10:00pm for 10 minutes

Male Tawny Owl hooting away in tall leylandii next door but one.
Flew into beech tree in my Cheadle garden for a few minutes then flew off north.
First visible sighting in garden this year

Earlier 2 Buzzards overhead in aerial display.
Pair of Bullfinches
Pair of House Sparrows
Nuthatch
Several Swifts amongst usuals.

Last night about 40 Swallows and House Martins feeding around canopy of beech tree for 15 mins or so.

Rick.

6 Drake Mallards sat on the house roofs top at my Irlam home.

Having watched a sparrowhawk circling over the back garden I then went out to the front to me met by a very noisy female mallard looking for food. Grabbed some seed from the garage and had her eating out of my hand in no time

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 19th of May 2013 06:15:50 PM

-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Monday 20th of May 2013 05:50:06 PM

Noise & disturbance in one of the mature trees in my garden in Middleton & then there were two jays (in the branches) - a garden tick for me. This was followed some minutes later by one of the jays returning & actually landing on my lawn. Not the rarest UK bird, but a happy sighting, nevertheless.

Hop wood 17/5 19:00

Parakeet sp flew over house calling screeching

Originally posted by Mike Killelea today:

A pair of House Martins have returned to the nest they built on the front of my house in Jericho Bury for the third year running

Regards

Mike

10 starlings on my Swinton lawn (un mowed)
Cheers Jay
Don't twitch and drive.

Hindley Garden.

4 House Sparrow
1 Chaffinch
2 Bluetit in and out of nest box feeding chicks.
1 Blackcap
1 Jackdaw
3 Woodpigeon
2 Collared Dove.
1 Robin
2 Dunnocks

With heavy rain this morning and into the early afternoon it seemed to be a good idea to have a day birding from inside the house, whilst watching IPL cricket with my mate Scrumpy Jack.

In my Bromley Cross garden :-
6 Woodpigeons
3 Collared Doves
1 Dunnock
1 Robin
4 Blackbirds. The resident pair + 2 unwelcome males which were quickly chased out by the resident male.
1 Blue Tit
2 Great Tits
3 Magpies, including a juvenile.
1 regular Jackdaw. Always a tight squeeze when it gets onto the bird table.
2 Starlings
1 male House Sparrow
Pair of Greenfinches
2 Goldfinches

Flying over :-
1 Kestrel. Last year I actually had one in the garden, a change from the more usual Sparrowhawk.
Black-headed Gulls all day.
A couple of Lesser black-backed Gulls during the day, with numerous birds passing over early evening.
1 Swallow
Carrion Crows

At 20.15 in our Hale garden had four, obviously young Bullfinches on the sunflower hearts

In my Shevington garden today (I managed to grab a drink and relax in between work and meetings) to find:

First ever Jay :) One of my favourites!
Resident Blue tits
Great tits
Sparrows
Starlings
2 Coal tits
1 Magpie
2 Collared Doves
1 Song thrush
2 Blackbirds
1 Robin
1 Chaffinch
4 Goldfinch (going through Niger seed like it's going out of fashion!)

Not seen my lovely little Goldcrest in the Spruce tree for a while :(

All birds happily hoovering up the rabbit hay :) I love to observe this behaviour!

I do wish I could observe the garden birdies more that I do!!! Lovely

-- Edited by Lisa Naylor on Thursday 16th of May 2013 01:04:34 AM

First juvenile house sparrow in the garden this evening. God help it in this weather!

Hindley Garden

6 House sparrows on fat balls throughout today eggs must have hatched.

A Magpie has been observed catching and eating small Koi Carp from a pond in Bredbury.

Is this a common occurance, as I've never heard of it before.

Presumable its been watching the local herons do their thing and picked up a few tips.

Blue Tit nest in my camera box now has 8 eggs in it - better start getting the meal worms in shortly!

Two male Bullfinch in the garden this morning

Male and Female Bullfinch in Benchill garden this Morning

This morning back garden near Leigh cemetery:
2 pairs Blackbirds( both females gathering nesting material, 1 nest raided by magpie on Thursday)
2 Great Tits
3 Blue tits
1 Greenfinch
1Great Spotted Woodpecker(m)
1pair Blackcaps( at back of fence)
1 Mistle Thrush ( in trees at back)
Several Housesparrows
1 Pair Dunnocks
1 Pair Robins

All happy until Male Sparrowhawk tried to catch breakfast, he was unlucky though!
However, great views of him trying to flush a lonely sparrow out of the bushes.

Male Blackcap singing in my Wythenshawe garden this morning at 7am. It was still there singing away at 5.30pm when I got home from work.

Hindley Garden Wet and Blustery

2 Robin
2 Dunnock
3 Collared Dove
4 Woodpigeon
1 Blackbird
1 Greenfinch
4 Goldfinch
4 Housesparrow
2 Bluetits
1 Great tit
1 Magpie
1 Blackcap

finally, only 8 days later than last year, 2 swifts (or 1 resident pair) over my old Trafford garden this evening

A Raven circled east over my Hazel Grove garden at approx 11.15 (if John Tromans is reading this it flew over your garden as well )

Cheers John

Boothstown garden this am.

2 Reed Bunting feeding on the ground on seed fallen from the seed feeder and occasionally on the fat balls. Been regular daily visitors for about three months.

two Redpoll on feeders in my mum's Alkrington garden. Its taken them over 4 months to find the nyger seed feeders that I purchased at Christmas, but another welcome garden tick for 2013.

Rarely see much in our garden in Northenden but a sparrowhawk flew over very low this evening, pursued by gulls.

The Redpoll is now becoming a regular visitor to the Sunflower hearts feeders.I am having problems deciding if it is a Lesser or a Mealy,as it has quite a pale wingbar and pale rump.I am no expert on Redpolls and would welcome an opinion here

Female Mallard with 13 ducklings in the garden pond this pm. Although with the relatively small size of the 'water feature' it was definitely more duck than pond

A Redpoll made a short visit to the feeders this lunchtime.1st.one I've seen in the hgarden for a while

this morning Leigh garden near cemetery:
2 great tits
3 blue tits
2 long tailed tit
1 greenfinch
1 pair robins
1 pair dunnock
Blackcap singing in trees behind garden
3 woodpigeon
2 collard dove
pair stock dove
1m gs woodpecker
1 song thrush
4 blackbirds
several housesparrow
2 starlings
4 chaffinches

keith mills wrote:

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It's all happening here....
Breakfast time; a male Bullfinch on my feeder. Another rarity for this Garden and thats without me singing, Paul

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Male bullfinch turned up in my Horwich garden for 1st time in over a month as well - good to see him back

-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Friday 3rd of May 2013 05:15:15 PM

It's all happening here....
Breakfast time; a male Bullfinch on my feeder. Another rarity for this Garden and thats without me singing, Paul

Harwood, Bolton

On feeders
4 Greenfinch (first this year)
6 Goldfinch
2 Blue tits

-- Edited by Adrian Drummond-Hill on Friday 3rd of May 2013 02:43:05 PM

3 Blackcap this morning 2 male 1 female in my Horwich Garden . Having never seen one in the garden before this year I think I must have been going around with my eyes closed.
Willow Tit still visiting the feeder closest to the house

-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Friday 3rd of May 2013 03:01:09 PM

keith mills wrote:

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Tea in the Garden and a Siskin in the Larch />

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There must be a tune to that, Keith - old music hall song perhaps??


By the way there was a Common Buzzard well and truly "over" my garden this afternoon - must've been soaring at several hundred feet. Impressive!

I don't THINK it was a Golden Eagle anyway, but maybe it was dreaming.......!

Tea in the Garden and a Siskin (f) in the Larch and then down to my feeders.
A rarity here in my garden; only the third that I've ever seen here.

Kestrel flying through
blackbirds
robins
and 2 mallards just sitting on the lawn!

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 2nd of May 2013 07:46:28 AM

Hindley Garden

4 Goldfinch
1 Chaffinch
1 House Sparrow
1 Bluetit
1 Blackbird
2 woodpigeon
2 Collared Dove

Male Blackcap back on the fatballs tonight joined by a Willow Warbler. First spring that any migrants have hung around.

3 Siskin (1 male, 2 female) in the garden this afternoon.

Siskin numbers have now dropped to one or two. This has now allowed the redpoll numbers to increase again. Counted at least 20 today in my garden in Bromley cross.

A Wren, this morning climbing 25 feet up the trunk of our largish Silver Birch. Aka Treecreeper.

A single female Lesser Redpoll in my Hazel Grove garden (where uncommon)

Cheers, John

sid ashton wrote:

---

At 21.30 had a female Tawny Owl calling from one of the beech trees in our Hale garden.

We often hear them but this was the first time we have actually had such good views of one in the garden

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A/One of the Tawny Owl was calling from the top a a conifer #35 Rivington Road last night

Pemberton

2 firsts this week - Just now Male Redstart and Reed Bunting
Last week a solitary Brambling

Also had a Male Blackcap since January which now appears to have departed

Not strictly in the garden, but up above it in Harwood in Bolton...

I saw three Sparrowhawks at 7.50am today in what looked like a form of display flight, circling and calling with periods of rapid wing beats followed by a glide. It was hearing the calls which got my attention as it sounded a bit like a bird in distress or an alarm call. They moved away west towards the (now disused) Bolton Open Golf Course area.

20 minutes later on the way to work I glanced a single Sparrowhawk doing what appeared to be the same sort of thing over the Trinity Park area of Bolton, possibly one of the same individuals I had seen earlier?

Norden
Siskin pair in past week or so on sunflower seeds - not always together.
Redpoll x 1 on niger seed for a few days this week.

Sparrows still conspicuous in gardens up Woodhouse Lane / Shawfield area. I presume it depends on age of housing (nest sites) with suitable shrubbery.

Blackcap singing in the garden this morning in Wythenshawe.

Here in Norden, Rochdale

A sad sign of the times was my FIRST house sparrow of the year in the garden this evening with the first returning house martin overhead.

Good day though earlier with a fine Jackdaw demolishing the fat balls in the feeder

Always heart warming to see a bit of visible migration, so seeing 7 swallows, in parties of two and five, going north-west low over the garden this evening brought a smile. And I wasn't looking for long.

Neil Ferguson wrote:

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Ken Dunning wrote:

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Spent last night at my daughters in Highfield Wigan and was awakened to a fantastic dawn chorus.


Thats 16 species in a 2 1/2 hour period, fantastic.

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Which street in Highfield Ken?

I live in Grebe Close.

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She lives on St Mathews close near the Venture pub.