ASTLEY, CHAT, LITTLE WOOLDEN AND ASSOCIATED MOSSES
Paul Richardson said
Tue Jan 19 8:48 PM, 2016
Rindle and Croxden's this morning.
Jackdaw circa 500 very mobile and noisy wheeling around the fields around Rindle cottages. Nothing very unusual about seeing a jackdaw, but in such large numbers they are pretty impressive, active and really noisy!
Rindle Track and Hedge: Grain feed for pheasants is attracting quite big flocks of finches and buntings on the track between the hedges - beyond where the former feeding station was. Chaffinch circa 50 highly mobile. Brambling 1m 1f Reed Bunting circa 30 Yellowhammer circa 20 No Tree Sparrows seen today Dunnock 4 Robin 4
Croxden's Common Buzzard just the 1 Reed Bunting 2 Wren 2 Common Snipe 6 This was in and around the old hand-cut peat workings. Pretty bleak and drab in the low light today!
Steven Nelson said
Sun Jan 17 7:08 PM, 2016
14.30-16.00 Field 25 and surrounding area: Mixed flock of c.100+ finches mostly Chaffinch but also: 1 Corn Bunting 8 Brambling - 5 birds were bathing in a puddle on the road! 5 Goldfinch 5 Yellowhammer 1 Greenfinch 1 male Sparrowhawk made 2 hunting sorties and rested for a minute on the ground after a narrow miss.
2 Herring Gull over west 2 Blue Tit 2 Long-tailed Tit 1 Redwing 1 Robin a few House Sparrows chirping from hedge at Worsley View Farm
4 Kestrel - 2 at Rose Farm, 1 Larkhill Farm, 1 Twelve Yards Rd 1 Buzzard
Croxdens: 5 Snipe 2 Reed Bunting 39 Stock Doves over - seemed to take off from f10 1 Willow Tit - f10 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull over east
Field 10: 11 Pheasant
Steven Nelson said
Sat Jan 16 2:55 PM, 2016
12.15-13.30 Fields 7,8,9 &10 Large numbers of birds feeding in the fields. Difficult to get exact counts of some species as they fed amongst the stubble.
sightings:
1 Chiffchaff was a surprise - feeding on the ground in the grass and flitting into the trees at the back of f9 c.130 Stock Dove with a few Feral Pigeons in f9 - probably my highest count on the mosses c.1000+ Woodpigeon in f8 c.120 Lapwing - most in f8 but some in f9 10 Grey Partridge - 8 in fi9, 2 in f10 1 Willow Tit 2 Blue Tit 4 Long-tailed Tit 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 7 Skylark c.40 Chaffinch 1 Yellowhammer c.30 Redwing 3 Fieldfare 4 Blackbird 2 Song Thrush c.20 Pheasant - probably due to the feeders around the field edges. 1 Kestrel 1 Buzzard 1 (very large) Sparrowhawk - had me thinking of something else for a moment! 2 Carrion Crow 3 Magpie 10 Herring Gulls over NE
2 Robin
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Saturday 16th of January 2016 02:57:53 PM
Paul Richardson said
Sun Jan 10 7:04 PM, 2016
1.30 - 2.30pm this afternoon
Flock of 100 Chaffinch in field edge bushes adjoining the SSSI path included at least 2 Yellowhammer, 2 lovely male Brambling and 1 Lesser Redpoll.
c300 Jackdaws in the usual field E of Rindle Road.
Otherwise fairly quiet for that hour apart from many hundreds of woodpigeon feeding and occasionally taking to the air!
Steven Nelson said
Sun Jan 10 7:04 PM, 2016
Little Woolden Moss 14.30-15.20
Nice to meet James Walsh again!
sightings similar
1 Merlin - in a spectacular twisting/turning chase of a small passerine but without success. 1 Short-eared Owl - continued to show really well until 15.20 - it was still flying round when I left. 1 Buzzard 1 Reed Bunting
and that was about it!
Irlam Moss - field 25 - 15.25-15.30
not quite the same number of birds as James had but a mixed flock of c.50 Chaffinch plus a few Linnet and Yellowhammer 1 Kestrel
Cadishead Moss - field 33 (pig field between Woolden Rd and motorway) 15.35-16.00
mummeration of at least 2000 starlings 100+ Greenfinches -a single flock of 80+ perching in trees in SE corner. I don't think I've ever seen a flock of so many before plus a further 20+ near Lower Stanley Bank Farm c.20 Fieldfare 2 Magpie 1 Robin 3 Pheasant
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 10th of January 2016 07:08:52 PM
James Walsh said
Sun Jan 10 5:41 PM, 2016
Little Woolden Moss
Short-eared Owl showing at 3pm
Merlin
Irlam Moss
Flock of up to 1000 passerines, containing 5+ Corn Bunting, 5+ Brambling, Yellowhammers, Chaffinches, Linnets on field 25
Rindle Wood Tree Sparrow Willow Tit 2 Wood Pigeon c800 feeding in stubble field adjacent Wood
John Watson said
Sun Jan 10 8:51 AM, 2016
Yesterday (Sat 9th) ~3pm
E of Rindle Road N of level crossing: ~6 Brambling, distant 200 Chaffinch 20 Yellowhammer 200 Wood Pigeon
Rindle Wood: 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
dave broome said
Sat Jan 9 1:46 PM, 2016
This morning at least 1 Brambling among a roving flock of 100+ Chaffinch moving towards the railway on the east side of Rindle Road, c50 Linnet on east side of Rindle Rd; 600-700 Jackdaw, feeding around area of field 68, but very difficult to view for most part, in long stubble with heads down while feeding
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Jan 8 3:24 PM, 2016
This afternoon:
Moss Lane-
180 Chaffinch, but fairly distant on the far side of the field on the southern side of the road by the airfield 6+ Brambling 110 Linnet 19 Pied Wagtail 500 Woodpigeon
Rindle Road-
130 Chaffinch 13+ Brambling 22 Long-tailed Tit 600 Woodpigeon 4 Tree Sparrow 34 Yellowhammer 600 Jackdaw in field 60 and fields just north of it Single Nordic Jackdaw in with the Western Jackdaws with another possible but not confirmed (flock very flightly)
Paul Richardson said
Tue Jan 5 5:00 PM, 2016
13.30 to 15.30 in variable light - sometimes it was golden and sparkling, sometimes almost dark!
Rindle Road, Hedge, Wood, and Astley Moss SSSI
Chaffinch - seemed to be everywhere. Possibly about 150. Very hard to ID Brambling against the light so none conclusively seen. Yellowhammer - Mostly with Chaffinch at Rindle Hedge - around 30 Reed Bunting - with crowds of Chaffinch along SSSI path - 30 Tree Sparrow (Rindle Hedge) 2 Dunnock 2 Wren 3 Robins Jay 2 Long Tailed Tit 6 Mistle Thrush 3 Woodpigeon - large flocks feeding in the fields
Pink-footed Goose - c. 40 feeding in field nearest to SSSI pools. They were flushed by a jogger who was running along and down the boundary of each field - pity but after they had taken off and flew calling to the NW, a few minutes later they returned over the moss, appearing to have been joined by another 60 making a skein of 100 at lowish level. Then flew south across the railway, but about 30 minutes later emerged back over the railway flying towards me on Rindle Road, but took a right wheel to the east and disappeared in the general direction of Worsley.
I got pretty excited seeing the group feeding - definitely a site first for me.
Moss Lane in poor light late-on:
Stubble fields Mixed flock of Fieldfare, Mistle thrush and Starling totalling approx 200. Pied Wagtail - 4 Kestrel - 2
Big Jackdaw flock probably around 500 over the farms, 300 seen earlier east of Rindle Road might have been absorbed into the total.
Really felt like there was a LOT going on today!
PS. Nothing against the jogger who I'm guessing was a local. He wasn't on the SSSI. It was just a shame he appeared seconds after I had spotted the geese!
Chris Sutton said
Mon Jan 4 5:28 PM, 2016
4th Jan 2 - 3:30pm - took same route as Steve described. Short eared Owl showing well on area to left of path as you enter Little Woolden Moss. Showing well for the 30 mins we were there - perched and hunting. Chris
Steve Judge said
Sat Jan 2 5:21 PM, 2016
Saturday, 2nd January 2016. 11:30 - 15:00 hrs.
Walk from junction past Moss Fisheries - along Twelve Yards Road - to Little Woolden Moss - and return.
Short-Eared Owl x 1 (perched on Silver Birch 200 yards left of main path on Little Woolden Moss) Linnet x 1 Reed Bunting x 1 Bullfinch x 1 Buzzard x 3 Kestrel x 1 Jay x 1 Lapwing x 8 Long Tailed Tit x 1 Carrion Crow x 20 Robin x 3 Blackbird x 4 Magpie x 4 Pheasant x 2 (both female) Wren x 1 (heard) Herring Gull x 15
pete berry said
Sat Jan 2 1:41 PM, 2016
Moss Lane still had plenty of birds with a nice flock of 250+ winter Thrushes,mainly Fieldfares but a good sprinkling of Redwing with them,also a flock of approx 100 Linnets on the stubble field and lots of finches about,mainly Chaffinchs but at least 4 Brambling with them. Rindle Road also had plenty of finches with good numbers of Yellowhammers,Chaffinches and again a few Bramblings and Reed Buntings feeding on the grain put down by the pheasant shooters along the track to the old carrot field. 9 Snipe flushed off Astley Moss SSSI were the only birds seen there apart from 3 Buzzards over.
Mark Burgess said
Fri Jan 1 8:11 PM, 2016
Badly timed late afternoon visit as the light was fading.
Moss lane Buzzard 6 in the air simultaneously Kestrel
Rindle Wood Kestrel 2 Chaffinch flock 30/40 feeding on track 14 Yellowhammer plus 1 male Brambling in amongst
Andy Isherwood said
Thu Dec 31 2:25 PM, 2015
Good mixed flock in the very wet stubble field along moss lane this morning, c.120 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, and mixed flock of Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Reed bunting, skylark, Meadow pipit, Pied Wagtail and Yellowhammer totalling c.150 birds.
Steven Nelson said
Tue Dec 29 5:24 PM, 2015
15.00-15.45 Little Woolden Moss LWT
No sign of the Short-eared Owl again for me
Very little else seen either! Only: 1 Snipe 1 Pheasant Mixed flock of c.40 Carrion Crow & Jackdaw. 2 crows had white wing patches 2 Magpie
Little Woolden Moss 1.00 - 2.30pm, Highlights. Redwing 30+ Fieldfare 20 Starling 60+ Mistle Thrush Jay Willow Tit 2 Read Bunting Kestrel Peregrine Falcon, sat on the bare peat for 10 minutes then flow off low Short-eared Owl, perched up initially close to the path 50m past the poly tunnel, then watched for 20 minutes quartering the grassy area
Rindle wood track 3.00 - 3.30pm Highlights. Kestrel Mistle Thrush 2 Redwing 30+ 100+ Chaffinch, 5 Yellowhammer mixed in amongst, No sign of any Brambling
George Warburton said
Mon Dec 28 11:27 AM, 2015
Sunday 27 December 2015
1.00 to 2.30 pm
Approached Little Woolden Moss from Glazebury (parked next to The Raven).
Short -eared Owl seen across the peat workings in area of green portacabin. A second (or the same) owl seen on farm fields on my trek back to car. A few Skylark in adjacent stubble field.
Others seen included:
Reed Bunting
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Yellowhammer
Linnet
Mistle Thrush
Redwing
Fieldfare
Kestrel
Simon Gough said
Sun Dec 27 5:42 PM, 2015
Great to meet you Steve!
I walked over to Little Woolden Moss via Astley Road. I always like walking up there, there are tons of garden birds around the houses, where numerous folk have feeders up, and then at Field 41 there is normally something to look at. Today there were 2 perched Buzzards showing well, but the highlight was a clamorous flock of assorted passerines. Initially a flock of 15 or so Redwings showed well bursting off the ground into a tree, and then it was obvious that there were dozens of finches and buntings about too. There were at least 10 Yellowhammer in with Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Chaffinch. The noise was fantastic! Also one male Bullfinch flew over and on the way back I picked up a Siskin too.
At Field 25 there were dozens more Chaffinch and another 10 or so Yellowhammer. You can stand by the road and watch them buzz around to your heart's content. Across the motorway around Woodstock and Larkhill Farms were several Mistle Thrush and a female Bullfinch.
When I got to the reserve the sun was out and it was really stunning. What a credit to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust team. I spent a few minutes looking for small birds in the trees and found 3 Reed bunting and a Willow Tit, which was brilliant. Then I picked up a Short-eared Owl perched on a dead tree in the middle of the long grass where Elspeth described. This was at about 11.30. I watched it preening and occasionally looking around, including a couple of times when big birds passed close by. At one point a large Sparrowhawk glided past a few feet off the ground and the owl just watched it cruise by. A far cry from one mobbing a Marsh Harrier at Lunt a few weeks back. The bird looked really dark, and I had almost thought it was a buzzard, but the apparent tail was actually the folded primaries. I was happy to have spotted it at the distance.
At 13.43 (!) the bird started hunting and I had a spellbinding 20 minutes to myself watching it work the moss. Steve turned up at exactly the right time to avoid a 2 hour wait for some nice flight views! In flight the dark upper wings were very evident. What a stunner!
So all in all a really great day's birding, especially as the BBC had led me to believe it would persist with rain at 2pm, whereas it was actually fine until it got dark.
Steve Judge said
Sun Dec 27 4:30 PM, 2015
Sunday, 27th December 2015. 13:30 - 16:00 hrs.
Walk from Barton Moss - along Twelve Yards Road - to Little Woolden Moss - and return.
Nice to have chat with Simon Gough at Little Woolden Moss.
Highlight - Short-Eared Owl (Little Woolden Moss) Reed Bunting x 2 female Bullfinch x 1 male Redwing x 5 Buzzard x 1 Kestrel x 1 Goldcrest x 1 Treecreeper x 1 Long Tailed Tits x 5 Woodpigeon x 250 Carrion Crow x 7 Robin x 3 Blackbird x 4 Magpie x 4 Mistle Thrush x 1 Chaffinch x 3 Pheasant (4 male and 1 female)
Shannon Llewellyn said
Sun Dec 20 6:00 PM, 2015
Day spent here today. Heading up Astley Road from Irlam station, crossing the motorway, turning right, taking me (eventually) to Moss Farm, left onto Twelve Yards Road, and back onto Astley Road (after a look on Little Woolden Moss). Highlights:
1 goldcrest 7 meadow pipit c30 greenfinch 50+ chaffinch 1 lesser redpoll 100+ linnet (most in a single large flock around field 40) 10+ goldfinch 3 bullfinch 5 yellowhammer 1 skylark heard c50 starling 30+ redwing 40+ fieldfare (most together in a stubble field off Twelve yards road, otherwise in ones or twos) 2 song thrush c15 mistle thrush 1 grey heron 4 kestrel Usuals
Little Woolden Moss:
1 goldcrest 1 willow tit 1 meadow pipit 3 lesser redpoll 1 bullfinch 7 skylark (in stubble field adjacent to path on far side from the hide) c10 reed bunting Blue tit, wren, robin, chaffinch, blackbird, carrion crow, woodpigeon 1 black-headed gull 1 herring gull 2 lesser black-backed gull 3 grey heron 1 short-eared owl 2 buzzard (distant)
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 20th of December 2015 10:24:11 PM
Rob Creek said
Sun Dec 20 5:57 PM, 2015
A quick visit early afternoon.
Managed to locate a relatively small Finch flock consisting of... (rough estimate only due to flighty nature)
- Chaffinch ~ 15-20 - Linnet ~ 30-40 - Brambling 5 all male - also 3 Mistle Thrush and a male Blackbird travelling with them
Other birds... - Common Buzzard 3 in the air together - Jackdaw ~100's - Woodpigeon ~100's - Redwing ~ 30-40 (some feeding, others over) - Skylark 2, 1 on ground, 1 flew over calling - Robin 1
Mark Burgess said
Sat Dec 19 5:43 PM, 2015
Croxden's 8.30am Very quite Jay 2 Bullfinch
Little Woolden Moss 10.00am Also quite Buzzard Jay 2 Redwing 20
Rindle Road 11.30am Redwing c30 Goldcrest Large Chaffinch flock c200-250 in amongst 2 male Brambling, 2 Yellowhammer and a goldfinch very flighty dropping into field 67 and back into the Birch and Hawthorn trees that border Rindle road
John Watson said
Thu Dec 17 1:42 PM, 2015
11:30 today, 100 yds N of level crossing:
Big mixed flock, feeding on stubble but quite nervous: ~ 200 Chaffinch 3-5 Brambling, mostly male, 1 female ~ 20 Yellowhammers, mostly males, chasing possibly 1 Tree Sparrow 10 Greenfinch 2 Bullfinch (m,f)
Also 100's of Wood Pigeon ~80 Mallard by road Many Jackdaw 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (h)
Paul Richardson said
Tue Dec 15 7:45 PM, 2015
Made a change this morning to get out to Moss Lane, Rindle Road and Astley Moss south of the A580 and actually get some watery sunshine! There was load of bird activity - quite a rewarding morning. The flocks were very hard to count properly but it was something like this: 70 Fieldfare, 15 Redwing, 70 Chaffinch with a single Brambling identified near the edge of Rindle wood, 5 Mistle Thrush, 20 Mallard, 4 Jays, circa 500 Jackdaws in a massive flock, 3 Greenfinch near the old feeding station, 35 Long Tailed Tit, 20 Yellowhammer, 1 Willow Tit, 3 Tree Sparrow, 6 Reed Bunting, 6 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Collared Dove and a Goldcrest. (Plenty of pheasant and a veritable plague of woodpigeon but no partridge in or out of a pear tree!) And just the ONE photo!! I was pleased with the Brambling in fact because it's the first I've ever identified in "open country" as it were, and not on feeders etc. Only the one but it's a start!!
Elspeth Ingleby said
Tue Dec 15 11:12 AM, 2015
Hi folks,
We have had a pair of Short-eared Owl hunting over the LWT Cadishead Moss reserve regularly in the last week. They were not spotted yesterday when I was onsite with volunteers, but were seen at least once each day from Thursday to Sunday, with frequent prolongued views, so we're hopeful they might stick around. Each time the birds were easily viewed from the Little Woolden Moss public footpath. I have also heard reports of up to 3 Short-eared Owls near to Astley Moss over the last few weeks (although may be same birds).
Have some (very poor!) photos up on our Chat Moss Project facebook page, and also there is a report from Dave Steel's bird walk onSaturday, including an encounter with the owls.
cheers,
Elspeth
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Dec 14 11:47 PM, 2015
Earlier today:
70 Linnet off Moss Lane
A large finch flock at the top of Rindle Road by the level crossing (very mobile) comprised of the following underestimates due to the difficulty in counting birds present:
250 Chaffinch 110 Yellowhammer (many birds also separate from the flock, feeding on grain put down for Pheasants behind Rindle Wood) 27 Brambling (minimum counted in one go, so undoubtably more present) 40 Reed Bunting 12 Tree Sparrow
Well over 1000 Woodpigeon in two flocks either side of Rindle Road
Jason Dulhanty said
Mon Dec 7 5:13 PM, 2015
2.00-3.30ish
Rindle road area
Buzzardx2 putting up the local Wood pigeons on several occasions
Sparrowhawkx2 over the SSSI
Chaffinch and Tit flocks
Several Jays
Kestrel
Redwingx20
Possible Short eared being harassed by a Crow at the back of Rindle cottages, can't be 100% ( light and distance )
Pheasants everywhere
Cheers Jay
Dont twitch and drive.
Steven Nelson said
Fri Dec 4 12:36 PM, 2015
11.00-12.00 Irlam Moss
4 Buzzards 1 Kestrel c.70 Fieldfare c.10 Redwing 1 Willow Tit 1 Lesser Redpoll 1 Yellowhammer c.30 Chaffinch - (including a single flock of c.20) 1 Skylark 1 Meadow Pipit
Plus the usuals!
Dave Thacker said
Thu Dec 3 11:36 AM, 2015
Two Merlins have been hunting over the fields either side of 12 yards road this morning.
Kevin Forde said
Wed Nov 25 6:24 PM, 2015
Astley Moss
Pied wagtail Mistle thrush Song thrush Blackbird Chaffinch Robin Jackdaw Buzzard Kestrel Bullfinch Blue tit Great tit Goldcrest Great spotted woodpecker Wren Yellowhammer
Paul Richardson said
Mon Nov 16 3:59 PM, 2015
0900 to 12.30 bright and breezy - Moss Lane, Rindle Road, Rindle Hedge track, Astley Moss SSSI, Rindle Wood, Rindle to Croxden's path and the old peat extraction ditches NE of the grey barn.
3 Kestrel 2 Common Buzzard 25 Chaffinch (refusing to be Brambling) 2 Goldfinch 5 Yellowhammer 2 Tree Sparrow (by the fishing pond) 16 Redwing 6 Mistle Thrush 1 Songthrush singing 2 Willow Tit 5 Wren heard only 3 Robin 1 Goldcrest 10 Jay
Also Blue Tits, Great Tits and Blackbirds, Magpies, Carrion Crow approx 25, Woodpigeons, Pheasants
On the old peat workings 6 Reed Bunting 5 Common Snipe flushed
-- Edited by Paul Richardson on Monday 16th of November 2015 04:00:48 PM
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Nov 13 2:25 PM, 2015
Late news for yesterday:
58 Pink-footed Geese feeding in field no. 63 on Chat Moss 320 Fieldfare around Chat Moss with some visibly moving SW Single Golden Plover high east over Little Woolden Moss 2 Peregrines on Croxdens At least one Brambling in with a Fieldfare flock at Mosslands Farm but probably more
Kevin Forde said
Thu Nov 5 3:24 PM, 2015
Rindle Farm and Astley Moss:
Jackdaws mobbing a carrion crow before turning on a sparrowhawk that passed by. Peregrine came in from the south over the railway lines putting up hundreds of wood pigeon. Blue tit Great tit Wren Blackbird Song thrush Kestrel Pheasant Chaffinch Brambling (among the chaffinch feeding on the beech mast).
Steven Nelson said
Sun Nov 1 4:18 PM, 2015
14:45-15.45 Little Woolden Moss LWT
c.300 Pink-footed Geese - flying around before settling on the reserve. c.100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls coming in to roost on the pools c.70 Jackdaws 2 Skylark
James Walsh said
Sun Nov 1 2:48 PM, 2015
Cadishead Moss and Little Woolden Moss
c300 Pink-footed Geese on the LWT Nature Reserve
4 Willow Tit (3 New Moss Wood, 1 Little Woolden Moss)
11 Grey Partridge
c70 Redpoll, most in birches at Fairhaven Farm
c50 Fieldfare
2 Skylark
2 Redwing
c20 Linnet
c30 Meadow Pipit
5 Goldcrest
11 Lapwing
3 Bullfinch (2 New Moss Wood, 1 Little Woolden Moss)
-- Edited by James Walsh on Sunday 1st of November 2015 02:50:19 PM
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Oct 30 11:08 PM, 2015
Early afternoon in the field around the rear of Rindle Wood:
600 Woodpigeon at least 2 Brambling in with relatively small numbers of Chaffinch 8 Lesser Redpoll 30 Redwing 2 Siskin 2 Willow Tit 2 Bullfinch
Andy Isherwood said
Wed Oct 28 12:31 PM, 2015
Hour or so late morning.
good numbers of common species along Moss Lane, c.300 Starling, 250 Jackdaw, and plenty of Woodpigeon, and multiple Jays.
Along Rindle road, Small numbers of Redwing, good numbers of Starling, greenfinch, Chaffinch and 4 adult Whooper Swan flew East c.11.05, only about telegraph pole height but watched until lost behind trees and didn't show any signs of stopping.
Same as mine today fromCarrington Moss. I wonder why.
Steven Nelson said
Mon Oct 26 9:36 PM, 2015
16.00-17.00 Little Woolden Moss and Cadishead Moss LWT
approx. 170 Pink-footed Geese - initially flew from the field north of LW Moss and landed on the reserve amongst the rushes and were settling to roost.
Also:
1 Kestrel - constantly mobbed by Jackdaws as it tried to hunt.
1 Sparrowhawk
c.100 Jackdaws
c.20 Carrion Crows - including 3 birds with white patches on the wings
3 Mallard
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Reed Bunting
2 Meadow Pipit
1 Pheasant
and a stunning 'Moon rise'!
Why is my post double spacing again?
Steve Judge said
Sat Oct 24 4:36 PM, 2015
Saturday, 24th October 2015. 12:00 - 15:30 hrs.
Walk from Barton Moss - via Twelve Yards Road (past Barton Moss Farm - Little Woolden Moss and Cadishead Moss - back via Croxden peat pools
14:00 hrs: Pink-footed Geese x 300 (approximately) flew low over Little Woolden Moss - with 100 landing and other 200 flying towards Astley Moss
Linnet x 10
Kestrel x 7 different sightings
Reed Bunting x 5
Grey Partridge x 7
Lapwing x 7
Buzzard x 1
Woodpigeon x 150
Pheasant x 20
Carrion Crow x 50
Jackdaw x 3
Blackbird x 10
Robin x 2
Blue Tit x 1
Chaffinch x 3
Pied Wagtail x 4
Grey Wagtail x 1
Mistle Thrush x 4
Feral Pigeon x 1
Magpie x 7
Great Black-Backed Gull x 1
Lesser Black-Backed Gull x 3
Black-Headed Gull x 30
Starling x 10
Wren x 1 (heard)
-- Edited by Steve Judge on Saturday 24th of October 2015 04:45:48 PM
Steve Scrimgeour said
Wed Oct 21 9:57 AM, 2015
Just seen reports of 2 Short Eared Owls on Little Woolden Moss yesterday afternoon, on Chat Moss FB page......
Would imagine if one of Manchester Birders had seen them, it would have been all over here before now.........
-- Edited by Steve Scrimgeour on Wednesday 21st of October 2015 10:00:04 AM
Jason Dulhanty said
Mon Oct 19 4:33 PM, 2015
About 1 ish Little woolden moss 15 Grey partridge Peregrine Falcon 12 yards field 15 and 16 200+ Fieldfare Yellowhammer. Cheers Jay Don't twitch and drive.
Alan Rowley said
Mon Oct 19 4:01 PM, 2015
This morning 10AM - 1230PM between Rindle Road and Croxden's.
Black-headed Gull 1 Blackbird 5 + Blue Tit 3 Bullfinch 4 Buzzard 2 Carrion Crow Y Chaffinch 7 + Dunnock 1 Fieldfare 40 Goldcrest 2 Goldfinch 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Great Tit 2 Greenfinch 2 Jay 3 Kestrel 2 Lesser Redpoll 6 Long-tailed Tit 10 Magpie Y Mallard 2 Mistle Thrush 6 Pheasant Y Pied/White Wagtail 6 + Redwing 20 Reed Bunting 2 Robin 10 + Skylark 8 + Song Thrush 2 Sparrowhawk 1 Starling 30 Treecreeper 1 Woodpigeon Y Wren Y Yellowhammer 4
Extracted from BTO Birdtrack.
Steven Nelson said
Sun Oct 18 9:29 PM, 2015
Barton Moss 11.30am-12.30pm
11 Grey Partridge in a single covey 3(4?) Willow Tit 100+ Redwing 9 Fieldfare 4 Mistle Thrush 3 Song Thrush 3 Buzzard 2 Kestrel (m & f) 3 Redpoll 3 Yellowhammer 12 Linnet 15+ Chaffinch 1 Skylark 1 Meadow Pipit 16 Lapwing over E 5 Pheasant 10+ Long-tailed Tit 2 Blue Tit Robins - numerous 1 Blackbird 5 Carrion Crow 7 Magpie 1 Jay 100+ Woodpigeon 4 LBB Gulls over
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 18th of October 2015 09:37:35 PM
John Doherty said
Sun Oct 18 4:39 PM, 2015
Today walk from Barton airport to little woolden to Irlam produced redwing flock, two buzzard, sparrowhawk and kestrel singles and a yellowhammer
-- Edited by John Doherty on Sunday 18th of October 2015 04:40:00 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 18th of October 2015 06:35:06 PM
IANMOFFAT1 said
Tue Oct 13 9:03 PM, 2015
Barton Moss
Covey of 9 Partridges taking cover in the sparse set-a-side cereal stubble patches left across the moss land.
Chat Moss
Apart from the Pink-footed Geese in F52
The Redwings are back on their favourite haunt,18 feeding on the elder and hawthorn berries on the tract between F8/F9.
Nice to see good numbers of Snipe again on Croxden PNR with 10 flushed.
102 Lapwings on F49 with 5 Buzzards soaring over and 3 Kestrels across F8/F45/F11.
Jackdaw circa 500 very mobile and noisy wheeling around the fields around Rindle cottages. Nothing very unusual about seeing a jackdaw, but in such large numbers they are pretty impressive, active and really noisy!
Rindle Track and Hedge:
Grain feed for pheasants is attracting quite big flocks of finches and buntings on the track between the hedges - beyond where the former feeding station was.
Chaffinch circa 50 highly mobile.
Brambling 1m 1f
Reed Bunting circa 30
Yellowhammer circa 20
No Tree Sparrows seen today
Dunnock 4
Robin 4
Croxden's
Common Buzzard just the 1
Reed Bunting 2
Wren 2
Common Snipe 6
This was in and around the old hand-cut peat workings. Pretty bleak and drab in the low light today!
Field 25 and surrounding area:
Mixed flock of c.100+ finches mostly Chaffinch but also:
1 Corn Bunting
8 Brambling - 5 birds were bathing in a puddle on the road!
5 Goldfinch
5 Yellowhammer
1 Greenfinch
1 male Sparrowhawk made 2 hunting sorties and rested for a minute on the ground after a narrow miss.
2 Herring Gull over west
2 Blue Tit
2 Long-tailed Tit
1 Redwing
1 Robin
a few House Sparrows chirping from hedge at Worsley View Farm
4 Kestrel - 2 at Rose Farm, 1 Larkhill Farm, 1 Twelve Yards Rd
1 Buzzard
Croxdens:
5 Snipe
2 Reed Bunting
39 Stock Doves over - seemed to take off from f10
1 Willow Tit - f10
3 Lesser Black-backed Gull over east
Field 10:
11 Pheasant
sightings:
1 Chiffchaff was a surprise - feeding on the ground in the grass and flitting into the trees at the back of f9
c.130 Stock Dove with a few Feral Pigeons in f9 - probably my highest count on the mosses
c.1000+ Woodpigeon in f8
c.120 Lapwing - most in f8 but some in f9
10 Grey Partridge - 8 in fi9, 2 in f10
1 Willow Tit
2 Blue Tit
4 Long-tailed Tit
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
7 Skylark
c.40 Chaffinch
1 Yellowhammer
c.30 Redwing
3 Fieldfare
4 Blackbird
2 Song Thrush
c.20 Pheasant - probably due to the feeders around the field edges.
1 Kestrel
1 Buzzard
1 (very large) Sparrowhawk - had me thinking of something else for a moment!
2 Carrion Crow
3 Magpie
10 Herring Gulls over NE
2 Robin
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Saturday 16th of January 2016 02:57:53 PM
Flock of 100 Chaffinch in field edge bushes adjoining the SSSI path included at least 2 Yellowhammer, 2 lovely male Brambling and 1 Lesser Redpoll.
c300 Jackdaws in the usual field E of Rindle Road.
Otherwise fairly quiet for that hour apart from many hundreds of woodpigeon feeding and occasionally taking to the air!
Nice to meet James Walsh again!
sightings similar
1 Merlin - in a spectacular twisting/turning chase of a small passerine but without success.
1 Short-eared Owl - continued to show really well until 15.20 - it was still flying round when I left.
1 Buzzard
1 Reed Bunting
and that was about it!
Irlam Moss - field 25 - 15.25-15.30
not quite the same number of birds as James had but a mixed flock of c.50 Chaffinch plus a few Linnet and Yellowhammer
1 Kestrel
Cadishead Moss - field 33 (pig field between Woolden Rd and motorway) 15.35-16.00
mummeration of at least 2000 starlings
100+ Greenfinches -a single flock of 80+ perching in trees in SE corner. I don't think I've ever seen a flock of so many before plus a further 20+ near Lower Stanley Bank Farm
c.20 Fieldfare
2 Magpie
1 Robin
3 Pheasant
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 10th of January 2016 07:08:52 PM
Little Woolden Moss
Short-eared Owl showing at 3pm
Merlin
Irlam Moss
Flock of up to 1000 passerines, containing 5+ Corn Bunting, 5+ Brambling, Yellowhammers, Chaffinches, Linnets on field 25
Rindle rd
Fieldfare 1
Redwing 23
Mistle Thrush 3
Chaffinch c30 over
Pied Wagtail 2
Pheasants 100+
Buzzard 2
Kestrel 2
Sparrowhawk
Rindle Wood
Tree Sparrow
Willow Tit 2
Wood Pigeon c800 feeding in stubble field adjacent Wood
E of Rindle Road N of level crossing:
~6 Brambling, distant
200 Chaffinch
20 Yellowhammer
200 Wood Pigeon
Rindle Wood:
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
This morning at least 1 Brambling among a roving flock of 100+ Chaffinch moving towards the railway on the east side of Rindle Road, c50 Linnet on east side of Rindle Rd; 600-700 Jackdaw, feeding around area of field 68, but very difficult to view for most part, in long stubble with heads down while feeding
Moss Lane-
180 Chaffinch, but fairly distant on the far side of the field on the southern side of the road by the airfield
6+ Brambling
110 Linnet
19 Pied Wagtail
500 Woodpigeon
Rindle Road-
130 Chaffinch
13+ Brambling
22 Long-tailed Tit
600 Woodpigeon
4 Tree Sparrow
34 Yellowhammer
600 Jackdaw in field 60 and fields just north of it
Single Nordic Jackdaw in with the Western Jackdaws with another possible but not confirmed (flock very flightly)
Rindle Road, Hedge, Wood, and Astley Moss SSSI
Chaffinch - seemed to be everywhere. Possibly about 150. Very hard to ID Brambling against the light so none conclusively seen.
Yellowhammer - Mostly with Chaffinch at Rindle Hedge - around 30
Reed Bunting - with crowds of Chaffinch along SSSI path - 30
Tree Sparrow (Rindle Hedge) 2
Dunnock 2
Wren 3
Robins
Jay 2
Long Tailed Tit 6
Mistle Thrush 3
Woodpigeon - large flocks feeding in the fields
Pink-footed Goose - c. 40 feeding in field nearest to SSSI pools. They were flushed by a jogger
I got pretty excited seeing the group feeding - definitely a site first for me.
Moss Lane in poor light late-on:
Stubble fields
Mixed flock of Fieldfare, Mistle thrush and Starling totalling approx 200.
Pied Wagtail - 4
Kestrel - 2
Big Jackdaw flock probably around 500 over the farms, 300 seen earlier east of Rindle Road might have been absorbed into the total.
Really felt like there was a LOT going on today!
PS. Nothing against the jogger who I'm guessing was a local. He wasn't on the SSSI. It was just a shame he appeared seconds after I had spotted the geese!
Walk from junction past Moss Fisheries - along Twelve Yards Road - to Little Woolden Moss - and return.
Short-Eared Owl x 1 (perched on Silver Birch 200 yards left of main path on Little Woolden Moss)
Linnet x 1
Reed Bunting x 1
Bullfinch x 1
Buzzard x 3
Kestrel x 1
Jay x 1
Lapwing x 8
Long Tailed Tit x 1
Carrion Crow x 20
Robin x 3
Blackbird x 4
Magpie x 4
Pheasant x 2 (both female)
Wren x 1 (heard)
Herring Gull x 15
Moss Lane still had plenty of birds with a nice flock of 250+ winter Thrushes,mainly Fieldfares but a good sprinkling of Redwing with them,also a flock of approx 100 Linnets on the stubble field and lots of finches about,mainly Chaffinchs but at least 4 Brambling with them.
Rindle Road also had plenty of finches with good numbers of Yellowhammers,Chaffinches and again a few Bramblings and Reed Buntings feeding on the grain put down by the pheasant shooters along the track to the old carrot field.
9 Snipe flushed off Astley Moss SSSI were the only birds seen there apart from 3 Buzzards over.
Moss lane
Buzzard 6 in the air simultaneously
Kestrel
Rindle Wood
Kestrel 2
Chaffinch flock 30/40 feeding on track 14 Yellowhammer plus 1 male Brambling in amongst
Good mixed flock in the very wet stubble field along moss lane this morning, c.120 Fieldfare, 6 Redwing, and mixed flock of Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Reed bunting, skylark, Meadow pipit, Pied Wagtail and Yellowhammer totalling c.150 birds.
No sign of the Short-eared Owl again for me
Very little else seen either!
Only:
1 Snipe
1 Pheasant
Mixed flock of c.40 Carrion Crow & Jackdaw. 2 crows had white wing patches
2 Magpie
Little Woolden Moss LWT
1 Buzzard
2 Snipe
3 Reed Bunting
1 Redwing
4 Starling
c.80 Woodpigeon
2 Pheasant
Unfortunately no sign of Short-eared Owl for me.
Little Woolden Moss 1.00 - 2.30pm, Highlights.
Redwing 30+
Fieldfare 20
Starling 60+
Mistle Thrush
Jay
Willow Tit 2
Read Bunting
Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon, sat on the bare peat for 10 minutes then flow off low
Short-eared Owl, perched up initially close to the path 50m past the poly tunnel, then watched for 20 minutes quartering the grassy area
Rindle wood track 3.00 - 3.30pm Highlights.
Kestrel
Mistle Thrush 2
Redwing 30+
100+ Chaffinch, 5 Yellowhammer mixed in amongst, No sign of any Brambling
Sunday 27 December 2015
1.00 to 2.30 pm
Approached Little Woolden Moss from Glazebury (parked next to The Raven).
Short -eared Owl seen across the peat workings in area of green portacabin. A second (or the same) owl seen on farm fields on my trek back to car. A few Skylark in adjacent stubble field.
Others seen included:
Reed Bunting
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Yellowhammer
Linnet
Mistle Thrush
Redwing
Fieldfare
Kestrel
I walked over to Little Woolden Moss via Astley Road. I always like walking up there, there are tons of garden birds around the houses, where numerous folk have feeders up, and then at Field 41 there is normally something to look at. Today there were 2 perched Buzzards showing well, but the highlight was a clamorous flock of assorted passerines. Initially a flock of 15 or so Redwings showed well bursting off the ground into a tree, and then it was obvious that there were dozens of finches and buntings about too. There were at least 10 Yellowhammer in with Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Chaffinch. The noise was fantastic! Also one male Bullfinch flew over and on the way back I picked up a Siskin too.
At Field 25 there were dozens more Chaffinch and another 10 or so Yellowhammer. You can stand by the road and watch them buzz around to your heart's content. Across the motorway around Woodstock and Larkhill Farms were several Mistle Thrush and a female Bullfinch.
When I got to the reserve the sun was out and it was really stunning. What a credit to the Lancashire Wildlife Trust team. I spent a few minutes looking for small birds in the trees and found 3 Reed bunting and a Willow Tit, which was brilliant. Then I picked up a Short-eared Owl perched on a dead tree in the middle of the long grass where Elspeth described. This was at about 11.30. I watched it preening and occasionally looking around, including a couple of times when big birds passed close by. At one point a large Sparrowhawk glided past a few feet off the ground and the owl just watched it cruise by. A far cry from one mobbing a Marsh Harrier at Lunt a few weeks back. The bird looked really dark, and I had almost thought it was a buzzard, but the apparent tail was actually the folded primaries. I was happy to have spotted it at the distance.
At 13.43 (!) the bird started hunting and I had a spellbinding 20 minutes to myself watching it work the moss. Steve turned up at exactly the right time to avoid a 2 hour wait for some nice flight views! In flight the dark upper wings were very evident. What a stunner!
So all in all a really great day's birding, especially as the BBC had led me to believe it would persist with rain at 2pm, whereas it was actually fine until it got dark.
Walk from Barton Moss - along Twelve Yards Road - to Little Woolden Moss - and return.
Nice to have chat with Simon Gough at Little Woolden Moss.
Highlight - Short-Eared Owl (Little Woolden Moss)
Reed Bunting x 2 female
Bullfinch x 1 male
Redwing x 5
Buzzard x 1
Kestrel x 1
Goldcrest x 1
Treecreeper x 1
Long Tailed Tits x 5
Woodpigeon x 250
Carrion Crow x 7
Robin x 3
Blackbird x 4
Magpie x 4
Mistle Thrush x 1
Chaffinch x 3
Pheasant (4 male and 1 female)
1 goldcrest
7 meadow pipit
c30 greenfinch
50+ chaffinch
1 lesser redpoll
100+ linnet (most in a single large flock around field 40)
10+ goldfinch
3 bullfinch
5 yellowhammer
1 skylark heard
c50 starling
30+ redwing
40+ fieldfare (most together in a stubble field off Twelve yards road, otherwise in ones or twos)
2 song thrush
c15 mistle thrush
1 grey heron
4 kestrel
Usuals
Little Woolden Moss:
1 goldcrest
1 willow tit
1 meadow pipit
3 lesser redpoll
1 bullfinch
7 skylark (in stubble field adjacent to path on far side from the hide)
c10 reed bunting
Blue tit, wren, robin, chaffinch, blackbird, carrion crow, woodpigeon
1 black-headed gull
1 herring gull
2 lesser black-backed gull
3 grey heron
1 short-eared owl
2 buzzard (distant)
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 20th of December 2015 10:24:11 PM
Managed to locate a relatively small Finch flock consisting of...
(rough estimate only due to flighty nature)
- Chaffinch ~ 15-20
- Linnet ~ 30-40
- Brambling 5 all male
- also 3 Mistle Thrush and a male Blackbird travelling with them
Other birds...
- Common Buzzard 3 in the air together
- Jackdaw ~100's
- Woodpigeon ~100's
- Redwing ~ 30-40 (some feeding, others over)
- Skylark 2, 1 on ground, 1 flew over calling
- Robin 1
Croxden's 8.30am
Very quite
Jay 2
Bullfinch
Little Woolden Moss 10.00am
Also quite
Buzzard
Jay 2
Redwing 20
Rindle Road 11.30am
Redwing c30
Goldcrest
Large Chaffinch flock c200-250 in amongst 2 male Brambling, 2 Yellowhammer and a goldfinch very flighty dropping into field 67 and back into the Birch and Hawthorn trees that border Rindle road
Big mixed flock, feeding on stubble but quite nervous:
~ 200 Chaffinch
3-5 Brambling, mostly male, 1 female
~ 20 Yellowhammers, mostly males, chasing
possibly 1 Tree Sparrow
10 Greenfinch
2 Bullfinch (m,f)
Also
100's of Wood Pigeon
~80 Mallard by road
Many Jackdaw
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (h)
70 Fieldfare, 15 Redwing, 70 Chaffinch with a single Brambling identified near the edge of Rindle wood, 5 Mistle Thrush, 20 Mallard, 4 Jays, circa 500 Jackdaws in a massive flock, 3 Greenfinch near the old feeding station, 35 Long Tailed Tit, 20 Yellowhammer, 1 Willow Tit, 3 Tree Sparrow, 6 Reed Bunting, 6 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Collared Dove and a Goldcrest. (Plenty of pheasant and a veritable plague of woodpigeon but no partridge in or out of a pear tree!) And just the ONE photo!! I was pleased with the Brambling in fact because it's the first I've ever identified in "open country" as it were, and not on feeders etc. Only the one but it's a start!!
We have had a pair of Short-eared Owl hunting over the LWT Cadishead Moss reserve regularly in the last week. They were not spotted yesterday when I was onsite with volunteers, but were seen at least once each day from Thursday to Sunday, with frequent prolongued views, so we're hopeful they might stick around. Each time the birds were easily viewed from the Little Woolden Moss public footpath. I have also heard reports of up to 3 Short-eared Owls near to Astley Moss over the last few weeks (although may be same birds).
Have some (very poor!) photos up on our Chat Moss Project facebook page, and also there is a report from Dave Steel's bird walk onSaturday, including an encounter with the owls.
cheers,
Elspeth
70 Linnet off Moss Lane
A large finch flock at the top of Rindle Road by the level crossing (very mobile) comprised of the following underestimates due to the difficulty in counting birds present:
250 Chaffinch
110 Yellowhammer (many birds also separate from the flock, feeding on grain put down for Pheasants behind Rindle Wood)
27 Brambling (minimum counted in one go, so undoubtably more present)
40 Reed Bunting
12 Tree Sparrow
Well over 1000 Woodpigeon in two flocks either side of Rindle Road
2.00-3.30ish
Rindle road area
Buzzardx2 putting up the local Wood pigeons on several occasions
Sparrowhawkx2 over the SSSI
Chaffinch and Tit flocks
Several Jays
Kestrel
Redwingx20
Possible Short eared being harassed by a Crow at the back of Rindle cottages, can't be 100% ( light and distance )
Pheasants everywhere
Cheers Jay
Dont twitch and drive.
4 Buzzards
1 Kestrel
c.70 Fieldfare
c.10 Redwing
1 Willow Tit
1 Lesser Redpoll
1 Yellowhammer
c.30 Chaffinch - (including a single flock of c.20)
1 Skylark
1 Meadow Pipit
Plus the usuals!
Two Merlins have been hunting over the fields either side of 12 yards road this morning.
Pied wagtail
Mistle thrush
Song thrush
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Robin
Jackdaw
Buzzard
Kestrel
Bullfinch
Blue tit
Great tit
Goldcrest
Great spotted woodpecker
Wren
Yellowhammer
3 Kestrel
2 Common Buzzard
25 Chaffinch (refusing to be Brambling)
2 Goldfinch
5 Yellowhammer
2 Tree Sparrow (by the fishing pond)
16 Redwing
6 Mistle Thrush
1 Songthrush singing
2 Willow Tit
5 Wren heard only
3 Robin
1 Goldcrest
10 Jay
Also Blue Tits, Great Tits and Blackbirds, Magpies, Carrion Crow approx 25, Woodpigeons, Pheasants
On the old peat workings
6 Reed Bunting
5 Common Snipe flushed
-- Edited by Paul Richardson on Monday 16th of November 2015 04:00:48 PM
58 Pink-footed Geese feeding in field no. 63 on Chat Moss
320 Fieldfare around Chat Moss with some visibly moving SW
Single Golden Plover high east over Little Woolden Moss
2 Peregrines on Croxdens
At least one Brambling in with a Fieldfare flock at Mosslands Farm but probably more
Rindle Farm and Astley Moss:
Jackdaws mobbing a carrion crow before turning on a sparrowhawk that passed by.
Peregrine came in from the south over the railway lines putting up hundreds of wood pigeon.
Blue tit
Great tit
Wren
Blackbird
Song thrush
Kestrel
Pheasant
Chaffinch
Brambling (among the chaffinch feeding on the beech mast).
Little Woolden Moss LWT
c.300 Pink-footed Geese - flying around before settling on the reserve.
c.100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls coming in to roost on the pools
c.70 Jackdaws
2 Skylark
Cadishead Moss and Little Woolden Moss
c300 Pink-footed Geese on the LWT Nature Reserve
4 Willow Tit (3 New Moss Wood, 1 Little Woolden Moss)
11 Grey Partridge
c70 Redpoll, most in birches at Fairhaven Farm
c50 Fieldfare
2 Skylark
2 Redwing
c20 Linnet
c30 Meadow Pipit
5 Goldcrest
11 Lapwing
3 Bullfinch (2 New Moss Wood, 1 Little Woolden Moss)
-- Edited by James Walsh on Sunday 1st of November 2015 02:50:19 PM
600 Woodpigeon
at least 2 Brambling in with relatively small numbers of Chaffinch
8 Lesser Redpoll
30 Redwing
2 Siskin
2 Willow Tit
2 Bullfinch
Hour or so late morning.
good numbers of common species along Moss Lane, c.300 Starling, 250 Jackdaw, and plenty of Woodpigeon, and multiple Jays.
Along Rindle road, Small numbers of Redwing, good numbers of Starling, greenfinch, Chaffinch and 4 adult Whooper Swan flew East c.11.05, only about telegraph pole height but watched until lost behind trees and didn't show any signs of stopping.
2 Snipe
14 Fieldfare
2 Redwing
4 Meadow Pipit
2 Reed Bunting
2 Mallard
1 Jay
Same as mine today fromCarrington Moss. I wonder why.
16.00-17.00 Little Woolden Moss and Cadishead Moss LWT
approx. 170 Pink-footed Geese - initially flew from the field north of LW Moss and landed on the reserve amongst the rushes and were settling to roost.
Also:
1 Kestrel - constantly mobbed by Jackdaws as it tried to hunt.
1 Sparrowhawk
c.100 Jackdaws
c.20 Carrion Crows - including 3 birds with white patches on the wings
3 Mallard
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Reed Bunting
2 Meadow Pipit
1 Pheasant
and a stunning 'Moon rise'!
Why is my post double spacing again?
Saturday, 24th October 2015. 12:00 - 15:30 hrs.
Walk from Barton Moss - via Twelve Yards Road (past Barton Moss Farm - Little Woolden Moss and Cadishead Moss - back via Croxden peat pools
14:00 hrs: Pink-footed Geese x 300 (approximately) flew low over Little Woolden Moss - with 100 landing and other 200 flying towards Astley Moss
Linnet x 10
Kestrel x 7 different sightings
Reed Bunting x 5
Grey Partridge x 7
Lapwing x 7
Buzzard x 1
Woodpigeon x 150
Pheasant x 20
Carrion Crow x 50
Jackdaw x 3
Blackbird x 10
Robin x 2
Blue Tit x 1
Chaffinch x 3
Pied Wagtail x 4
Grey Wagtail x 1
Mistle Thrush x 4
Feral Pigeon x 1
Magpie x 7
Great Black-Backed Gull x 1
Lesser Black-Backed Gull x 3
Black-Headed Gull x 30
Starling x 10
Wren x 1 (heard)
-- Edited by Steve Judge on Saturday 24th of October 2015 04:45:48 PM
Would imagine if one of Manchester Birders had seen them, it would have been all over here before now.........
-- Edited by Steve Scrimgeour on Wednesday 21st of October 2015 10:00:04 AM
Little woolden moss
15 Grey partridge
Peregrine Falcon
12 yards field 15 and 16
200+ Fieldfare
Yellowhammer.
Cheers Jay
Don't twitch and drive.
Black-headed Gull 1
Blackbird 5 +
Blue Tit 3
Bullfinch 4
Buzzard 2
Carrion Crow Y
Chaffinch 7 +
Dunnock 1
Fieldfare 40
Goldcrest 2
Goldfinch 4
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Great Tit 2
Greenfinch 2
Jay 3
Kestrel 2
Lesser Redpoll 6
Long-tailed Tit 10
Magpie Y
Mallard 2
Mistle Thrush 6
Pheasant Y
Pied/White Wagtail 6 +
Redwing 20
Reed Bunting 2
Robin 10 +
Skylark 8 +
Song Thrush 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Starling 30
Treecreeper 1
Woodpigeon Y
Wren Y
Yellowhammer 4
Extracted from BTO Birdtrack.
11 Grey Partridge in a single covey
3(4?) Willow Tit
100+ Redwing
9 Fieldfare
4 Mistle Thrush
3 Song Thrush
3 Buzzard
2 Kestrel (m & f)
3 Redpoll
3 Yellowhammer
12 Linnet
15+ Chaffinch
1 Skylark
1 Meadow Pipit
16 Lapwing over E
5 Pheasant
10+ Long-tailed Tit
2 Blue Tit
Robins - numerous
1 Blackbird
5 Carrion Crow
7 Magpie
1 Jay
100+ Woodpigeon
4 LBB Gulls over
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 18th of October 2015 09:37:35 PM
-- Edited by John Doherty on Sunday 18th of October 2015 04:40:00 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 18th of October 2015 06:35:06 PM
Barton Moss
Covey of 9 Partridges taking cover in the sparse set-a-side cereal stubble patches left across the moss land.
Chat Moss
Apart from the Pink-footed Geese in F52
The Redwings are back on their favourite haunt,18 feeding on the elder and hawthorn berries on the tract between F8/F9.
Nice to see good numbers of Snipe again on Croxden PNR with 10 flushed.
102 Lapwings on F49 with 5 Buzzards soaring over and 3 Kestrels across F8/F45/F11.
Cheers Ian