Apologies Andy. Wrong choice of word, clearly.

Adam Jones wrote:

---

Sunday 22nd March 3pm

Church Lane Flood:
2 Oystercatchers.
Water evaporating pretty quickly

Old Hall Lane:
1 Peregrine over from Church Lane area towards airfield buildings
1 Kestrel
3 Common Buzzards

---

Adam,

I don't mean to be argumentative, but I don't think it's evaporating at 8 degrees celcius!! Seeping into the ground is much more likely. These days if it doesn't rain for three or four days, in most places the ground just soaks up all moisture due to all the drains in place, even if they are in adjoining fields.

Sunday 22nd March 3pm

Church Lane Flood:
2 Oystercatchers.
Water evaporating pretty quickly

Old Hall Lane:
1 Peregrine over from Church Lane area towards airfield buildings
1 Kestrel
3 Common Buzzards

Church Lane Flood:

1 Little Ringed Plover
3 Oystercatchers
43 LBB Gulls
1 Herring Gull
3 Buzzard (1 in dive bomb display)

Old Hall Lane:

6 Curlew on airfield
1 Kestrel
3 Skylarks singing

Cheers John

Little Ringed Plover and pair of Teal still present at 17:15.

In addition to John's sightings.
I had a pair of Teal in one of the smaller pools of water at 4.15

Friday 20th March

Church Lane:
3 Oystercatchers
7 LBB Gull

Old Hall Lane:
5 Fiedfare
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
5 Greenfinch
plenty of tits and finches around the feeders in the garden along this lane

Old Hall Farm/airfield:
1 Curlew
3 Skylarks in song
33 Lapwings displaying on both the airfield side and the farm side
4 Grey Herons
2 Stock Doves
4 Tree Sparrows
8 Canada Geese
Lots of activity all over the area today.

Church Lane Flood. 1 Little Ringed Plover still at 15.45 24 LBB Gulls 1 Herring Gull 2 BH Gulls All gulls flushed by dog walkers but LR Plover stayed. Info from Andy Hearn Cheers John

Church Lane Flood:

Oystercatchers 3
Herring Gulls 6
Lesser Black-backed Gulls 4
Black-headed Gulls 51
Rooks 8 (4 nests) - in field opposite

Cheers John

Old Hall Lane (Woodford Airfield)

Now 6 Curlew on runway
6 Greylag Geese overflying

Cheers John

Late news for yesterday (Sunday 8th March. 5pm)

Church Lane:
8 Canada Geese
1 Oystercatcher

Blossoms Lane:
10 Redwing in field near stables
1 Mistle Thrush

Church Lane Flood:
Lesser Black-backed Gull 22
Herring Gull 2
Black-headed Gull 15
Oystercatcher 1

Old Hall Lane: Large winter thrush flock near Green Bridge
Fieldfare 120
Redwing 8

Woodford Airfield:
Demolition of buildings underway. Runway being stripped of tarmac.

Lapwing 18 on runway
Skylark 4 wih 2 in song flight
Curlew 2

But the days are numbered at this site for these breeding birds.

Cheers John

Church Lane flood:

A brief stop on my way home at 5.30pm.
3 Teal
1 Oystercatcher
3 Mallards
Lots of gulls seen in the distance, circling over the rooftops of the old BAE buildings, but had no time to investigate.

Church Lane Flood:
Oystercatcher 2
Herring Gull 4
LBB Gull 6
Common Gull 2 (1 bearing red colour ring on right leg. Couldn't read any code)

Old Hall Lane:
Stock Dove 11
Lapwing 5
Kestrel 2
Fieldfare 20

Cheers John

Church Lane Flood:

Dunlin 1
Oystercatcher 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 17
Herring Gull 3
Black-headed Gull 24

Cheers John

A very brief drive through of sodden Church Lane. On the field opposite the flood were 20+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls and c50 Redwings.

No sign of Green Sandpiper in an extended search. Kingfisher on River Dean.

Cheers John

No sign of the Green Sandpiper by the green bridge off Old Hall Lane between 14.30 and 15 15. Good numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare. I still need the Green Sandpiper for GM!

That's terrific news John. Glad you have another Stockport tick, but also to confirm it was a Green Sandpiper. I didn't get long to watch it but its what my initial thought was.
The hours spent in the Teal hide at Pennington Flash have paid off

20 Jan

Old Hall Lane:
Refound Adam's Green Sandpiper (nice one Adam ) which did a repeat performance flying from just east of Green Bridge and appeared to land 200m downstream. A new bird for Stockort Borough. Also:
Teal 3
Buzzard 2
Fieldfare 17
Pinkfeet 180 NW at 10.40.

Church/Blossoms Lane:
Redwing 90
Fieldfare 17
Herring Gull 1
Common Gull 1
Black-headed Gull 2

Cheers John

Saturday 17th January 8.30am

A cracking morning in freezing temperatures but bright sunshine.
Church lane:
4 Raven around Blossoms Lane. I've seen at least one bird here on each of my last 3 visits.
1 Peregrine high over the flood, which put up the 40+ Black Headed and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Kestrel actively hunting and occasionally toying with the dozens of Redwings and Fieldfares.
3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. 2 cavorting and 1 other drumming not far away.

Old Hall Lane:
1 Green Sandpiper flushed to the left of the green bridge. Seemed to follow the river back in the direction of the church, so may be around.
8 Meadow Pipits
1 Skylark
1 Grey Wagtail
2 Tree Sparrows
4 Common Buzzard
2 Nuthatch
Very good numbers of Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch around some feeders in a garden on Old Hall Lane.
Plus lots of the usuals

Saturday 3rd January 3pm

Church Lane:

Not a great deal around other than the usual stuff. The flood was pretty devoid of birds bar a dozen or so Black headed Gulls and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Good numbers of Redwing around though, with lots feeding in the field between Church Lane and Blossoms Lane. Several Mistle Thrush too.

Old Hall Lane:
Quiet again, but another Rook over head cronking but then perching high in a tree on the farm.

Friday 26th December 11.30am

Church Lane:
1 Raven flew over and stayed cronking atop a tree for some 10 minutes
16 Wigeon on the flood
1 Kestrel
1 Jay
4 Mistle Thrush
1 Pied Wagtail
c120 Canada Geese
2 Greylag Geese
c50 Black-headed Gulls
2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

20th Dec: Lots of water now.

Black-headed Gull 139
Herring Gull 3
Common Gull 3
Lesser Black-backed Gull 2
Mistle Thrush 5
Canada Goose 240

(And another large Canada Goose flock (203) nearby at Poynton Pool, Cheshire)

Cheers, John

Late post for yesterday (Monday 15th)

Church Lane:
c200 Canada Geese
c50 Black headed Gulls
4 Song Thrush
1 Pied Wagtail
3 Blackbirds
1 Robin

A quick stop at Old Hall Lane turned up my first Redwing of the year, in the usual hedges behind the golf course.

Church Lane Flood continues to fill but few birds present:

Black-headed Gull 6
Lesser Black-backed Gull 3
Mistle Thrush 1
Fieldfare 4
Magpie 12

Cheers John

Saturday 6th December 8.30am

Thick frost and a temperature of -5.
First Fieldfares of the winter, with approximately 50 moving between the golf course and the fields of Old Hall Farm.
1 Common Buzzard
18 Blackbirds
c150 Starlings in one flock
Several Chaffinches and Goldfinches

Sunday 26th October 12pm

A very cold windy afternoon, with very little to report.
Still no sign of any Redwings.
1 Common Buzzard
1 Canada Goose on the stubble field beside the runway
Plenty of Woodpigeons and Carrion Crows fighting the wind.

Friday 17th October 10.30am

A nice warm morning, but nothing out of the ordinary to report.
1 Common Buzzard
3 Jays
c60 Starlings
5 Greenfinch
12 Tree Sparrows
Lots of Robins and the usuals.

Monday 6th October 6pm-6.45pm

A nice calm sunny evening.
Lots of Robins in song all along Old Hall Lane.
There were dozens and dozens of Canada Geese coming in constantly to land in one of the fields on Old Hall Lane past the church graveyard. I'd estimate 350+ at the time that I left.
80+ Mallards also in the same field.
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Mistle Thrush
Lots of Carrion Crows, Jackdaws and Rooks
Plus the usuals

Sunday 28th September

Old Hall Lane:
The fields were teeming with the sound and sight of hundreds of Rooks, Carrion Crow and Jackdaws.
Good numbers of Tree Sparrows in the hedges along with House Sparrow too.
1 Chiffchaff in song
12 Stock Doves
3 Greenfinch
4 Linnets
1 Grey Wagtail
2 Pied Wagtail
4 Jays, but quite possibly the same one following the same route back and forth
1 Common Buzzard
Lots of the usuals too.

A large gate and fence posts have been erected on the airfield at the end of the runway.

-- Edited by Adam Jones on Sunday 28th of September 2014 10:08:02 PM

Monday 15th September 6.15pm-7pm

Old Hall Farm:
1 Common Buzzard
1 Grey Heron
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Jays
5 Grey Wagtails
1 Kingfisher heard only by he the green bridge
Hundreds of Carrion Crows initially on the newly cut field next to the runway and then jostling for roosting positions. So noisy, not helped by the Buzzard sat right next to them.
Plenty of Robins in song.
All Swallows now gone

Sounds good Adam.

Phil

Monday 8th September 6pm-7pm

Only two Swallows left this evening.
1 Sparrowhawk sat on a barn roof
7 Tree Sparrows feeding on Elderberries
16 Mistle Thrush took flight from Old Hall Farm and landed in the potato field on the other side of the river.
1 noisy Common Buzzard
1 Jay
1 Reed Bunting
c30 Linnet flock overhead towards the golf course
1 Stock Dove
A number of Robins in song
Plus the usuals

2 Hobbies circling low over Moor Lane at approx 2pm

Sunday 31st August 2014

Old Hall Lane:
What seemed to be just a nice evening watching Swallows ended up being a bit special with a Yellow Wagtail being the star of the show.
It didn't hang around long though and soon headed off towards the Deanwater Hotel along with a Grey Wagtail. Just the second I've seen here among the fields at Woodford.
Others seen tonight:
1 Nuthatch
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
c40/50 Swallows
c20 Tree Sparrows
Large flock of 36 Goldfinch
10 Starlings
2 Robins
Family of Blue Tits by the golf course.

Old Hall Lane 2pm

Very blustery but warm. Lots of corvids and Wood Pigeons constantly being put up by gunshots from all directions.
Otherwise it was just the usual stuff as below:
1 Jay
5 Common Buzzard enjoying the conditions
30 Swallows with many juveniles on the wires and farm building roofs.
5 Chaffinch
8 Tree Sparrow
1 Robin
1 Bullfinch

The hedgerows along Old Hall Lane have been cut back. They look good and allow better views across certain fields, but in other places a lot of those previously mentioned berries have now gone.

Blossoms Lane 4.30pm

6 Canada Geese over
13 House Sparrows
20 Swallows
6 Goldfinch
8 Jackdaw

Old Hall Lane 7.15pm

1 Stock Dove
16 Wood Pigeon
7 Tree Sparrow
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Mistle Thrush
7 Swallows
1 Dunnock

Old Hall Lane 7pm

1 Common Buzzard
7 Tree Sparrows seen with more heard in the hedgerow
12 Swallows lined up on the wires by the farm building probably a similar number skimming the fields with the cows in.
2 Wrens
5 Goldfinch
8 Linnets
13 Canada Geese heading towards Church Lane

A real abundance of Hawthorn, Rowan and Elderberries along Old Hall Lane. Bodes well for the winter thrushes this year.

Tuesday 27th July 8-8.30 pm

Old Hall Lane:
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker by the church
1 Sparrowhawk
4 Greenfinch
40 Swallows. Juveniles perching in a tree by the farm buildings.
Charm of 20 Goldfinch
1 Grey Heron
30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Aerospace roof
50+other large gulls a long way down the runway (but before Cheshire).
1 Song Thrush in song
Woodpigeons in abundance. (Next time I will count them)

Old Hall Lane Farm 4.30pm

A typically quiet summers day here. There was more activity among the butterflies than the birds, but I did see the following:

1 Mistle Thrush singing
1 Grey Heron
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
1 Blackbird
2 Reed Buntings
3 Mallards
15 Swallows
A family party of Blue Tits
6 Goldfinch
Several Lesser Black-backed gulls on the runway

Church Lane. Mid-day:

Flyovers by Sparrowhawk (low) and Hobby (high).

Cheers, John

-- Edited by John Rayner on Thursday 17th of July 2014 11:02:32 PM

9 am this morning.
Church Lane:

6 Curlew feeding on the hill behind the flood.

Blossoms Lane:
6 Canada Geese by the pond.

22nd May, late evening: Old Hall Lane:

Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 37 roosting on runway and on Aerospace roof (Are they breeding up there?)
Curlew - pair on golf course
Lapwing - pair on golf course
Pied Wagtail - 1 juvenile


23rd May, lunchtime: Church Lane Flood:

Lesser Black-backed Gulls - 11 adults bathing
Herring Gulls - 3 adults bathing
Canada Goose - 2 pairs
Peregrine - over Aerospace stooping at Carrion Crows and Lapwings

Cheers, John

I've made a few visits over recent days with not much going on. The list is pretty familiar each day. Today we had:

4 Canada Geese
2 Greylag
2 Pied Wagtail
4 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Oystercatcher
1 Grey Heron sat at the pond on Blossoms Lane.

Church Lane now has some water again.
With 4 Canada Geese and 2 Greylag Geese on it.

Old Hall Lane:
2 Curlew
5 Tree Sparrow
circa 24 Sand Martins
29 Lapwings
15 Swallows
2 Mallards
1 Grey Heron
2 Canada Geese
1Greenfinch

Old Hall Lane 5pm
2 Oystercatchers
3 Skylarks
2 Linnets
23 Lapwings
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker on a telegraph pole along the lane.
Approximately 200 gulls over the airfield and then around the rooftops of the aerodrome. Too distant for me to identify all, but mainly Lesser Black-backed.

Church Lane
1 Little Ringed Plover
2 Oystercatchers (possibly the same pair from above as they flew directly in from that direction)
Where has all the water gone? We need more rain

Church Lane 11:15 to 11:45

Oystercatchers - 2
Little Ringed Plover - 1
Pied Wagtail - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 (no other Gulls about)
Buzzard overhead
Willow Warbler singing in distance
Swallows - 4 feeding over water
Many Carrion Crows and Jackdaws in far field

Rick.