Late visit 1900-2045hrs

Teal (fem)
17 Mallard+still 7 chicks
10 Tufted Duck
3 Kestrel
G C Grebe
Grey Heron
98 Canada Goose
250+ Jackdaw roosting in trees between res'
Juv Lesser Black Back
14 Mistle Thrush

Late afternoon visit

Lower Res

165 Canada Geese
Great Crested Grebe
7 Tufted Duck
9 Mallard+8 very young ducklings
2 grey Heron
15 Goldfinch
3 Kestrel
63 Lesser Black Backed Gull
15 Swallow
17 Mistle Thrush over

Upper Res

243 Lesser Black Backed Gull
Wheatear
Grey Heron
17 Black Headed Gull

1430-1730

Very Quiet

Upper Res

2 Black Headed Gull
2 Oystercatcher
73 Canada Goose
3 Pied Wagtail
Great Spotted Woodpecker

Lower Res

7 Mallard
Juv Great Crested Grebe
House Martin
Swift
Swallow
Reed Bunting
Meadow Pipit

Lots of exposed mud on lower res-but disturbance by fishermen keeping birds away

Late Posting for 4/7/08

350+ Lesser Black Backed Gull bathing at 1415hrs
1 Herring Gull
2 Black Headed Gull
Grey Wagtail
75 Canada Geese
6 Tufted Duck
4 Great Crested Grebe
3 Reed Bunting
17 Mistle Thrush

Otherwise, very quiet

Early afternoon.

4 Redshank
Oystercatcher
27 Canada Geese
Cormorant
4 GC Grebe
5 Mallard
7 Reed Bunting
lots of Mipits
4 Lapwing
2 Curlew

and spring has finally sprung at Castleshaw

Common Sandpiper
20 Swallow
and a White Wagtail

But missed the Dotterel (only a couple of miles away as the crow flys)

Evening visit on the hunt for Ousels.

15 Canada Geese
2 Oystercatcher
3 GC Grebe
3 Cormorant
Raven
2 Stock dove
2 Jay
3 Pied Wagtail
Goosander
Goldeneye

And a rather lost Pink Footed Goose, did a couple of circuits of the res then flew off SE

No Ring Ousels

-- Edited by Mark Rigby at 23:03, 2008-04-22

Upper Res

2 Goosander
2 GC Grebe
2 Mallard
14 Canada Geese

Lower Res

Redshank
4 Cormorant
5 Canada Geese
GC Grebe
LBB Gull

Very windy/cold with 2ft waves and white water on both res

Upper reservior - 8 goosander, 1 stonechat, 1 goldeneye, 1 GC Grebe

Lower reservoir - 2 GC grebe, mallard, canada goose, 2 herring gull, 4 lapwing

about 9.30 am!

-- Edited by Iain Johnson at 18:10, 2008-04-06

1530-1700

No such luck todayin the white out!!!! At one point struggled to see the reservoir from the comfort of my MOBILE HIDE (Car)

2 Oystercatcher
2 Great Crested Grebe
2 Curlew
2 Carrion Crow
9 Canada Geese
5 Mipits
Goosander
Cormorant

4/4/08 1400-1620hrs

At 1455hrs,I was counting Meadow Pipits in the field adjacent to the cottages when they all got up and flew off. Then I heard a commotion behind me (corvids going mad). I turned and saw a large brown raptor flying low along the hillside being mobbed by the local corvids. When I got it in my bins I nearly died of shock-an Osprey . It flew behind the plantation and carried on over the hills in a NNE direction towards Castleshaw Moor.

Other birds

23 Meadow Pipit
2 Goosander
3 Mallard
Stock Dove
11 Lapwing
2 Oystercatcher
4 Redshank
Stonechat
Cormorant

Nice to meet Graham-shame you didnt arrive 5 minutes earlier!!

Its about time they built a hide up hereIf I wasnt being a lunatic then it would have been missed


-- Edited by Mark Rigby at 20:02, 2008-04-04

tonywilkinson wrote:

---

Part of our ringing team has been out this week in the early stages of our big Dipper chase. We had a three bird flypast on the River Sett at Hayfield; it was a real territorial battle involving last year's male. We checked a 'new' nest at New Mills but failed to catch the pair,

---

Taken from a posting on March 17th. Also noted on posting from March 18th :-

"Another good riparian species on that walk is Sand Martin; but the colonies come and go. Last year was not good in Reddish Vale for example, but two years ago we ringed 150+ "

There has also been hear-say, not by the above poster, of reduced numbers of Twite sightings in the Whiteholme/Light Hazzles area around the feeding stations this year.

Readers may wish to draw their own conclusions about behaviour and lunatic fringes as these are just observations by someone who may cover many miles around the county in persuit of sightings, which are reported to fellow birders and recorders, in the company of other observers but I certainly do not chase birds.

Well, it seems that I, along with many others on this forum are part of the "lunatic fringe" who do not keep to hides. Off the top of my head I can only count eleven hides in the whole of the county, with seven of these at Pennington alone !, and two more at permit only sites.....................Perhaps we should all start going to Martin Mere and Mere Sands Wood and let the County go unrecorded ???????????????

Now I'm wishing I'd read the un-edited posts to see what it is I'm missing!

Still non the wiser I'm afraid Tony

I've already stated the website and forums stance on the posting of breeding birds and will continue to moderate posts as usual, there will always be some birders that due to one reason or another let one slip from time to time and these will be dealt with by me but are you implying that we shouldn't even be looking out for sensitive species in the breeding season (what of roving reports for the Bird Atlas then?), most of the GM Annual Report is made up from sightings from these very people who also post on here. Whilst I agree that there will always be those fortunately very few birders who don't abide by the Birdwatchers code or seem to have any common sense there are very few sites in the county that actually have hides so yes, most of the sightings on this forum are from birders wandering around birding, finding those important species (including breeding ones) that otherwise would go unnoticed, unrecorded and perhaps unprotected because of it. As for lots of birders chasing very few birds, there's less really active birders out there than you might think and more than enough birds for us all to enjoy with plenty areas still to be fully explored without any need for 'chasing'.

There are several species which are not Sched 1 which I believe need extra protection in the breeding season by not publishing locations which are too specific. Judging by the massive number of postings relating to well watched sites in Manchester, it seems likely that not all of them were obtained from the safety of hides. Lots of birders seem to be chasing very few birds. Now if it's a Cattle Egret in Poynton not much damage can be done to a lost bird, but on the other hand it is not uncommon to meet birders (without permission to be there) trampling around looking for sensitive species. Remember that egg collectors are birders, and possibly very talented ones as well; it's a pity that they can't do something useful than being the majority of a lunatic fringe.

Not really sure what your post is intended to say Tony or where it is going (what's not really enough)? Who are this 'lunatic fringe', are we talking birders here?

Not really enough folks. Every year, at a site where I ring Pied Flycatchers, I hope that a pair nests in a box next to the car park. That way all lists can be ticked and disturbance kept to a minimum. The problem occurs when the number of birders exceeds the number of birds, and has nothing to do with Sched 1, Red or Amber listed. Sadly Sched 1s need protection from the lunatic fringe as well.

If you haven't read the 'Welcome to this forum, PLEASE READ' post at the top this forum then you really should have, but here is the relevant extract:

I welcome all bird sightings recorded in Greater Manchester to be posted on this forum but users should understand that I reserve the right to withold or remove locations of species in which specific site disclosure could be used by unscrupulous individuals who may visit websites such as this. The welfare and protection of species under threat in our county is absolutely paramount to me.

Users of the forum should consider very carefully posting ANY nesting species, ask yourself the question, what is to be gained by posting such information? If in doubt please conatct me for advise but I will edit posts that contain any sensitive breeding information without consultation with the user.





-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 22:03, 2008-03-31

I'd like to reinforce what Steve said. Just to repeat what was said this time last year, I think: please don't put nest sites for any Schedule 1 species (that includes Merlin, Barn Owl, Black Redstart, Kingfisher, Black-necked Grebe) - the only exception being the well-watched town centre secure sites for Peregrines, and Little Ringed Plover, which are so common now I doubt they will stay on Schedule much longer. Also Long-eared Owls (due to repeated chick theft).

It's not a great idea to put sightings of rare breeders on this forum during the nesting period. There are still undesirables around who collect eggs or take raptor chicks from nests. This info is best sent to Judith Smith will not print such sensitive info in the county report.

had a mooch around the upper res, lots of reed bunting and meadow pipits

curlew calling and a male and female stonechat, 6 goosander, 2 skylark.



-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 21:56, 2008-03-31

Over the weekend also spotted
Reed bunting
Meadow pipit
Fieldfare
2 Little Owls

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 21:57, 2008-03-31

Castleshaw 1230-1345

Upper Res

3 Goosander
Cormorant
3 Great Crested Grebe
3 Pied Wagtail
Goldeneye

Lower Res

6 Cormorant
2 Oystercarcher
4 Lapwing
Moorhen
13 Woodpigeon
Curlew
2 Goldeneye
Great Crested Grebe
4 Redshank
3 Magpie
Pheasant
2 Grey Wagtail
Grey Heron
Stock Dove
33 Canada Geese

mid morning in the horizontal hail stone

pair goosander on top res

5 goldeneye, 5 mallard, 2 cormorant, great crested grebe and 74 canada geese.
Small numbers of common, black headed and lesser black backed gulls.

Nearby, dipper and grey wag at Newbank Garden Centre, Dobcross, Uppermill. Red grouse on moors above dove stones from main road. Dead easy in the snow

No sign of the Whooper swans (info by Birdnet) at 1645hrs but fem Goosander

Thursday - 15.35 - 14.40

Redwing 10+
Fieldfare 40+
Lesser black back & Black headed gulls 300+ mixed
Canada geese 122
Greylag with white aroud beak
Teal 4
Jay
Cormorant 2
Pheasant
greenfinch
carrion crow
starling lots of small groups around

Just spent one hour up there and i am sure i missed loads but spent most of my time trying to count the Redwing & Fieldfare.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 9th of July 2011 10:34:59 AM