8-4-10 16:00--16:30

1 Sand Martin
1 Swallow
1 Little Grebe (been here over a week -- always see LGs on their ownsome here and elsewhere)
Canadas (still fighting and courting)
10 Tufties
Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Embdens
2 Mute Swans
1 Muscovy Duck

No Ring Neck Parakeets. Saw one here last week. The week before one male visited my garden (in Rusholme) every day to eat apples. Most seen this year by my wife on the allotments is only 3, whereas up to 7 were seen before the big freeze.

Visit to lake this afternoon.

Canada Goose
Coot
Egyptian Goose
Mallard
Moorhen
Pochard
Tufted Duck

Also Redwing, Greenfinch and Goldfinch amongst others

No sign of the Ring-Necked Parakeets.

7th March.

On the lake - 26 Tufted Duck and 10 Pochard (7 males). The rafts of Tufties were giving out that "nervous giggle" type of display call that they do - I have only ever heard it at around this time of year - rafts of this species were also doing it at Queens Park in Heywood and also at Springfield Park in Marland, Rochdale on 5th March.

2 Mute Swan, 1 Grey Heron, 7 Embden Geese and 1 Egyptian Goose were also present on/around the lake. Coots nest building.

In the park :- 2 pairs of Mistle Thrush, 2 singing Song Thrush, 2 singing Nuthatch and 2 birds also seen fighting, 1 Goldcrest calling, 2 Long-tailed tits carried nest material and 2 Greenfinch investigated a possible nest site.

c25 Redwing were singing away in the tops of some mature trees. I love to just stand underneath the trees and listen to and enjoy their song. Beautiful.

c140 Black-headed Gulls and 9 Common Gulls.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Sunday 7th of March 2010 01:37:22 PM

7th February.

Mid-morning.

"Only" 83 Tufted Duck this morning but the Pochard count was up to 8 (5 males).

110+ Redwing foraging on the short grassland in the park. Later in the visit some were resting in the tall trees and giving a subdued version of the incessant communal chatter/song that I heard from Redwing flocks at this site and also at Alexandra Park in March '09. The song today was not as loud as that from March last year - I presume the volume of song might grow in strength as the birds approach their departure date? 2 Fieldfare amongst the Redwings. 2 Cormorants, a pair of Nuthatch and a single Goldcrest were also seen. 1 drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 singing Song Thrush and 1 singing Mistle Thrush.

1 Chaffinch - giving the first half of its song but not yet feeling able to end off with the final flourish!

There was a drowned fox floating towards the surface of the lake.

Cheers,

Bill.

24th January.

Mid-morning.

After seeing large numbers of Tufted Duck at Chorlton WP earlier in the morning I was very surprised to see large numbers here as well - c175 on the water and the flock also contained 5 Pochard (1m,4f). Also 3 Cormorants and 1 Grey Heron on the island. 7 Embden Geese and 1 Muscovy Duck.

On the short grassland around the lake was a mixed flock of thrushes, collecting plenty of earthworms - c80 Redwing, c35 Starling, 4 Fieldfare and 1 Mistle Thrush. In different parts of the park there were another 4 Mistle Thrush - 2 pairs. Also 3 Nuthatch - a pair, with a single bird in another part of the park. 7 Greenfinch and 8 Common Gulls also noted.

Cheers,

Bill.

Would do if I knew how Tony

Pictures please !

lunchtime visit in the snow

Shoveler 2 pairs on edge of ice cover
Tufties 8
Egyptian Goose 1
Parakeet 1 in old children's zoo area flew to island

100s of sledging people - mostly students from the nearby halls
fools traversing the ice to the island

Oh and someone had made a very lovely snow Wren!!

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Tuesday 5th of January 2010 03:36:08 PM

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Tuesday 5th of January 2010 03:36:54 PM

1 cormorant
5 shoveler (3m2f)
2 pochard (m)
1 egyptian goose
1 heron
greenfinch
c10 common gull
c100 black headed gulls
1 muscovy duck

lake mostly frozen

3 Shoveler
11 Tufted
1 Egyptian Goose
15 Common Gull

Magpies 189 counted into the roost 3.30 - 4.10 today.
Also Cormorants 10+
Pochard 1
Parakeets 2 heard near the lake on arrival
Herons 2
Tufties 35+
Just too wet to get the notebook out.

Guess someone will get a better count of the wildfowl tomorrow. Hope it stops long enough for the WeBS!

Yesterday Fri 20 7.30pm Tawny Owl again hooting in tree on Platt Lane

Friday 13th morning.
My partner saw 9 cormorants on the island drying their wings, 2 herons and a large group of tufted ducks too.
Debs

I met 'Pat from Platt' in the pub tonight and grilled him for gen -

Herons have nested again in the same spot as last year and have 4 chicks
Swans have 6 cygnets
up to 7 Parakeets recently, squarking from the island in the morning (council workers don't get up that early ) and then disappearing (I'll say no more)

There is a big do here this weekend the 'Picnic in the Park'

quick cycle through this morning:

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Swallow 1
Mute Swan 1
Tufted Duck 11
Starling c40
House Sparrow c10
Mistle Thrush 2

declan savage wrote:

---

As far as I'm aware, Ring-necked Parakeets almost always nest in tree holes, so I doubt if this nest is one of theirs.
-- Edited by declan savage on Wednesday 15th of April 2009 04:12:48 PM

---

Doh! Okay in my defence I was harassed by my kids, wind & 2 bloomin dogs running amok from owners! Got me puzzled though as it's a massive ball of sticks. Knowing my luck it will be man-made part of garden, but it looked too good for humans..... need another visit in evening soon anyway to get them parakeets.
Rae

Rachael Hill wrote:

---

PS there is a large nest at back of eco-garden, looks like a smaller version of a parakeet nest I knew in Spain- does any of you locals know if it is a parakeet nest (behind the semi circle seating area where someone has had a bonfire, on left of path)?


-- Edited by Rachael Hill on Wednesday 15th of April 2009 01:45:57 PM

---

Rachael,

As far as I'm aware, Ring-necked Parakeets almost always nest in tree holes, so I doubt if this nest is one of theirs. I think the commonest feral parakeet species in Spain is the Monk Parakeet which does build stick nests - I've seen lots of them in the parks in Barcelona.

-- Edited by declan savage on Wednesday 15th of April 2009 04:12:48 PM

Spent day in park, started off nice & then got very windy
10.00-12.45
55+ canada geese
14+ mallard
7 coot (1 on nest near island)
4 moorhen
11 tufted ducks
1 muscovy duck
1 grey heron
1 great crested grebe
1 mute swan
16 magpies altogether! plus 7+ more
8 woodpigeon
4 blackbird
3 robin
1 song thrush
6+ swallows
2 dunnocks
2 carrion crow
30+ starlings
1 chaffinch
2 blue tits
1 greenfinch
40+ feral pigeons

So what do you get for 16 magpies? 1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 16....?
PS there is a large nest at back of eco-garden, looks like a smaller version of a parakeet nest I knew in Spain- does any of you locals know if it is a parakeet nest (behind the semi circle seating area where someone has had a bonfire, on left of path)?


-- Edited by Rachael Hill on Wednesday 15th of April 2009 01:45:57 PM

Two R-n's showing their socks off at alexandra Park this afternoon.....

11th March.

9.30 - 11.00 am.

2nd visit this week to the dark side ... er, I mean the south side of the city, in pursuit of parrots!! (Alexandra Park on 9th).

Parakeets?... Parrots? ... no sight!, no sound!, ... might have had more luck finding a Pterodactyl!! In fact I should have read some of the earlier posts on this thread before I visited, which seem to suggest that I might have been there a bit too early in the day for them? Might be a bright idea to try both parks again next week.

So what was about?

Pair Great Spotted Woodpecker - the male was drumming,
c75 Redwing - again with that incessant low-level squeaky chatter that I heard from the flock in Alexandra Park on 9th. Can't say I have heard this sound before on autumn flocks (maybe just missed it?) - is this just a sound made by birds getting ready to depart?
1 Mistle Thrush,
c70 Black-headed Gulls, accompanied by 5 Common Gulls,
13 Tufted Duck (9 males),
Signs of breeding activity for Magpie, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and Long-tailed Tit,
Pair of Mute Swan,
A very vocal Nuthatch - calling and singing and giving a weak form of display flight,
1 Goldcrest singing and finally a pair of Bullfinches.

Cheers,

Bill.

Yesterday early pm

Redwings 73 on large field near church with 3 Mistle Thrush and 50 Starlings
2 GS Woodpecker calling but not seen. Too early for Parakeets - probably still at the allotments or feeding elsewhere.

lunchtime today:

5 Parakeets, c25 Redwing, mixed tit flock with 2 Nuthatch - sensory garden area.

pair Bullfinch, 2 Goldcrest and 2 more Redwing along stream

c40 Tufties and 1 Grey Wagtail at the lake

c30 House Sparrows in gardens behind sensory garden area

Some Parakeet and Amazon pictures from here on flickr.com, see

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33150844@N04/sets/72157611069348984/

or search 'parrots in & around platt fields park rusholme m/c' by maxmcfc1949



-- Edited by Pete Hines at 20:51, 2009-01-03

Fri, 2pm

37 species incl

Shoveler 1 drake
Tufted Duck 39
Egyptian Goose
Black Headed Gull c90
Common Gull 23
Herring Gull 1
R N Parakeet - at least 4
G S Woodpecker 1
Jay 4
Grey Wagtail 1
Bullfinch 2
Redwing 3
Goldcrest 3

14.15-15.15

A minimum of 5 (3m & 2f) and a maximum of 8 Ring-necked Parakeets
1 Orange-winged Amazon
1 Snipe flew over north
1 Nuthatch
26 Tufted (lake mostly frozen)
1 Egyptian Goose
Redwings
Goldcrest

Loads about in the park today (34 species in total), especially on the lake compared to yesterday when it was quite quiet. The pair of shovelers were back after a few days absence, tufted ducks were up from 41 to 45 and included 3 male pochards that were new in today. Lots more redwings, starlings and greenfinches than usual as well as 2 male bullfinch by the lake and a pair of nuthatches near the chapel entrance.

Thanks for that, Pete.

I'd missed the post from July - can't read absolutely everything on this website, but I should have checked this thread!

Cheers, Steve

See post on this thread 6th July - one nest on the island, two juveniles fledged.

I've had no reports of nesting attempts by Herons in the park this year. Can anyone confirm this (or otherwise)?

Steve (with organiser of Heronries Census hat on)

13.00 to 13.45, icy and sunny

on lake - partially frozen:
3 Shoveler (2 m, 1f)
35 Tufted Duck
1 Little Grebe
2 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
2 Grey Wagtail
c100 BH Gull
c20 Common Gull
plus usual mallard, canadas, and assorted other geese

in park:
c25 Redwing
pair Bullfinch
Nuthatch
2 Treecreeper
6 Mistle Thrush
3 R N Parakeet
plus commoner species

Given the cold weather it seemed like a good time to go and check for anything different on the lake which it turned out was only slightly frozen over. Tufted ducks were up from 29 earlier in the week to 40 but best of all were a pair of goosanders, a new one for the park for us. They weren't bothered by the people or dogs but weren't feeding at all so sadly it wasn't much surprise when they flew off south after 10-15 minutes.
There were also plenty of gulls with 167 black-headed, 27 common and 2 lesser black-backed including quite a noticeable increase in the number of 1st winter birds from a week or two ago.
Nick and Caroline

Magpie roost slightly down at 307. No sign of Parakeets or Amazon.

Tim
I so hope you are right about the Amazon. I've not seen it for 3 weeks now. As too dark after work now and I am just limited to Saturday afternoons for seeing my green friends.

Who says Magpies are boring? A fun hour or so with Paul and Dave counting them into the island - cheers guys. We got to 365 and then it was too dark (and too cold). Possibly around 400 in the park all together as some birds hung around in trees around the lake and seemed to be roosting where they were. Also a loud and unfamiliar squawk heard - probably the Amazon we reckoned. The Gyppo kept us company too.

I hope to make another visit Sat - too dark leaving work now. If you saw numbers that high this will make little old Platt Fields possibly the most important Magpie roost in NW England. Having checked in the new Atlas of Breeding and Wintering birds in Cheshire and Wirral and the Lancs bird book nowhere else are roosts that large recorded.

Caroline - if you can remember the date (or even the month) when you saw 600 Magpies, I would greatly appreciate it so I can put it into the county database. Do be careful in any Manchester park at any time of the day.

Hi Tim,

This isn't Nick but his girlfriend Caroline. I moved to Manchester September 07 to start university and have been a keen platt fields visitor since. In the Sep/Oct months the Magpie numbers weren't too high, maybe 50-100 birds in the evening times for roost. However, as it got more into winter and colder the numbers greatly increased. The numbers increase in small flocks as the light fadesand I think the most I saw all winter at one time was approaching 600 birds. The noise of them all is incredible, quite amazing to hear and see! The numbers then died away again as spring came so I expect the same to happen this year. Nothing quite like this happens at any of the other parks in Manchester that I've seen... but i don't know how safe i feel in most of them at dusk!

3.40 - 4.35 No sign of any parakeets - definitely not using the same tree to roost in it seems. It's lost quite a lot more leaves since last week.

However I counted the Magpies in to roost on the island and got to a massive 289. Looking at previous reports this is far greater than anything recorded at the 'Egerton roost' (wherever that is) at least since 2002. This must be the main S. Manchester roost. Most were coming in from the south and west. As it's so big I'll continue to check on this now.

Whilst looking for the Parakeets (no sign) counted in excess of 80 Magpies roosting on the island (perhaps that's why the Parakeets are not there). Hard to get and exact number as still too much foliage.

Also of note 5 bats were a nice surprise - 2 over the small orchard and 3 over the west side of the lake. I don't I'm afraid know what species they were.

1 male Ring-necked Parakeet at the sensory garden at 14.00
14 Tufted
1 Egyptian Goose

also in Fallowfield:

1 Kingfisher at Platt Brook where the brook goes under the Manchester Cycle Way, behind St. Kentigerns RC Primary School, at SJ843938

Welcome to the forum Nick. Loads of info on here about other birding sites around the county, some are fairly easy to get to on public transport too. Heaton Park is easily accessible from the tram network which is not bad. Sale WP (and Broad Ees Dole Jheel) might be accessible from the tram too, not too far from you.
Have you caught up with the Parakeets in the park yet?
BNG is a great inner city bird to find on one of your first outings in the area! Keep it up.
Henry.

Hi Nick and welcome to Manc.

I should have mentioned that the lake here has been plagued with blue-green algae in recent weeks and thus it has been closed to water based recreation. I noticed yesterday that booms of barley straw had been placed by staff at various locations and thus the resulting disturbance in doing this would probably have pushed the bird off. This is a method we have deployed at Chorlton WP to attempt to combat the algae for the last two years (150 bales - they used 5), indeed the staff here got the straw and netting from Chorlton WP. Staff were aware of the birds presence though perhaps not on the day.

There is a small population of nesting BNG's not a million miles away at a private site, though a wandering juvenile to a inner city ornamental pond is quite unusual, I've never even seen one at Chorlton WP although there has been a couple of spring records.

Hi everyone, just moved to the area (living in Fallowfield) and managed to find your site. I've been to the park most days recently and haven't seen the grebe since the 20th (it first appeared on the 6th), that was when the water was treated and most of the tufted ducks the grebe had been with had disappeared too. Is a black-necked grebe here quite unusual, at least within the city itself?
Looking forward to my time in Manchester.....

NO BNG 11.00. Last reported on Birdguides on 19th.
1 Egyptian Goose
11 Embdem Geese + 1 type hybrid
new brood of 5 Coot chicks

-- Edited by Pete Hines at 00:27, 2008-07-25

juvenile Black-necked Grebe still present at 15.30

Still there today.... it got scared into flight by a very large carp (Jaws) jumping out the water then later by a cormorant.

-- Edited by Adrian Dancy at 19:01, 2008-07-17

Juv Black-necked Grebe still present and correct this morning.

Info thanks to Mike Chorley

A fisherman friend of mine tells me some 32 Cormorants descended on the boating lake last year and had a field day and its not been restocked

Black-necked grebe still present along with millions of creepy crawlies dropping onto the water surface.

I am surpised there are no fish in the lake, I pulled a few out but that was 20 years ago :)

I managed a few decent shots though, had to lay in a lot of canada goose poo to get them.

-- Edited by Adrian Dancy at 13:33, 2008-07-14

Cheers Tim - and sound advice. Nice to meet you again this morning.

Still present this morning as were 2 female type Ring-necked Parakeets, a Grey Wagtail and 2 Gt Spotted Woodpeckers.

-- Edited by Rob Smallwood at 12:33, 2008-07-12

A word of caution to all re.being in Platt Fields park at dusk or after dark - a friend who lives on Yew Tree Road rode through on his bike last week and was attacked and hospitalised with stitches to a head wound and concusion (though he managed to hang on to his bike thanks to someone with a big dog scaring off his attackers). So please be very careful there later in the evenings.