Yellow Wagtail , Whinchat, 2 Stonechat and a Wheatear all catching insects on the South wall/ embankment early doors this morning .. 5 Ringed Plover also along western shoreline 

Excellent morning circuit with plenty of interest:

Single Yellow Wagtail among flock of Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail on the north side. Also 1 Grey Wagtail.

2 Whinchat and 3 Wheatear on the wall to the south of the reservoir.

1 immature Peregrine spent about 15 minutes around the reservoir and spent much time trying to catch a Lapwing. It singled a bird out and made multiple stoops without success. It eventually flew off east. Also 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel and a Raven over.

Flocks of 7 and 4 Swallow, and 25 Linnet flew south.

13 Tufted Duck, 7 Teal, 1 Goldeneye and 1 Goosander on the water.

1 Common Gull and 3 Herring Gull among the Black- headed and Lesser Black-back Gull.

77 Lapwing the only waders I could find.

2 Merlin this evening .. an adult female staying mainly in the rough ground below Yates and a second bird , ( probably the same bird as seen on Wednesday ) looks like a young male and stayed mainly in Lancs around Croston Close/ Wham Farm area.

Great evening ..

4 Wheatear and 2 Stonechat were amongst many Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail along the sunny south wall of the reservoir this morning ..

A single Jay flew south over res at  1st light ..

This evening:

68 Goosander, 9 Tufted Duck and 1 Goldeneye.

1 Curlew and 3 lapwing.

Merlin perched for a few minutes on the dam wall near the overflow channel, and 1 Kestrel.

 A few more gulls this evening with single Herring Gull, 2 Common Gull in with c50 Black-headed Gull and 65 Lesser Black-Back Gull.

3 Sandwich Tern briefly at the res this morning before departing west ..

9 Tufted Duck, 9 Cormorant and a single Swift also present

-- Edited by rob archer on Thursday 30th of August 2018 10:46:50 AM

-- Edited by rob archer on Thursday 30th of August 2018 10:50:47 AM

Dunlin and a Ringed Plover this morning ..Meadow Pipit numbers building up which no doubt attracted the 1st Merlin of the Autumn up here for me ..seen Cheesden at first but still in the area south of the reservoir 

Another brief visit this evening, and the only waders were 40 Lapwing.

Excellent count of 82 Goosander and a single Goldeneye.

1 Swift among c320 Swallow over the reservoir.

1 Sparrowhawk shot low across the water.

2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were the only ones present, and they didn't stay to roost.

Highlights from a brief visit this evening:

24 Lapwing and 3 Dunlin.

55 Goosander, 1 Tufted Duck and 1 Goldeneye.

c300 Swallow low over the reservoir with a few Sand Martin among them.

1 Kestrel.

18 Lapwing, 4 Dunlin, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Ringed Plover and 2 Common Sandpiper this evening.

47 Goosander roosted, with Teal and Great Crested Grebe still present.

2 Buzzard and 3 Kestrel.

10 Swift among a mixed flock of c60 Swallow and Sand Martin.

This evening 19.50 to 21.00:

6 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper. Couldn't find any Lapwing!

44 Goosander and 92 Canada Geese came in to roost.

75 Lesser Black-back Gull but only 7 Black-headed Gull.

Single Swift over the dam and 11 Swallow over.

This evening 20.00 to 21.00:

20 Lapwing, 6 Dunlin, 5 Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper.

48 Goosander and 1 Teal.

3 Kestrel.

Very few gulls again.

An earlier visit this evening from 18.20 to 19.50:

6 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper, 85 Lapwing and singles of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Curlew.

Very few gulls roosted and most of the Hirundines seemed to have gone.

34 Goosander and 2 Teal.

This evening 19.30 to 21.00.

Single juvenile Sanderling, 4 Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover, 35 Lapwing and 1 Snipe.

39 Goosander, 2 Teal and 1 Great Crested Grebe.

c100 Swallow with 10 Swift and a few Sand martin mixed in.

155 Lesser Black-back Gull, 1 Herring Gull and 65 Black-headed Gull.

A fair bit of interest this morning from 7.00 to 9.00:

30 Lapwing, 4 Snipe, 2 Dunlin and singles of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper.

34 Goosander, 2 Teal, 2 Cormorant and a Great Crested Grebe.

The juvenile Peregrine put in another brief appearance, but didnt catch anything. 3 Kestrel and a Little Owl still up at 9.00!

2 Wheatear among c50 Pied Wagtail and c25 Meadow Pipit.

3 Swift and 1 House Martin.

This morning 7.00 to 8.30:

8 Lapwing, 6 Snipe, 5 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper.

11 Goosander and 2 Teal.

Juvenile Peregrine flew in low from the east and spent 10 minutes or so around the reservoir, before flying back high to the east. Possibly one of the Rochdale birds? Also at least 4 Kestrel and 1 Little Owl.

Single Chiffchaff in bushes on the north side of the reservoir.

And a little later:

1 Common Sandpiper and 65 Lapwing.

35 Goosander, but most flew off around 7.15

No less than 9 Kestrel, possibly 10, and a Sparrow-hawk.

Singles of Swift and House Martin in with the other Hirundines.

Grasshopper Warbler still reeling!

5 Dunlin, 5 Snipe and 6 Teal on the reservoir first thing this morning .

7 Dunlin, 2 Snipe, a Common Gull and an adult Great Black-backed Gull on the reservoir this evening .

Green Sandpiper , Common Sandpiper and 9 Snipe present first thing this morning ... Green Sandpiper flew off West at 0640..

61 Lapwing, 2 Common Sandpiper and a single Snipe this evening. Goosander count up to 67, and the Grasshopper Warbler still reeling!

Turnstone on the big island 1st thing this morning , flew off west at 0750.  2 Dunlin , 4 Cormorant and 3 Common Sandpiper also on the island ..

Wader passage seems to have dried up over the last few days. This evening only 38 Lapwing and 2 Common Sandpiper. Still some birds of interest though:

Good count of 62 Goosander roosting.

Single Grasshopper Warbler still reeling.

c 25 Swift and c 35 Swallow over the water.

Single Kestrel and Buzzard.

Only small numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gull and Black-headed Gull.

3 Dunlin , Redshank, 7 Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover , 11 Snipe , Curlew, c25 Lapwing and c100 Lesser black-backed Gull first thing this morning ..

Yellow-legged Gull 1st thing flew off south at 0610.. a Great black-backed Gull also amongst c80 Lesser black-backed Gulls.

Also present were Dunlin , Green Sandpiper, c20 Snipe, Redshank, 3 Oystercatcher, 7 Common Sandpiper and 31 Goosander ..

A Hobby flew south over the reservoir ( 1st for me here ) and a short time later a  Peregrine also flew over south after making a dive at a Woodpigeon ..

Black-tailed Godwit first thing this morning in the drizzle and fog .. also present... 2  3cy Yellow-legged Gull, 3 Dunlin, Redshank , 5 Common Sandpiper, c15 Snipe and 5 Oystercatcher..

-- Edited by rob archer on Sunday 22nd of July 2018 09:07:47 AM

-- Edited by rob archer on Sunday 22nd of July 2018 10:03:54 AM

7.15 - 9.50am.

1 Greenshank (poss 2), 1 Ad Dunlin, 1 Teal fem/imm, 11 Snipe, 15+ Lapwing, 5 Goosander fem/Imm, c 10 BH Gulls, very few big gulls coming in then leaving.

Greenshank left mid morning high SW prob after hearing what I thought was another flying high overhead?

Greenshank flew in to big island at 8.10am

Pintail on the res this evening along with 10 Snipe on the large island. 

2 Yellow-legged Gull and a Golden Plover first thing this morning ..

Should add that I had a Common Gull adult and a Redshank and Friday 13th July at about 6.30pm.  The Common Gull flew south. 

20 Lapwing, 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Dunlin and singles of Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Snipe this morning.

Also 5 Goosander, 1 Teal and 4 or 5 Kestrel.

And a little later:

1 Ringed Plover, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 2 Snipe, 3 Common Sandpiper and 35 Lapwing.

Also single Little Owl and 3 Kestrel.

3cy Yellow-legged Gull flew in first thing this morning , departing at 0600.. After comparing photo's it wasn't last week's 3cy bird ..Also present were 2 Dunlin, 4 Little Ringed Plover and 7 Common Sandpiper 

Sunday 15th July.  7 - 10.30am.  With A Young (9.45-10.15).

10+ Common Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, c15 Lapwing, 5 fem/juv Goosander,  9 B H Gulls, 30 (max count) L B B Gulls with very few birds coming and going. Pilsworth tip not working affecting numbers???

Redshank, Dunlin , 4 Little Ringed Plover, 7 Common Sandpiper and a Curlew first thing this morning  

Today from 11.00 to 13.00.

5 Common Sandpiper, 55 Lapwing and 2 Little Ringed Plover.

Great Black-backed Gull and Yellow-legged Gull among 80 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 3 Herring Gull.

3 Kestrel.

Of interest during a late circuit:

2 Green Sandpiper, 5 Common Sandpiper, 3 Curlew, 1 Snipe, 2 Little Ringed Plover and 38 Lapwing.

32 Goosander roosted.

1 Great Black-backed Gull among the gulls.

Pair of Grey Wagtail and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler.

1 Kestrel.

During a late visit this evening:

1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 21 Lapwing and a Curlew. The Green Sandpiper appeared to go to roost on the small central island.

Also 31 Goosander came to roost on the reservoir and a Grasshopper Warbler was still reeling on the adjacent moorland.

After being unsure re the ID of a couple of Gulls on Tuesday I sent a copy of a few of the photographs I took to Ian who confirmed them as  2 separate Yellow-legged Gulls... a 3cy bird and an Adult  . In with the Lesser black- backed Gulls this morning was another Adult Yellow-legged Gull which may well be a different bird... also present 4 Common Sandpiper and 2 Little Ringed Plover 

5 Little Ringed Plover and 3 Common Sandpiper first thing this morning . Also, in amongst c100 Lesser black-backed Gulls was a yellow legged argentatus Herring Gull on the small island that has recently formed ..

An interesting circuit of the reservoir this evening.

19 Goosander and a single Pochard on the water.

3 Oystercatcher, 3 Lapwing and a single Common Sandpiper on the margins.

30+ Swift and 3 Sand Martin hawking insects.

Grasshopper Warbler still reeling on the nearby moorland.

6 Pochard first thing this morning is a scarcity here and a first for me at the reservoir..

Water levels lower exposing some mud , hence....3 Dunlin, Redshank, 3 Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher , 4 Curlew and 12 Lapwing .

Common Sandpiper have bred successfully too on the north shore  but only appear to have one surviving chick at present ..

Sat 12/5 14:45-18:00 sunny and still becoming cloudy and col W breeze

Oystercatcher 1
Lapwing 3 on res then flew off west
Curlew several bubbling display flights

Common sandpiper 2 by inlet

Whimbrel 1 flying west calling

[no wheatears possibly due to noisy scrambling event in farm below res area]