Hobby soaring over Bryn Marsh/Ochre Flash today at 12.30, then descended and flew towards Landgate

Buzzard NW
44 Great Crested Grebe on Pearson's
95 Tufted Duck Scotmans & Pearson's
436 Coot Scotmans & Pearson's
Oystercatcher over
20+ Swift
Gadwall with juvs on Scotmans

Already done, Steve

Hi Rob,

if you haven't yet done so, report the colour-ringed bird via the BTO website. It's almost certainly an Iceland-ringed bird so you should get some prompt and detailed feedback on its movements.

Steve

Thursday 05 August 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
4 Green Sandpiper
12 Black-tailed Godwit - all but one in breeding plumage. One of the breeding plumage birds was colour-ringed, with 2 colour rings on each tibia: Orange over Red on the left, and White over Green on the right. Also looked to have a small metal ring just above the right foot.
10+ Snipe

Wednesday 04 August 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
3 Green Sandpiper
3 Snipe

Two Little Egrets flushed off the back pool at Horrock's Flash by a Buzzard at 2:50pm today.

Info thanks to Judith Smith

Monday 02 August 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
2 Green Sandpiper
4 Snipe
Rubbish!

Sunday 01 August 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
10 Shoveler
4 Green Sandpiper
1 Redshank
1 Ringed Plover
7 Snipe
Kingfisher (heard)

Saturday 31 July 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash with Thorpe senior:
3 Green Sandpiper
3 Ringed Plover
5 Snipe

In the rain yesterday 30th we had 6 Shoveler on the front pool. The Lapwing at the back were being constantly disturbed and a large skein appeared to fly in from the N as well. A lot were also on the newly manured fields on the opposite side of the canalwith herons and geese (no egrets!) We didn't get round the back due to the heavy rain which came on.

Friday 30 July 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash:
3 Shoveler (flew in from the east)
2 Green Sandpiper
2 Ringed Plover
hardly any Lapwing, which was odd, and...
lots of rain, again!

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 30th of July 2010 10:38:18 PM

Thursday 29 July 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash, full circuit:
1 Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper (heard)
2 Ringed Plover
3 Snipe
Kingfisher (heard)

2 Black-headed Gull and a Common Tern persistently mobbing something in the reedy channels along the NW side of the flash, I couldn't see what they were mobbing though... Too many reeds!

Horrocks Flash 20.00 till 21.30

checked the back pool/screen area then rainfords and the front pool,alas no egrets spotted, but to add to the list

10 jays
1 shoveler
25 swallows (family parties)
1 redpoll

cheers geoff

2 kingfishers and a large flock of lapwing were my reward for missing the little egrets this afternoon!

Other birds at Horrocks Flash today included 3 Ringed Plover, 1 Black-Tailed Godwit, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, Kingfisher, 1 Teal

150 Woodpigeon off fields south of the canal

Little Egrets still present but very elusive with one seen in flight at 2:15pm, dropping down somewhere in the vicinity of the viewing screen on the north pool.

Info thanks to Dave Broome

2 Little Egrets (birds from Pennington Flash earlier) on Horrocks Flash this late morning, viewable from the canal towpath. They are moving around though the flash though and often can often be in areas which are out of view.

Info thanks to Judith Smith

Wednesday 28 July 2010
evening

Horrock's Flash:
3 Green Sandpiper
4 Ringed Plover
8 Snipe

Tuesday 27 July 2010
afternoon

Horrock's Flash:
1 Green Sandpiper
4 Ringed Plover
1 Snipe

Monday 26 July 2010
afternoon

Horrocks Flash:
7 Dunlin (2 on, 5 over NW)
2 Green Sandpiper
1 Redshank
4 Ringed Plover
2 Little Ringed Plover
5 Snipe

This meeting on the proposed car park has been advertised on the county notice board for the past couple of weeks and is in fact an open invitation for anyone with an interest, opinion or concern.

A quick visit today to Horrocks Flash. 12 Black-tailed Godwits flew in at 0930 - where had they been earlier? 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, 3 Ringed Plover. Then 4 mink together - obviously a family - on the pool we call Rainford's Flash, at the N end of Horrocks Flash. That explains why the great majority of the Common Terns have failed, some several times, and probably half of the Black-headed Gulls, this year.

The Council are having a consultation on Tuesday evening at Hawkley Hall School to ask residents what they think about their plans to spend £50,000 building a car park on what is currently grassland at the end of Wellham Rd, near the big reedbed. There's plenty of parking available on Wellham Rd anyway without inconveniencing any local residents. But Wigan Council , despite the current cutbacks (800 to lose their jobs) can find £50k to do this despite no demand for it. It seems to me £50k would be better spent on eliminating mink (and the large Red-eared Terrapin at Parson's Meadow I saw yesterday).
However Mark Champion tells me they will start trapping "soon" - the sooner the better!

Saturday 24 July 2010
afternoon

Horrocks Flash:
1 Ruff
2+ Green Sandpiper (possibly 4)
3 Common Sandpiper
3 Ringed Plover
2 Little Ringed Plover
7 Snipe
1 Treecreeper

In addition to the Ruff, there were 3 Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper and 640+ Lapwing

1 Siskin flew west calling

Single Ruff present on Horrock's Flash this morning.

Info thanks to Dave Broome

Friday 23 July 2010
late afternoon

Horrocks Flash:
2 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
6+ Ringed Plover (probably 8)
4 Little Ringed Plover
1 Snipe
1 Kingfisher
loads of Lapwing

Thursday 22 July 2010
evening

Horrocks Flash with Judith:
3 Green Sandpiper
2 Common Sandpiper
2 Redshank
13 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Oystercatcher
1 Ringed Plover
3 Little Ringed Plover

Wednesday 21 July 2010
evening, thunderstorm

Horrocks Flash with Thorpe senior:
2 Dunlin
2 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
4 Redshank
8 Black-tailed Godwit
6 Oystercatcher
3 Ringed Plover
3 Little Ringed Plover
350+ Lapwing

Tuesday 20 July 2010
evening, still raining

Horrocks Flash:
3 Dunlin
5+ Green Sandpiper (possibly 7)
3 Common Sandpiper
3 Redshank
11 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Ringed Plover
5 Little Ringed Plover
3 Snipe

Water level very noticeably higher than yesterday...

Monday 19 July 2010
evening in the rain

Horrocks' Flash:
1 Dunlin
1 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
2 Redshank
4 Black-tailed Godwit
5 Ringed Plover
4 Little Ringed Plover
3 Snipe

Sunday 18 July 2010
19:30-21:00 with Thorpe senior

Horrocks' Flash:
1 Dunlin
1 Green Sandpiper
2 Common Sandpiper
1 Redshank
3 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Oystercatcher
4 Ringed Plover
5 Little Ringed Plover
1 Kingfisher

Saturday 17 July 2010
07:00 - 11:00

with Thorpe senior, also met Judith, Jimmy and Geoff.

Horrocks' Flash:
2 Shelduck (juv)
4 Dunlin
2 Green Sandpiper
2 Common Sandpiper
4 Redshank
11 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Oystercatcher
8+ Ringed Plover
4+ Little Ringed Plover
1 Kingfisher

Bryn Marsh:
1 Common Sandpiper (heard)

Hawkley Reedbed:
1 Grasshopper Warbler (heard)

Pearson's Flash:
32 Great Crested Grebe
106 Tufted Duck
9 Pochard


-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 17th of July 2010 01:33:51 PM

Nice video Rob, well done on making the most of the Flashes latest "purple" patch.

-- Edited by Simon Warford on Friday 16th of July 2010 08:20:50 PM

Friday 16 July 2010
early evening

Horrocks' Flash:
1 Wood Sandpiper
4 Green Sandpiper
3 Common Sandpiper
1 Redshank
9 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Oystercatcher
6 Ringed Plover
4 Little Ringed Plover


-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 16th of July 2010 08:12:06 PM

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 16th of July 2010 08:54:52 PM

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 16th of July 2010 09:08:02 PM

Thursday 15 July 2010
18:00-20:00

Horrock's Flash with Thorpe senior:
3 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
7 Redshank
8 Black-tailed Godwit
5 Oystercatcher
11 Ringed Plover
2+ Little Ringed Plover
1 Kingfisher

Wednesday 14 July 2010
17:00-19:30 - Before, during and after THE heaviest rainfall I have EVER seen (and i didn't have my waterproof on!)!

Horrock's Flash with Thorpe senior:
1 (or 2) Greenshank (1 heard flying SW @ around 17:10, then at 19:00ish one was on Rainford's Pool before flying S)
2 Green Sandpiper
1 Common Sandpiper
3 Redshank
4 Black-tailed Godwit
3 Oystercatcher
8+ Ringed Plover
6+ Little Ringed Plover
4 Snipe
1 Kingfisher

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Thursday 15th of July 2010 02:18:29 PM

37 Blackwits at Horrocks Flash today.

Pearsons' Flash: 17 Blackwits at about 1730hrs, but all except 5 flew off towards Horrocks' by the time I left. A brood of 2 Tufted ducklings on the canal between Pearson's and Scotman's.

Sunday 11 July 2010
early afternoon

Horrocks Flash (North Pool & Rainfords Pool):
2 Teal
1 Green Sandpiper
38 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Redshank (1 adult, 1 juv)
2 Little Ringed Plover
2 Ringed Plover
1 Oystercatcher
1 Kingfisher

Saturday 10 July 2010
early afternoon

Horrocks Flash (Back Pool, Rainford's Pool & North Pool):
3 Teal
1 Ruff
3 Green Sandpiper
26 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Redshank (1 adult, 1 juv)
4 Little Ringed Plover
4 Ringed Plover
Oystercatcher (heard)
1 Water Rail
1 Kingfisher

Horrocks Flash 5pm to 6pm Friday evening

1 adult med gull
3 Black tailed godwits
1 green sandpiper

-- Edited by Iain Johnson on Friday 9th of July 2010 11:42:15 PM

Horrocks Flash midday today:

13 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Green Sandpiper
1 moulting adult male Ruff

Info thanks to Andy Makin

Wednesday 07 July 2010
afternoon

Horrock's Flash:
1 Ruff
3 Green Sandpiper
6 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Redshank (1 adult, 1 juv)
at least 1 Ringed Plover
Oystercatcher (heard)
3 Stock Dove
1 Kingfisher

Pearson's Flash:
20 Black-tailed Godwit (including 2 "new" birds in full breeding plumage)
4 Teal
2 Shoveler

Scotman's Flash:
1 Common Sandpiper

Horrocks Flash 20.00 21.00 railway pool wader search

1 male ruff,distant and elusive and a real challenge to I D hats off to Rob for finding it and identifying it

cheers geoff

no sign of the ruff tonight

1 black tailed godwit and 1 kingfisher plus a GS woodpecker perched on one o the metal posts adjacent to the railway were the highlights.

Tuesday 06 July 2010

Horrock's Flash late morning:
1 Ruff (male)
3 Green Sandpiper
37 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Redshank with a youngster
2+ Ringed Plover
Oystercatcher (heard)
1 Water Rail
1 Horsefly

Also, earlier in the morning:
28 Black-tailed Godwit on Pearson's Flash (27 of which flew off towards Horrock's Flash).
1 Common Sandpiper on Scotman's Flash.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Tuesday 6th of July 2010 01:35:42 PM

31 Blackwits on Pearsons Flash this morning, and just 3 on Horrocks Flash, where there was a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, 4 Ringed Plovers, and 2 fledged juvenile Ringed Plovers. Also 2 broods of Tufted (one of 7 was newly hatched), the Redshank chick still doing well, now nearly 2 weeks old.

Wednesday 30 June 2010
16:00 - 17:00
28'C

Horrock's Flash (Back Pool and Rainford's Pool):
2 Teal (drakes)
2 Oystercatcher
45+ Black-tailed Godwit
2 Redshank

15 Blackwits at Pearson's Flash tonight, where conditions are looking good for waders if the dry weather keeps up. Also 120+ Sand Martins at 2050hrs - perhaps to a roost in the reedbeds, but where have they come from?