24th March, afternoon. Flock of fieldfares (about 100 perhaps - I'm no good at estimating flock size, I'm afraid) in field at Bockin. Landed briefly, took off again and flew around for while, landed again, but never settled for long.

26th March. 15.00 hours. A few lapwings in the fields just below the intake, calling and flight display. Pheasants (m and f) in the fields close to the road at Bockin, very active and vocal. Also a pair of mistle thrushes.

Greenfield ETW: pair Goosander on river, pair Siskin, c10 Redwing.

Intake Lane: 5 or 6 pairs of Lapwing, male Stonechat, Red Grouse calling from moor.

Moor edge/Shadworth Lane (just inside Mossley) turnip field: 3 pairs Lapwing, c40 Fieldfare, c20 Redwing, c50 Starling, 4 Linnet.

February WeBS count:

Waterside Mill (Tanners):
6 Canada Geese, 2 Mallard, 1 Moorhen, 1 Heron.
Also 20+ Fieldfares attacked by Sparrowhawk. 1 singing Reed Bunting.

Royal George Mill + Manns:
44 Canada Geese
12 Mallard
7 Tufted Duck (5 males)
1 Kingfisher
9 Moorhen
3 Coot
12 Black-headed Gull
1 (pinioned) Mute Swan

February WeBS count: got there before the rain started (again!).

Waterside Mill (Tanners):
10 Canada Geese, 2 Mallard, 2 Moorhen, 1 Cormorant.

Royal George Mill + Manns:
17 Canada Geese
15 Mallard
4 Moorhen
2 Coot
108 Black-headed Gull (half a dozen with full hoodies)
1 Little Grebe (almost in breeding plumage)
1 (pinioned) Mute Swan
(no Wood Ducks)

and a low flyover by a Peregrine!

Hi Steve. Sadly not, as I only have a small camera, and it's not suitable for wildlife photography.

It was a good view, though (sat on the little island just beneath the road bridge you cross, turning about so both legs were seen clearly), and whilst obviously I can't say for sure, the orange, for example, looked very orange, rather than, say, a faded red, and the black didn't look faded at all.

As you say, even if this bird's not a record breaker, and assuming it is the 2007 ringed individual, it's a great age for what's a pretty small passerine! Fingers crossed it turns up again, and can be confirmed! :)

Shannon Llewellyn wrote:

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Oh, wow, that's brilliant, if the case! Thank you for the information, both. :)

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Don't suppose you got a photo, Shannon? Some of these colour rings were a bit confusing and, as they are now quite old, may have faded or become discoloured.

Whether or not it's a record-breaker it must be getting a bit long in the tooth (beak?). Will have to pop up there with a scope and have a good look myself.

Oh, wow, that's brilliant, if the case! Thank you for the information, both. :)

Shannon Llewellyn wrote:

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Dipper on the stream by the Kingfisher pub; colour ringed, right leg orange over grey, left leg black over orange.

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You did well to record the ring colours, Shannon - it can be very tricky. Your bird is a local one and I think it's a female, probably ringed in 2007 - so getting on in years!

Dipper on the stream by the Kingfisher pub; colour ringed, right leg orange over grey, left leg black over orange.

January WeBS count: snow on ground - 80% iced over.

Royal George Mill + Manns:
13 Canada Geese
36 Mallard
6 Moorhen
2 Coot
39 Black-headed Gull
1 Little Grebe
2 Grey Heron
1 (pinioned) Mute Swan
1 (pinioned)Wood Duck (female)

1530 - 1630
Tame Valley between St Mary's and Royal George
1 Dipper nr St Mary's
1 Kingfisher from Well-i-Hole bridge
2 Grey Herons
2 Coot and 1 Mute Swan on Royal George lodge
4 Goosander over
1 Cormorant over
1f Bullfinch

12.00 noon - Dipper feeding and singing in the stream at Greenbridge Lane.

Weds 13th Jan.

Royal George Lodge.

Tufted Duck. 4 (1 duck 3 drakes).
Mallard. 32
Moorhen. 2
Cormorant. 2


Field path at back of Royal George Lodge development.

Song Thrush. 1
Nuthatch. 1
Moorhen. 4

Roger.

Those of us living in the eastern end of the county often regard those over in the Wigan area with envy - all those flashes and their water birds.

Now that the Tame has burst its banks and we have the worst flooding in living memory (according to the owner of Well-i-hole Farm) we have the wetlands, if not the same avifauna!

Saddleworth Cricket pitch and some nearby fields have sizable flocks of Mallard and Canada Geese - good numbers of Black-headed and Common Gulls also enjoying the conditions.

Pair of Dippers at Wrights Mill seem impressed with their new island in the river now that the water has subsided.

How long before the Cetti's Warblers move in?

A tick in my Greenfield garden this pm
1m Blackcap
Last time I had an overwintering Blackcap in my garden was when I was about 13 living in Middleton. That was a female.

December WeBS count: cold but thankfully dry - fields still flooded though.

Waterside Mill (Tanner's):
2 Canada Geese (one injured)
1 Grey Heron
2 Mallard
4 Moorhen

Royal George Mill + Manns:
4 Goosander (2 m)
52 Canada Geese
19 Mallard
1 Tufted Duck (m)
20 Moorhen (smashing the site record)
1 Coot
112 Black-headed Gull
2 Common Gull
1 Kingfisher
1 (pinioned) Mute Swan
(no Wood Ducks seen)

Another tour of the valley and moorland fringes.

At the top of Shadworth Lane (Mossley border) a male Kestrel was hunting and a male Stonechat was a pleasant surprise.

Along Intake Lane were 2 Mistle Thrushes, 50 Starling and 2 Red Grouse.

Down at Greenfield ETW, six Herons flew in together, almost nose to tail - something I've never seen before.

1330 - 1500
3 Dippers - between R Tame/Chew Brook confluence and bowling green bridge
4 Bullfinch - on Gellfield Lane (2m and 2f in separate groups)
1f Sparrowhawk
8 Greenfinch, 6 Goldfinch, 4 Chaffinch
Plenty of Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits
2 Goldcrest

1300 - 1330 River Tame
1 Dipper (singing adjacent to Tesco)
1 Dipper (singing near Carr Lane nr Uppermill)
1 Grey Heron

1430 - 1530 along Chew Brook, past Fletchers Mill to Dovestone dam, back via Tunstead
1 Buzzard (perched in tree below Hawkyard)
1m Sparrowhawk
1f Kestrel
26 Fieldfare
2 Redwing
1 Dipper (heard)
Blue, Great, Long-tailed Tits
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
sev Goldcrests
2 Jays
1 Cormorant over

13:00 - 14:00 along Chew Brook/River Tame confluence
1 Dipper singing - near the bowling green footbridge
1 Grey Heron
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Pink-footed Goose south (single bird - odd)
c50 mixed gulls, black-headed, common and lesser black-back (too wet to see much detail)

November WeBS count: lovely weather for ducks - and testing waterproof clothing!

Waterside Mill (Tanner's):
2 Canada Geese
1 Grey Heron
1 Cormorant
3 Moorhen

Royal George Mill + Manns:
68 Canada Geese
45 Mallard
1 Tufted Duck (f)
2 Wood Duck (pair)
12 Moorhen (best ever WeBS count)
36 Black-headed Gull
1 Common Gull
1 Little Grebe (first this winter)
1 (pinioned) Mute Swan
2 Cormorant

1330 - 1500
Greenfield to Royal George via River Tame and back via canal
1m Brambling - river end of Station Lane with Chaffinch and Goldfinch
1 Dipper from Well-i-Hole bridge
30+ Pied Wagtails with 6 White Wagtails behind Well-i-Hole Farm
1 Buzzard over Wharmton
3 Grey Herons
17 Moorhen
Mixed tit flock (blue, great, coal long-tailed) plus 1 goldcrest
1 Mistle Thrush
2 Grey Wagtails
1 Mute Swan on Royal George lodge
1 Cormorant over sewage works
Black-headed Gulls

1300 - 1500 Greenfield - Dovestones - Binn Green - along Chew Brook and River Tame
Dipper singing c200m downstream from Chew Valley Rd bridge opposite Tesco
3 Kestrels
1 Buzzard
1 Grey Heron
Grey Wagtail
Goldcrests
Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits
... and a Cormorant flying NW over my house.

Royal George Lodge

The Mute Swan with the red Darvic has gone (no response from the ringing group yet).
The one remaining Mute Swan only has half its right wing so it won't be going anywhere - presumably another addition to Mr Wiggett's collection...

Yesterday in my garden (North Rise)
1 Tree Sparrow on feeders adjacent to the house.
First I've seen in Oldham, Saddleworth let alone my garden

Friday 23/10/15 - Another tour of the valley and moorland fringes.

Only one Mute Swan on Royal George lodge today - couldn't get near enough to see if it was ringed. The red Darvic on last Sunday's bird seems to be from S Yorks.

12 Pied Wagtails on Greenfield cricket pitch today.

More bird activity along Intake Lane with 26 Fieldfare, 4 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Redwing and 20 Starling occasionally harassed by a Sparrowhawk. Kestrel was the only other raptor.
5 Red Grouse - 4 of which were sitting together on a drystone wall.

Kingfisher at Wrights Mill on the Mossley/Greenfield border.

WeBS count:

Waterside Mill (Tanner's): best count at this pond for ages.
2 Canada Geese
1 Grey Heron
2 Cormorant
4 Moorhen

Royal George Mill + Manns:
56 Canada Geese
33 Mallard
4 Tufted Duck (1m, 3f)
2 Wood Duck (pair)
9 Moorhen
24 Black-headed Gull

2 Mute Swans have appeared - apparently a new pair (one with Red Darvic Y091)

Glum-sounding angler reports that the landowner (Wiggett) will remove fishing rights from end of this month.

Thursday morning canal between museum road crossing and first lock towards Greenfield kingfisher

Morning tour of Greenfield. Walked along the valley then up to 40 Row and back along the moor edge.

16 Pied Wagtails on Greenfield cricket pitch - more interesting than the test match

Moor edge: Buzzard, Kestrel, Raven, Red Grouse and one Redwing in a hawthorn. 20 more Redwing flying over were heading North

Swallow numbers about normal but impressive numbers of House Martin through this last couple of weeks so somewhere has had it good!

This isn't so much a sighting as a non-sighting... Is it just me being unobservant, or have there been noticeably fewer hirundines around this "summer" ?

First WeBS count of the "winter" (two days early as I won't be able to do it this weekend).

Waterside Mill (Tanner's):
8 Canada Geese
1 Grey Heron
(chat with an angler confirmed that Mink are still a problem at this site)

Royal George Mill + Manns:
145 Canada Geese
86 Mallard
1 Tufted Duck (m)
2 Wood Duck
9 Moorhen
1 Coot
2 Grey Heron
5 Black-headed Gull

The usual pair of introduced Mute Swans were not to be seen. Have they regained the ability to fly? If so, has anyone seen a pair of "Polish" morph birds in the area?

Morning walk along the moor edge from the Mossley border including a partial ascent of Alphin.

Small birds remarkably scarce - all on Horwich moors it seems...

Highlights: Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine (the latter two having a brief tussle), juv Red Grouse.

4.15 pm, 23rd August. Grey wagtail (f or possibly a juvenile) in the road on Friezland Lane just above Scotts' mill. I see them regularly in the stream at Ladhill Lane bridge, and other stream locations in Uppermill and Delph, but this is the first I've seen a significant distance from water.

4.00 pm, 21st August.

Dipper in the stream at Ladhill Lane bridge. The first I've seen since the spring - it's been all grey wagtail(s) for weeks.

Monday 10th August 2015, 7.00pm

2 Cormorants circling over Well-i-hole

24 (yes, twenty four) goldfinches on the wires at Bockin just now...

Nigel Richards wrote:

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Take track from Upper Tunstead straight up to the derelict cottage in Pots and Pans area - Cuckoo was sat on posts halfway up
Good luck

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Thank you !

Take track from Upper Tunstead straight up to the derelict cottage in Pots and Pans area - Cuckoo was sat on posts halfway up
Good luck

Nigel Richards wrote:

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Cuckoo sitting on a post giving very good views

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Whereabouts, please ?

Cuckoo sitting on a post giving very good views

Fields between Bockin and the intake, 16.00 - 17.00
Pair of lapwings repeatedly mobbing a cock pheasant. I have to say it didn't seem all that perturbed... And presumably this is just territorial, as I don't imagine pheasants are any actual threat to eggs or hatchlings ? They then went on to mob another (solitary) lapwing.

Goldfinches singing at Bockin.

Whitehtroat singing on the telephine wires at Bockin.

-- Edited by Liz Headon on Friday 5th of June 2015 09:16:16 AM

A couple of Common Whitethroat singing at the back of the Royal George Mill. Near the railway line. I was beginning to wonder
if they would ever arrive.

Yes, I saw my first swifts and first house martins yesterday, and my first apparently "local" swallow (as opposed to two flying through at speed a couple of weeks ago) during last week. All at Bockin (bottom of Friezland Lane, junction with Manchester Road). It seems late for the swallows and martins - sitting out the poor weather further south, perhaps ? Or have I just been unobservant ?

First two swifts over the Methodist church at 7.00 am this morning

Ah, pheasants - yes, that could explain it.There's been a fair bit of noisy pheasant activity recently too, and I've seen them right down on the banking near the bottom of Friezland Lane.

They'll continue this sort of "display" flight for quite a while, Liz. Whilst they just raise one brood, they will relay if the first clutch is lost - to predators or farming activity - so this can extend the season. Those zooming aerobatics are also used to divert potential predators and I watched several last year at this site repeatedly dive-bombing a Pheasant.