I agree, there is a small group that text each other but that tends to be the regular, core, patch-watchers. If I get any good stuff from them I could always put it out on the Marbury email group, as the 2 sites are pretty close & news from Sandbach would probably be of interest to many folk who get the Marbury news. I will ask folk from the Sandbach text group if they would be kind enough to do this.
What do you think, Patrick, worth doing?
Patrick Earith said
Fri May 9 4:38 PM, 2014
Ah, typical! I toyed with going over to the tip but the weather was pretty poor so gave it a miss. I visit Sandbach pretty much weekly, every Thursday, as my mum lives there. Have had some good birds up at the tip in previous years (including Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler but, never Tree Pipit!). Shame there isn't a Patch email group like the one you do for Marbury etc Paul!
Cheers
Doc Brewster said
Fri May 9 3:07 PM, 2014
An amazing day down at Sandbach Flashes yesterday with several scarce patch birds turning up. The list included Whinchat and 2 Tree Pipits at Maw Green Tip. the Tree Pipits being particularly elusive but the Whinchat was succesfully twitched by patchers. Back at Elton Hall Flash & Pumphouse Flash in the afternoon and things were looking better with 6 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper, 2 drake Gadwall and a drake Mandarin. Swift is on the Sandbach list this year but as Patrick says it is by no mean as common as just up the road at the Marbury CP/Neumann's/Ashton's area (sightings per D.Robinson & the Focalpoint Bird Leagues).
Patrick Earith said
Fri May 9 1:04 PM, 2014
Visit yesterday evening produced 8 Ringed Plover and 2 Dunlin on the flood to the left of Pumphouse Flash. Also of note, a very vocal Willow Warbler and, over Elton Hall Flash well over a hundred hirundines, mainly Sand Martin, but including Swallow and House Martin. No sign of any Swift yet
Patrick Earith said
Tue Apr 15 11:55 AM, 2014
Visit to Elton Hall Flash yesterday evening produced:
Common Sandpiper 26 Black-tailed Godwit 2 Redshank Goosander m & f Tree Sparrow (at least 4) Buzzard Stock Dove (at least 8) Wigeon (still at least 10) Teal (at least 5) Shoveler Tufted Duck Great Crested Grebe (4) Great Spotted Woodpecker m Lapwing (lots)
no hirundines, surprisingly
John Williams said
Sat Apr 12 2:32 PM, 2014
09.30-12.00
Elton Hall Flash
1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 imm. Iceland Gull, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Sparrowhawks (simultaniously involved in aerial display) & 1 Peregrine.
Also, 20 Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Redshanks & 1 Buzzard.
Masses of Swallows & Sand Martins moving through.
Pumphouse Flash just contained a few Shelduck, Canada Geese etc,.
The adjacent flooded pasture only held a pair of Pied Wagtails & 4 Teal.
Patrick Earith said
Thu Mar 27 11:35 PM, 2014
Quick visit in torrential rain this evening gave the following of note:
2 Little ringed Plover 12 Black-tailed Godwit, some coming into breeding plumage.
John Williams said
Sun Mar 23 2:39 PM, 2014
09.30-12.30
Elton Hall Flash
3 Black tailed Godits, including a resplendent adult male in breeding plumage. This male attracted the attention of 30+ Black Headed Gulls that chased & harassed it relentlessly.
After a minutes of being chased around the flash, the godwit found shelter behind a bank at the northern end, and a long way from his comrades.
Masses of Black Headed Gulls on the flash, most of these arriving in two huge flocks from the West. A large group of Lesser Black Backed Gulls were resting on the adjoining field,
together with lesser numbers of Herring & Common, but no sign of any Great Black Backs.
2 Buzzards were in display flight over the flash, these raptors did'nt seem to bother the Black Headed Gull throng, but every time a Carrion Crow approached the flock there was mass panic.
Also, 3 Great Crested Grebes & 2 Redshanks. Still lots of Wigeon around, with lesser numbers of Teal & Shoveler, however very few Lapwing still remain.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Pied Wagtails, plus a few Coot, Moorhen etc,. THe usual big gull roost appears to have moved over to EHF.
3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming at various spots around the flashes.
Some of the big trees on the south side of EHF have been downed by recent storms, and 3 Wrens were flitting amongst the tangled mess.
Masses of Lapwing (1000+ often moving between EHF & Pumphouse), on EHF they were often harassed by a Carrion Crow
which flushed them, then flew through the flock as if it was looking for a weakling.
House Sparrows seem to outnumber their Tree Sparrow cousins on the feeders now. Lots of Chaffinches, quite a few with badly distorted feet, but no Bramblings.
A male Blackbird with a large white patch across his nape.
An adult Common Gull was harassing flocks of Starlings, it would seperate one bird from the mass then chase it relentlessly, when it seemed to have the Starling within it's grasp,
it would break off the attack. The gull would then perform spectacular aerobatics, it just seemed to be having fun and showing off.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull mixed in with the Lesser Black Backs, 6 Great Black Backs & 3 " Argentatus" Herring Gulls.
1 Ruff, 2 Sparrowhawks.
53 Curlew on the flooded pasture across the road from Pumphouse.
John Williams said
Sat Jan 11 3:12 PM, 2014
10.00-12.00
Elton Flash
1 Black tailed Godwit, 2 Redshanks, 3 Goosanders, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 50+ Shelduck, 2 Buzzards plus masses of Lapwing etc.
Even though there were lots of Wigeon, numbers appear to be a fraction of what they were a decade ago, and there were only 30 Teal around the flash too.
There were no Shovelers. Tree and House Sparrows amongst the usual birds around the feeders, plus a single Collared Dove.
A couple of Ruff were reported just before I arrived.
Pumphouse Flash
17 Great Black Backed Gulls and with them 2 huge "Argentatus" Herring Gulls.
Masses of Black Headed, lesser numbers of Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls. but only 6 Common Gulls.
4 Fieldfares with 17 Cormorants on the dead trees.
Patrick Earith said
Fri Jan 3 6:04 PM, 2014
In lieu of a North Lancashire jaunt with Jon Bowen (canx due weather - though on reflection, forecast not as bad as predicted
, decided to catch the last hour of daylight at the Flashes as my first birding trip of 2014. Much of the area was flooded but huge numbers of birds about.
Full list for completeness, selected counts only:
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Coot
Cormorant (6)
Curlew (30+)
Great Black-backed Gull (20+)
Great Tit
Grey Heron
Herring Gull (30+ including at least 2 larger birds)
Lapwing (estimate over 400)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (50+)
Magpie
Mallard
Moorhen
Pied Wagtail
Redshank (1)
Shelduck
Shoveler
Starling
Teal
Tufted Duck
Wigeon (huge numbers)
Woodpigeon
I'm sure a more detailed scan of the gull flocks in better light would have revealed something more interesting. I'll be back!
John Williams said
Sat Dec 21 2:34 PM, 2013
A.M
Elton Hall Flash
2 Redshanks, 1 Ruff, 320+ Lapwing plus the usual Wigeon etc.
The lane leading to railway side of the flash is flooded (Wellies needed), the pool there held 11 Goosanders.
Pumphouse Flash
The waterlevel is as high as I've ever seen it, flooding half of the adjoining meadow.
It contained a mass of gulls though, mainly Lesser Black Backs and Black Headed, lesser numbers of Common and Herring plus 16 Great Black Backs.
Amongst the Lesser Black Backs was a single adult winter Yellow Legged Gull. 2 huge "Argentatus" were in the throng too.
Also 1 Ruff, 180 Lapwing, 9 Tufted Duck and a couple of Pied Wagtails.
No raptors seen, but intimidation from crows kept flushing the lapwings. 1 bold Carrion Crow chased an adult Lesser Black Back off it's dinner (something dead), which the crow then ate instead.
8 Cormorants were on the dead trees.
John Williams said
Sun Sep 8 2:32 AM, 2013
Elton Hall Flash 15.30-17.30
The Stilt Sandpiper was showing well for most of the time.
It appeared to have a bad limp for a while, but just before I left it recovered and was feeding vigorously just off the furthest spit from the viewing area.
Also 1 Hobby, 3 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Ruff and 22 Curlew. 3 Chiffchaffs were in a large group of Long Tailed Tits.
The Hobby attacked a large group of hirundines, including Sand Martins, that were feeding low above the flash, noticeably from the West with afternoon sun behind it.
It may have caught something as it landed in a grassy area and spent several minutes there before off to the North.
Patrick Earith said
Fri Sep 6 6:25 AM, 2013
A quick visit to get a second site tick for the Stilt Sandpiper. It seems to be hanging around with the numerous Snipe here (at least 30 that I could see) and is commuting between the back of the flash and the spit to the left of the flash. Also of note a Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Stock Dove, large numbers of Lapwing, Starling and Wigeon/Teal numbers building up as well as the usual Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed gulls
Phil Owen said
Thu Sep 5 2:22 AM, 2013
Monday 2nd September.
After being unable to get to Neuman's Flash over the weekend due to being away, finally managed to get down to Sandbach Flashes on Monday evening where good but fairly distant views were had of the Stilt Sandpiper feeding amongst the Lapwing flock and 3 Dunlin.
PHIL GREENWOOD said
Wed Sep 4 2:43 AM, 2013
Tuesday, September 3rd.
Distant but good views of the Stilt Sandpiper this afternoon on Elton Flash, followed by a quick trip to Pennington to see the Lesser Scaup. 2 in 1 day...not bad!
Doc Brewster said
Fri Aug 9 3:34 AM, 2013
To keep this thread live here are a few sightings from the flashes today, not mine but some cracking birds here & well worth passing on:
A Hobby, 2 Ruff, 5 Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Snipe and 30 Curlew, all on Elton Hall Flash. Three Yellow-legged Gulls over the road by Pumphouse Flash. Also in the area a Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Reed Warbler.
John Williams said
Fri May 17 1:20 AM, 2013
14.00-16.00
Very quiet birdwise
The water level was very high on EHF, and the lane that leads to rear of the flash is flooded, wellie only access.
Elton Hall Flash
2 male Shovelers, 1 drake Wigeon, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, and two families of Mallard 1@8 small ducklings and 1@4 but with no sign of mum.
A group 60+ big gulls, mainly Lesser Black Backs.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Buzzards, 4 Cormorants, 1 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Wigeon plus Coots and chilled out male Mallards (Moult Time Again)
A dozen Lesser Black Backs flew in to wash, and with them an immature bird with a small dull white head, black eye and a beak that looked like someone had tried to pull it out with pliers.
After returning home and checking the "Mersey Birds" gallery of gulls, the bird seemed a clone of a 2ndw Caspian, and as one was recorded in the site log in the last day or so, I'll log it as that.
On the flooded meadow across the road a single Oystercatcher fed happily right alongside a large mean looking bull that would scare Godzilla.
With young calves and their mums in the field too, it's not a wise time to use the footpath that across it.
Crabmill Flash
1 drake Scaup (Premumably the one listed today on Birdguides)with 10 Tufted Ducks and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.
Doc Brewster said
Thu May 9 3:04 AM, 2013
Yes, I got a text about it just after the sighting. It was a flyover bird but 100% IDed by very reputable birders & regulars at the flashes. Lots of flash patchers got out & searched the whole area extensively but the bird was not relocated.
Phil Owen said
Wed May 8 6:26 AM, 2013
Interesting report of a Hoopoe here yesterday.
John Williams said
Wed May 8 1:04 AM, 2013
14.00-16.00
Really quiet birdwise.
Elton Hall Flash
1 Little Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Herons, 18 Lapwings, 2 Teal plus Mallard, Shelduck etc.
A pair of Collared Doves by the farm.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Wigoen, 2 Shovelers, 2 Cormorants, 3 Lapwing, 1 Black Tailed Godwit plus the usual waterfowl.
The flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse as now largely dried up, however the remaining bit held 1 White Wagtail ( mobbed and chased off by the resident Pieds) and 1 Little Ringed Plover.
James Walsh said
Sat Apr 27 1:45 PM, 2013
On birdguides, White Stork reported at Sandbach Flashes at 12:10pm today
Apparently from a local collection
-- Edited by James Walsh on Saturday 27th of April 2013 07:23:20 PM
Patrick Earith said
Tue Apr 23 1:35 AM, 2013
Hancocks Flood, opposite Pumphouse flash at 12:30:
2 Common Sandpiper 1 Little Ringed Plover 40+ Stock Dove Lots of House Martin and a few Swallow Still a few Wigeon and Teal about but not many
John Williams said
Mon Apr 15 9:12 PM, 2013
09.30-12.00
Elton Hall Flash
3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 57 Black Tailed Godwits, 1 Snipe, 4 Common Gulls, 2 Buzzards, 12 Linnets, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Swallows, 1 male Pintail and 2 Great Crested Grebes.
Still 40+ Wigeon and 100+ Teal around, but only a few Shoveler.
Pumphouse Flash
2 Curlew, 1 Redshank plus Wigeon and Tufted Duck etc.
Flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse
4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Redshank and a male Ruff.
1 Wheatear reported by Elton Hall Flash.
Doc Brewster said
Thu Apr 11 4:40 AM, 2013
Yesterday an Iceland Gull & a Med Gull on Elton Hall Flash with 28 Black-tailed Godwits. Upt to 12 Little Ringed Plovers were on the adjacent flooded fields. Today 6-7 Little Ringed Plovers were evident as well as 2+Ruff on the floods. Swallow & House Martins were seen today as well as a Jack Snipe in the Maw Gren Tip area.
Doc Brewster said
Mon Mar 11 5:00 AM, 2013
John Williams wrote:
1 adult Kittiwake reported this morning, and a Med gull seen yesterday. .
A Kittiwake was also there yesterday and info was that todays bird only stayed for a short while, but I know one patch watcher who responed to a text & got there in time to connect with todays bird!!! The speeding ticket is in the post
John Williams said
Sun Mar 10 9:21 PM, 2013
10.00-12.30
Elton Hall Flash
2 Ruff, 1 Redshank, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Goosanders and 30 Shelduck.
Still masses of Wigeon and Teal around, although the Shovelers seem to have thinned out.
1 adult Kittiwake reported this morning, and a Med gull seen yesterday.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull and 14 Great Black Backs in the gull roost.
1 female Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders and masses of Chaffinches around, but no sign of Brambling.
Plenty of Tree and House Sparrows around the feeders too, and the odd hybrid "Treehouse".
This site used to be a mecca for Tree Sparrows, and still is to a lesser extant, although House Sparrows appear to be showing more frequently lately.
Crabmill Flash
2 Great Crested Grebes and a pair of mating Oystercatchers.
2 friendly anglers unlocked the gate and offered me access to what is usually a private site (Can be viewed from road), although they had a whinge about Cormorants too.
Apparently this water holds some huge Catfish.
John Williams said
Mon Mar 4 9:52 PM, 2013
10.00-13.00
Masses of birds, and a nice sunny day too, but alas nothing rare about.
Elton Hall Flash
2 Snipe, 2 female Goosanders, 1 Redshank, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron and 72 Shelduck.
Still lots of Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and Lapwing around.
2 of the Great Tits on the feeders looked in very poor condition, with black downy flanks and large bare patches on the breast, is there a disease affecting this species at the moment?.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Ruff, 2 male Pochard, 1 adult Yellow Legged Gull, 4 Great Black Backed plus masses of Lesser Black Back, Black Headed Gulls.
John Williams said
Wed Feb 13 7:22 AM, 2013
15.00-16.30
The late afternoon pre-roost gathering of big gulls on Pumphouse Flash just did'nt happen.
On my last visit the regular birders here told me that big gulls are simply not massing the same as they used to on Pumphouse, and todays visit reflected that.
There are still plenty of big gulls to be seen above the nearby Maw Green tip though, they've just obviously found a better place to chill out.
Masses of Black Headed Gulls were resting here though, and on Elton Hall Flash too, with lesser numbers of Common Gulls mixed in with them.
Just as I was leaving an aerial conveyor belt of Black Heads were streaming in to roost on EHF, but very few if any big gulls were with them.
In total Pumphouse held 6 Great Black Back Gulls (recently 50+ have been logged here), 7 Lesser Blacks and a single adult Herring.
A 2nd winter GBB gull stood amongst 3 Cormorants on the bank at Pumphouse, and in size it dwarfed them.
Also on Pumphouse, 7 Black Tailed Godwits and a single Redshank, but surprisingly no Curlews, I can usually find upto 50 around here.
On a more positive note Lapwing were everywhere, massed on Pumphouse, several part flooded pastures and on EHF.
A couple of Ruff had been reported just before I arrived, but I scanned everywhere and could'nt find them.
Mixed in with Lapwing on the stubble by EHF were a surprisingly large flock of Stock Doves. Amongst from the usual waterfowl on EHF was a single Little Grebe.
As is often the case lately the railway embankment side of EMF is not accessable without waders, as the lane is flooded, maybe that's where the Ruff were hiding.
John Williams said
Tue Feb 5 12:13 AM, 2013
11.30-14.00
Elton Hall Flash
7 Goosanders, 2 female Goldeneyes, 4 Black Tailed Godwits, 1 Buzzard, a flock of 8 Linnets, 1 Brambling in the mass of Chaffinches, 215 Lapwing plus masses of Wigeon, Shelduck etc,.
Pumphouse Flash
2 drake Pochard, 1 Buzzard, 1 Redshank, 500+ Lapwings plus a noticeably reduced gull roost.
A huge flock of Starlings, more like a cloud than a flock, similar to the ones seen gathering at evening roosts, initially flying over EHF mixed with Lapwings, but then they all settled
on Pumphouse to feed. They were very nervous, and impossible to count.
John Williams said
Sun Jan 27 1:17 AM, 2013
11.00-13.20
Elton Hall Flash
13 Snipe, 2 Black Tailed Godwits, 7 Mute Swans, 3 Shovelers (None to be found last Wednesday) and just 6 Lapwings.
Stock Doves with Woodpigeon and a flock of Chaffinches on the stubble. 2 Buzzards.
Masses of Wigeon, Teal, Coot etc.
2 Redwings and a male Bullfinch at the feeders.
Pumphouse Flash
3 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls amongst the gull roost. Several "Argenteus" Herring Gulls now in breeding plumage displaying and pair bonding.
A pair of Mute Swans appear to be ready to settle in, the cob was showing off and chasing Coots and gulls away.
Nothing rare about but masses of common species, especially gulls, and in the sunshine with cracking visibility and the thaw on, a very pleasant couple of hours.
Unless you've got waders though there's no access down the lane to view the railway side of Elton Hall Flash, the big thaw as caused a flood.
There is an escaped exotic duck moving around with Mallard, usually around the old feeding area near the iron gate, I've checked the field guides and can't ID it.
The local birders I spoke to can't classify it either, it seems quite tame and a bit of a character, I'd love to know exactly what it is though?.
Doc Brewster said
Fri Jan 25 12:30 AM, 2013
Did get back there today to watch Pumphouse with several Sandbach regulars but the number of large gulls had plummetted and there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull by 4pm. In the distance over Maw Green Tip we could see hundreds & hundreds of guls up in the air but they never showed any inclination to drift our way
Doc Brewster said
Thu Jan 24 4:58 AM, 2013
First winter Glaucous Gull seen by local patchers on Pumphouse Flash late afternoon, may have to pay a return visit myself tomorrow as missed it a few days ago!!
1 Little Grebe, 2 Pintail (m+f), just 4 Lapwings, 2 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey Herons plus lots of Wigeon, Teal et.
Pumphouse Flash
1 Dunlin, 1 Buzzard plus the usual gulls, Coot etc.
Doc Brewster said
Thu Jan 17 6:32 AM, 2013
I only had the larger of the 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls but did arrive as gulls were drifting out of the Pumphouse Flash pre-roost gathering, also had a couple of argentautus Herring Gulls. The very mobile Chaffinch flock viewed from the Elton Hall Flash viewpoint was difficult to search but eventually I did find the lone Brambling, so it is still there, a real long-stayer. A pair of Pintail were on Elton Hall Flash also.
John Williams said
Thu Jan 17 1:18 AM, 2013
12.00-14.00
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Goosander, 9 Mute Swans plus lots of Shelduck, Wigeon etc.
A big flock of Chaffinches on the adjacent stubble but I could'nt pick out any Brambling.
Pumphouse House Flash
2 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gulls amongst the mass gull roost.
2 Pochard, 1 Buzzard and 1 Snipe.
John Williams said
Thu Jan 3 12:50 AM, 2013
10.00-12.00
Elton Hall Flash
9 Cormorants "team" fishing, 1 male Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 2 Curlew plus masses of Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal etc.
8 drake Wigeon tried to woo the same female, the melee got quite nasty, finally she managed to swim into the reeds looking very bedraggled and stunned.
Quite a few Shoveler and Shelduck around the flash too. Amongst the visitors to the feeders were masses of Chaffinches, plus a few Tree Sparrows and 1 House Sparrow.
Pumphouse Flash
29 Great Black Gulls (27 adult) and 4 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls (2 looked bigger than the GBBs) in the gull roost.
Masses of Lapwing, Wigeon and Black Headed Gulls.
Doc Brewster said
Sun Dec 2 10:02 PM, 2012
John Williams wrote:
Tree and House Sparrows at the feeding station, more of the later seem to appear every I go, I wonder if they ever cross breed?.
That's a really good challenge to throw out to the patchers at Sandbach, to see if they ever see hybrids. These species do hybridise, plenty of pictures exist on the web & several threads have discussed this on other (inferior, of course!!) forums The two species regularly feed at the feeders at my work at Focalpoint & we have both breeding in the vicinity, but so far no hybrids.
Goldeneye numbers now up to four
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 2nd of December 2012 10:03:08 PM
John Williams said
Sat Dec 1 11:41 PM, 2012
10.00-12.00
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Goldeneye, 1 Redshank, 2 Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (m+f), 1 Buzzard, 26 Shelduck.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull amongst the Herring/Lesser Black Back gathering, 2 Great Black Gulls and 5 Common Gulls.
Lots of Wigeon (450+) scattered between the two pools and adjacent pasture, huge numbers of Black Headed Gulls as usual.
30+ Chaffinches on stubble but no sign of Bramblings. Tree and House Sparrows at the feeding station, more of the later seem to appear every I go, I wonder if they ever cross breed?.
Doc Brewster said
Wed Nov 21 5:27 AM, 2012
A mega for the Flashes today when a Great Northern Diver was found early afternoon. It only stayed a very short time allowing a few local patchers the chance to catch up with it before flying off north-west.
John Williams said
Fri Nov 2 9:06 PM, 2012
10.00-12.00
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Sparrowhawk, 6 Shelduck plus a few Wigeon, Teal,etc. (Water level still high).
Tree and House Sparrows on the feeders, plus the usual tits etc. 6 Redwings feasting on haws.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull amongst the LBB flock, 1 Ruff mixed in with the Lapwings, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel.
1 Peregrine sat on a nearby pylon, with 50+ Starlings resting surprisingly close to it.
A steady trickle of Redwings and Fieldfares heading South across the farmland West of the flash.
Despite a bitterly cold wind blowing 1 Drone Fly was still clinging to a dock plant near the farm.
John Williams said
Fri Oct 26 10:04 PM, 2012
10.00-13.00
Elton Hall Flash
2@1st winter+ 1 ad. female Scaup plus the usual waterfowl.
Yesterdays news: a Hawfinch was seen in a Redwing flock & there was a possible Ring Ouzel at Groby Flash in the afternoon. The 2 juv Scaup were on Hancocks floods near Elton Hall Flash.
Doc Brewster said
Thu Oct 25 3:40 PM, 2012
News for yesterday - 2 Scaup on Crabmill Flash, SE of Warmingham viewed from Crabmill Lane.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 26th of October 2012 10:36:04 AM
John Williams said
Fri Oct 5 3:47 AM, 2012
14-30-16.30
Elton Hall Flash
1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzards, 38 Wigeon, 8 Swallows flying S.E, 2 Southern Hawker dragonflies and a Red Admiral butterfly.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine (On nearby pylon) plus lots of Wigeon, the usual gulls and waterfowl.
Flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse
42 Curlew and 1 Snipe.
Also 4 Buzzards along the M6 from junction 17 - 20.
The waterlevel on Elton Hall Flash is still very high and all wader scrapes are flooded, as is the lane along the South bank.
John Williams said
Wed Sep 5 7:12 PM, 2012
09.00-11.00
Elton Hall Flash
3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Black Tailed Godwits, 5 Buzzards, 2 Cormorants, 5 Stock Dove plus the usual waterfowl.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Yellow Legged Herring Gulls, 1 Buzzard plus large numbers of Lesser Black Backed Gulls and the usual waterfowl.
Doc Brewster said
Thu Aug 30 11:50 PM, 2012
Only showed for 55mins then moved through, poss due to the presence of a Sparrowhawk according to observers there at the time
Doc Brewster said
Thu Aug 30 5:06 PM, 2012
A bit late because my pc is palying up terribly at work, but got news a wee while earlier this morning that there was a Black Tern over Pumphouse Flash
Doc Brewster said
Fri Aug 17 4:56 AM, 2012
Female Marsh Harrier at Pumphouse Flash briefly this afternoon only staying for about 20mins. One has been in the general area recently, so this could turn up again.
What do you think, Patrick, worth doing?
Cheers
Common Sandpiper
26 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Redshank
Goosander m & f
Tree Sparrow (at least 4)
Buzzard
Stock Dove (at least 8)
Wigeon (still at least 10)
Teal (at least 5)
Shoveler
Tufted Duck
Great Crested Grebe (4)
Great Spotted Woodpecker m
Lapwing (lots)
no hirundines, surprisingly
Elton Hall Flash
1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 imm. Iceland Gull, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Sparrowhawks (simultaniously involved in aerial display) & 1 Peregrine.
Also, 20 Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Redshanks & 1 Buzzard.
Masses of Swallows & Sand Martins moving through.
Pumphouse Flash just contained a few Shelduck, Canada Geese etc,.
The adjacent flooded pasture only held a pair of Pied Wagtails & 4 Teal.
2 Little ringed Plover
12 Black-tailed Godwit, some coming into breeding plumage.
Elton Hall Flash
3 Black tailed Godits, including a resplendent adult male in breeding plumage. This male attracted the attention of 30+ Black Headed Gulls that chased & harassed it relentlessly.
After a minutes of being chased around the flash, the godwit found shelter behind a bank at the northern end, and a long way from his comrades.
Masses of Black Headed Gulls on the flash, most of these arriving in two huge flocks from the West. A large group of Lesser Black Backed Gulls were resting on the adjoining field,
together with lesser numbers of Herring & Common, but no sign of any Great Black Backs.
2 Buzzards were in display flight over the flash, these raptors did'nt seem to bother the Black Headed Gull throng, but every time a Carrion Crow approached the flock there was mass panic.
Also, 3 Great Crested Grebes & 2 Redshanks. Still lots of Wigeon around, with lesser numbers of Teal & Shoveler, however very few Lapwing still remain.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Pied Wagtails, plus a few Coot, Moorhen etc,. THe usual big gull roost appears to have moved over to EHF.
3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming at various spots around the flashes.
Some of the big trees on the south side of EHF have been downed by recent storms, and 3 Wrens were flitting amongst the tangled mess.
Elton hall Flash
2 Redshanks,1 Buzzard, 6 Shoveler, 1 Goldcrest & 350+ Wigeon.
Masses of Lapwing (1000+ often moving between EHF & Pumphouse), on EHF they were often harassed by a Carrion Crow
which flushed them, then flew through the flock as if it was looking for a weakling.
House Sparrows seem to outnumber their Tree Sparrow cousins on the feeders now. Lots of Chaffinches, quite a few with badly distorted feet, but no Bramblings.
A male Blackbird with a large white patch across his nape.
An adult Common Gull was harassing flocks of Starlings, it would seperate one bird from the mass then chase it relentlessly, when it seemed to have the Starling within it's grasp,
it would break off the attack. The gull would then perform spectacular aerobatics, it just seemed to be having fun and showing off.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull mixed in with the Lesser Black Backs, 6 Great Black Backs & 3 " Argentatus" Herring Gulls.
1 Ruff, 2 Sparrowhawks.
53 Curlew on the flooded pasture across the road from Pumphouse.
10.00-12.00
Elton Flash
1 Black tailed Godwit, 2 Redshanks, 3 Goosanders, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 50+ Shelduck, 2 Buzzards plus masses of Lapwing etc.
Even though there were lots of Wigeon, numbers appear to be a fraction of what they were a decade ago, and there were only 30 Teal around the flash too.
There were no Shovelers. Tree and House Sparrows amongst the usual birds around the feeders, plus a single Collared Dove.
A couple of Ruff were reported just before I arrived.
Pumphouse Flash
17 Great Black Backed Gulls and with them 2 huge "Argentatus" Herring Gulls.
Masses of Black Headed, lesser numbers of Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls. but only 6 Common Gulls.
4 Fieldfares with 17 Cormorants on the dead trees.
In lieu of a North Lancashire jaunt with Jon Bowen (canx due weather - though on reflection, forecast not as bad as predicted
Full list for completeness, selected counts only:
Blackbird
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Coot
Cormorant (6)
Curlew (30+)
Great Black-backed Gull (20+)
Great Tit
Grey Heron
Herring Gull (30+ including at least 2 larger birds)
Lapwing (estimate over 400)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (50+)
Magpie
Mallard
Moorhen
Pied Wagtail
Redshank (1)
Shelduck
Shoveler
Starling
Teal
Tufted Duck
Wigeon (huge numbers)
Woodpigeon
I'm sure a more detailed scan of the gull flocks in better light would have revealed something more interesting. I'll be back!
Elton Hall Flash
2 Redshanks, 1 Ruff, 320+ Lapwing plus the usual Wigeon etc.
The lane leading to railway side of the flash is flooded (Wellies needed), the pool there held 11 Goosanders.
Pumphouse Flash
The waterlevel is as high as I've ever seen it, flooding half of the adjoining meadow.
It contained a mass of gulls though, mainly Lesser Black Backs and Black Headed, lesser numbers of Common and Herring plus 16 Great Black Backs.
Amongst the Lesser Black Backs was a single adult winter Yellow Legged Gull. 2 huge "Argentatus" were in the throng too.
Also 1 Ruff, 180 Lapwing, 9 Tufted Duck and a couple of Pied Wagtails.
No raptors seen, but intimidation from crows kept flushing the lapwings. 1 bold Carrion Crow chased an adult Lesser Black Back off it's dinner (something dead), which the crow then ate instead.
8 Cormorants were on the dead trees.
The Stilt Sandpiper was showing well for most of the time.
It appeared to have a bad limp for a while, but just before I left it recovered and was feeding vigorously just off the furthest spit from the viewing area.
Also 1 Hobby, 3 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Ruff and 22 Curlew. 3 Chiffchaffs were in a large group of Long Tailed Tits.
The Hobby attacked a large group of hirundines, including Sand Martins, that were feeding low above the flash, noticeably from the West with afternoon sun behind it.
It may have caught something as it landed in a grassy area and spent several minutes there before off to the North.
After being unable to get to Neuman's Flash over the weekend due to being away, finally managed to get down to Sandbach Flashes on Monday evening where good but fairly distant views were had of the Stilt Sandpiper feeding amongst the Lapwing flock and 3 Dunlin.
Distant but good views of the Stilt Sandpiper this afternoon on Elton Flash, followed by a quick trip to Pennington to see the Lesser Scaup.
2 in 1 day...not bad!
A Hobby, 2 Ruff, 5 Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Snipe and 30 Curlew, all on Elton Hall Flash. Three Yellow-legged Gulls over the road by Pumphouse Flash. Also in the area a Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap and Reed Warbler.
Very quiet birdwise
The water level was very high on EHF, and the lane that leads to rear of the flash is flooded, wellie only access.
Elton Hall Flash
2 male Shovelers, 1 drake Wigeon, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, and two families of Mallard 1@8 small ducklings and 1@4 but with no sign of mum.
A group 60+ big gulls, mainly Lesser Black Backs.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Buzzards, 4 Cormorants, 1 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Wigeon plus Coots and chilled out male Mallards (Moult Time Again)
A dozen Lesser Black Backs flew in to wash, and with them an immature bird with a small dull white head, black eye and a beak that looked like someone had tried to pull it out with pliers.
After returning home and checking the "Mersey Birds" gallery of gulls, the bird seemed a clone of a 2ndw Caspian, and as one was recorded in the site log in the last day or so, I'll log it as that.
On the flooded meadow across the road a single Oystercatcher fed happily right alongside a large mean looking bull that would scare Godzilla.
With young calves and their mums in the field too, it's not a wise time to use the footpath that across it.
Crabmill Flash
1 drake Scaup (Premumably the one listed today on Birdguides)with 10 Tufted Ducks and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.
Really quiet birdwise.
Elton Hall Flash
1 Little Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Herons, 18 Lapwings, 2 Teal plus Mallard, Shelduck etc.
A pair of Collared Doves by the farm.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Wigoen, 2 Shovelers, 2 Cormorants, 3 Lapwing, 1 Black Tailed Godwit plus the usual waterfowl.
The flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse as now largely dried up, however the remaining bit held 1 White Wagtail ( mobbed and chased off by the resident Pieds) and 1 Little Ringed Plover.
Apparently from a local collection
-- Edited by James Walsh on Saturday 27th of April 2013 07:23:20 PM
2 Little ringed Plover
1 Dunlin
1 Ruff
3 Black-tailed Godwit
Elton Hall Flash
2 Common Sandpiper
1 Little Ringed Plover
40+ Stock Dove
Lots of House Martin and a few Swallow
Still a few Wigeon and Teal about but not many
Elton Hall Flash
3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 57 Black Tailed Godwits, 1 Snipe, 4 Common Gulls, 2 Buzzards, 12 Linnets, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Swallows, 1 male Pintail and 2 Great Crested Grebes.
Still 40+ Wigeon and 100+ Teal around, but only a few Shoveler.
Pumphouse Flash
2 Curlew, 1 Redshank plus Wigeon and Tufted Duck etc.
Flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse
4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Redshank and a male Ruff.
1 Wheatear reported by Elton Hall Flash.
A Kittiwake was also there yesterday and info was that todays bird only stayed for a short while, but I know one patch watcher who responed to a text & got there in time to connect with todays bird!!! The speeding ticket is in the post
Elton Hall Flash
2 Ruff, 1 Redshank, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Goosanders and 30 Shelduck.
Still masses of Wigeon and Teal around, although the Shovelers seem to have thinned out.
1 adult Kittiwake reported this morning, and a Med gull seen yesterday.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull and 14 Great Black Backs in the gull roost.
1 female Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders and masses of Chaffinches around, but no sign of Brambling.
Plenty of Tree and House Sparrows around the feeders too, and the odd hybrid "Treehouse".
This site used to be a mecca for Tree Sparrows, and still is to a lesser extant, although House Sparrows appear to be showing more frequently lately.
Crabmill Flash
2 Great Crested Grebes and a pair of mating Oystercatchers.
2 friendly anglers unlocked the gate and offered me access to what is usually a private site (Can be viewed from road), although they had a whinge about Cormorants too.
Apparently this water holds some huge Catfish.
Masses of birds, and a nice sunny day too, but alas nothing rare about.
Elton Hall Flash
2 Snipe, 2 female Goosanders, 1 Redshank, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron and 72 Shelduck.
Still lots of Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal and Lapwing around.
2 of the Great Tits on the feeders looked in very poor condition, with black downy flanks and large bare patches on the breast, is there a disease affecting this species at the moment?.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Ruff, 2 male Pochard, 1 adult Yellow Legged Gull, 4 Great Black Backed plus masses of Lesser Black Back, Black Headed Gulls.
The late afternoon pre-roost gathering of big gulls on Pumphouse Flash just did'nt happen.
On my last visit the regular birders here told me that big gulls are simply not massing the same as they used to on Pumphouse, and todays visit reflected that.
There are still plenty of big gulls to be seen above the nearby Maw Green tip though, they've just obviously found a better place to chill out.
Masses of Black Headed Gulls were resting here though, and on Elton Hall Flash too, with lesser numbers of Common Gulls mixed in with them.
Just as I was leaving an aerial conveyor belt of Black Heads were streaming in to roost on EHF, but very few if any big gulls were with them.
In total Pumphouse held 6 Great Black Back Gulls (recently 50+ have been logged here), 7 Lesser Blacks and a single adult Herring.
A 2nd winter GBB gull stood amongst 3 Cormorants on the bank at Pumphouse, and in size it dwarfed them.
Also on Pumphouse, 7 Black Tailed Godwits and a single Redshank, but surprisingly no Curlews, I can usually find upto 50 around here.
On a more positive note Lapwing were everywhere, massed on Pumphouse, several part flooded pastures and on EHF.
A couple of Ruff had been reported just before I arrived, but I scanned everywhere and could'nt find them.
Mixed in with Lapwing on the stubble by EHF were a surprisingly large flock of Stock Doves. Amongst from the usual waterfowl on EHF was a single Little Grebe.
As is often the case lately the railway embankment side of EMF is not accessable without waders, as the lane is flooded, maybe that's where the Ruff were hiding.
Elton Hall Flash
7 Goosanders, 2 female Goldeneyes, 4 Black Tailed Godwits, 1 Buzzard, a flock of 8 Linnets, 1 Brambling in the mass of Chaffinches, 215 Lapwing plus masses of Wigeon, Shelduck etc,.
Pumphouse Flash
2 drake Pochard, 1 Buzzard, 1 Redshank, 500+ Lapwings plus a noticeably reduced gull roost.
A huge flock of Starlings, more like a cloud than a flock, similar to the ones seen gathering at evening roosts, initially flying over EHF mixed with Lapwings, but then they all settled
on Pumphouse to feed. They were very nervous, and impossible to count.
Elton Hall Flash
13 Snipe, 2 Black Tailed Godwits, 7 Mute Swans, 3 Shovelers (None to be found last Wednesday) and just 6 Lapwings.
Stock Doves with Woodpigeon and a flock of Chaffinches on the stubble. 2 Buzzards.
Masses of Wigeon, Teal, Coot etc.
2 Redwings and a male Bullfinch at the feeders.
Pumphouse Flash
3 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls amongst the gull roost. Several "Argenteus" Herring Gulls now in breeding plumage displaying and pair bonding.
A pair of Mute Swans appear to be ready to settle in, the cob was showing off and chasing Coots and gulls away.
Nothing rare about but masses of common species, especially gulls, and in the sunshine with cracking visibility and the thaw on, a very pleasant couple of hours.
Unless you've got waders though there's no access down the lane to view the railway side of Elton Hall Flash, the big thaw as caused a flood.
There is an escaped exotic duck moving around with Mallard, usually around the old feeding area near the iron gate, I've checked the field guides and can't ID it.
The local birders I spoke to can't classify it either, it seems quite tame and a bit of a character, I'd love to know exactly what it is though?.
Elton Hall Flash
1 Peregrine, 3 Buzzards, 4 Black Tailed Godwits, 23 Curlew, 1 Redshank, 13 Goosanders (5 males), 30 Shelduck, 10 Mute Swans, 2 Redwings,
1 Little Grebe, 2 Pintail (m+f), just 4 Lapwings, 2 Pied Wagtails, 2 Grey Herons plus lots of Wigeon, Teal et.
Pumphouse Flash
1 Dunlin, 1 Buzzard plus the usual gulls, Coot etc.
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Goosander, 9 Mute Swans plus lots of Shelduck, Wigeon etc.
A big flock of Chaffinches on the adjacent stubble but I could'nt pick out any Brambling.
Pumphouse House Flash
2 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gulls amongst the mass gull roost.
2 Pochard, 1 Buzzard and 1 Snipe.
Elton Hall Flash
9 Cormorants "team" fishing, 1 male Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 2 Curlew plus masses of Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal etc.
8 drake Wigeon tried to woo the same female, the melee got quite nasty, finally she managed to swim into the reeds looking very bedraggled and stunned.
Quite a few Shoveler and Shelduck around the flash too. Amongst the visitors to the feeders were masses of Chaffinches, plus a few Tree Sparrows and 1 House Sparrow.
Pumphouse Flash
29 Great Black Gulls (27 adult) and 4 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls (2 looked bigger than the GBBs) in the gull roost.
Masses of Lapwing, Wigeon and Black Headed Gulls.
That's a really good challenge to throw out to the patchers at Sandbach, to see if they ever see hybrids. These species do hybridise, plenty of pictures exist on the web & several threads have discussed this on other (inferior, of course!!) forums
Goldeneye numbers now up to four
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 2nd of December 2012 10:03:08 PM
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Goldeneye, 1 Redshank, 2 Black Tailed Godwits, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (m+f), 1 Buzzard, 26 Shelduck.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Herring Gull amongst the Herring/Lesser Black Back gathering, 2 Great Black Gulls and 5 Common Gulls.
Lots of Wigeon (450+) scattered between the two pools and adjacent pasture, huge numbers of Black Headed Gulls as usual.
30+ Chaffinches on stubble but no sign of Bramblings. Tree and House Sparrows at the feeding station, more of the later seem to appear every I go, I wonder if they ever cross breed?.
Elton Hall Flash
1 female Sparrowhawk, 6 Shelduck plus a few Wigeon, Teal,etc. (Water level still high).
Tree and House Sparrows on the feeders, plus the usual tits etc. 6 Redwings feasting on haws.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull amongst the LBB flock, 1 Ruff mixed in with the Lapwings, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Kestrel.
1 Peregrine sat on a nearby pylon, with 50+ Starlings resting surprisingly close to it.
A steady trickle of Redwings and Fieldfares heading South across the farmland West of the flash.
Despite a bitterly cold wind blowing 1 Drone Fly was still clinging to a dock plant near the farm.
Elton Hall Flash
2@1st winter+ 1 ad. female Scaup plus the usual waterfowl.
Pumphouse Flash
3 adult + 2 imm. Yellow Legged Gulls, 1 huge adult "argentatus" Herring Gull, 2 Ruff, 1 Dunlin, 2 Kingfishers, 22 Curlew, 1 Sparrowhawk plus the usual Lapwings, gulls and waterfowl.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 26th of October 2012 10:36:04 AM
Elton Hall Flash
1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzards, 38 Wigeon, 8 Swallows flying S.E, 2 Southern Hawker dragonflies and a Red Admiral butterfly.
Pumphouse Flash
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine (On nearby pylon) plus lots of Wigeon, the usual gulls and waterfowl.
Flooded pasture opposite Pumphouse
42 Curlew and 1 Snipe.
Also 4 Buzzards along the M6 from junction 17 - 20.
The waterlevel on Elton Hall Flash is still very high and all wader scrapes are flooded, as is the lane along the South bank.
Elton Hall Flash
3 Green Sandpipers, 3 Black Tailed Godwits, 5 Buzzards, 2 Cormorants, 5 Stock Dove plus the usual waterfowl.
Pumphouse Flash
3 Yellow Legged Herring Gulls, 1 Buzzard plus large numbers of Lesser Black Backed Gulls and the usual waterfowl.