Walk from Castle Irwell to Agecroft Bridge in inclement weather produced:

c10 Blackheaded gulls
1 Kingfisher
3 Mute Swans
c80 Sandmartins and a few Swifts mixed in



-- Edited by John Doherty on Sunday 15th of May 2011 04:16:13 PM

River Irwell WEBS Friday 21st January 1145-1240

1 drk Goosander
2 drk Goldeneye
7 Teal
6 Tufted Duck
5 Little Grebe
3 Common Gull
70 BH Gull
4 Cormorant
14 Mallard
32 Canada Geese


Also, in Peel Park c50 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush, 1-2 GS Woodpecker, 2 Goldfinch

2 adult Whooper Swans behind Kearsley Mill, Prestolee late evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Late am with Simon.

Redhead Smew still present on the river at lunchtime today almost directly below the green footbridge from Ringley to Clifton near where sewage outflow comes in, showing very well. Also Dipper, lots of teal, 7 Goosander, 3 Goldeneye & 4 Gadwall.

Also amazingly a single Whooper Swan on the river behind Kearsley Mill, Prestolee, 50 yards from where we saw 3 on Boxing Day!

26/12/10 9-12.30 With my Dad & Phil Rhodes.

A concerted effort to check various parts of the river between Nob End & Giants Seat garden centre, Ringley produced one or two suprises.

At Nob End confluence with the Croal, Coots, Pochard, 10 Tufted, 5 Goldeneye, 10 Goosander, 3 Little Grebe & Lapwing.

At Prestolee, 3 Whooper Swans (2 ad & 1 juv) resting on the ice behind Kearsley mill was a very unusual but welcome sight. Also here another 3 Goldeneye & 4 Goosander.

Lower down between Ringley sewage works/filtration beds & Giants Seat, Kingfisher, Lapwing, 10+ Goldeneye, 5 Goosander, male Shoveler, 10+ Gadwall, 30+ Teal, wonderful views of a woodcock on the ground by the river. Then to top of a good morning the Smew flew upstream & landed right in front of us and proceeded to catch small fish 100 yards west of the garden centre!

Several Goldcrests & Treecreepers also seen & Gadwall & Teal on the filtration beds themselves.

Sunday 10th October

River Irwell by Peel Park

1-2 Kingfishers
4 juvenile Goosanders
5 Little Grebes
1 Grey Heron

19th April.

Morning visit.

A single Common Sandpiper on the Irwell near the Cliff.

Also on mown sports playing fields on the hairpin bend of the Irwell in this area between Lower Kersal and Higher Broughton and seen amongst the foraging Woodpigeons, corvids and gulls was a single Curlew!

Cheers,

Bill.

Monday 8th March

2 Goldeneye & 47 Tufted Duck between Peel Park & Old Pint Pot

Tuesday 2nd March

pair of Goosander on River Irwell by Peel Park displaying before flying north

Monday 1st March

Kingfisher showing well by the UoS sportsground
Song Thrush singing by the footbridge between Peel Park & sportsground, also 2 Redwings
c10 Goldeneye, c5 Tufted Duck & 1 Little Grebe along river

River Irwell WEBS count 19th February 2010

47 Tufted Duck
9 Goldeneye (3 drk, 4 imm drk, 2 fem)
4 Little Grebe
14 Cormorant
14 Mallard
1 Moorhen
1 Coot
17 Canada Goose
5 Black-headed Gull
2 LBB Gull


Also, 2 Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk & GS Woodpecker

adjacent to Peel Park: 10 Goldeneye (incl. 3 drakes and 3 imm drakes), 3 Little Grebes, pair of Tufted Duck, 4 Mallard & 16 Canada Geese

also, GS Woodpecker in Peel Park & 2 Skylark flew over calling

Steve Suttill wrote:

---

Stephen Young found a Green Sandpiper on the Irwell just downstream from Agecroft Bridge yesterday whilst doing BirdAtlas survey work.

Steve

---

26th January.

Green Sandpiper still showing very well in same location this morning. Also just a few hundred yards from this bird on the Irwell were 2 Little Grebe, 4 Goosander (1m,3f) and 7 Goldeneye together (all females).

Just a shame that the sandpiper was in tetrad SD80A Lower Kersal and not in "mine" SD80B Prestwich, which I surveyed this morning.

Keep atlasing!

Bill.

WEBS count by Salford University 22/01/10 1445-1545

Cormorant 16
BH Gull c50
Mallard 7
Goosander 2
Grey Heron 1
Coot 1

River fast flowing and levels high, no Tufted Ducks or Goldeneye seen !

Also, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and c40 Redwings in Peel Park

Stephen Young found a Green Sandpiper on the Irwell just downstream from Agecroft Bridge yesterday whilst doing BirdAtlas survey work.

Steve

20 Goldeneye (3 drake)
4 Goosander (2 drake)
1 Tufty
3 Chaffinch
2 Greenfinch
Lots of Blackbirds
Song Thrush
Blue/Great/Cole Tits
3 Heron (2 in trees)

+ usual stuff

November 27th about 9.30 am. Kingfisher from Victoria Bridge, Salford. Fishing from scrub below bridge old tax office side then moved under bridge to old bus station side.

-- Edited by Mike Noon on Friday 27th of November 2009 02:57:02 PM

Drake Goldeneye seen from Peel Park between abandoned footbridge and The Crescent.

12th October

Kingfisher, 3 Little Grebe, fem/imm Goosander and 5 Tufted Duck between Castle Irwell and Peel Park

River Irwell by Peel Park on 16/09

Kingfisher (being mobbed by a Magpie !), fem/imm Goosander and c20 Tufted Duck

Kingfisher this lunch time, flying by bridge across Irwell by Lowry Hotel.

Kingfisher this morning from footbridge opposite the Lowry Hotel, my new early morning local patch!

drake Goosander by Blackfriars Bridge this morning

WeBs count Hough End Bridge - Old Pint Pot pub

3 Goosander (2 drakes)
3 Little Grebe
13 Tufted Duck (8 drakes)
16 Mallard (11 drakes)
5 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
3 Moorhen

Also 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker and 1 Jay

3 Teal (2 drake), 2 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Wagtail, c50 Tufted Duck, 5 Mute Swans, c20 finches (prob Siskin) on River Irwell between Adelphi building and Castle Irwell

2 redhead Goosander and c25 Tufted Duck on the river viewed from The Crescent today

fairbrother st am
all as reported before but the swans had 2 juv (still in brownish moult)who got chased around a lot,
a pair of little grebe were on this side of the river for a change but made a hasty retreat as the light changed,the kingfisher was spotted and posed nicley on a shopping trolley for a while.

cheers geoff

1 Little Grebe & 5 Tufted Duck yesterday on the river viewed from The Crescent

Parakeet type flew over Adelphi Street calling around 11am, sounded like an Oystercatcher........anyone any ideas ?

fairbrother st 16/10/07 7.30ish
2 pied wagtails 8 mallard
2 mistle thrush 10 coot
1 wren 20 mute swan (best gathering i,ve seen)
2 cormorant(fishing) 1 kingfisher
1 blackbird 20+ b/h gull

cheers geoff

fairbrother st 08.00 22/09/07

after a complete dip at burnt edge(fogged out) i retreated to familiar ground, and was treated to three young swallows fresh from the nest being chastised by their parents for sitting within 10ft of me on the railings, a smashing morning well worth the wait.as well 30 footballs on riverall makes and sizes

cheers geoff

fairbrother st 7.00 20/09/07

all ducks and gulls present and correct
2 greywagtail
4 swallows (2 young having practice flights)
1 chiffchaff (mega this side of the river and still chiffchaffing)

water level back to normal so no waders

cheers geoff

back to normal this morning all waterfowl in place,

5 grey wagtail (3 young)
1 kingfisher
1 heron
2 swallow
?? 1 mallard with two ducklings (guess 14 days old) is this unusual
also today 40 mistle thrush on the colgate building 15.00

cheers geoff

7ish am fairbrother st,
usual waterfowl

50 b/h gull (probabley some meds and y/leg in there)
2 swallows on telephone lines
4 mute swans
1 mixed flock of birds containing at least 3 song thrush 4 great tit
6 blackbirds 2 robins (locals not happy with the invasion)
12 blue tits
2 greenfinch
6 goldfinch
water level still down so hopes of waders still high
cheers geoff

fairbrother st 14/09/07 07.00
1 grey wagtail
1 kingfisher
1 grey heron

water level has dropped even further exposing a few sand banks which might attract migrant waders for an overnight stop(if i,m lucky)

cheers geoff

fairbrother st 7.00
usual suspects all present,
1 kingfisher
2 greywagtail
2 swallows
water level has dropped by 2 ft exposing all the debris that the birds normally forage between,its not a pretty sit

cheers geoff