Stroll after dinner.

3 Chiffchaffs
1 Blackcap
1 Goldcrest
1 Willow Tit

Other usual Blackbirds, Song Thrush etc etc

Decided to mooch round the eastern side for a change this evening. Pretty quiet overall but 175+ swallows in the area, most of which flew towards the flashes. Presume theres a decent roost there now. 19 Canada Geese and 8 Mallard flew over towards the flashes too. A single skylark and six Grey Partridge were the only other notables.

Tuesday 8 September 2015
Late morning / early afternoon

1 Hobby chasing Swallows over Lily Lane Farm
1 Tawny Owl hooting away somewhere around the Three Sisters Wetland area
1 Yellow Wagtail (heard only)
1 Whitethroat
1 Blackcap
7 Chiffchaff
3 Goldcrest

250-300 Lapwings and 200+ Starlings on the field bordering the north western edge. Quite difficult to count as both species were well spread out on a recently tilled field - so well camouflaged - and when they took to the air it was in small parties that intermixed and split off into further mixed sized groups.

5 Mallard flying North and a single buzzard were the only other birds of note.

Quite this PM. 1 Kestrel, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 or 2 Chiffchaffs, 25 Goldfinches, 70 ish Swallows, 40 Starlings over N.

Late for yesterday - three Buzzards, quite a few Chiffchaffs dotted around, Robins, wrens, blackbirds etc etc. Most bird activity Ive seen in a few days.

48 Lapwings flew from the direction of Wigan Flashes towards Three Sisters Wetland area. 70+ Swallows were over the paddocks.

Another visit today with pretty much the same results. 118 Goldfinches in one flock plus another flock of 30+ along with numerous smaller groups. Plenty Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. One Blackcap, one Bullfinch, two Greenfinches (not had any for a while) one male Sparrowhawk and over 60 'hirundines' -Swallows and House Martins, but some too distant to ID positively.

Goldfinch numbers back up again to over 100. One main flock of 100 plus smaller numbers knocking around.

Plenty Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs calling with a few fresh juveniles around, so either passage birds or a good breeding season.

Swallow numbers have also swelled over the last few weeks. At least 50 or so present around the stables yesterday.

A single Swift was over the field adjoining Three Sisters as was a huge female Sparrowhawk. Initially I only had a brief glimpse as I saw her go to ground being mobbed by a couple of crows (which she made look small) and assumed it was a Buzzard. When she took off again though, it was quite clearly a female Sparrowhawk, but definitely on the large side.

Bullfinch and Reed Bunting were the only other birds of note.

Goldfinch numbers seemed to be massively down this evening with only a few singles, plus 1 flock of around 38. A couple of chiffchaffs were 'hooeet-ing' and swallow numbers were building - around 35 in one flock - looking like they were going to go to roost somewhere close by. Probably Bryn Marsh or Horrocks Flash I'd guess.

There was a good number of Goldfinches around yesterday evening - I'd put the number at easily over 100, but due to them being in numerous mobile smaller flocks it was difficult to know exactly. There is a huge crop of thistles on the site this year and they are making the most of this.


Single singing Yellowhammer was the only other bird of interest.

-- Edited by Craig Higson on Friday 31st of July 2015 01:57:40 PM

A minimum of 200 starlings (adults and juveniles) flying around Lily Lane Stables and adjoining paddocks this evening. The flock was breaking up into smaller flocks of 30/40/50 birds which were coming and going so there could easily have been more than 200.

A second Sedge Warbler appears to have taken up residence on the western side. Starlings are flocking with their young - at least 30 present on the paddocks. Goldcrest singing in Big Hedge. Nothing else of note.

Very wet couple of hours covering both sides of the A58. First Whitethroat of the year near the car park.

Single Sedge Warbler tonight. Be interesting to see if it stays.

First Grasshopper Warbler of the year for the site tonight on the eastern side of the site. Single Oystercatcher over was the only other bird of note.

3 Common Terns over and Great Spotted Woodpecker the only birds of note this evening. Warblers of any species very quiet.

Blackcap was new in today.

An afternoon where two was a common theme. Yellowhammer, 2; Willow Warbler, 2; Chiffchaff, 2; Bullfinch, 2; Goldcrest, 2; kestrel 2; Common Buzzard, 2. Other common species plentiful especially wood pigeons which still seem to be knocking about in flocks which just seems to be a bit late. 1 Grey Heron over.

Willow Warblers finally arrived with at least 3, possibly 4 birds in. A couple of additional chiffchaffs new in as well. A curlew over plus plenty of activity from the residents.

Finally some spring migrants! At least two pairs of swallows over the stables plus a few more over the site. 20 plus house martins over the fields on the northern border and 1 possibly two Chiffchaffs. Still no willow warblers though.

Late pm visit like Craig hoping for migrants but no luck highlights being willow tit and singing song thrush,

Still really quiet on the site. I was expecting to see a few migrants this morning after the good weather this weekend but unfortunately not. Lots of resident species in song, and I'm pretty sure I heard a Raven, but no summer visitors yet.

pleasant afternoon visit, driving past with some time to spare and stopped on impulse,
north of bolton road horse paddocks productive with 9 yellowhammer, 2 pied wagtail, 1 grey wagtail, 2 mistle thrush, 2 robin, green woodpecker in trees just off path,plenty of magpie and carrion crow in fields + a flock of about 40 wood pigeon, 70+ fieldfare and a song thrush in field near top farm, grey heron over, blue tit, bullfinch, goldfinch, great tit, dunnock, blackbird,
South of bolton road, buzzard, kestrel, wren, 2 willow tit, only different species to north.

First sizeable influx of Fieldfares and Redwings today. A mixed flock of approx 130+ birds were in the hedgerow that borders the agricultural fields to the north. Probably 80+ Fieldfares and 50+ Redwings. Hopefully the massive amount of fruit on the hawthorns this year will see these birds hanging around, and maybe joined by a few more.

The tit flocks are growing still, the best had a good mix of Long-tailed, Willow, Blue and Great ( no Coal today) plus three Goldcrests and a few Robins and Dunnocks ticking around in the same bit of hedgerow. Thought I heard a Chiffchaff but couldn't pick it up.

A flock of approx 100 Black-headed Gulls was in one of the adjacent paddocks behind Lily Lane Stables. Just too far away to check through them in case of anything unusual.

5 lapwings over, plenty thrushes in the hedgerows, but fieldfares noticeable by their absence. Tit flocks building in size and two coal tits were the first I can remember in a while.

Tit flocks are gradually building, but the leaf cover is a pain. There was obviously a sizeable flock in 'big hedge' this evening containing Blue, Great, Long-tailed and at least 2 Willow tits. A few Dunnocks and Robins were in there as well but no sign of anything more interesting.

Other sightings of interest - 5 Mistle Thrushes on the western boundary, 2 song thrushes and a chiffchaff in the L shaped hedge, 6 pied wagtails over.

Two visits today - mid morning was fairly quiet, but interesting in that there seemed to have been a small influx of Blackbirds into big hedge. A flock of 11 birds had appeared since yesterday afternoon. At least 4 of the birds looked like very recently fledged birds, so probably not European visitors. Also present were 3 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey wagtails over and a Whitethroat, which must be the last one on this site.

This evening was interesting in there was a flyover by a 'flock' of 4 Snipe, which is a site tick for me. 7 Grey Partridge were in the adjacent field and at least 2 Willow Tits were in Big Hedge.

2 Kestrels, 1 Buzzard, flock of c 50 lapwing on adjacent fields, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Willow Tits.

Late for yesterday - a Kingfisher was on the fishing pond. A site tick for me.

Today - very quiet. A few swallows going south, 4 skylarks south, 4 maybe 5 Chiffchaffs around the site plus the usual tits, wood pigeons and corvids.

Quick mooch with the hound this afternoon:

Chiffchaff at least 5
Bullfinch 2
Common Whitethroat 2
Kestrel 2
Sparrowhawk 2
Buzzard 3
Jay 1

Loads of dragonflies which I've put on the other wildlife thread

Hobby flew south around 13:45 today

Very quiet evening on both sides of the site. Most interesting thing was a flock of 25 blackbirds appearing to go to roost together. Never seen them do that so early in the year, and never all blackbirds.

Highlights were what looked like a family party of 5 Jays. Never seen a flock of Jays before. A Willow Tit was the first I've seen in ages here. Main event was a flock of over 70 Goldfinches feeding on thistles. They were very mobile and constantly being joined by other birds. In the end I had no idea how many were actually in the flock but 70 isn't far off. Added to the others I saw on site and there must be over 100 on here.

Interesting hour this pm. Plenty of birds along the hedgerow bordering the fields to the north, and around Mortons Dairy. Nothing unusual but plenty of juvenile birds including reed buntings, Whitethroats, various tit spp. There was a large flock of over 50 goldfinches including loads of juveniles. Impossible to count them all but easily over 50.

32 Swallows late this evening looking like they were gathering for a roost. Not sure where as they were flying totally the wrong way for the flashes and I'm not aware of and reed beds or maize crops in Ashton town centre!

This Morning
50+ House Sparrows
40+ Swallows lots of fledged young
3 Skylark
30+ Starling
3 family partys of Reed Bunting
Greenfinch with juvs
4 Linnets
1 Grey Partridge
15 Wood Pigeon
5 Swift
4 Goldfinch
1 Whitethroat

Jimmy

quick stroll this pm plenty of wood pigeon + 2 stock dove, 2 chiffchaff heard 1 seen, 1 whitethroat, 2 jay, blue tit, great tit, chaffinch, 3 willow warbler,magpie, plenty of blackbird, 1 mistle thrush, 3 skylark singing, decent numbers meadow pipit.

Sedge warbler new in this evening and a yellowhammer singing for the first time in what seems ages.

Plenty of Swifts around this afternoon. At first it looked just like 50 or so but numbers quickly built to well over a few hundred. It did look like they were moving through quite quickly so there may have been more. Otherwise pretty quiet.

At least two, possibly 3 Grasshopper Warblers, one giving quite decent views for this species. Plenty hirundines around, Whitethroats numbers seem to have dropped a bit over the last week so presuming they've moved on. Half a dozen linnets plus the usual suspects.

Cuckoo calling from adjacent fields this afternoon.

First GrasshoppervWarbler was reeling yesterday evening.

2 Chiffchaffs, 3 Yellowhammers, 31 Meadow Pipits were the highlights. All the other usual stuff.

quick hour late afternoon
1 kestrel, several great and blue tit, blackbird, robin, wren, 1 siskin, 1 treecreeper, at least 3 goldcrest in fir trees possibly more, plenty wood pigeon, several magpie and carrion crow.

early afternoon
several blackbird, 2 dunnock, 2 wren, decent numbers great, blue and long tailed tits, 2 siskin, 1 willow tit, a single rook in field with horses, several magpie and wood pigeon, great spotted woodpecker heard but not seen.

I'm 99% sure there was a Long -eared Owl quartering the grassland in front of the Mortons Dairy building last night about 20:15. I was running at the time so didn't really get a great view but it certainly wasn't barn or short eared and it didn't look big or bulky enough for tawny.

Blustery Morning

1 Kestrel
1 Buzzard
12 Skylarks
8 Swallow
12 Swifts

Hobby flew south over the western side this evening.

Lunchtime wander up the horse paddocks path,

6 Linnet
2 Grey Partridge
6 Meadow Pipit
4 Skylark
2 Common Crow
5 Magpie
1 Whinchat a fine male,must be an annual visitor

cheers geoff

I seem to have missed something! I walked round less than a week ago and the place was dead, no warblers and very few finches and zero birdsong. Walked round this evening with the dog and all of a sudden Willow Warblers are here! Usually ave at least a week or so with Chiffchaffs and blackcaps before the willow warblers arrive! Anyway. At least 4 Willow warblers present.