Sightings from our local WhatsApp group over the last two or three days have included Great Egret, Little Egret, up to and currently 3 Garganey, up to 11 Little Grebe, Yellow Wagtail, Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, up to 90 Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Water Rail and finally the return of the juvenile Marsh Harrier, originally sighted at the beginning of last week.
John Williams said
Tue Jul 31 9:42 PM, 2018
17:30-19:00
2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 74 Curlew, 1 Green Woodpecker, 11 Little Grebes,
1 Shelduck and 4 Stock Doves.
The Great White Egret is still around, together with 11 Grey Herons.
Large numbers of Swallows were fly catching over the flash together with a few House Martins and a single Sand Martin.
John Williams said
Wed Jul 25 11:24 PM, 2018
18:00-20:30
Neumanns Flash
1 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret, 71 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Snipe, 1 Water Rail,
7 Little Grebes, 2 Linnets, 2 Buzzards, 8 Grey Herons, 2 Cormorants and 1 Song Thrush.
Large numbers of Swallows mixed with a few House Martins and a couple of Swifts were fly catching above the flash.
As I was leaving a large single group of Swallows left the flash and headed South East towards Lostock.
At one point a Pied Wagtail was seen chasing the Swallows as they swooped low over the centre of the flash.
Steve Costa said
Wed Jul 25 9:09 PM, 2018
Midday c12:00 - 13:30
Great Egret 1 Little Egret 1
Garganey - the juvenile/eclipse bird (reported earlier) was still present though distant.
Marsh Harrier - a juvenile (same bird as on 23/7/18?) seen well for c10 minutes, quartering reedbeds along the southern, eastern and northern shores. Don't know whether it left the flash or dropped into the reeds/shrubs, but not showing for last 45 minutes or so.
Curlew - at least 50. 'Spooked' by the harrier( before I could count them). They appeared to fly south - perhaps to the dry Ashton's Flash.
-- Edited by Steve Costa on Wednesday 25th of July 2018 11:06:47 PM
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Jul 23 3:36 PM, 2018
Nice to find a juvenile Marsh Harrier this morning. Initially the bird flew down the western side of the flash before dropping into the reeds at the southern end. The bird then flew towards Ashtons before being lost to view. Was relocated twenty minutes later in the distance high above Dairy House Meadow. It gave a further brief cameo over Neumanns before drifting off northwards.
Steve Costa said
Sun Jul 22 8:26 PM, 2018
Neumann's Flash 15:30 - 16:45
Great Egret 1 Little Egret 1 Water Rail 1 Lapwing c81 Curlew 76 Green Sandpiper 1
John Williams said
Sat Jul 21 3:38 PM, 2018
10.00-14.00
Neumanns Flash : 1juv Hobby, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret, 7 Curlew, 7 Redshanks, 1Kingfisher, 1f Sparrowhawk,
1 Black Tailed Godwit and 2 Water Rails
Ashtons Flash : 15 Pied Wagtails (The flash is now completely dry)
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 21st of July 2018 04:00:46 PM
Neumanns Flash : The Great White Egret was resting on the island on the Northern end of the flash.
Also present were 1 Little Egret, 3 Oystercatchers, 2 Curlews and 7 Grey Herons.
3 Linnets and 13 Goldfinches on wires along the Marsden side of the flash.
Large numbers of House Martins, Swallows and Swifts were over the flash, amongst them were 4 Sand Martins.
Ashtons Flash is now completely dry, and looks largely devoid of birds.
Haydn Pool : 4 Green Sandpipers and 4 Stock Doves.
Dairyhouse Meadows : 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker plus a Tawny Owl heard calling.
Mark Jarrett said
Tue Jul 17 11:54 AM, 2018
Was hoping yesterday evenings downpour would have dropped a few waders in but it wasnt to be. Two Little Ringed Plover, a sole Redshank plus the usual Lapwing were all that were on offer. The Great Egret was still at the north end of the Flash accompanied by two Little Egret. Well over two hundred Mallard are currently present plus Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Shelduck and Shoveler in much smaller numbers. Five Little Grebe in the north east corner.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Jul 16 11:40 AM, 2018
Pods Hide only, 8.45 to 10.45 Fine, warm and breezy. Amongst others :-
Great Egret (1) Little Egret (2) Green Sandpiper (1) Little Ringed Plover (6) Snipe (1) Water Rail (1) Raven (1) Green Woodpecker (1)
Plenty of hirundines with a few Sand Martin in with the Swallow and House Martin.
John Williams said
Wed Jul 11 11:03 PM, 2018
Neumanns Flash 18.00-20.30
1 Great White Egret, 5 Green Sandpipers, 1 Snipe, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Grebes, 4 Wigeon, 12 Shovelers,
12+ Sand Martins (With a large group of House Martins and Swallows), 80+ Lapwings and 7 Grey Herons.
2 Linnets were with a group of 8 Goldfinches resting on wires near the mound.
The egret seemed to favour the area by the scrape just below the mound in the SE corner, it appears to have
teamed up with 3 herons, as they patrol the shallow water together snapping up small fish as they go. When the herons
moved to another part of the pool, the egret followed them. Then it moved back to the SE corner when the herons did.
20+ recently fledged Black Headed Gulls were with their parents on the flash. The Green Sandpipers were in the NE corner.
Ashtons Flash : 2 Curlew and 24 Lapwings.
Haydn Pool : 3 Green Sandpipers were in the only remaining small pool of water.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Jul 9 12:38 PM, 2018
The Great Egret was still around this morning, on the left hand edge of the north island, after arriving on Saturday. A minimum of twenty seven Black-tailed Godwit were tucked away in the south west corner. Five Green Sandpiper were noted on nearby Haydns Pool.
Mark Jarrett said
Wed Jul 4 2:47 PM, 2018
Two Ruff were seen on the north shore this morning along with two Redshank, three Oystercatcher and the usual Lapwing. Fourteen Black-tailed Godwit (Chris R) were noted after I had left. Meanwhile, up to four Green Sandpiper have been present at nearby Haydns Pool and yesterday both Green Sandpiper and a Mediterranean Gull were seen at the adjacent Ashtons Flash.
Mark Jarrett said
Sun Jul 1 7:34 PM, 2018
Three Common Tern moved through north around 10am this morning.
Mike Colbridge said
Sat Jun 30 6:57 PM, 2018
16:25
Red Kite over from Neumann's to Hadyn's Pool
John Williams said
Sun Jun 24 6:17 PM, 2018
10.15-14.30
Neumanns Flash :
12 Lapwings, 2m Shovelers (Coming into moult), 4 adult + 1 juv Little Grebes, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Oystercatcher,
1 Cettis Warbler (Showing quite well near the gate on the path to Pods Hide), 1 Buzzard, 2 newly fledged Black Headed Gulls,
6 Grey Herons (Including a very pale bird that I initially thought was an egret) and 2 Kingfishers.
Curlew bubbling song heard but the bird was'nt seen.
Reed Warblers highly vocal and regularly commuting between the reeds and nearby birches.
Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch and Goldfinch still singing.
Ashtons Flash :
62 Lapwings, 60 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, 3 adult Great Black Backed Gulls, 4 Reed Buntings and 1 Shelduck.
Haydn Pool :
2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Willow Warblers and 1 overflying Cormorant.
Mark Jarrett said
Thu May 24 10:07 PM, 2018
Of note on the Flash this morning were a Turnstone (found by J Jones), five Black-tailed Godwit (part of a larger flock of around seventy five birds moving around patch)
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 25th of May 2018 07:59:02 AM
John Williams said
Sat May 19 4:09 PM, 2018
09.45-12.00
Neumanns Flash : 1 Green Woodpecker, 50 Black tailed Godwits (Flew around the flash several times then disappeared),
1 Buzzard, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Shoveler and 1 Redshank. No sign of the Garganey.
Garden Warbler singing and showing well near the mound. Cettis Warbler singing in NE corner of the flash.
Haydn Pool : 1 Greenshank, 1 Water Rail and 1 Black tailed Godwit.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 19th of May 2018 04:10:51 PM
Doc Brewster said
Fri May 18 2:59 PM, 2018
A White-winged Black Tern was found on Neumann's Flash this morning by visiting birder, John Kirkland, who was looking for the Garganey. Unfortunately it disappeared before any local patchers arrived..... but....... see Marbury CP Thread!
John Williams said
Thu May 17 12:12 AM, 2018
16.05.2018 18.00-20.15
Neumanns Flash : No sign of Garganey.
12 Great Crested Grebes (inc. a pair displaying), 4 Shoveler, 9 Gadwall, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Raven.
Cettis Warbler calling by the wooden bridge on the path across to Dairy House Meadow.
Haydn Pool : 90 Black tailed Godwits and a pair of Reed Warblers that were showing well in front the main hide/screen.
Along the path from Marbury Lane onto Dairy House Meadow a Garden Warbler was singing and showing well.
Keith Mills said
Wed May 16 8:03 AM, 2018
Yesterday pm; good scope views of the drake Garganey as it swam about in front of Stilt Island. Viewed for 40 minutes, from the hide east of the island.
Paul Thompson having first spotted the bird flying in.
Doc Brewster said
Tue May 15 9:51 PM, 2018
Sorry off here due to back injury stopping me sitting at pc. Yesterdays highlights included 2 Wood Sandpipers on Neumann's Falsh plus a drake Garganey. The latter still being present today. A showy Garden Warbler is in the Witton Mill car park and 88 Black-tailed Godwits are on Haydn's Pool. (all from patch grapevine)
Paul Thompson said
Tue May 15 8:59 PM, 2018
After a pleasant morning spent today at Focalpoint Optics open day with David Aldred and Keith Mills. We all 3 arrived at Neumann's Flash at 1.45pm. and left at 4.00pm. 25 Species seen and heard including:
Willow Warblers 2
Gadwall 3
singing Garden Warbler 1
Shelduck 2
Little Grebes 2
Teal 1
Garganey 1
Grey Herons 2
Oystercatcher 1
Also had an interesting chat with a local birder who contributes to Manchester Birding, but ask not to be named.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Apr 30 2:45 PM, 2018
Two Lesser Whitethroat on adjacent Dairy House Meadows, one singing away loudly. Two, if not three, Common Whitethroat also present. A minimum of ten Reed Warbler by the River Weaver/Witton Brook on way back to the Anderton Boat Lift area along with two Cettis Warbler. Several Blackcap and Chiffchaff around with two or three Willow Warbler.
John Williams said
Wed Apr 25 11:55 PM, 2018
17.00-18.30
Neumanns Flash :4 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, 2 Shelducks and a single Swallow.
2 male Reed Buntings were squabbling by Pods Hide. All the Shoveler appear to have gone now.
A Cettis Warbler gave an explosive burst of song by the bridge with the ornate railings on Marbury Lane.
Nearby a Chiffchaff was moving around with a Goldcrest for company. Everywhere the Goldcrest went, the Chiffchaff followed too.
Haydn Pool : 8 Gadwall and 2 Stock Doves.
John Williams said
Sat Apr 21 3:28 PM, 2018
08.45-10.30
Neumanns Flash :
On the mound, 3 singing Willow Warblers trying to out sing each other, and another one in full song in birches nearby.
On the flash were 1m Pochard, 12 Shoveler, 6 Great Credted Grebes and 27 Tufted Ducks.
Oddly no Little Grebes were seen, and all the Teal appeared to have left.
A Reed Warbler was calling from the reeds near Pods hide.
Water covers the path leading to Pods hide so wellies are needed.
Ashtons Flash : 1m Stonechat, 6 Lapwings and 4 Shoveler.
Haydn Pool : 2 Buzzards, 4 Blackcaps, 6 Chiffchaffs, 4 Bullfinches and 4 Gadwall.
John Williams said
Wed Mar 28 11:01 PM, 2018
17.45-19.45
Neumanns Flash : Good numbers of duck were on the water, amongst them 24 Shoveler, 14 Shelducks and 11 Gadwall.
A single Great Crested Grebe flew in, a single Curlew flew over whilst at sunset a Buzzard and a female Kestrel hunted along the banking.
Haydn Pool : 16 Teal and 2 Shelducks.
A Tawny Owl was calling at the point where the path onto Dairyhouse Meadows leaves Marbury Lane.
A few small flocks of around 30 Starlings appeared over Neumanns as I was leaving, but no sign of a large murmuration.
John Williams said
Sat Mar 3 11:35 PM, 2018
09.30-11.20
Neumanns was 70% frozen, and held very few ducks, just a few Tufted Ducks and Mallards, plus 6 Shelducks.
A Buzzard flushed 2 Snipe from the reeds. 3 Bullfinches were near the mound.
Surprisingly, despite the ice, 2 Stonechats (m+f) were on Ashtons Flash, just in front of the bench, whilst a noisy pair of Ravens flew over.
8 Fieldfares were on the field between Witton Brook and Marbury Lane.
A Goldcrest was clearly struggling in the cold, it came to within a foot of me as it searched for morsels on the ornate iron bridge over
the brook near the Haydn Pool.
On the Haydn Pool, which was 98% frozen, a Buzzard was being closely watched by a pair of Stock Doves, a Snipe showed briefly,
another pair of highly vocal Ravens flew over and Sparrowhawk made a lightning pass over the reedbed.
3 more Stock Doves, a Kestrel and another Buzzard were on Dairyhouse Meadows.
John Williams said
Mon Jan 1 11:41 PM, 2018
13.00-14.30
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull with a group of Lesser Black Backs. 1 Common Gull amongst the Black Headed throng.
124 Wigeon (Down from 200+ seen before Christmas), 44 Shoveler, 10 Shelducks, 8 Gadwall and 12 Tufted Ducks.
Lots of Teal were on the flash, with many tucked into the reeds, but I could only find 8 Mallard, which seems odd.
Ashton's Flash just looked bleak and lifeless. A pair of Teal were the only birds on the Haydn Pool.
A flock of 40 Redwings flew over Neumanns heading South.
John Williams said
Fri Dec 22 11:47 PM, 2017
10.30-13.30
There are still 200+ Wigeon here, which is amazing, masses of Teal on the flash too.
Also 10 Snipe circled the flash and could not find anywhere to settle, the water level being very high.
Eventually they gave up, and flew off towards the River Weaver. A Great Tit was in full song and Woodpigeons doing display flights.
Also on the flash were 2 drake Pochards, whilst a Sparrowhawk flew over, mobbed by 2 crows.
2 Buzzards sat close together on top of birches on Ashtons Flash, and there was a noticeable difference in size between them.
The Haydn Pool held a few Teal, plus a Cettis Warbler that gave great views as it flitted amongst the base of cut reeds.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 23rd of December 2017 09:24:10 PM
Janet Taylor said
Thu Dec 14 5:17 PM, 2017
Thanks very much. That gives us somewhere to try next time.
Doc Brewster wrote:
Janet Taylor wrote:
We were there today at dusk, and saw huge flocks of starlings flying over in the general direction of Budworth Mere. Anyone know where they are roosting?
One of the main roost sites is Coward Reedbed at Marbury CP. The last report on our grapevine said that they flew almost straight into roost without much of a murmuration flight at all, hope this helps
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 13th of December 2017 09:39:34 AM
Doc Brewster said
Wed Dec 13 9:39 AM, 2017
Janet Taylor wrote:
We were there today at dusk, and saw huge flocks of starlings flying over in the general direction of Budworth Mere. Anyone know where they are roosting?
One of the main roost sites is Coward Reedbed at Marbury CP. The last report on our grapevine said that they flew almost straight into roost without much of a murmuration flight at all, hope this helps
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 13th of December 2017 09:39:34 AM
Janet Taylor said
Tue Dec 12 10:03 PM, 2017
We were there today at dusk, and saw huge flocks of starlings flying over in the general direction of Budworth Mere. Anyone know where they are roosting?
Zoe Barrett said
Sun Dec 3 7:30 PM, 2017
First ever visit here late this afternoon. Highlights were 200 plus wigeon on Neumans - good count for inland site.
Thousands of starlings in separate flocks flying into roost at dusk were incredible.
John Williams said
Sat Dec 2 6:11 PM, 2017
10.15-12.00
Very murky morning with only half the flash visible from Pods Hide, so I did'nt attempt to count any waterfowl, except for 5 Shelducks.
There were however lots of Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal on water. The highlight though was a Cettis Warbler near Pods Hide.
The bird gave great views as it flitted around the area of cut reeds by the hide. Then later it showed well in the birches that line the path to the hide.
On Ashtons Flash the only bird visible was a single Buzzard, as for the Haydn Pool, that appeared quite lifeless.
John Williams said
Mon Nov 27 7:28 PM, 2017
10.30-13.00 & 15.45-16.00
An amazing 230 Wigeon were on the flash, most had just flown in as I arrived.
Also on the water were 56 Shoveler, 26 Gadwall, 18 Tufted Ducks, 2 Little Grebes and 1 Great Crested Grebe.
1 Buzzard flew over. Around 3.45pm huge numbers of Starlings performed an aerial ballet over the flash, before flying over to roost on Dairyhouse Meadows.
Then two shots were heard, and the mass of Starlings reappeared back over Neumanns, they started to settle in the reedbed as I was leaving.
A Sparrowhawk zoomed through a group of Starlings, but did not manage to catch one.
John Williams said
Sat Oct 14 3:29 PM, 2017
10.00-13.30
Neumanns Flash : 1m Blackcap, 1 Little Egret, 33 Lapwings, 17 Common Gulls, 26 Shoveler, 14 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Song Thrush.
Ashtons Flash : 22 Lapwings.
Haydn Pool : 1 Snipe and 30 Teal.
Dairyhouse Meadows : 1 Buzzard and 3 Reed Buntings.
Doc Brewster said
Sat Oct 7 10:57 AM, 2017
A juvenile Black Tern was found yesterday (Fri 6th) on Neumann's Flash and is still present this morning. A Water Rail is also showing well this am.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 7th of October 2017 10:57:25 AM
John Williams said
Tue Sep 26 3:56 PM, 2017
10.30-12.00
In addition to Mark's list : 1 Kingfisher on Neumanns, 1 Buzzard on Ashtons, whilst the Haydn Pool held 12 Teal and no waders.
Mark Jarrett said
Tue Sep 26 11:53 AM, 2017
Two hours from 9.25 this morning in fine and fairly pleasant weather, albeit cool to start with. Full count :-
Couldn't reliably count some of the waterfowl that, as viewed from Pod's Hide, were over on the far, northern side in the murk.
John Williams said
Sun Sep 24 5:53 PM, 2017
Neumanns Flash 11.30-14.30
10 Wigeon, 8 Shovelers, 4 Little Grebes, 1 Common Gull, 1 Buzzard and 210 Lapwings.
1 Common Gull and 8 Lesser Black Backs amongst the large gathering of Black Headed Gulls.
Ashtons Flash is still completely dry, and largely birdless.
Haydn Pool : 1 Buzzard and a dozen Teal.
John Williams said
Mon Aug 28 10:38 PM, 2017
15.00-19.00
Neumanns Flash : 28 Curlew, 5 Black Tailed Godwits, 4 Snipe, 2 Buzzards, 1 Little Egret and 440 Lapwings.
A huge gathering of Canada and Greylag Geese dominated the flash, and included a white Greylag with a grey head.
A small group of Swallows and House Martins flew high above the flash.
Haydn Pool : 1 Wood Sandpiper*, 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Redshank and 1 Sparrowhawk.
* I initially logged this bird as a Green Sandpiper, as at the time I considered it a juvenile, it was clearly different from the other two and showed a noticeable supercillium.
The birds yellow legs were very noticeable, as was it's different gait, and it was more speckled across the upper wings and saddle.
However the bird mingled with the 2 Green Sandpipers, it raised it's wings on just one occasion showing a white rump.
The bird did'nt seem as lanky and elegant as the Wood Sandpiper on Little Woolden Moss in the spring though.
However on viewing online videos, and checking my trusty "Macmillan" guide at home, the bird that fits the description spot-on is a juvenile Wood Sandpiper.
If anyone is visiting the Haydn Pool tomorrow please have a look for this little fellow.
-- Edited by John Williams on Monday 28th of August 2017 11:35:23 PM
John Williams said
Thu Aug 17 4:52 PM, 2017
11.00-14.30
Neumanns Flash
41 Curlew, 305 Lapwings, 1 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard, 4 Swifts, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Grey Herons.
Haydn Pool
6 Green Sandpipers and a family group of 4 Chiffchaffs.
John Williams said
Sat Aug 12 4:23 PM, 2017
11.00-14.30
Neumanns Flash :
1 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Little Egret, 430 Lapwings, 6 Little Grebes, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Buzzards and 1 Cormorant.
2 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls were in the gull roost, as were 4 Common Gulls.
The edgy Lapwings flushed numerous times, once at least due to a low flying Buzzard, they also fled when an heron landed amongst them.
However, on one occasion when they flushed I discovered a couple of Carrion Crows on the shoreline, one of which was vigorously plucking a Black Headed Gull.
I'd scanned this area of shore a few minutes before and certainly had'nt seen a freshly dead gull.
I also noticed that when one of the crows wandered towards the Lapwings, they panicked and fled. At this point all the gulls had sought safety on the water.
Either the crows had killed the Black Headed Gull, perhaps it was a sick bird, or they had chased another predator off the kill.
Haydn Pool :
2 Green Sandpipers
John Williams said
Sat Aug 5 6:57 PM, 2017
11.30-15.30
Neumanns Flash :
2 Little Egrets, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Herons, 170+ Lapwings, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Buzzard, 1ad+1juv Great Crested Grebes and 2 "Alba" Wagtails.
Swifts, Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows were feeding above the flash, with House Martins being by far the most numerous.
Haydn Pool :
1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Snipe, 1 Lapwing, 1 Raven and 1 Buzzard.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 5th of August 2017 07:25:39 PM
Mark Jarrett said
Tue Aug 1 9:34 PM, 2017
Two hours from 2.15pm in heavy showers, thunder and lightning. Black-tailed Godwit (4), Curlew (23), Little Egret (2), Water Rail (Ad & Juv), Green Woodpecker, Buzzard plus usual waterfowl.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Jul 31 2:18 PM, 2017
A couple of hours from 10am. Amongst others, Black-tailed Godwit (8), Common Sandpiper (1), Little Ringed Plover (1), Little Egret (1) & Sparrowhawk (1).
Great Egret (2)
Little Egret (3)
Water Rail (2 juvs)
Dunlin (2)
Black-tailed Godwit (2)
2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 74 Curlew, 1 Green Woodpecker, 11 Little Grebes,
1 Shelduck and 4 Stock Doves.
The Great White Egret is still around, together with 11 Grey Herons.
Large numbers of Swallows were fly catching over the flash together with a few House Martins and a single Sand Martin.
Neumanns Flash
1 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret, 71 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Snipe, 1 Water Rail,
7 Little Grebes, 2 Linnets, 2 Buzzards, 8 Grey Herons, 2 Cormorants and 1 Song Thrush.
Large numbers of Swallows mixed with a few House Martins and a couple of Swifts were fly catching above the flash.
As I was leaving a large single group of Swallows left the flash and headed South East towards Lostock.
At one point a Pied Wagtail was seen chasing the Swallows as they swooped low over the centre of the flash.
Great Egret 1
Little Egret 1
Garganey - the juvenile/eclipse bird (reported earlier) was still present though distant.
Marsh Harrier - a juvenile (same bird as on 23/7/18?) seen well for c10 minutes, quartering reedbeds along the southern, eastern and northern shores. Don't know whether it left the flash or dropped into the reeds/shrubs, but not showing for last 45 minutes or so.
Curlew - at least 50. 'Spooked' by the harrier( before I could count them). They appeared to fly south - perhaps to the dry Ashton's Flash.
-- Edited by Steve Costa on Wednesday 25th of July 2018 11:06:47 PM
Great Egret 1
Little Egret 1
Water Rail 1
Lapwing c81
Curlew 76
Green Sandpiper 1
10.00-14.00
Neumanns Flash : 1juv Hobby, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret, 7 Curlew, 7 Redshanks, 1Kingfisher, 1f Sparrowhawk,
1 Black Tailed Godwit and 2 Water Rails
Ashtons Flash : 15 Pied Wagtails (The flash is now completely dry)
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 21st of July 2018 04:00:46 PM
Neumanns Flash : The Great White Egret was resting on the island on the Northern end of the flash.
Also present were 1 Little Egret, 3 Oystercatchers, 2 Curlews and 7 Grey Herons.
3 Linnets and 13 Goldfinches on wires along the Marsden side of the flash.
Large numbers of House Martins, Swallows and Swifts were over the flash, amongst them were 4 Sand Martins.
Ashtons Flash is now completely dry, and looks largely devoid of birds.
Haydn Pool : 4 Green Sandpipers and 4 Stock Doves.
Dairyhouse Meadows : 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker plus a Tawny Owl heard calling.
Great Egret (1)
Little Egret (2)
Green Sandpiper (1)
Little Ringed Plover (6)
Snipe (1)
Water Rail (1)
Raven (1)
Green Woodpecker (1)
Plenty of hirundines with a few Sand Martin in with the Swallow and House Martin.
1 Great White Egret, 5 Green Sandpipers, 1 Snipe, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Grebes, 4 Wigeon, 12 Shovelers,
12+ Sand Martins (With a large group of House Martins and Swallows), 80+ Lapwings and 7 Grey Herons.
2 Linnets were with a group of 8 Goldfinches resting on wires near the mound.
The egret seemed to favour the area by the scrape just below the mound in the SE corner, it appears to have
teamed up with 3 herons, as they patrol the shallow water together snapping up small fish as they go. When the herons
moved to another part of the pool, the egret followed them. Then it moved back to the SE corner when the herons did.
20+ recently fledged Black Headed Gulls were with their parents on the flash. The Green Sandpipers were in the NE corner.
Ashtons Flash : 2 Curlew and 24 Lapwings.
Haydn Pool : 3 Green Sandpipers were in the only remaining small pool of water.
16:25
Red Kite over from Neumann's to Hadyn's Pool
Neumanns Flash :
12 Lapwings, 2m Shovelers (Coming into moult), 4 adult + 1 juv Little Grebes, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Oystercatcher,
1 Cettis Warbler (Showing quite well near the gate on the path to Pods Hide), 1 Buzzard, 2 newly fledged Black Headed Gulls,
6 Grey Herons (Including a very pale bird that I initially thought was an egret) and 2 Kingfishers.
Curlew bubbling song heard but the bird was'nt seen.
Reed Warblers highly vocal and regularly commuting between the reeds and nearby birches.
Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch and Goldfinch still singing.
Ashtons Flash :
62 Lapwings, 60 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, 3 adult Great Black Backed Gulls, 4 Reed Buntings and 1 Shelduck.
Haydn Pool :
2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Willow Warblers and 1 overflying Cormorant.
Of note on the Flash this morning were a Turnstone (found by J Jones), five Black-tailed Godwit (part of a larger flock of around seventy five birds moving around patch)
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 25th of May 2018 07:59:02 AM
Neumanns Flash : 1 Green Woodpecker, 50 Black tailed Godwits (Flew around the flash several times then disappeared),
1 Buzzard, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Shoveler and 1 Redshank. No sign of the Garganey.
Garden Warbler singing and showing well near the mound. Cettis Warbler singing in NE corner of the flash.
Haydn Pool : 1 Greenshank, 1 Water Rail and 1 Black tailed Godwit.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 19th of May 2018 04:10:51 PM
A White-winged Black Tern was found on Neumann's Flash this morning by visiting birder, John Kirkland, who was looking for the Garganey. Unfortunately it disappeared before any local patchers arrived..... but....... see Marbury CP Thread!
Neumanns Flash : No sign of Garganey.
12 Great Crested Grebes (inc. a pair displaying), 4 Shoveler, 9 Gadwall, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Raven.
Cettis Warbler calling by the wooden bridge on the path across to Dairy House Meadow.
Haydn Pool : 90 Black tailed Godwits and a pair of Reed Warblers that were showing well in front the main hide/screen.
Along the path from Marbury Lane onto Dairy House Meadow a Garden Warbler was singing and showing well.
Yesterday pm; good scope views of the drake Garganey as it swam about in front of Stilt Island. Viewed for 40 minutes, from the hide east of the island.
Paul Thompson having first spotted the bird flying in.
Sorry off here due to back injury stopping me sitting at pc. Yesterdays highlights included 2 Wood Sandpipers on Neumann's Falsh plus a drake Garganey. The latter still being present today. A showy Garden Warbler is in the Witton Mill car park and 88 Black-tailed Godwits are on Haydn's Pool. (all from patch grapevine)
After a pleasant morning spent today at Focalpoint Optics open day with David Aldred and Keith Mills. We all 3 arrived at Neumann's Flash at 1.45pm. and left at 4.00pm. 25 Species seen and heard including:
Also had an interesting chat with a local birder who contributes to Manchester Birding, but ask not to be named.
Neumanns Flash :4 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, 2 Shelducks and a single Swallow.
2 male Reed Buntings were squabbling by Pods Hide. All the Shoveler appear to have gone now.
A Cettis Warbler gave an explosive burst of song by the bridge with the ornate railings on Marbury Lane.
Nearby a Chiffchaff was moving around with a Goldcrest for company. Everywhere the Goldcrest went, the Chiffchaff followed too.
Haydn Pool : 8 Gadwall and 2 Stock Doves.
Neumanns Flash :
On the mound, 3 singing Willow Warblers trying to out sing each other, and another one in full song in birches nearby.
On the flash were 1m Pochard, 12 Shoveler, 6 Great Credted Grebes and 27 Tufted Ducks.
Oddly no Little Grebes were seen, and all the Teal appeared to have left.
A Reed Warbler was calling from the reeds near Pods hide.
Water covers the path leading to Pods hide so wellies are needed.
Ashtons Flash : 1m Stonechat, 6 Lapwings and 4 Shoveler.
Haydn Pool : 2 Buzzards, 4 Blackcaps, 6 Chiffchaffs, 4 Bullfinches and 4 Gadwall.
Neumanns Flash : Good numbers of duck were on the water, amongst them 24 Shoveler, 14 Shelducks and 11 Gadwall.
A single Great Crested Grebe flew in, a single Curlew flew over whilst at sunset a Buzzard and a female Kestrel hunted along the banking.
Haydn Pool : 16 Teal and 2 Shelducks.
A Tawny Owl was calling at the point where the path onto Dairyhouse Meadows leaves Marbury Lane.
A few small flocks of around 30 Starlings appeared over Neumanns as I was leaving, but no sign of a large murmuration.
Neumanns was 70% frozen, and held very few ducks, just a few Tufted Ducks and Mallards, plus 6 Shelducks.
A Buzzard flushed 2 Snipe from the reeds. 3 Bullfinches were near the mound.
Surprisingly, despite the ice, 2 Stonechats (m+f) were on Ashtons Flash, just in front of the bench, whilst a noisy pair of Ravens flew over.
8 Fieldfares were on the field between Witton Brook and Marbury Lane.
A Goldcrest was clearly struggling in the cold, it came to within a foot of me as it searched for morsels on the ornate iron bridge over
the brook near the Haydn Pool.
On the Haydn Pool, which was 98% frozen, a Buzzard was being closely watched by a pair of Stock Doves, a Snipe showed briefly,
another pair of highly vocal Ravens flew over and Sparrowhawk made a lightning pass over the reedbed.
3 more Stock Doves, a Kestrel and another Buzzard were on Dairyhouse Meadows.
1 adult Yellow Legged Gull with a group of Lesser Black Backs. 1 Common Gull amongst the Black Headed throng.
124 Wigeon (Down from 200+ seen before Christmas), 44 Shoveler, 10 Shelducks, 8 Gadwall and 12 Tufted Ducks.
Lots of Teal were on the flash, with many tucked into the reeds, but I could only find 8 Mallard, which seems odd.
Ashton's Flash just looked bleak and lifeless. A pair of Teal were the only birds on the Haydn Pool.
A flock of 40 Redwings flew over Neumanns heading South.
There are still 200+ Wigeon here, which is amazing, masses of Teal on the flash too.
Also 10 Snipe circled the flash and could not find anywhere to settle, the water level being very high.
Eventually they gave up, and flew off towards the River Weaver. A Great Tit was in full song and Woodpigeons doing display flights.
Also on the flash were 2 drake Pochards, whilst a Sparrowhawk flew over, mobbed by 2 crows.
2 Buzzards sat close together on top of birches on Ashtons Flash, and there was a noticeable difference in size between them.
The Haydn Pool held a few Teal, plus a Cettis Warbler that gave great views as it flitted amongst the base of cut reeds.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 23rd of December 2017 09:24:10 PM
One of the main roost sites is Coward Reedbed at Marbury CP. The last report on our grapevine said that they flew almost straight into roost without much of a murmuration flight at all, hope this helps
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 13th of December 2017 09:39:34 AM
We were there today at dusk, and saw huge flocks of starlings flying over in the general direction of Budworth Mere. Anyone know where they are roosting?
Very murky morning with only half the flash visible from Pods Hide, so I did'nt attempt to count any waterfowl, except for 5 Shelducks.
There were however lots of Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal on water. The highlight though was a Cettis Warbler near Pods Hide.
The bird gave great views as it flitted around the area of cut reeds by the hide. Then later it showed well in the birches that line the path to the hide.
On Ashtons Flash the only bird visible was a single Buzzard, as for the Haydn Pool, that appeared quite lifeless.
An amazing 230 Wigeon were on the flash, most had just flown in as I arrived.
Also on the water were 56 Shoveler, 26 Gadwall, 18 Tufted Ducks, 2 Little Grebes and 1 Great Crested Grebe.
1 Buzzard flew over. Around 3.45pm huge numbers of Starlings performed an aerial ballet over the flash, before flying over to roost on Dairyhouse Meadows.
Then two shots were heard, and the mass of Starlings reappeared back over Neumanns, they started to settle in the reedbed as I was leaving.
A Sparrowhawk zoomed through a group of Starlings, but did not manage to catch one.
Neumanns Flash : 1m Blackcap, 1 Little Egret, 33 Lapwings, 17 Common Gulls, 26 Shoveler, 14 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Song Thrush.
Ashtons Flash : 22 Lapwings.
Haydn Pool : 1 Snipe and 30 Teal.
Dairyhouse Meadows : 1 Buzzard and 3 Reed Buntings.
A juvenile Black Tern was found yesterday (Fri 6th) on Neumann's Flash and is still present this morning. A Water Rail is also showing well this am.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 7th of October 2017 10:57:25 AM
In addition to Mark's list : 1 Kingfisher on Neumanns, 1 Buzzard on Ashtons, whilst the Haydn Pool held 12 Teal and no waders.
Little Grebe (2)
Great crested Grebe (1)
Mute Swan (7)
Wigeon (11)
Gadwall (18)
Teal (39)
Mallard (5)
Shoveler (32)
Tufted Duck (7)
Moorhen (13)
Coot (47)
Lapwing (251)
Snipe (13)
Redshank (1)
Black-headed Gull (30)
Common Gull (2)
Woodpigeon (1)
Green Woodpecker (1)
Chiffchaff (1)
Reed Bunting (1)
A Hobby was seen on nearby Ashton's Flash by another birder.
Great crested Grebe (1)
Mute Swan (6)
Canada Goose (1)
Wigeon (c.40)
Gadwall
Teal
Shoveler
Pochard (2)
Tufted Duck (c.6)
Shelduck (10)
Water Rail (2)
Lapwing (c.200)
Couldn't reliably count some of the waterfowl that, as viewed from Pod's Hide, were over on the far, northern side in the murk.
10 Wigeon, 8 Shovelers, 4 Little Grebes, 1 Common Gull, 1 Buzzard and 210 Lapwings.
1 Common Gull and 8 Lesser Black Backs amongst the large gathering of Black Headed Gulls.
Ashtons Flash is still completely dry, and largely birdless.
Haydn Pool : 1 Buzzard and a dozen Teal.
Neumanns Flash : 28 Curlew, 5 Black Tailed Godwits, 4 Snipe, 2 Buzzards, 1 Little Egret and 440 Lapwings.
A huge gathering of Canada and Greylag Geese dominated the flash, and included a white Greylag with a grey head.
A small group of Swallows and House Martins flew high above the flash.
Haydn Pool : 1 Wood Sandpiper*, 2 Green Sandpipers, 1 Redshank and 1 Sparrowhawk.
* I initially logged this bird as a Green Sandpiper, as at the time I considered it a juvenile, it was clearly different from the other two and showed a noticeable supercillium. The birds yellow legs were very noticeable, as was it's different gait, and it was more speckled across the upper wings and saddle. However the bird mingled with the 2 Green Sandpipers, it raised it's wings on just one occasion showing a white rump. The bird did'nt seem as lanky and elegant as the Wood Sandpiper on Little Woolden Moss in the spring though. However on viewing online videos, and checking my trusty "Macmillan" guide at home, the bird that fits the description spot-on is a juvenile Wood Sandpiper. If anyone is visiting the Haydn Pool tomorrow please have a look for this little fellow.
-- Edited by John Williams on Monday 28th of August 2017 11:35:23 PM
Neumanns Flash
41 Curlew, 305 Lapwings, 1 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard, 4 Swifts, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Grey Herons.
Haydn Pool
6 Green Sandpipers and a family group of 4 Chiffchaffs.
Neumanns Flash :
1 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Little Egret, 430 Lapwings, 6 Little Grebes, 2 Grey Herons, 3 Buzzards and 1 Cormorant.
2 "Argentatus" Herring Gulls were in the gull roost, as were 4 Common Gulls.
The edgy Lapwings flushed numerous times, once at least due to a low flying Buzzard, they also fled when an heron landed amongst them.
However, on one occasion when they flushed I discovered a couple of Carrion Crows on the shoreline, one of which was vigorously plucking a Black Headed Gull.
I'd scanned this area of shore a few minutes before and certainly had'nt seen a freshly dead gull.
I also noticed that when one of the crows wandered towards the Lapwings, they panicked and fled. At this point all the gulls had sought safety on the water.
Either the crows had killed the Black Headed Gull, perhaps it was a sick bird, or they had chased another predator off the kill.
Haydn Pool :
2 Green Sandpipers
Neumanns Flash :
2 Little Egrets, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Herons, 170+ Lapwings, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Buzzard, 1ad+1juv Great Crested Grebes and 2 "Alba" Wagtails.
Swifts, Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows were feeding above the flash, with House Martins being by far the most numerous. Haydn Pool :
1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Snipe, 1 Lapwing, 1 Raven and 1 Buzzard.
-- Edited by John Williams on Saturday 5th of August 2017 07:25:39 PM
7 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Green Woodpecker yaffling
1 Little Egret
plus usuals this am