-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 25th of January 2014 04:17:15 PM
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Dec 15 6:43 PM, 2013
PM-on what's left of the pool Wigeon-51 Pochard-2 Cormorant-4 Greater Black Backed Gull-2 There used to be 200+ coots and same number of tufted before they started extracting water today there was 1 coot and 2 tufted duck. The place is sad towards its former glory.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Dec 14 9:36 PM, 2013
PM Of note Wigeon-52 Lapwing -200 on the north bank Black headed Gull 200 :)
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Dec 8 3:46 PM, 2013
PM of note Wigeon-69
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Nov 16 1:06 AM, 2013
Quick call in on the way home, and the place just saddens me now, as for almost 10 years this was my local patch , Anyone who wants to see how a site can be made into as Mike says a shadow of its former self should look at the pool, now a quarter of the size it was 5 years ago ,and how the water authority can allow the continued extraction is beyond me, this site was formerly one of the best inland sites for wintering wigeon, up to 200 present in most years, and coots used to be in excess of 200,as were diving duck, and normally there were 30+ great crested grebe, and 20 little grebe now today there were. This site once held some sort of special status, but its seems that's meaningless these days, to me its the equivalent of Pennington flash being drained its such a sorry site now. I daupt I will visit much any more. :( Wigeon-25 cormorant -5 pochard-3 hardly any coots, and a couple of great crested Grebe.
Mike Baron said
Tue Nov 5 3:08 AM, 2013
Found some time this afternoon for a mooch around my old patch. Water level seems to be still dropping slowly and the place is a shadow of its former self. Sightings included:
Green Sandpiper
27 Wigeon
40 Mallard
6 Pochard
2 Tufted Duck
3 Coot
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
7 Cormorants
78 Lapwings
11 Fieldfares
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Aug 18 10:27 PM, 2013
JOHN TYMON wrote:
very little on the pool this afternoon apart from a dozen Great crested grebe and a few coot and mallard :(
Same today Plus if anyone parks by the sharp bend ,which a lot of the regulars, used to and still do please be aware the owner of the house where the entrance where people park near the arrows doesn't like people parking there any more and recently I have seen police moving people on ,so its assumed that he may be calling the police when people park there, and last week the opening at that point was taped off by the policed with crime scene yellow tape, so its probably better to be wary if parking near the pool
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Aug 12 3:29 AM, 2013
very little on the pool this afternoon apart from a dozen Great crested grebe and a few coot and mallard :(
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Aug 5 12:36 AM, 2013
pm Common Sandpiper-1 Black Necked Grebe- 1 juv Little Grebe-1 Common Buzzard-2 Great crested grebe-10 Coot -12
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Jul 21 1:31 PM, 2013
sat 21.07.2013 you can tell how bad this place is now with the once daily posts ending up with my once a month posts.Sad to see it with so little water probably a quarter the volume it was 5 years ago due to water being extracted :( only things of note 2 Common Sandpiper 12 great crested Grebe 15 Coot.
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Jun 23 12:14 AM, 2013
AM Cormorant-2 Pochard-18 (unusual number for time of year Ringed plover-1 great crested grebe-12 Tufted duck-4
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Jun 22 12:50 AM, 2013
PM Of note-very little water towards what it was before the water extraction.
Cormorant-3 Great crested grebe-11 Pochard-6 poor times at the pool ,and I daupt it will ever return to its former glory
JOHN TYMON said
Mon Jun 10 2:51 AM, 2013
only things of note -late posting for Saturday A few Great Crested Grebe 1 Tufted Duck 1 Pochard
And more floating beer bottles than Birds. The yobs have taken over again at the pool and the same ones breaking bottles and throwing them in Friday were cleverly swimming in the same area they had been throwing them in the day before. The pool is so low now due to water extraction, it has lost the majority of its bird attraction and even the black necked grebes have hardly paid a visit this year, were previously there would be a dozen at this time of year. Its so sad to see what was a very important site being drained and the life draining away with it. The pool will never recover unfortunately as the water board seems to just want to drain it -real shame :(.
JOHN TYMON said
Fri May 31 11:53 PM, 2013
late pm Great crested grebe-20 none breeding adults Tufted Duck-1 Coot-4 no signs of any yellow wagtails or the hoped for black headed wagtail.
JOHN TYMON said
Sat May 11 11:23 PM, 2013
Late PM Dunlin-9 Ringed Plover-4 Common Sandpiper-2 Yellow Wagtail-1 pair :)
Mike Baron said
Sat Apr 27 7:30 PM, 2013
Nine Common Sandpipers this morning plus two Redshanks and three White Wagtails
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Apr 20 11:50 PM, 2013
Late PM Dunlin-1 Redshank-2 Yellow Wagtail-1m No Black Necked Grebe
DavidBowman said
Sat Apr 20 1:12 AM, 2013
Hi John. When I spoke to the gardener about the piece of wood across the entrance he said it had been put there by the travellers when they released the horses there. The owner has asked him to rebuild a proper style and apparently has no problem with birders going onto the site, which is good news. The new owner of the house is keen to buy the Pool and keep it as it is but needs to raise £100,000 for it. I'm going to try to meet him and talk to him about possible fund raising to try and turn it into a protected reserve - might not happen but its worth a try.
Cheers David
DavidBowman said
Fri Apr 19 7:55 PM, 2013
Despite the 10 horses roaming around there were still some good birds present at mid-day today : 3 Black-necked Grebes, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 White Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails and 1 Reed Bunting.
Spoke to the gardener at the "big house" who said that the new owner was speaking to the police about getting the horses shifted - they apparently belong to a group of travellers.
Cheers David
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Apr 19 5:54 PM, 2013
DavidBowman wrote:
Despite the 10 horses roaming around there were still some good birds present at mid-day today : 3 Black-necked Grebes, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 White Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails and 1 Reed Bunting.
Spoke to the gardener at the "big house" who said that the new owner was speaking to the police about getting the horses shifted - they apparently belong to a group of travellers.
Cheers David
Looks like the small entrance at the top end has been blocked as well, someone has removed the style and replace it with a nailed board, so it also seems the new owner does not want people using that entrance any more as it was always only the owners entrance to the pool, and not a public right of way . 3 black necked grebe still present at 4.15pm
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 19th of April 2013 05:56:21 PM
Austin Morley said
Wed Apr 17 3:08 AM, 2013
I took another trip this morning down here and saw the Common Sands only two though along with one Little Ring Plover and TWO Sandwich Tern I took some pictures and wrote a new update on my Blog please check it out guys
http://austinmorley.blogspot.co.uk/
DavidBowman said
Wed Apr 17 1:50 AM, 2013
An hour's visit this tea-time and found the following: 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 4 Redshanks and 5 White Wagtails.
Cheers David
JOHN TYMON said
Tue Apr 16 8:21 PM, 2013
Austin Morley wrote:
I took another trip this morning down here and saw the Common Sands only two though along with one Little Ring Plover and TWO Sandwich Tern I took some pictures and wrote a new update on my Blog please check it out guys
John Tymon Wrote
Sandwich tern is a mega for the pool, I have only seen 2 in the best part of 15 years, good record for the pool that :)
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 16th of April 2013 08:22:19 PM
Kev123 said
Mon Apr 15 2:25 AM, 2013
I tried to visit Houghton Green Flash for the first time today but found it inaccessible. Can you tell me where is the best place to park and how to access the site. Thank you. My email address is: kevnewns@yahoo.co.uk Thank you in advance.
DavidBowman said
Sun Apr 14 12:13 AM, 2013
A quick stop at 1.30 pm, on my way back from Woolston. Found 2 Black-necked Grebes, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Sand Martins, 3 White Wagtails, 5 Pied Wagtails, 1 Redshank, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 11 Tufted Duck, 9 Mallard and 7 Coot .
Cheers David
DavidBowman said
Sat Apr 13 12:01 AM, 2013
With the change in the weather, nipped down to the pool at 4.00 pm. Two Swallows flew through and 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank, 17 Lapwings, 7 Pied Wagtails and a Wigeon were also present.
Cheers David
Lawrence Hindley said
Thu Apr 11 12:15 AM, 2013
All birds seen between 3.30 and 4.00pm
2 Little Ringed Plover 4 Lapwing 3 Stock dove 2 Pied Wagtail 1 Wigeon 1 Cormorant 4 Tufted Duck 2 Great Crested Grebe
Brian Burnett said
Sat Apr 6 11:09 PM, 2013
Two Little-ringed Plovers, one Black-necked Grebe plus small Wigeon flock in the sunshine around 2:30 pm
Brian & Helen Burnett
Austin Morley said
Sat Apr 6 3:03 AM, 2013
I went up around 14.00 and there was still no sign of any BN Grebes but there were a few GC Grebes, 1 Redshank and 4 LR Plover, I will put my pictures of the Plover up on my Blog as soon as I can, Cheers
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Apr 5 11:52 PM, 2013
only things of note pm widgeon-25 2 redshank no signs of any black necked grebe or little ringed plover-my guess the plover are over at penny and the grebes have gone to Woolston
Patrick Earith said
Wed Apr 3 7:23 PM, 2013
Now 3 Black-necked Grebes present here this morning. Also, a single Redshank and a Buzzard over
KEV BROWN said
Wed Apr 3 2:58 AM, 2013
Dusk: 1 Stunning Black Necked Grebe 1 Little Ringed Plover 1 Sparrowhawk
DavidBowman said
Tue Apr 2 9:24 PM, 2013
Quieter this morning, though still with 1 Black-necked Grebe present, along with 1 Redshank, 23 Wigeon, 9 Common Gulls and 72 Black-headed Gulls.
Cheers David
Mike Baron said
Mon Apr 1 8:08 PM, 2013
Black-necked Grebe this morning plus three Little Ringed Plovers and two Ringed Plovers plus twenty five Wigeon and twenty two Stock Doves
DavidBowman said
Sat Mar 30 9:12 PM, 2013
Hi John, despite the dog walkers tramping round the edge of the pool, there were still 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Ringed Plover, 2 Redshanks and 20 Wigeon this afternoon.
Cheers David
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Mar 30 4:47 PM, 2013
21 Widgeon at 4pm 2 redshank 5 Great crested Grebe 10 common gulls
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 30th of March 2013 06:12:14 PM
JOHN TYMON said
Fri Mar 29 5:29 PM, 2013
late pm -Quick Call in 5 Little Ringed plover 2 Ringed Plover 21 Wigeon
Anyone visiting the pool-be careful ,there have been quite a few groups of dodgy looking people hanging about in the woods on the north bank-better to just stay near the car and scope the pool, better safe than sorry. :) The pool is at its lowest ever water wise,they are extracting too much water and I fear that there will be no pool left in 12 months time
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 29th of March 2013 05:32:07 PM
Mike Baron said
Fri Mar 29 4:34 PM, 2013
Two Little Ringed Plovers this morning
JOHN TYMON said
Sun Mar 24 5:13 AM, 2013
Mike Baron wrote:
Two Ringed Plovers, two Oystercatchers, three Great Crested Grebes, nineteen Wigeon and nineteen Linnets this morning
plus 2 redshank pm and the widgeon were up to 21
Mike Baron said
Sat Mar 23 10:05 PM, 2013
Two Ringed Plovers, two Oystercatchers, three Great Crested Grebes, nineteen Wigeon and nineteen Linnets this morning
DavidBowman said
Sat Mar 16 8:54 PM, 2013
Called in briefly on my way back from Woolston Eyes. Still 1 Redshank present, along with 3 Oystercatchers, 23 Wigeon, 1 Grey Wagtail, 6 Common Gulls and 3 Siskins.
Cheers David
DavidBowman said
Sat Mar 16 12:29 AM, 2013
Went down after the rain today, hoping for a wader or two. One Redshank, 2 Oystercatchers and 5 Lapwings were feeding actively, along with 17 Wigeon, 1 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 22 Mallards, 2 Pied Wagtails and 11 Coot. In the hedgerows, 13 Linnets, 3 Redwings, 1 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrushes were with a few Chaffinches and Greenfinches.
Cheers David
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Mar 9 12:30 AM, 2013
16 wigeon only thing of note this afternoon
JOHN TYMON said
Thu Feb 28 2:45 PM, 2013
Pete Astles wrote:
Had a walk round here today in the afternoon. As John described just a few mallard and the odd tufted duck and gulls.
Absolutely terrible
This to me Just shows how quickly a fantastic site can deteriorate ,by just allowing dogwalkers to walk around and upsetting the eco system by extracting the water and to me its been on decline since it was filled with hundreds of fish about 10 years ago,that were just allowed to grow,when orriginally the thought was for it to become a trout fishery,its a shadow of the place I had to myself in the 1990's At this time of year there would have been 100+ wigeon,200 coot,100+ tufted,100 pochard,30 great crested grebe,up to 30 little grebe,+ the odd rarity like smew etc.The other day there was 8 Mallar
Pete Astles said
Thu Feb 28 8:09 AM, 2013
Had a walk round here today in the afternoon. As John described just a few mallard and the odd tufted duck and gulls.
Absolutely terrible
JOHN TYMON said
Sat Feb 23 4:21 PM, 2013
AM Almost bereft of birds-never seen it like this in february,there used to be in the region of 500 waterfowl/coots etc of various species at this time of year brfore the water was started being extracted by the water board. Wigeon-12 large group of fishermen on the south bank,obviously ignoring the no fishing signs even worse today-no wigeon
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 24th of February 2013 04:02:04 PM
DavidBowman said
Thu Feb 21 2:52 AM, 2013
Houghton Green Pool was fairly quiet this afternoon, with 1 Oystercatcher, 330 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 Common Gulls, 5 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel and 20 Wigeon along with the usual odds and ends.
Wigeon-63
Redshank-1
Cormorant-4
:)
2 Oystercatchers
60+ Wigeon
2 Tufted Duck
1 Coot
8 Mallard
1 Gt. Crested Grebe
1 Pochard
1 Cormorant
10 Black headed Gulls
2 Common Gulls
6 Meadow Pipits
1 Pied Wagtail
1 Song Thrush
Wigeon- 65
Littte Grebe-1
Pochard-8
Lapwing -50
Linnet-70
Meadow Pipit-6
Teal-2
:)
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 25th of January 2014 04:17:15 PM
Wigeon-51
Pochard-2
Cormorant-4
Greater Black Backed Gull-2
There used to be 200+ coots and same number of tufted before they started extracting water today there was 1 coot and 2 tufted duck. The place is sad towards its former glory.
Of note
Wigeon-52
Lapwing -200 on the north bank
Black headed Gull 200
:)
Wigeon-69
Wigeon-25
cormorant -5
pochard-3
hardly any coots, and a couple of great crested Grebe.
Green Sandpiper
27 Wigeon
40 Mallard
6 Pochard
2 Tufted Duck
3 Coot
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
7 Cormorants
78 Lapwings
11 Fieldfares
Same today
Plus if anyone parks by the sharp bend ,which a lot of the regulars, used to and still do please be aware the owner of the house where the entrance where people park near the arrows doesn't like people parking there any more and recently I have seen police moving people on ,so its assumed that he may be calling the police when people park there, and last week the opening at that point was taped off by the policed with crime scene yellow tape, so its probably better to be wary if parking near the pool
Common Sandpiper-1
Black Necked Grebe- 1 juv
Little Grebe-1
Common Buzzard-2
Great crested grebe-10
Coot -12
you can tell how bad this place is now with the once daily posts ending up with my once a month posts.Sad to see it with so little water probably a quarter the volume it was 5 years ago due to water being extracted :(
only things of note
2 Common Sandpiper
12 great crested Grebe
15 Coot.
Cormorant-2
Pochard-18 (unusual number for time of year
Ringed plover-1
great crested grebe-12
Tufted duck-4
Of note-very little water towards what it was before the water extraction.
Cormorant-3
Great crested grebe-11
Pochard-6
poor times at the pool ,and I daupt it will ever return to its former glory
A few Great Crested Grebe
1 Tufted Duck
1 Pochard
And more floating beer bottles than Birds. The yobs have taken over again at the pool and the same ones breaking bottles and throwing them in Friday were cleverly swimming in the same area they had been throwing them in the day before. The pool is so low now due to water extraction, it has lost the majority of its bird attraction and even the black necked grebes have hardly paid a visit this year, were previously there would be a dozen at this time of year. Its so sad to see what was a very important site being drained and the life draining away with it. The pool will never recover unfortunately as the water board seems to just want to drain it -real shame :(.
Great crested grebe-20 none breeding adults
Tufted Duck-1
Coot-4
no signs of any yellow wagtails or the hoped for black headed wagtail.
Dunlin-9
Ringed Plover-4
Common Sandpiper-2
Yellow Wagtail-1 pair
:)
Dunlin-1
Redshank-2
Yellow Wagtail-1m
No Black Necked Grebe
Cheers David
Spoke to the gardener at the "big house" who said that the new owner was speaking to the police about getting the horses shifted - they apparently belong to a group of travellers.
Cheers David
Looks like the small entrance at the top end has been blocked as well, someone has removed the style and replace it with a nailed board, so it also seems the new owner does not want people using that entrance any more
3 black necked grebe still present at 4.15pm
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 19th of April 2013 05:56:21 PM
http://austinmorley.blogspot.co.uk/
Cheers David
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 16th of April 2013 08:22:19 PM
Cheers David
Cheers David
All birds seen between 3.30 and 4.00pm
2 Little Ringed Plover
4 Lapwing
3 Stock dove
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Wigeon
1 Cormorant
4 Tufted Duck
2 Great Crested Grebe
Brian & Helen Burnett
widgeon-25
2 redshank
no signs of any black necked grebe or little ringed plover-my guess the plover are over at penny and the grebes have gone to Woolston
1 Stunning Black Necked Grebe
1 Little Ringed Plover
1 Sparrowhawk
Cheers David
Cheers David
21 Widgeon at 4pm
2 redshank
5 Great crested Grebe
10 common gulls
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 30th of March 2013 06:12:14 PM
5 Little Ringed plover
2 Ringed Plover
21 Wigeon
Anyone visiting the pool-be careful ,there have been quite a few groups of dodgy looking people hanging about in the woods on the north bank-better to just stay near the car and scope the pool, better safe than sorry. :) The pool is at its lowest ever water wise,they are extracting too much water and I fear that there will be no pool left in 12 months time
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 29th of March 2013 05:32:07 PM
plus 2 redshank pm and the widgeon were up to 21
Cheers David
Cheers David
This to me Just shows how quickly a fantastic site can deteriorate ,by just allowing dogwalkers to walk around and upsetting the eco system by extracting the water and to me its been on decline since it was filled with hundreds of fish about 10 years ago,that were just allowed to grow,when orriginally the thought was for it to become a trout fishery,its a shadow of the place I had to myself in the 1990's
Absolutely terrible
Almost bereft of birds-never seen it like this in february,there used to be in the region of 500 waterfowl/coots etc of various species at this time of year brfore the water was started being extracted by the water board.
Wigeon-12
large group of fishermen on the south bank,obviously ignoring the no fishing signs
even worse today-no wigeon
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 24th of February 2013 04:02:04 PM
Cheers David