Certainly is- Can't wait for you to have to be up at that time!
Pennington Flash is far to busy too so I went to Kingsway
Steve

Theres a 5:30 in the morning?

Dave

No sign of either Little Stint or Sanderling at 5.30 am this morning
Steve

Yes thanks Steve a great find.
It really would have hurt to miss 2 county ticks in consecutive days! All dried off now- couldn't drive off John leaving you looking for a dot on the mud flats in the rain!
Steve

No sign of the Little Stint by 8:55 but a Sanderling was present.

Info thanks to Simon Hitchen

And my thanks to Steve for getting out of his car for a second soaking to help me locate the bird which, as Sue says, was running all over the place and also making short flights - hard to keep up with.

Cheers, John

Very good find but a little on the damp side out there. Hope you're coat dries out Steve. Question is who fed it the speed? Was running around like mad when we saw it.

Paul sulking, too far away and far too wet for a photo.

Sue

Nice find mr.atkins. Glad to see it stayed long enough for mr.collins to connect with it. A cracking little bird

LITTLE STINT present this evening on the mudflats.

Also 7 Whimbrel over 6:30ish

Info thanks to Steve Atkins

May 15th.

A pair of Greylag Geese on the mudflats were a surprise - probably as genuinely "wild birds" as you are likely to get with this species?

2 Grey Partridge were also unexpected - rather worryingly the first time I have seen this species anywhere this year! I have yet to see any at Piethorne in 2009

50+ Swallows and a handful of Sand Martins foraging low over the water bodies in the wet weather conditions.

Also 1 Dunlin.

Cheers,

Bill.

No sign of any two-headed hill dwellers However there was a nice flock of 9 Dunlin all in breeding plumage feeding on the pools between the middle roundabout and the canal. Also present a male Wheatear, a pair of Ringed Plover, and 22 Jackdaws.
Didn't get round to posting that last Thursday eveing a Whimbrel flew off west from the pools.
Certainly beats pushing a trolley round Morrisons

All you two-headed hill dwellers, please read the new 'Breeding birds on this forum' post at the top of this forum.

Cheers

18.00 hrs 19/04

2 Ringed & 3 Little Ringed Plovers

18 Pied & 1 White Wagtail

1 Greater & 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

1 House & 2 Sand Martins ( the former passing through, the latter lingering and occasionally on the ground)

2 Jackdaws, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Wheatear, 6 Swallows, 4 Chaffinchs, 1 Mallard (passed through)

Good numbers of Lapwing & Wood Pigeon

Cracking little spot!

1 Dunlin, 1 Redshank and 0 Sociable Plover on Fenn's Pond this afternoon - Bill informs me that this is the official name for the half empty puddle at Stanney Brook

Hmmm not sure whether it's just me suffering a blow to the head Bill and I have an excuse

Ian McKerchar wrote:

---

After playing rugby against Littleborough today we drove past this site. I never realized where it was but the Kingsway signs on the fences gave it away! Despite it's apparent lack of water I was very impressed, obviously a car full of rugby lads were never going to stop for me ( they think I'm daft enough already being a birder!) but I can clearly see what the fuss is about. What a great little site, due a biggy so long as it doesn't dry out

---

Ian,

Biggy? - don't you mean biggies??! You mean you drove straight past and you somehow managed to miss that flock of 43 Sociable Lapwings that had been basking on the mud flats for much of the day! They had been waiting patiently for someone other than myself to spot them and to claim their rightful place in Manchester birding history. In an act of utmost generosity I had decided not to report them - praying that someone else, hopefully an eligible 2009 tournamenteer would come across them and claim the glory and the 10 gazillion points on offer.

You do realise that just so you could get a couple of pints down your neck and the chance to sing a few bawdy rugby songs you missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. No "sensible" birder would drive straight past! - I can only assume you had taken leave of your senses from the mild concussion that you had got from far too much rucking and mauling. Looks like I'll have to try and complete the rarity report form myself now!

Cheers,

Bill

After playing rugby against Littleborough today we drove past this site. I never realized where it was but the Kingsway signs on the fences gave it away! Despite it's apparent lack of water I was very impressed, obviously a car full of rugby lads were never going to stop for me ( they think I'm daft enough already being a birder!) but I can clearly see what the fuss is about. What a great little site, due a biggy so long as it doesn't dry out

thanks for the txt steve.

i had called around midday and had been watching a flock of mipits in the exact same pool so am certain they weren't there before the rain.

there was a single wheatear on the flats lunchtime.

on the second visit a female sparrowhawk almost took a starling just next the roundabout - it put almost every bird in the area in the air including a flock of 40+ mipits.

a very soggy but thoroughly enjoyable afternoon's birding, cheers, bill!

-- Edited by Paul Cliff on Friday 10th of April 2009 04:34:34 PM

I thought the heavy showers might bring some waders down this afternoon. 4 Dunlin were feeding on the "mudflats" to the north of the middle roundabout. 3 still in winter plumage, one with a black belly patch. Also a few Lapwings, 5 Little Ringed Plovers and a flock of 17 Linnet.

quick look in on the way home.
3 r plover
3 lrp

2 skylark singing

2 Oystercatchers - can't remember seeing them here before rather surprisingly
at least 6 LRPs
2 Ringed Plovers

15.00-15.30 5/4/09
6 Little Ringed
3 Ringed plover today spread about.
1 redshank on the pool nearest the motorway junction
20+ meadow pipits
4 Pied wags
12 Lapwing

Pete

1st April.

1 White Wagtail this morning.

Almost all the gulls seem to have gone - just 2 LBB Gulls and 1 Black-headed Gull.

Bill.

28th March - am.


1 Curlew, 1 Redshank, c60 Fieldfare, c35 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Grey Heron over and several displaying Lapwing. 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls - the only gulls present!

Had a walk along the Rochdale Canal which borders the north-western edge of the business park. The Canada Goose (which Brandon Mulhern reported on the forum on 21/3) with the crossbow arrow through its upper back was on the canal here - rang the RSPCA to report its plight and its location. Also in this area 8 Feral Pigeons were observed sat on nests, with the begging sound of a nestling heard. A proven breeding record for Feral Pigeon for SD91B (Newbold) for the BTO 2007 -2011 Atlas project! - don't laugh! - they all count!!

Keep atlasing!

Cheers,

Bill.


-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Saturday 28th of March 2009 01:10:11 PM

Tues March 24 9.30-11.00am

By drying out pools

2 Redshank
2 Lapwing
1 grey wagtail
6 approx reed bunting
usual mallards 2 pair
1 coot

Mudflats area very sparsly popoulated by lapwings

sunday 3.00 til 3.30pm

4 ringed plover

1 redshank

2 teal

20+ pied wagtails

lots of wood pigeon

30 or so lapwing

1 skylark singing

1 linnet 1 heron over

plus usual magpies and crows

22nd March - am.

2 Redshank still present,
at least 3 Snipe,
c20 Meadow Pipits,
4 Teal,
A flock of 37 Carrion Crows together in the middle of the mud flats was an unusual sight.

Bill.

Sunday am
Skylark 7+ good close up views
Reed bunting 1

15th March - am.

2 Redshanks - for the last two days a single bird has been on the drying out pond in tetrad SD91F (Newhey) of the business park - today the two birds were in separate wet areas in a different tetrad - SD91B (Newbold).

Also - 1 Linnet flew over calling,
there were at least 25 Pied Wagtails on the mud flats - had a scan through looking for White Wagtails but couldn't see any,
pairs of Song Thrush and Kestrel,
a flock of c40 Jackdaws flew in for a very brief visit,
there were several Carrion Crows -1 with unusually greyish-white primaries,
4 Skylarks and small numbers of Lapwings were present.

Cheers,

Bill.

Thursday 12 March. A raven repeatedly attacked and spooked the gulls in the late morning.

13th March.

1 Redshank on the drying out pond on the business park mid-afternoon - also 4 Teal. Also, 15 minutes later, 1 Redshank at Higher Boarshaw as well - presumably a different bird? - unless it followed me!


Bill.

Witty reply prevented by malfunction of emoticons!

Steve

PS: I'll try to be on duty at the passport control next time you try to cross the border into Saddleworth!

Steve,

Yorkshire and toilet? - surely must realise that this was a completely innocent and unexpected accidental slip of the fingers on the keyboard!! I actually spend so much time over in in Yorkshire that I would like to consider myself an honorary Yorkshireman - except that they have made it quite clear that they don't want me!

Think, I managed to pull the wool over his eyes with that load of unbelievable waffle?

Bill.

Very good Bill - though why is there something that looks like a toilet next to the word Yorkshire?

Steve

8th March.

When I called in for a brief visit at 7.45 am today on my way over to Yorks - , all of the gulls and Lapwings were in the air and in an agitated state. A quick scan revealed a Peregrine tucking into Lapwing on toast for its breakfast at the Kingsway BP Little Chef. OK, maybe exaggerating ever so slightly about the toast and the Little Chef bits but this site, with good numbers of large loafing birds present, has definitely become a favoured foraging area for Peregrine - also see post 18/12/08. Birds also hunted 2/11/08 & 17/7/08.

Shame about the Lapwing though - wouldn't it be a good idea to have some vegetarian Peregrines that could get by on a cup of coffee and a piece of cake or a doughnut maybe? Or if they must eat meat, why not stick to eating spam.

Have got a personal bet going (not with my Grandma though) that I won't be able to use all of the available emoticons in my posts in 2009. Just hope I don't suffer the indignity of getting banned from posting by Ian McK for being too frivolous! Pleased to be able to have used up some of the more difficult ones in that last sentence.

Cheers,

Bill.

7th March.

A Grey Wagtail was the only slightly unusual sighting today.

Bill.

6th March - am.

A single Pink-footed Goose "playing gooseberry" to a pair of Canada Geese on the mudflats. Also 10+ Pied Wagtails here. 7 Teal on the drying out pond.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough at 19:01, 2009-03-06

went on sat night to see the owl but nothing again except 1 stonechat and a pheasant

28th Feb.

Pair of Stonechats again.

1st March.

Mute Swan, 4 Teal, 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Curlew.

Very distant sighting this morning (2/3) of what might have been a pair of Redshanks - but far too far away to be certain.

Bill.

Peter Stevens, Steve Collins, Simon Hitchen and Myself managed to catch up with the waders - also Pete and myself did see 3 pheasants flying.

Still remains Rochdale's best site?

Dave

nice to meet you bill thanks for the 2 waders, went to see the owl where you said waited until 5.30pm but unfortunatly didnt see it

22nd February.

Mid morning.

1 Mute Swan on the pond, a "flock" of 5 Pheasant!, 4 Mistle Thrush and 5 Skylark. A good selection of loafing gulls present on the mud flats - before some half-wit on a scrambling bike decided to disturb them all! - included c90 Common Gull, c20 LBB Gull, 1 GBB Gull and c5 Herring Gull.

2.45 pm - 1 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin. Nice to meet Stuart Herring and to be able to share the sighting of these two small waders.

Cheers,

Bill.

20th February.

Whilst not on my wader wish list from yesterday, a Woodcock flushed from a damp ditch was a nice surprise!

The Lapwing flock had increased to c330. c240 Black-headed Gulls and c40 Common Gulls also on the mudflats. Skylarks are back in small numbers, including some birds in song and obviously looking for territories as two birds were watched in aerial combat!!
A Reed Bunting sang.

Cheers,

Bill.

19th February.

Mid-morning - amongst the large flock of c240 ground-roosting Lapwing - 2 Golden Plover and 3 Snipe.

A spring passage "wish list" for this site?
- Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank - oh and not forgetting a Ruff!!

Cheers,

Bill.

18th February - late afternoon.

Fantastically close and prolonged views of the Short-eared Owl hunting.
At one time I thought there might actually have been two birds, although two were never seen at the same time. Speaking separately to two of the site workmen during the hour and a quarter I spent here - it would seem that the bird or (birds?) have been present here since Steves last sighting - even hunting in the middle of the day during the harsh snowy weather. Small numbers of Skylarks and c60 Lapwings.

Also seen - a male and female pair of Stonechats, male and female pair of Reed Buntings, a Pheasant, a Grey Heron perched on a tree stump - which moved off right sharpish when a fox approached!

Both workmen indicated that all developments (other than roads) seem to be currently on hold.
What a fantastic nature reserve this site could have made with the right amount of money and effort! - with myself installed as Head Warden of course!!

Cheers,

Bill.

The Short-eared Owl was standing on a fence post in the usual field at 16:55 hrs today. It took flight, dropped to the ground and began feeding on something. The light was too poor to see what the prey was. It was still on the ground when I left just after 5pm. I was pleasantly surprised to see it's still about, as yesterday afternoon there were 3 off-road motorbikes and 2 quad bikes driving around the field. Also the construction work has encroached onto the edge of the field. It looks as if they are building yet another road!

Both birds flown north 11.30 Paul and dave

2 brent geese off sir Isaac Newton way at the minute (me and dave winnard)

-- Edited by Paul Cliff at 14:34, 2009-01-11

SEO showed well but briefly at 1555hrs in the usual place.

Also

2 Grey Heron
Kestrel
65 Woodpigeon
15 Jackdaw

the SEO eventually showed at 4.15pm, putting on a decent show hunting along the edge of the rough grassland and rushes. Still showing in the fading light when i left at 4.25. 2 Kestrels and 4 Fieldfare also present, Nice to see you there Judith.

declan