97 Mute Swans at the Wigan Flashes yesterday included 81 on Pearson's keeping an area of water open together with countless Coot (some walking over the backs of the swans to get at the bread) and still a few Gadwall and Teal.

A Bittern today around the Reed Brook on Hawkley reedbed (near the school) - info from Jake Moot)

Scotman's now almost completely frozen. 60+ swans are keeping an area of water open on Pearsons, where I'm feeding 3-4 loaves to them daily. Others are feeding the wildfowl at Horrocks Flash.

Horrocks Flash early afternoon

open water now reduced to one pool on the front and a patch on rainfords.same waterfowl ,male sparrowhawk perched up in the middle,one raven over.

cheers geoff

At least 4 Water Rails at the E end of Turner's Flash, where some water still (steaming!) - rumour has it there's a colliery fire still burning under there. Scotman's now mostly frozen. The smae number of Mute Swans but redistributed between Pearson's and Scotman's (around 80 in total including a few "foreigners"), but a decline in Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal and Little Grebe, though still quite a few.

Wigan MBC have put forward proposals in their Core Strategy to build an industrial estate between J25 on the M6 and Bryn Marsh. Objections have to be in by Tuesday next, 30th November, at noon. Not their brightest idea.

Belated from yesterday -

A few more Goldeney than Geoff, earlier in the day I had 27 on Scotsmans but they were flighty because of a couple of yachts.

15 Shoveler.

A flock of c40 Goldfinch near the feeding station.
2 Siskin

Other than that not much to add to the previous posts.

Scotmans Flash 13.00 14.00

13 goldeneye
6 goosander(flown)
umpteen other wildfowl all being scared to and fro by some jolly canoe,ist,

Pearsons,same as judith on friday

Horrocks 80% frozen all birds bunched up as usual when the frost hits

48 teal all checked from 3 angles,not a carolinensis to be had

Bryn Marsh

1 greylag well inspected and it was 'just a greylag'

cheers geoff

Scotman's / Pearson Flashes today: Pearson's about 70% ice so ducks nicely corralled or standing on the ice, Scotman's - some ice but mostly open water:
85 Mute Swans, 177 Gadwall, 1 drake Wigeon, 15 Little Grebes (carefully checked), 24 Teal (ditto, no sign of the GWT present last 2 years), c. 511 Coot (just on Pearson's, a lot more on Scotman's), 3 Water Rails including one running about with Moorhens at the back of Pearson's; c.60 Tufted, 10 Pochard, 22 Moorhen.

I had a fantstic mornings filming at pearsons one thing I really wanted to film where swans taking off and this morning sat 20/11/10 I managed to film two flocks taking off from the flash they flew away in the direction of turners flash, one flock was of 11, the second one of 10 it was a beautiful sight seeing them taking off I was absloutely made up & no doubt I will be back in the early morning.

Pearsons Flash 9.00 11.00 ish

Cracking morning on the flash the water is still full of wildfowl,it,s easier to list the missing ones ,wigeon,pintail and whooper all absconded, of note

30 snipe in 2 flocks
4 goldeneye
a host of others

Horrocks Flash 13.00 15.00
same old same old but still pleasant,low winter sun making viewing hard work on the rear pool and rainfords,
1 buzzard
2 goldeneye
6 bullfinch
8 redpoll

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash 10.00 12.00

usual waterfowl
50+ redpoll in the alders along the canal
2 common gull amongst a host of bh gulls
1 pair of goldeneye on the back pool

smashing wander in the sunshine

Yellow Legged Gull is still missing from my GM listbut on saturday I was looking at 2(dissimilar) gulls resting on the front pool 1 had yellow legs and a red orbital eye ring,didn,t have my camera or a print out of Ian,s I D article with me so it,ll have to
be one of those faint pencil ticks,but please keep an eye out for it if your on the flashes

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash midday

usual water fowl
2 f goldeneye 1 male goldeneye
2 snipe
14 redpoll (feeding on elders)
4 bullfinch

cheers geoff

Rear of pearsons dawn till eleven 07/11/10

1 whooper swan mixed in with mutes looking very settled
1 goosander
1 goldeneye
1 kingfisher
1 juv peregrine(red ring on right leg)
plus a cast of hundreds mentioned last week

cheers geoff,also chatting with Mr E King(finder of the 1982 Parula Warbler)

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves on Sunday 7th of November 2010 10:01:21 PM

Horrocks Flash 06/11/09,midday full circuit,usual coot,tufted ect,

1 female pintailon the front pool

rear pool,teal,gadwall,shoveler,all settled despite the barrage of fireworks from the estate
1 cockatiel (over calling loudly)

The same cockatiel found later in the Bamfurlong Triangle,causing quite fuss amongst the blackbirds and thrushes,and a female kestrel that was paying close attention,all good fun,yellow plumage,red cheek patches,site tick???

cheers geoff

Sat,Sun morning wander along and around the flashes, all as expected with no great surprises,highlights, buzzard very low over the back of pearsons,50ish redwings between ochre and hawkley reed bed.

scotmans 141 canada

pearsons 89 tufted 14 b h gulls
2 goldeneye m & f (flew off south)

58 mute swan
400+ coot
83 gadwall
3 great crested grebe
3 little grebe
12 shoveler
6 teal
8 wigeon
12 mallard
cheers geoff

nice one Geoff!

Always hungry for a bit of 'flashes info' trust the wigan reporter, in this weeks issue
21/10/10,page 27,there,s an article highlighting the work being carried out at bryn marsh.Almost funny water vole,jack snipe are apparently resident but alas the rare bittern was declared extinct in 1880,well done Mr C Graham for a well researched
and thought full load of tripe.

cheers geoff

Sunday 24/10/10 midday

Horrocks flash full circuit,usual waterfowl,

2 buzzard
1 kestrel
2 grey heron
1 tree creeper,1 goldcrest mixed in with a tit flock(chuffed to bits)

cheers geoff

Thursday 21 October 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
2 Whooper Swan
1 Snipe
1 Kingfisher
1 Goldcrest
3 Redwing
2 Fieldfare

Scotmans Flash:
9 Mute Swan
97 Canada Goose
2 Goldeneye
2 Goosander
1 Sparrowhawk

38 Wigeon on Pearson's this morning

Belated posting from sunday 17/10/2010

Quiet (Mr Thorpe) depends if your looking for mega,s or just looking

I managed a credable 58 species(at least 5 glaring gaps) during a very pleasant 5 our amble around the flashes
in glorious sunshine,The highlight for me was a male pintail on pearsons ,overlooked by
Mr Thorpe i belive

Cheers geoff

Tuesday 19 October 2010

2 Whooper Swan with at least 56 Mute Swan on Pearsons Flash this evening.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Morning mooch with Mr Meadows (also bumped into Mr Hargreaves), rather quiet with the only "highlights" being:
7 Goldeneye (Scotmans Flash)
7 Pochard (Pearsons Flash)
1 Blackcap (Ince Moss Landfill)
a few groups of Skylark over
and several Fieldfare, Redwing, Siskin and Redpoll flying about

Saturday 16 October 2010

Ince Moss Landfill, early afternoon:
1 Blackap
3 Chiffchaff
5 Goldcrest
1 Coal Tit
1 Willow Tit
1 Siskin

and an unidentified small warbler-type bird. Flew past me with a Goldcrest but then disappeared into the undergrowth. From the brief flight view I got it was slightly larger/longer than the goldcrest, and was very green/yellow-green coloured and appeared to have a yellowish rump. I couldn't relocate it unfortunately, but I'll be back in the morning (although no doubt it won't be)

Thursday 14 October 2010
afternoon

a slow amble around Scotmans Flash, Pearsons Flash, Ince Moss Landfill and Hawkley Reedbed area:
1 Black Swan (Pearsons Flash)
1 Pintail (drake) (Pearsons Flash)
2 Goldeneye (Scotmans Flash)
14 Common Gull (Scotmans Flash)
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
11 Willow Tit
7 Coal Tit
6 Goldcrest
3 Chiffchaff
3 Blackcap
26 Redwing
1 Grey Wagtail
7 Siskin
4 Lesser Redpoll
14 Bullfinch

Tuesday 12 October 2010

1 Blackcap (male) with 2 Chiffchaff and 1 Goldcrest on Ince Moss Landfill near Moss Bridge.
Also 1 Redwing near Pearsons Flash and 2 Siskin flying around.

Saturday 09 October 2010

2 Pintail (pair) (Pearsons Flash)
72 Wigeon (Pearsons Flash)
1 Swallow (south)
3 Chiffchaff
3 Goldcrest
a few Redwing

Sunday 03 October 2010
late morning - early afternoon

Pearson's Flash:
1 Pintail
77+ Wigeon
32+ Shoveler
131+ Gadwall
143+ Tufted Duck

Horrocks Flash:
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Kingfisher
1 Treecreeper
1 Goldcrest

Pearson's 30th - no sign of Garganey, 63 Shoveler, 72+ Wigeon, 2 Little Grebes.

Thursday 30 September 2010
afternoon

Horrocks Flash:
2 Wigeon
1 Buzzard
2 Kestrel
1 Green Sandpiper
2 Kingfisher
1 Swallow
1 Chiffchaff
3 Mistle Thrush
4 Siskin

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 30th of September 2010 06:02:56 PM

There were also 139 Gadwall (at least), 58 adult Mutes and 10 cygs, 6 Teal and 47 Shoveler by 6pm on Pearsons

Wednesday 29 September 2010
around midday

97 Wigeon (92 on Pearsons Flash, 5 on Scotmans Flash)
1 Goldeneye (Scotmans Flash)
65 Mute Swan (56 adult, 9 juv all on Pearsons Flash)


Judith later had 103 Wigeon all on Pearsons Flash, along with a Garganey

Monday 27 September 2010
afternoon

Horrocks Flash:
1 Pintail (flew towards Pearson's Flash)
4 Wigeon
Common Sandpiper (heard)
Siskin (heard)
around 10 or 15 Swallow

Pearsons Flash First light for a couple of hours

All water fowl still present,over and lurking in the reed beds and pylons etc.

water rail ( three locations heard only)
grey heron,wren,reed bunting,little grebe,magpie,pigeons and gulls,mistle thrush,sparrowhawk,cormorant,blackbird,dunnock,blue,great tit,jay,G s pecker,6 crows3 raven
2 pinkfeet an hour apart both going west

Horrocks Flash 12.00 14.00ish front pool only
No surprises on the water generally quiet,but 15 jackdaws,1 kestrel,2 raven over made for a pleasant 'twitch'

Cheers geoff

Sunday 26 September 2010
evening

Scotman's Flash:
1 Mediterranean Gull (adult)
c700 Black-headed Gull (counted 622 then a load more landed)
2 Herring Gull
several Lesser Black-backed Gull (forgot to count them)
1 Pink-footed Goose (flew south)
a flock of twenty-odd Pied Wagtail over going south, maybe roosting at Hawkley Hall School?

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Sunday 26th of September 2010 08:11:42 PM

Pearsons Flash - 18 Wigeon, 100+ Gadwall, 29 Greylags, 44 adult Mute Swans, 3 Little Grebes. Very quiet on the migration front - in fact nil overhead.

Wednesday 22 September 2010
evening

1 Black Tern still on Scotman's Flash. Also 1 Common Gull with a few hundred Black-headed Gull (one of which still had a full black (or should that be brown?) head).
1 Goldcrest and 1 Chiffchaff with a flock of Long-tailed Tit and Blue Tit along the embankment at the north end of Scotman's.
11 Wigeon with the swarm of ducks, coots and swans on Pearson's Flash.

Pearsons - 146 Gadwall (amazing sight), plus 2 Pintail, 1 Shoveler, 6 Wigeon and 50 adult Mute Swans (+ 6 cygnets). Also Sparrowhawk.
Scotmans - 1 F Goldeneye, 4 Wigeon but no sign of Black tern.
Horrocks - 1 Snipe, 2 Teal and 200+ Lapwings over Rainfords section. Passing over were 7 Swallows and 1 Yellow Wagtail
Turners - 11 Shoveler
At least 12 Chiffchaffs in the area, and smaller nos of Gadwall on Turners and Rainfords.

Tuesday 21 September 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
2 Wigeon
2 Dunlin
1 Kingfisher
flock of c50 Swallow going to roost

Much of the lovely wader-friendly mud which has kept me occupied over the summer is now underwater, and with more rain forecast it could well be game-over by the end of the week...
With the rate that water drains (or doesn't drain) from Horrocks, there's not much chance of it returning before next summer!

Black Tern still at Scotman's today

Monday 20 September 2010

The only things of interest at Horrocks Flash this evening were 3 Dunlin and a Kingfisher.

As well as the Black Tern, 4 Dunlin flew through east at Scotmans mid morning and an immature male Redstart was at Horrocks Flash by the canal on the eastern side.

Info thanks to Andy Makin

Black Tern still on Scotsmans this morning

Black Tern and a Goldeneye on Scotman's this morning. 2 Wigeon on Pearsons and a Bittern on Turners, Dunlin on Horrocks. All on the WeBS count. Thanks to Rob Thorpe and Ken Linkman.
3 JCBs was all I could count on Bryn Marsh! goodness knows what they're doing now.

Thursday 16 September 2010

1 Black Tern still present on Scotmans Flash at 19:00, along with a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull.

1 Black Tern on Scotman's at 5.30 tonight, this week they have always been in and around Hawkley Bay, i.e. by the pit-wheel monument in the water
Also approx 50 House Martins, doing their best impressions of mini-Petrels

Wednesday 15 September 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
1 Buzzard
1 Dunlin
1 Green Sandpiper
1 Kingfisher
3 Chiffchaff
2 Coal Tit
and hirundines still over canal.

Now 2 juvenile Black Terns on Scotmans Flash

Info thanks to Dave Broome

Tuesday 14 September 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
1 Buzzard
1 Dunlin
2 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
lots of Swallow and a couple of House Martin feeding over the canal.

Juvenile Black Tern present on Scotmans Flash at 1pm.

Info thanks to Dave Broome