Friday 23 April 2010 continued...
19:00 - 20:45

Horrock's Flash (HF), Rainford's Tip (RT) & Turner's Flash (TF):

1 Pink-footed Goose (HF with Greylag & Canada flock)
2 Teal (HF)
14 Pochard (3 HF, 11 TF)
2 Oystercatcher (HF)
4 Lapwing (HF)
6 Whimbrel (HF, flew around when a landing microlight flushed everything, then they disappeared in to the mystery land in the middle of the flash)
2 Redshank (HF)
1 Snipe (HF)
1 Common Tern (HF)
1 Sedge Warbler (HF) 
1 Reed Warbler (TF)
1 Whitethroat (RT)
1 Blackcap (female) (HF)
1 Willow Tit (HF)

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Friday 23rd of April 2010 09:16:31 PM

Friday 23 April 2010

Scotman's Flash 14:00 - 14:20:
3 Gadwall
1 Buzzard
1 Common Sandpiper
23 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Common Tern
3 Meadow Pipit (over N)
1 Linnet (over)

Despite the Wigan Flashes being massively damaged by fires, 4 Reed Warblers singing on Turner's Flash and a Whitethroat at Moss Bridge today. Sadly the Canal reedbed between Hawkley and Bryn Marsh completely destroyed.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Horrock's Flash, a quick circuit of the flash, 19:45 - 20:30:
1 Buzzard
3 Oystercatcher
1 Redshank (over)
4 Swallow with lots of Sand Martin
and a big gang of scroats lighting fires next to the railway. Spring View seems to have a rather high scroat/non-scroat ratio.

Sunday 18 April 2010

Horrock's Flash, evening:
A lone Redshank and a Newt were the only things of interest.

Scotman's Flash, afternoon:
6 Gadwall
2 Tufted Duck
2 Kestrel being mobbed by 3 Black-headed Gull
3 Herring Gull
15 Lesser Black-backed Gull
at least 1 Swallow with c20 Sand Martin.

Sunday dinner time Horrocks flash

Following up reports of a 'diver' on the front pool I arrived breathless only to find a big fat nothing,apart from a very pale necked cormorant fishing .The front pool was very busy with the usual crowd but of note the pochard group was present which normally means they,ve been flushed off the back pool,the rosy bh gull was showing again but the photographs I,ve taken don,t pick the colour up

cheers geoff

-- Edited by Geoff Hargreaves on Sunday 18th of April 2010 04:14:21 PM

Saturday 17 April 2010

A Common Gull flew over Horrock's Flash early afternoon, first one I've seen for a couple of weeks. Otherwise, as per Geoff's post below...

Horrocks flash full tour am

same old same old,but very nice none the less,only change was an influx of blackcaps have joined the warblers,and some of the black headed gulls are starting to gather nest
material.

Bryn marsh

very little to be seen,4 coot,2 pochard,1 grey heron,loads of litter left by anglers who must scared off most of the birds,

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash 20.00 till 21.30

Yet another quick check on the front pool for passage waders

6 lapwing
3 oystercatchers otherwise very quiet
Rear pool
usual suspects, lots of geese and joy of joy 1 tawny owl flew over the reed beds just in front of me,now thats a big fat BOROUGH TICK for me but probably a bigger Flashes tick than a Bittern

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash 13.00 15.00 Quick trip to check the flats for waders

Usual crowd and no surprises alasafter checking every bh gull for the rosy one I
had and hour watching the back pool along with the various souls,exercising,dog swimming,and a new one for me some yoofs playing loud music and playing keepy up near the 'junction'.I decided not to say a word and concentrate on watching the birdsit just reminded me of the films of shoals of fish being harrased by predators the birds just moved away until the threat moved off and then carried on.

cheers geoff

Horrocks Flash front pool 20.00 till 21.00

3 oystercatchers
1 snipe (departing)
20 mute swans
coot,mallard,etc,
after dark, lots of geese returning,quite a few mystery ducks over,redshank and teal calling.1 oystercatcher calling over the housing estate as i returned.

cheers geoff

Wednesday 07 April 2010

Sedge Warbler singing at Horrock's Flash this morning.
Also 2, possibly 4, White Wagtail on the towpath at Scotman's Flash,
and Willow Warblers everywhere!

Tuesday 06 April 2010

Horrock's Flash, evening:
3 Oystercatcher
1 Redshank
c150 Sand Martin
7 Swallow
1 Blackcap
3 Chiffchaff
2 Willow Warbler

800+ Sand Martins feeding at Scotman's early evening

Monday 05 April 2010 continued...

Horrock's Flash mid afternoon:
1 Oystercatcher
2 Swallow
1 Blackcap singing
1 Willow Warbler singing
and a Jay imitating a Buzzard

Horrocks Flash,after a fine breakfast,

the rosy bh gull has departed but the pink footed goose has returned

Scotmans, the pair of black necked grebe still present and showing well but they are very mobile and camera shy,best efforts sent to Ian Mck

cheers geoff

Nothing dodgy about it Geoff. Black-headed Gulls can often gain a (usually faint or soft) pinkish suffusion to the underparts akin to those of Little, Ross's and Slender-billed Gulls, especially perhaps in breeding plumage.

Horrocks Flash,10.00 ish my morning wander.
All usual suspects present and correct the only two things of note
1 buzzard feeding in the geese fields
1 (among hundreds)black headed gull with a rose/pink breast
after a consultation with mr.woosey and mr thorpe the conclusion was that it was just a dodgy gull ,still interesting though

cheers geoff

Monday 05 April 2010

2 Black-necked Grebe on Scotman's Flash. Showing very well, close to the towpath at 11:00ish.

Saturday 03 April 2010

Horrock's Flash afternoon:
1 Pink-footed Goose
1 Buzzard
1 Kestrel
3 Oystercatcher
3 Sand Martin
2 Chiffchaff

Horrocks flash am mooch,usual suspects all present plus

20 meadow pipit in the geese fields
4 oystercatchers
2 buzzard
1 kestrel
3 siskinborough tick
30 mute swan
1 sparrowhawk
2 goldeneye
2 teal

loads of blackheaded gulls,geese ect,(it,s getting quite noisy again) the bh gulls mobbed the sparrowhawk and escorted it onto the housing estate,missed the pinkfooted though

cheers geoff

2 House Martin, 10 Swallow and approx 350 Sand Martin feeding over Scotman's this morning, Willow Warbler across the canal between Turner's and Pearson's, 30 Lesser Redpoll and 10 Goldfinch also over there moving around the plantations
Pink-Footed Goose on Horrocks

Thursday 01 April 2010

Horrock's Flash late afternoon:
7 Oystercatcher
6 Sand Martin over
4 Chiffchaff

Belated entry for Saturday 27th March:
12 Chiffchaff; 1 Willow Warbler - on old railway line path at N end of Scotsman's; ca. 100 Sand Martin over Scotsman's at a very rough guess.
Cheers,
Ken

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Scotman's Flash at 14:00ish:
4 Swallow
c200 Sand Martin
and 2 dunlin-esque waders flew low over the flash, struggling in to the wind, but they were out of sight before I got the 'scope on to 'em...

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Scotman's Flash at 14:00ish:
1 Buzzard
2 Sparrowhawk (displaying)
10 Sand Martin
2 Swallow
1 Chiffchaff

Monday 29 March 2010

Scotman's Flash at 14:00ish:
2 Black-necked Grebe
and at least 5 Swallow with a swarm of 300+ Sand Martin.

Not alot different this am. Chiffchaff singing, Sand martins passing through, 4 Oystercatchers, 1 Raven over, plus all the usual suspects.

Saturday 27 March 2010

Horrock's Flash pm:
2 Buzzard
1 Peregrine
2 Sparrowhawk
4 Oystercatcher
1 Swallow
plenty Sand Martin moving through
1 Chiffchaff
2 Siskin

Friday 26 March 100+ Sand Martins Scotmans, 16+ Goldeneye Pearsons also Pochard, 5 singing Chiffchaffs in general area, 3 Oystercatchers, 8 Shoveler, 8 Teal and 5 Buzzards Horrocks, 70+ Redpolls spooked by a Sparrowhawk near Turners, also 4 Bullfinches there.

Monday 22 March 2010

Scotman's Flash at 14:00ish:
1 Swallow
2 Sand Martin

29 Pochard on Sotman's Flash this a.m., 17 Sand Martins there this evening

61 Goldeneye on Scotmans this evening

Horrocks Flash am

casual stroll round this morning,the water level is 'up' so not much chance of waders,nothing of note but spring is in the air,bh gulls everywhere,tufted,mallard,shoveler,30 swans in some strange territorial game of chess
4 teal,8 great crested grebe,only 2 gadwall and not a raptor to be had.

cheers geoff

Horrocks flash am

usual crowd,but there,s a pink-footed goose on the front pool, it was on spoonbill flats when i left

cheers geoff

Sunday 28 February 2010

Horrock's Flash at 16:00ish:
32 Northern Shoveler
1 Eurasian Oystercatcher

Ince moss landfill area early a.m.

The redpoll flock finally showed up and settled in to feed on elders,I picked out one mealy from the flock of 50+ birds before they took flight.

cheers geoff

This morning highlights

Westwood
3 Gadwall

Scotmans
Pr Goosanders
8 Goldeneye

Moss Bridge
Approx 30 Redpolls and Goldfinch very flighty and noisy
2 Common redpolls finally seen after 2hrs tramping up and down the landfill site when they all came down on the towpath opp Scotmans for either grit or seeds for about 5mins till disturbed by a dog walker

Feeding Station Area
1 Mandarin 8 Willow Tits

Pearsons Area
12 Pochard
20 Goldeneye
3 Water Rails calling
Pr of Willow Tits on the new path at s/o pearsons

Cheers Jimmy

A mobile flock of about 90 Redpoll this afternoon were in the area between Moss Bridge (the canal bridge at the SE corner of Scotman's), Turner's Flash and the wooded slopes of the former Ince Moss landfill (the landscaped hill south of Pearson's Flash and across the canal from Scotman's). In over a hour tracking them I saw at least 2 Common Redpoll. One was a strikingly 'black and white' bird. One was a male bird with a pale pink wash, presumably an adult as it had very broad, rounded tail feathers.

The flock does break up as I ended up tracking a group by Turner's which had only around 40 birds. At times up to about 10 Goldfinch were present, plus a flock of about 10 Chaffinch loosely associating.

A Bittern showed in flight twice at Turner's Flash.

Atleast 2 Common (Mealy) Redpolls in between Moss Bridge and the landfill today at 2:45pm.

Info thanks to Dave Broome

the marsh harrier was present at bryn marsh today giving excellent views for about ten minutes.then it flew across the canal by the railway bridge heading towards horrocks.i waited a while but it didnt return.also on bryn(back and front) were 13 tufted 7 pochard and about 20 teal.on the way back saw 3 bullfinch and a large flock of ltts.this year there seems to be a dearth of siskins and redpolls.didnt see any today.

Just because i,d tried to book a day off on the strength of rob,s last post i,d just like to point out that common mergansers are also know as goosanders Latin name mergus merganser.Hopefully we,ll just stick to 'normal' names to avoid fluttering hearts and future confusion.Hope the marsh harrier (bog hen??) hangs around.

cheers geoff

Tuesday 23 February 2010 continued...

Scotman's Flash at 17:15ish:
8 Common Merganser (4m 4f)
1 Eurasian Sparrowhawk
c100 Common Black-headed Gull
22 Lesser Black-backed Gull
4 Herring Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull

Tuesday 23 February 2010

female Marsh Harrier currently showing very well over Bryn Marsh (16:50).

Thanks Jonathan. I had spoken to Judith earlier about the possibility of it being the same bird after I heard about the Risley individual. There is of course a distinct possibility that they are one and the same but at this time of year it could just as well be a different individual moving around . Basically it's difficult to say! Marsh Harriers often hunt with legs dangling and this could have possibly been misinterpreted by the Risley observers but this instance does show another avenue of worth for this forum and thanks again for letting us know. Incidently, the Bryn Marsh bird was seen by Jake Moot.

In case you didn't notice it on the Out of County forum, a female marsh harrier left Risley Moss at 1.55pm today. According to the birders who saw it the harrier had a damaged leg dangling. Same bird possibly?

Tuesday 23 February 2010

A female Marsh Harrier (Western Marsh Harrier ) currently at Bryn Marsh. Info thanks to Judith Smith at 15:05.

Saturday 20 February 2010

1 Eurasian Bittern late morning.

Yesterday on Scotman's one of the drake Tufted Ducks had a narrow red band hanging around it's neck. It was quite ill-fitting and loosely hanging, so I assume it was an item of rubbish rather than any marking scheme. It resembled a belt from inside a vacuum cleaner.

This afternoon at Scotman's Flash I saw through my bins a lone, compact, wader-sized figure on the sailing club jetty. In the strong sunlight I could see a lot of white on it. Through the scope I saw that it was a Ceramic Mug Dustwanta brewiyus. Due to the distance I couldn't make out the race, probably Staffordshire Pottery.

Also present 1530-1630hrs 4 Goosander, 27 Goldeneye, max of 55 Herring and 47 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls down on flash, a Buzzard in from SW then flew NW