Originally posted by Allan Rimmer at 4:06 today:

Ninety-nine per cent frozen this lunch-time but 156 Mallard, 35 Coot, one Little Grebe and one 'call' duck on a small unfrozen patch of Worthington Reservoir, plus seven Teal on the ice near the stream outlet on Adlington.

Two signs of spring though: a Nuthatch in full song and c120 Rooks prospecting their usual nest site near Kilhey Court.

Originally posted by Allan Rimmer earlier today:

Two male Mandarins and a female, with a Little Grebe and a few hardy Mallard and Coot on the tiny patch of unfrozen reservoir as the snow came down this morning.

At home in Hodges Street this afternoon, a front-window tick as we watched seven Redwing feeding in a holly bush in a garden opposite. Can Waxwings be far behind?

622 BH Gulls
126 Herring Gulls
8 GBB Gulls
10 LBB Gulls
2 Grey Wadtails
1 Kingfisher
GSW Drumming

Cheers Jimmy

Note Toilets will be closed to the public from 4th Jan

264 Herring Gulls and 5 Great Black-Backed Gulls, mainly on the embankment between Arley and Adlington Reservoirs at lunchtime, with the adult Whooper Swan next to them

Single Whooper Swan present early pm today

Info thanks to Dave Broome

24/12/09 am

1 Buzzard perched up near the Platt Lane entrance
6 Yellowhammer
23 Great Black-backed Gulls on Arley Reservoir ~ also 120+ Herring Gulls, c30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 15+ Common Gulls and c200 Black-headed Gulls. Constant movement from the nearby landfill site..
1 Reed Bunting
14 Fieldfare
8 Redwing
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Mistle Thrushes jealously guarding some kind of ornamental berry tree
27+ Collared Dove
usual Rooks, Crows & Jackdaws.......

32 species seen in total.

This Morning 66 Herring Gulls
176 B H gulls
3 LBb Gulls
1 Kingfisher
1 dipper on Douglas
1 Grey Wagtail

Cheers Jimmy

16 Mandarins today
Info Thanks to Tom Morton

23/11/09 Early morning

4 Tree Sparrows, 5 Yellowhammers & 2 Reed Buntings were loosely associating with a flock of Chaffinches which were roaming the stubble field and adjoining trees and bushes just off Chorley Road (Platt Lane end).

Around the reservoirs:

1 Goosander (redhead)
2 Sparrowhawk
2 Grey Wagtail
1 Treecreeper
1 Goldcrest
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
3 Great Crested Grebe.

Originally posted by Allan Rimmer at 12:24 today (moved here to keep this existing thread for the site going )


One male mandarin and two females on top section of Adlington Reservoir this am with a kingfisher and two female teal.

Around 20 tree sparrows and two reed bunting in stubble in field left of Adlington, and sparrowhawk above.

Water levels very high so little else on water.



-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 4th of November 2009 04:22:40 PM

19/10/09
Worthington Res
4 Little Grebe
2 Grey Wagtail
27 Redwing West 8:20

Mayflower Lodge
27 Mallard
4 Aylesbury Duck

Arley Res
8 G C Grebe
4 Goldcrets in Conifers

Arley Woods
1 Dipper on Douglas


Chorley Rd Fields
20 Pied Wagtails
20 Yellowhammers
40 Rooks
10 Carrion Crows
123 Jackdaws
1 Grey Wagtail
70 Wood Pigeon

Cheers Jimmy

25/9/09 Early Morning

2 Yellowhammers up near the Platt Lane end.
4 Grey Wagtail
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Kingfisher
2 Little Grebe
7 Great Crested Grebe
3 Goldcrest
2 Coal Tit
25 Goldfinch
1 Cormorant & 2 Herring Gulls over.

(Today was the first time ever that a bird has shat upon me, apart from a Feral Pigeon in Edinburgh, but that doesn`t count........or does it ? . I didn`t see the culprit, but let me tell you........it was an honour )

13/3/09 pm

A conservative count of 20 very flighty Yellowhammers down the track from the Platt Lane entrance. 25 + Fieldfare and a single Stock Dove in the same area.

Pair of Goosanders & 12 Great Crested Grebes on Arley Res.

Kingfisher, Treecreeper, and Goldcrest round Adlington Res.

2nd winter(?) Iceland Gull with the Herring Gulls on Arley Res at 13:55. The gulls then all moved onto Worthington Res briefly before departing north at 14:10.

Mealy Redpoll showed well at 1445-1515 after evading detection for over an hour.

also

Wigeon
Mandarin
Goldcrest
Grey Wagtail
and 1000's of Gulls (couldn't pick owt good out!)

Early afternoon today

Collared Dove-63 (single flock)
Herring Gulls-fairly accurate count of 1800 resting on the ice of Arley Reservoir, then much tooing and froing to the tip with more tooing than froing though!
Mealy Redpoll- a single, lone cracking male feeding at almost eye level and showing very well in trees at the water's edge rightby the visitor centre at 12:40
Kingfisher- 1

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 13:47, 2009-01-02

Happy New Year to you all
Sightings today included
1m Wigeon
1m Pochard
3 Little Grebe
2 Grey Wagtail
1 Kingfisher
Gulls numbers down from my last few visits but still approx 500 to and from the tip which was probably shut today but with the amount of gulls what is in the area must turn up something good soon.
Also lots of Walkers about and it was freezing

Cheers Jimmy

Peregrine over early afternoon today.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Lunchtime today:
1 first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL stood on the ice at the part-frozen Arley Reservoir,
approx 1400 Herring Gulls initially present, but a good two-thirds of these took up and returned to Rigby Landfill, small numbers of Great Black-Backed Gulls and very few Lesser Black-Backeds

Lunchtime today - 45 Great Black-Backed Gulls, a few hundred Herring Gulls
2 Teal, 1 Raven, also 2 Treecreeper showing well at the car park and extremely photogenic (if I had a camera) Redwing on Cotoneaster by the education centre/toilets

Just after mid-day today there were approx 1000 Herring Gulls (they all took up just before I'd finished counting 'em) and about 600 Black-Headeds, not many Lesser Black-Backeds and about the same number of Great Black-Backeds as Jimmy saw - they then nearly all went back to the Rigby Landfill site (just outside GM in Chorley Borough)

1 Lesser Redpoll
3 Gadwall
1 Raven

-- Edited by dave broome at 20:23, 2008-12-10

Over 1000 Gulls this Morn on the middle lake Herring ,LBB,BHG, A few Common Gulls and About 6 GBBG didnt try to count as on a walk with Wigan RSPB
Also 10 Tufted
1 Pochard
5 Little Grebe
2 G C Grebe
1 Cormorant

Cheers Jimmy

233 Herring Gull at lunchtime today, few Lesser or Great Black-Backed Gulls

Lunchtime today: Herring Gull 948, Lesser Black-Backed Gull 154, Great Black-Backed Gull 11

good views of a raven causing havoc over the rookery this morning not much else about

this am
2 grey wagtails
2 little grebe
arley woods
1 dipper looked to be on territory yes it was on gm side

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 22nd of September 2009 01:08:56 PM