are also going to Dunham Massey so time will be relatively limited.

Which sections/areas are the best for grasshopper warblers, garden warblers, lesser and common whitethroat, any other warbler except willow, yellow hammer, corn bunting, yellow wagtail and grey partridge.

The fields at the north end of, east of Partington get most mention. Good palce to start?