7-8pm sun:
2 Common Buzzard
4 Grey Heron
11 Mandarin Duck
Single Common Swift
50 House Martin
20+ Swallow
Chiffchaff
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker

Hobby through at 7.25pm near Middle Farm.
3 Common Buzzard, 1 juvenile
6 Mandarin
2 Chiffchaff
10 Swallow
7 House Martin
Stock Dove
3+ Grey Heron
Many Black Headed Gull over heading to roost
Lesser Black Backed Gull

Lunchtime:
6 Goosander over
2 Grey Wagtail
5 Pied Wagtail
Jay
1000 + Wood pigeon until the intelligencia started blasting them
Great Spotted Woodpecker

3 mandarin
Grey wagtail
5 jay
2 Chiffchaff
House Martin
Many swallow
Mallard with young
Nuthatch

Still no Yellowhammers at the traditional site near Goyt Hall Farm but I have just heard a reliable report of Yellowhammers there in Jan/Feb this year.

2 Garden Warblers were having a territorial 'sing-off' dispute.
10 House Martins over Middle Farm

Cheers, John

Goyt Hall Farm area:

No Yellowhammers have returned this year (another Stockport Borough breeding bird gone?)
1 Lesser Whitethroat at the fishing ponds and a Buzzard close overhead.

Cheers John

Otterspool-Goyt Hall Fm:
25+ Swallow near the kennels
3 Chiffchaff
2 Blackcap
Goosander-pair
2 Mandarin
Dipper
Nuthatch

House Martin over Hare and Hounds pub at 4.30

Otterspool - Goyt Hall Farm

Chiffchaff 9
Blackcap 4
Nuthatch 4
Goldcrest 2
Greenfinch 5
House Sparrow 19
Jay 5
Collared Dove 1
Buzzard 2
Mandarin 2m
Goosander 2m

Cheers John


-- Edited by John Rayner on Sunday 6th of April 2014 01:32:45 PM

Clapgate-Otterspool-Bongs La-Holiday La-Jim Fernley Bridge 8.30-10.30am:

8 Chiffchaff (mainly downstream from Waterside Farm)
3 Goosander (1 Drake)
4 Nuthatch
Common Buzzard
2 Stock Dove
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 drumming)
2 Grey Wagtail
7 Mandarin (again, mainly in trees)
Possible Raven, though distant
Bullfinch

8-10am:
8 Mandarin( mainly in trees along poise brook)
7 Redwing
Treecreeper
3+ Nuthatch
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
Meadow Pipit over
Peregrine Falcon
3 Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
2 Stock Dove
Grey Wagtail
Bullfinch
Grey Heron

Poise Brook L.N.R.

2 Mandarins (on river)
6 Nuthatches
2 Jays
5 Mistle Thrushes
5 Redwings

2 Annoyingly noisy trail bikers on the footpaths

Cheers John

Yesterday9.30-11.30 Clapgate-Bredbury Hall-Goyt Hall Farm:
150+ Redwing
2 Grey Wagtail
2 Stock Dove
Treecreeper
5 Cormorant
2 Nuthatch
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Pied Wagtail
Greenfinch

Goyt very high

A wander around Poise Brook - fungi potential for sure. Birds - Goldfinch; Redwing (good flock); Blackbird; Magpie; Wood Pigeon; Carrion Crow; Robin; Long Tailed Tit; Coal Tit; Jay; Siskin (about 8 birds with the Goldfinch); Mistle Thrush; Great Tit; Nuthatch; Chaffinch; Jackdaw; Pied Wagtail; Grey Wagtail and Rook.

A few fungal species - list as shown on my site.

FP Dave - www.fungalpunknature.co.uk - cheers

Bredbury hall-middle farm-Otterspool bridge 11.30-2.30


20 Pied Wagtail in the field behind Goyt hall farm feeding around the feet of the horses also 7 Grey Heron in the same field nearer to the river, 6 sat in the field and 1 sat in a
tree on the river bank.
4 Rook feeding in the field opposite the kennels with approximately 100 Jackdaw, 50 Black headed Gulls and 10 Carrion Crow.
A pair of Jay caching acorns around middle farm and a nice mixed tit flock of approximately 30 birds containing 20 Long Tailed Tits and a few Blue and Great tits.

I've heard reports of Woodcock in the field and wood just up from Goyt Hall Farm, but never seen one. Dog walker also told me his dog flushed one from there once.

Late post from yesterday 1.00 pm Yesterday at lunch time I received a picture text from a friend asking me to help them identify a bird that was in their Offerton garden on woodlands drive near the cricket club , it was clearly a Woodcock in the middle of the day. I thought I would share this sighting but wondered if anybody else had ever seen one in this area before? Cheers, Paul.

Otterspool bridge-Middle Farm and back 11-1pm

Not a great deal in almost constant rain, but some good sightings nevertheless:

6 Mandarin, inc. 3 feeding with the huge Woodpigeon flock behind Goyt Hall Farm
Sparrowhawk
5 Grey Wagtail
5 Pied Wagtail
Chiffchaff
40+ Swallow
20+House Martin
2 Swift
20 Goldfinch
2 Jay
Nuthatch
Lesser Black Backed Gull
19 Black Headed Gull

Many more common of the woodland species, with many juvenille birds too.

1 common whitethroat heard this morning along the path to the kennels. Good job really as little else apart from 2 pairs of swallow on Waterside Farm.

Lesser Whitethroat 1
Yellowhammer 2 probably 3 (2 males and a silhouette)
Collared Dove 2
Buzzard 1

Cheers, John

Waterside Farm:
3 Swallows
4 Sand Martins

Goyt Hall farm:
2 Buzzards
pair of Stock Doves (male displaying)
Still no Yellowhammers - It's looking bleak for them this year. I noticed today that a large patch of Bramble right in the middle of their territory has been cut and removed.

Cheers, John

A little swirl of hirundines over the river at Otterspool this morning at 7.35. Not easy without bins (and at the wheel), but 4/5 sand martins and 1/2 swallows in the flock.

Holiday Lane - Goyt Hall Farm

Chiffchaff 3
Swallow 1 (south)
Meadow Pipit 13
Mandarin 2,m

Cheers, John

9-10 am
Holiday Lane-Goyt Hall Fm
High Lights:
2 Lapwing
10 Redwing
2 Mandarin
6 Nuthatch
3 Great Spotted Woodpecker
10 Mallard
Grey Wagtail
2 Pied Wagtail
3 Drake Goosander

In fields around Goyt Hall Farm:

11 Meadow Pipits
6 Lapwings
1 Skylark
c70 Woodpigeons
2 Stock Doves
1 Buzzard
1 Goldcrest

Still no Yellowhammers.

Cheers John

6 Nuthatches calling
4 Song Thrushes singing
3 Pairs of Stock Doves cooing

Lots of other common bird song but no Chiffchaffs and no woodpecker activity.

Cheers, John

Not seen any yet John. I do reckon they have decreased in last few years, although not done a count.

Goyt Hall Farm area.

2 Curlew in field but no Yellowhammers for me this year, and I've normally recorded them by now.
Has anyone else seen them this year?

Bongs Farm area
c45 Meadow Pipits in rough pasture
Pair Mandarins on river.

Cheers, John

Cheers, John,

Numbers built up like that in Greenfield a couple of years before they started nesting, so it is worth looking out for twig carrying, etc.

However they may just be birds from Marple Dale...

Hi Steve,

I may have painted a picture of birds clustered in trees. In fact 7 of these birds were loafing on the river bank and 2 were in a tree but I'll keep my eye on them.

Cheers John

John Rayner wrote:

---

6th Feb:


Grey Heron 9 (roosting in single flock)


-- Edited by John Rayner on Wednesday 6th of February 2013 01:35:48 PM

---

Hi John,

probably worth checking for signs of nesting if there are so many present at this time of year?

6th Feb:

Mandarin pair
Goosander 4m, 1f (on river)
Grey Heron 9 (roosting in single flock)
Redwing c40
Fieldfare c10
Mistle Thrush 5
Lesser Redpoll 3
Jackdaw c200
Carrion Crow 36 (single flock)
Rook 6
Buzzard 1

Cheers, John


-- Edited by John Rayner on Wednesday 6th of February 2013 01:35:48 PM

Offerton Water Treatment Works (31 Jan)

Pied Wagtail 18
Grey Wagtail 4

Cheers John

Chadkirk - goythall farm- middle farm 1 goosander on river near road bridge. Surprised to find 60 lapwing in the field opposite the kenels with 30 fieldfare 3 mistle thrush and approximately 300 starling. Field between goyt hall farm and middle farm 20 meadow pipits.

Chadkirk - goythall farm- middle farm 1 goosander on river near road bridge. Surprised to find 60 lapwing in the field opposite the kenels with 30 fieldfare 3 mistle thrush and approximately 300 starling. Field between goyt hall farm and middle farm 20 meadow pipits.

Bongs La-Otterspool-Jim Fernley Bridge 8.45-10.15

River:
Dipper
7 Goosander(3 Drake)
3 Cormorant
7 Grey Heron
6 Mandarin(4 Drake)
50+ Mallard

Wood/Farmland:
2 Common Buzzard
Kestrel
4 Nuthatch
Redwing
Treecreeper
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
4 Goldcrest
4 Bullfinch
4 Mistle Thrush
Song Thrush
2 Pied Wagtail

Plus 'usuals'

Poise Brook-Jim Fernley Bridge- Goyt Hall Fm 11.15-12.45
Woods:
Dipper on the brook
2+ Great Spotted Woodpecker
2+ Nuthatch
Treecreeper

Farmland:
30 Pied Wagtail(most I've ever seen down here)
2 Stock Dove
Common Buzzard
40 Redwing
10 Fieldfare
30 Starling
40 House Sparrow
9 Grey Heron
17 Black Headed Gull
10 Mallard
10 Goldfinch
15 Chaffinch
2 Greenfinch

A lovely Xmas amble altogether.

Chadkirk Kennels - Goyt Hall Farm:

Mixed flock of c15 Greenfinches, c10 Goldfinches, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Goldcrest
Goosander 1 (overhead)
Pied Wagtail 12 (single flock, Goyt Hall Farm)
Grey Wagtail 1 (feeding on flooded path)
Mixed corvid flock in fields c95 Jackdaw, c20 Rooks, c15 Carrion Crows, 1 Jay, 4 Magpies

Cheers, John

7-8.15
Misty start, but by 8am there was some clear movements going on.
25 Meadow Pipit over South West
50 Woodpigeon
40 Goldfinch
Mixed flock of 10 Mistle Thrush and 7 Redwing(1st of Autumn)

On Goyt:
2 Drake Mandarin
2 Grey Wagtail
2 Grey Heron
3 Mallard

Woodland:
2 Goldcrest
If it wasn't a Blackcap, then something doing a good impression of one in a mixed flock, couldn't see it.
Nuthatch
2 Treecreeper
Large mixed tit flocks
4 Jay

7.45-9.00
Jim Fernley Bridge:
2 Mandarin
10 Mallard
Kingfisher
2 Grey Wagtail

Woods:
Common Buzzard
5 Jay
3 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Nuthatch

Farmland:
100's of Woodpigeon
4 Stock Dove
5 Bullfinch
50+ House Sparrow
30 Swallow
Lesser Black Backed Gull

Saw the Peregrine this afternoon chasing Swallows opposite Goyt Hall Farm.

Holiday La-Goyt Hall Fm-Middle Fm 7.45-9.15
I knew there was a reason I liked September!
Probably one of the most rewarding patch walks of the 12 years in this area so far.
Poise Brook LNR was quiet, but many common tits and a few Chaffinches. Also Nuthatch.
On the Goyt 2 female Mandarin just up from confluence with Poise Brook. 6 Mallard.
Near Jim Fernley Bridge 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, one of which seemed to be actively following a Treecreeper up the trunk.
Kestrel over towards Bredbury.
Common Buzzard chased across the fields by Jackdaws/Crows, with another calling from behind it.
6 Jay at least .
30 House Sparrow at Goyt Hall Fm.
THEN the action started, in a thrilling 15 minutes of birding.
On the way to Middle Fm, almost 100 House Martins/Swallow were busy feeding/twittering and preening. 3 Swift also. In the nearby tree was a mixed flock of 60+ Green and Goldfinch. A Grey Heron on the river.
This would be satisfying enough, when from nowhere a Hobby came in and took one of the House Martins almost in front of me. It was chased off by probably 20 or so other birds, and flew with its' prey over towards Offerton Sand and Gravel.
First time I have seen a Hobby catch prey, and within 20 meters of me.
As I was floating back towards Goyt Hall FM, I noticed another bird of prey approaching from Pear Mill direction. Initially it looked like the Hobby again, but as it came close it was clearly a juvenille Peregrine Falcon. It made 3 active attempts to hit a fully grown Common Crow, which it eventually downed, but didn't attempt to finish it when it was on the ground. Was it practicing? Seemingly satisfied, it flew back in the same direction.
The walk back was very quiet, with a flock of 6 Black Headed Gulls.
September Blues? Not a chance.

Bongs La- Otterspool- Jim Fernley Bridge 9.45-12

Many Swallow and House Martin
Mandarin
2 Buzzard, one with food calling to other, then 'swapped places' in wood.
Kingfisher
Chiffchaff
30+ Goldfinch
3 Nuthatch
At least 6 Gatekeeper butterfly on the wing

Peregrine over the woods, and around pond at end of Hall Pool Drive at 6pm.

Single Hobby lowish over playing field behind Offerton High School at 4.15.
Over Poise Brook and towards Bongs Lane and out of view.

Still pretty quiet, but a lot more activity than the last few weeks.
Holiday Lane- Goyt Hall Fm 8.15-9.45:

3+ Goosander(female in tree)
Mandarin Pair
Grey Wagtail pair
Common Buzzard
Goldcrest
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Swifts, Swallows and House Martin
Stock Dove
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
4 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
2 Jay
2 Bullfinch

Many young about too

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 20th of May 2012 12:26:57 PM

Bredbury hall / middle farm. 5.30 - 630. Mistle thrush,song thrush,goldfinch,greenfinch,chaffinch,chiffchaff,willow warbler and yellowhammer plus the usuals.

Holiday Lane- Goyt Hall Farm- Otterspool- Bongs Lane 6.30-9.00
Highlights:
1 Common Sandpiper- upstream from Otterspool bridge, on meander near entrance to Chadkirk.
2 House Martins, 10+ Swallow-Sewage works
Mandarin-pair
8 Goosander
Dipper-Holiday Lane/A626 junction
Little Owl-Goyt Hall Fm
8 Blackcap
6 Chiffchaff
3 Willow Warbler
Skylark
Lapwing
2 Linnet
2 Bullfinch
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
4 Treecreeper
2 Nuthatch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Grey Wagtail
2 Pied Wagtail
4 Jay
3 Grey Heron
Cormorant
10 Mallard
2 Canada Geese
2 Lesser Black Backed Gull

Plus the usual more'common' birds.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 28th of April 2012 09:37:16 AM

After an unsuccessful hunt for Pied Flycatcher at Etherow I decided I might see if I could locate the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker so dropped by for a couple of hours.

No Woodpecker though after 5 minutes of waiting at the area behind the school I realised a Blackbird had been alarm calling since the I got there, I was to far away for it to be worried about me so off I went to investigate, a few minutes later had me viewing a beautiful Tawny Owl....there's something to be said for listening to nature.

Other birds of note,

Great Spotted Woodpecker heard but not seen
Chiffchaff
Nuthatch
Around 4 Song Thrush
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Comorant
Usual Tit's
2 Goldfinch
1 Buzzard circling high up

All in all a nice stroll which ended in the tea shop in Marple Garden centre with a Latte and a slice of Victoria Sponge.

Pleasant stroll,this pm, 13:00-15:00, highlights....
Lesser spotted woodpecker,heard calling in woodland,immediately behind Goyt Bank School,eventually located by my missus.Male,briefly seen,before it flew off deeper into the woods,unable to relocate though
Grey wagtail on river near Jim Fearnley Bridge.
Harris Hawk,over towards Goyt Hall Farm.
2 chiffchaff seen,plenty more heard.
Grey heron.
No sign of any lapwings or little owl,however,plenty of the more usual species seen.

Cheers Chris