1st November.

12.40 'till 2.00 pm.

8 Teal (6 males), 12 Goosander (all redheads), 16 Tufted Duck, 8 Moorhen, 12 Coot, 51 Mallard, 66 Canada Geese, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 8 Mute Swan, 1 Greylag Goose, 1 Embden Goose without any wing feathers (I was told that it has been here and has survived in this condition for several years and apparently is known to all as Charlie!). Also 1 Kingfisher , 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Grey Heron and c115 Black-headed Gulls.

The 3 rafts on the main water body are all now each graced with an individual beautiful and eye-catching, woven willow sapling sculpture. 1 is of a Grey Heron, 1 of a dragonfly and 1 of a Kingfisher. They are all really excellent, especially so the Kingfisher which beautifully captures this species posture and body language. Well done to who ever has done these. Great stuff.


Cheers,

Bill.

17th August.

Quick visit early pm.

21 Tufted Duck, 89 Mallard, a pair of Mute Swans with 4 cygnets, pair of Great Crested Grebes with 1 almost fully grown young, plus pairs of Moorhen with 1 dependent young and Coot with 2 dependent young. Independent juveniles from earlier broods visible for both species.

In the surrounding Woodlands - a Treecreeper, Wrens seen feeding begging, calling young and an adult Woodpigeon perched on a branch in a tree regurgitating food down the throats of 2 begging juveniles.

Cheers,

Bill.

12th May.

9.30 - 11.15 am.

There are now 3 rafts (vegetated) on the largest of the lodges and 1 on one of the smaller ones. Well done to whoever has had these "installed" and it's great to see them being used already by some of the birds already!

Highlights a family party of Long-tailed Tits with at least 7 juveniles. A Robin feeding a single fledgling - was watching this adult for some while and it really appeared to be struggling to find anything to feed the young bird. A female Chaffinch carried food. Good numbers of Blackcaps - at least 7 singing males and the area is really excellent for Song Thrush, with good numbers of birds seen and heard all the way around the walk this morning.

Keep atlasing!

Bill.

16th March.

Had a quick visit today - have called a few times during the big freeze but there has been nothing of particular interest.

Nothing of interest today either for that matter except a raft has appeared in the middle of one of the largest lodges. Had a quick chat with one of the rangers and he said this is the first of several apparently - to not only act as refuges for the fish but also to encourage nesting birds!

Could it soon be time for the first Tern colony in Rochdale?

Cheers,

Bill.

22nd November.

9 Goosanders (2 males) on one of the lodges at 11.00 am. Guess what? Yes, surrounded by a pack of Black-headed Gullls trying to steal food! I think I can recall reading somewhere once (although whether this is an accurate fact or not I'm not really sure) that the smaller gulls could probably find their daily food requirement by spending just 20 minutes foraging at the local landfill sites - yet these lazy so and so's can't even be bothered doing 20 minutes of their own work!

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Sunday 22nd of November 2009 07:09:13 PM

28th March.

4 Swallows! Steve Atkins has told me this may well be a Rochdale record for March!

Cheers,

Bill.

22nd March @ 7.30 am.

1 Kingfisher , 1 Chiffchaff singing, 1 Treecreeper and 2 very vocal Song Thrushes.

Bill.

19th March.

Chiffchaff singing this morning.

Bill.

7th March.

Visited early morning optimistically hoping for an early Chiffchaff - but no luck!

Sightings/records included:-

6 Great Crested Grebes - 2 pairs and 2 singletons,
25+ Tufted Duck,
2 Mute Swan,
5 singing Song Thrush,
1 Grey Heron,
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming,
2 Siskins were a nice sight, as they seem to have been so scarce this winter.

Cheers,

Bill.

1 Kingfisher
10 Goosander
28 Tufted Duck
2 Bullfinch
40+ Greenfinch

lots and lots of fungi, see the wildlife forum

Dave

quite right jon, typo indeed. Then again ...

I hope, Ian, that 'exitable' is a 'typo' otherwise there is no hope for any of us!!

Typo's a much more gentle way of asking the question Colin no need to apologise though, folk are easily exitable on this forum

By "typo" you mean misidentification, I think, and you are probably right. It was rather murky and hailstoning heavily, so the three - two on one lodge, one on another - may well have been female goosanders, now I come to compare images. Sorry if I got people excited.

Monday 24November, 12.30 - 2.00 p.m.

Jays, blackbirds, blue and great tits, magpies, crows and redwings in the woods and along Boardman Brook. Lots of coot, moorhen, BHgulls, Canada geese, mallard on the lodges. A few tufted, several feral white geese, two greylags, 3RBmerganser, 1 goosander.





































-- Edited by Colin Buckley at 16:11, 2008-11-24

Wednesday 29 Oct. 2.00 - 3.00 p.m. Rhodes Lodges

Abundant numbers of coot, rather fewer numbers of moorhen. C. 30 BHGulls commuting loudly from lodge to lodge. c.30 Canada Geese on two of the lodges. 6 tufted duck on one lodge, plus one greylag. 2 mute swans, 1 goosander, 1 GCGrebe, rather fewer mallard than one would have expected, the vast majority of them drakes, 1 grey wagtail, 1 heron.

28th October.

Rhodes Lodges am.

A feeding party of 10 Goosanders surrounded by a squabbling pack of Black-headed Gulls, hoping to steal food off the ducks.

Also 21 Tufted Duck, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Mute Swan and c15 Long-tailed Tits. Handfuls of Coots and Moorhens on most of the water bodies.

Cheers,

Bill.

7th April - a.m. 4 Sand Martins - it was a really cold morning - hope they were managing to find something to eat over the waters surface! 29 Tufted Duck, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 5 male Mallards circled around and displaying to a rather bored and uninterested looking female!, a pair of Blue Tits mating, a Sparrowhawk, 1 Grey Wagtail & 2 singing Chiffchaff. Several Jays. Cheers, Bill.