Adult male Yellow Wagtail + 3 or 4 well grown juveniles in the f25/f24 area. Also in the general area were 5 Whitethroat, 5 Skylark and 6 Yellowhammer (one collecting food).
--
-- Edited by Tony Darby on Wednesday 22nd of June 2016 06:57:41 PM
Carried out the Late Visit BTO Breeding Bird Survey on the moss this morning 0630 - 0815, highlights; 2 Redstart on the southern edge of Birchmoss Covert. Fine views of a male that posed on the telephone wires and then flew SW. Thirty seconds later a second bird took off from the hedge and follow the same route (not a male). 2 Yellow Wagtail in F4 (not on the BBS survey route). A single singing Willow Warbler (the only one I've had on the moss in half a dozen visits this spring). I havent had any others locally either that I can recall. Whitethroat and Chiffchaff numbers seem ok but Willow Warblers very thin on the ground (except in my recent week in Scotland where it was all Willow Warblers and no Chiffchaffs!)
Tim Wilcox said
Fri May 27 7:35 PM, 2016
Hobby over f25 around 4pm then thermaled up before descending back onto a pylon to the West, then flew low north. Also Yellow Wagtail perched up on a crop-free muddy patch in f11 and 3 Buzzard around f25
Tony Darby said
Tue May 24 4:29 PM, 2016
Hobby circling F68 at Sinderland Green this afternoon.
B Benson said
Mon May 23 7:30 PM, 2016
Pied wagtail nest in a pump. Warning placed to stop anyone starting it.(spare one available) two chicks present.
Spotted one Yellow Wagtail last week.
Several Grey Wagtails present.
usual oystercatchers, Ringed plovers ,Linnet, Pheasant, Lapwing Wheatear (now gone). Pair of Ravens on silos.
Ian McKerchar said
Thu May 19 8:50 AM, 2016
Originally posted this morning by Sharon Lewis:
Dainewell park... Cuckoo singing in woods next to the park this morning.
2 Dunlin this evening of note in the flooded field adjacent to Isherwood Road (at the Dainswell Farm end).
Nick Hilton said
Mon May 2 9:59 AM, 2016
Carried out the BTO Breeding Bird Survey on the moss yesterday 0640-0810. Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow and Song Thrush relatively well presented (in comparison to previous years). No Grey Partridge recorded for the first time in a while. 7 Chiffchaff, 5 Whitethroat and a couple of Blackcap, but no Willow Warbler. There were 2 Wheatear in F13 and 1 in F60. A single Fieldfare was in F5. Whilst watching 3 Linnet on Isherwood Road I was stopped by a Police Officer who, thankfully, just wanted to discuss binoculars!
Paul Heaton said
Sat Apr 23 2:53 PM, 2016
All the normal species you would expect, Yellowhammer number @ 15
Several species of butterfly seen.
Keep Birding.
Martin Whittam said
Thu Apr 21 5:06 PM, 2016
Red Kite drifting Easterly direction over field 57 at 4:00 pm today
Steven Nelson said
Tue Apr 19 8:05 PM, 2016
17.30 Field 4: 2 Grey Partridge 2 Mallard
Old Orchard: 4 Fieldfare 1 Treecreeper 4 Robins 1 Song Thrush- singing
Ex- Basell site: 2 Oystercatcher 2 Little Ringed Plover - very briefly as they flew off towards the middle of the site somewhere 1 Yellow Wagtail over 12 Linnet 1 Skylark singing 9 Lapwing 1 Sparrowhawk flew over and began circling overhead causing panic as the Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Linnets, Skylark and Yellow Wagtail all flew up to mob it en-mass!
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Tuesday 19th of April 2016 08:06:52 PM
PHIL GREENWOOD said
Fri Apr 15 4:34 PM, 2016
Walk from Isherwood Road to ETW, then to Orchard and Site fenceline.
Brambling 3 field 5. Yellowhammer 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Skylark 4 singing. Blackcap 3 singing. Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, etc.
Late post from this morning - Sinderland Green area 0830 to 1000.
Swallow at Yew Tree House Farm, also male Blackcap.
Another Blackcap singing in Sinderland Green Woods, with at least three singing Chiffchaffs.
Male Wheatear field 72.
6 Bramblings field 71.
At least 75 Meadow Pipits field 26.
Jeff Clarke said
Thu Mar 31 1:04 PM, 2016
Male wheatear field 73 and Swallow over Sinderland Green.
Tim Wilcox said
Wed Mar 30 9:44 PM, 2016
Grey Partridge 2 f25 this afternoon
Nick Hilton said
Mon Mar 28 7:50 PM, 2016
Field 56, this evening, conservative count of 112 Fieldfare, 36 Redwing and 2 Buzzard.
Jeff Clarke said
Sun Mar 27 11:42 AM, 2016
Sinderland Green area 0830 to 1030 (before the rain)
Male Wheatear field 73,
White Wagtail field 70, (with 100+ Fieldfare)
Only a maximum of six Buzzards in the air
Steve Scrimgeour said
Sun Mar 27 10:11 AM, 2016
Late post for Friday 25/3/16.
A quick mooch for me and Josh in the search of Wheatears, none yet I may add.
Field 4 many Skylarks, as did fields 2 and 1. Meadow Pipits (15) in Field 10 Old Orchard had Reed Bunting, Linnet & Bullfinch. Field 4 on way back to car 20 plus Fieldfare. 1 Yellowhammer in normal bushes top of Field 4. 2 possibly 4 Willow Tits on path from Old Orchard to crossroads of fields 2.4 & 11. Definitely 2 in trees which we then lost to sight, but when watching the Yellowhammer, 2 more flew in from over field 11. 15 Buzzards on the Thermals over field 4 which was a fantastic sight as the males were bombing each other and came after a bizarre comment from a dog walker, whom had not seen a single buzzard all winter...(suggest you look up then).
Tony Darby said
Wed Mar 23 12:53 PM, 2016
Approx 300 Fieldfare in newly ploughed field 67 adjacent to Dark Lane this morning.
Jeff Clarke said
Sun Mar 20 4:53 PM, 2016
Sinderland Green area. Three White Wagtails (plus 2 Pied Wagtails) in recently ploughed field 72 this morning.
Brian Benson said
Sat Mar 19 9:12 PM, 2016
Basell site Saturday.
Large mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing. Approx 50 in total.
Several Oystercatcher, Approx 20 Lapwings , 2 Buzzards being mobbed by Crows. 1 flew into the inside of a redundant plant so I will keep an eye to see if has a roost in there
amongst the pipework.
17:00 Large Sparrowhawk (female?) took a feral pigeon. A real struggle ensued as the Pigeon did not give in lightly and flew away a couple of times before being finally subdued.
Jeff Clarke said
Sat Mar 12 7:23 PM, 2016
Chiffchaff singing in Sinderland Woods this morning (my first this year).
Little else of note apart from a major conflict between two Goldcrests (presumed males) with a third (female?) following them.
Steven Nelson said
Tue Feb 23 10:59 PM, 2016
17.15 - Field 16 1 Grey Partridge c.40 Fieldfare
Steven Nelson said
Thu Feb 11 7:09 PM, 2016
8.10am - Pair of Grey Partridge in f22 this morning.
Jeff Clarke said
Wed Feb 3 6:53 PM, 2016
Sinderland Green area; late visit 15:30 to 18:00.
Yellowhammer: 57 in field 70 with 5 Reed Buntings. Otherwise finches only present in small numbers.
Kingfisher on Sinderland Brook.
Nothing else unusual but I did manage to record 22 species after sunset (16:54) which I thought was quite good.
Jeff Clarke said
Sat Jan 30 7:06 PM, 2016
Sinderland Green area.
A short visit today 3pm to 5pm in spite of the weather as the forecast for tomorrow is even worse with rain all day. With the high winds and occasional hail/snow/rain I spent most of the time trying to find areas sheltered from the wind in the hope that the birds would do the same! In the end I spent about an hour in field 70. The strong wind was always a problem but the visit was not as bad as I expected with:
Peregrine over field 67 and female sparrowhawk over field 70, and surprisingly (considering the weather) Buzzards were seen many times.
Massive numbers (for here) of Yellowhammers in field 70, with at least 40 actually counted but I believe that the total may well have been over 80. They were very difficult to count in the high winds. Also at least 6 Reed Buntings which is quite good for here.
Finches were difficult to see apart from about 40 Linnets and a handful of Chaffinches and single Siskin and Bullfinch all in field 70.
Two Moorhens on Sinderland Brook (which are quite scarce here) which brings my year total here to 61 (the same as in 2105).
I also had fabulous close views of Long tailed Tits and Goldcrests, and I even heard Treecreeper singing!
One advantage of the appalling weather was that I could get close to birds without them noticing me and they could not hear me coming because of the incessant wind. Conversely there were many birds flying over that I could not identify by call because of the wind. I normally would have expected Skylark and Meadow Pipit and they may well have flown over but I did not pick them up.
Nigel Troup said
Sat Jan 16 4:39 PM, 2016
A long trudge over the moss from the bus layby at the end of Whitehouse Lane, towards the flare, past the MUFC training ground approach road and down to Brookheyes Farm. then back along the same route. I got back to the car just as the snow fall became heavy.
Teal Pheasant Buzzard Black-headed Gull Woodpigeon Kestrel Magpie Jackdaw Carrion Crow Blue Tit Great Tit Skylark Long-tailed Tit Treecreeper Wren Blackbird Fieldfare Song Thrush Redwing Mistle Thrush Robin Chaffinch Greenfinch Goldfinch Yellowhammer Reed Bunting
PHIL GREENWOOD said
Tue Jan 12 10:05 PM, 2016
Brambling 6+...NW corner of F5. Chaffinch 50+...ditto. Yellowhammer 6+...ditto.
Fieldfare 100+...over SE corner F5. Redwing 1 only. Missel Thrush 1 Jay 3 Rook/Jackdaw 300+ Wood/Feral Pigeon/Stock Dove 100+ Goldcrest 1 Skylark 3 Gold/Greenfinches.
Jeff Clarke said
Tue Jan 5 12:58 PM, 2016
Sinderland Green area this morning 9am to 12.
Finch numbers are way down from before Christmas with only about 60 linnets today (compared with 400 on 23rd Dec) but 32 Yellowhammers in field 26 was my highest count in almost 2 years.
Merlin (female type plumage and size) chasing Skylark in field 26 (for its second day), Peregrine over field 11, and 2 ravens over field 26.
Also 4 Goosanders on Sinderland Brook (only one seen yesterday).
Chris Sutton said
Sat Jan 2 5:49 PM, 2016
Brambling in with Chaffinches in hedge bordering F4 and the Shell Ponds (i.e. 50 yards along the sign-posted path from the security barrier towards the Old Orchard area). Yellowhammer showing well between F4 and F12/13. Large mixed flock of finches in F9 - predominantly Linnet. Chris
Chris Roberts said
Fri Jan 1 1:16 PM, 2016
Walk around field f4 between 10-30 and 12 this morning.
Large finch flock of around 150 Chaffinch and approximately 50 Brambling along MUFC access road between f4 and f5.
Good numbers of Reed bunting and Yellow hammer with a mixed flock of up to 40 in hedges around old orchard edge of f2.
75 fieldfare between f2 and f11/12.
Covey of 15 Grey Partridge in f2.
Large mixed flock of Wood Pigeon with some Feral Pigeon between f2 and f4.
Other birds Great tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Dunnock,Goldfinch,Jackdaw,Carrion Crow.
Good to meet Tony Darby.
George Warburton said
Sun Dec 6 3:15 PM, 2015
At 12.45 pm at northern edge (and in northern hedge) of field 5 was a flock of finches some 350/400 strong. Probably 95% Chaffinch with 15/20 Brambling. Also Robin, Blue Tit, Jay and Yellowhammer, one of each.
Elsewhere on site were Rooks, Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Starlings and Black-headed Gulls. Possibly one Redwing seen at some distance.
Nigel Troup said
Sun Dec 6 2:20 PM, 2015
I spent two hours in search of Bramblings this morning, without success; however, it was pleasantly mild and dry and there was plenty to look at (about 30 species in all).
Highlight was a very noisy Willow Tit not far from the building works, at the junction of the path that leads into Dainewell Woods. There were at least a dozen Yellowhammers in the hedges, a rare treat for me these days, c25 Skylarks and four Fieldfare. The only finches I saw were two Chaffinches and a dozen or so Goldfinch. There were four Gadwall and a drake Shoveler on the pond opposite Altrincham ETW.
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Dec 4 8:10 PM, 2015
Originally posted today by Sharon Lewis:
Saw a large flock of bramblings this afternoon at Dainewell Woods, Carrington
Jon Stevenson said
Tue Dec 1 8:25 PM, 2015
There was a mixed flock of about 30 Chaffinches and Bramblings (about 50/50) plus 4 x Yellowhammers about 11.30am today, moving to and from from in the trees that border the MUFC site adjacent to field 5.
Richard Would said
Tue Dec 1 6:14 PM, 2015
I saw this flock around fields 65/67 last week. There are odd Tree Sparrows mixed in with it too
Jeff Clarke said
Tue Dec 1 5:23 PM, 2015
Field 71 late morning (near Sinderland Green). Finches and buntings in abundance in field 71 where the margins have been planted with wild bird seed mixture. There were so many birds that they proved difficult to count especially as two female sparrowhawks were repeatedly flushing the birds.
Chaffinch: 40+; Brambling: one female; Greenfinch: 60+; Goldfinch: 2; Linnet: 150+ (there were 180 here last Saturday; Redpoll: 5; Siskin: 4 (probably more); Bullfinch: 2; Yellowhammer: 4; Reed Bunting: one.
Also of note was a Tree Sparrow at the rear of Townsend Farm, this is the first here for some weeks.
Additional note: a local dog-walker informed me that there had been two egrets on Sinderland Brook near to Brookheys Farm about five days ago but not since. I do not normally take much notice of what dog-walkers tell me but this individual is quite knowledgeable and was the one who told me of two egrets here in the last week of March. This was later confirmed by Nick Hilton who found one here on April 2, and I found two on April 4, with a single the following day. Brian Benson had reported one near the flare on March 15 so it is possible that at least one had stayed for some weeks.
Steve Scrimgeour said
Mon Nov 9 11:12 AM, 2015
Sunday 8/11/15.
Couple of visits, as first one was curtailed by the appalling conditions.
0800-0900 only bird of note was a Kestrel sat on fence of Utd training ground on cross roads.
1330-1630hrs was more productive and a definitely drier..
The path that was Amazonian on last visit, which runs parallel to Shell, is now approx. 20ft across, as all vegetation has been cleared and the ditch has been widened also, if following this path be careful as the ditch now continues towards the flare and you can only jump across at various points....
Birds of note: 32 Pink Footed Geese in Field 5 along with 80 Canada Geese, normally see 1 or 2 Canadian and have never seen a grounded flock of Pink Feet here personally. Peregrine in field 5 was of much interest ( Ian sent you a pm on this )
Fieldfares were on the berry bushes at the top end of field 4 and another 1 in field 1. 60 Skylarks possibly more were flushed by a dog walker in field 4 at 1530hrs obviously this is now a favoured route rather than the actual footpath.
And as I was heading back to the car field 4 again 25 Carrion Crows making a right racket.
Huge numbers of Jackdaws in the trees behind the stables at the security barrier and also big numbers of Wood pigeon across the whole of the moss in general
Steve Scrimgeour said
Fri Oct 30 2:24 PM, 2015
Jeff,
These have been around for a while, noticed them when driving home from work, prior to the clocks changing...
Jeff Clarke said
Fri Oct 30 1:54 PM, 2015
Sinderland Green Woods - one Mandarin (female or immature) with large group of Mallards on Sinderland Brook. Also seen on Tuesday 27th Oct.
Mark Jarrett said
Tue Oct 27 6:18 PM, 2015
Double spacing - did this with me a couple of weeks ago. I tend to post using my i phone and I think when I made the screen bigger in the usual way, I accidentally touched the spacing icon above the posting bit. I struggled to rectify it on the day but found that the following day it had sorted itself out. I am far from being an expert on these things but hopefully that will help!
PHIL GREENWOOD said
Tue Oct 27 5:29 PM, 2015
A little walk from Isherwood Road to f24/25.
Skylark 25+
Chaffinch 100+
Brambling 2
Meadow Pipit 5+
Redwing 30+
Fieldfare 1
Missel Thrush 2
Yellowhammer 10+
Goldfinch 10+
Siskin 3
Goldcrest 1
Willow Tit 1
Lesser Redpoll 1
Greenfinch 5+
Starling 10+
Jay 1
Kestrel 1m
Buzzard 1
etc.
Why is it double-spacing?
Tim Wilcox said
Sun Oct 18 4:00 PM, 2015
What a differance a day makes? This afternoon there was no sign of the large Chaffinch and Brambling flock, only small numbers of local Chaffinches. Raven over f25 and a dozen or so Redwing over were the only birds of note.
Tim Wilcox said
Sat Oct 17 4:44 PM, 2015
Pm by bike from home Update on Jeff's post:
Brambling 11 in f25 (I thought I'd found these till I saw Jeff's post when I got back home!) with 3 males in near breeding plumage Chaffinch 165 f25 Redwing 100 f25 briefly Goldcrest 1 in Hawthron with Blue Tits 4, Great tits 2, Long-tailed tits 4 Buzzard 4 various fields Pink-footed Geese skeins of 37 E at 2.27pm and 357 E at 3.07pm
9.30-11.30
1+Brambling amonst huge Chaffinch flock (300+). 18 Yellowhammer , 25 Meadow Pipit, 20 Skylark, 2 Mandarin Duck , Peregrine Falcon , Sparrowhawk , 3 Common Buzzard , 20 Fieldfare , 3 Redwing, 30 Stock Dove, Goldcrest , Nuthatch , 10 Linnet, 30 Lesser Redpoll, Grey Heron, Reed Bunting .
Merlin 1
Buzzard 1
Willow Tit 1
Goldcrest 1
Brambling 1
Treecreeper 1
Chaffinches
Redwings
Fieldfares
Yellowhammer 10+
Skylark 10+
Linnet 10+
Starling 50+
Meadow Pipit 1
Bullfinch 1
Crows
Jackdaws
Rooks
Magpies
Grey Wagtail 1
Woodpigeons
etc.
f25 and f24 contained a large mixed finch flock with:
Chaffinch 100+
Linnets 92
Lesser Redpoll 1
Brambling 3
other birds:
Grey Partridge 6
Buzzard 2
Kestrel 1
Skylarks 7
Meadow Pipit 1
Lapwing 15
Starlings 30
small numbers of corvids
Skylark 4
Yellowhammer 1
Buzzard 1
Kestrel 1m
Chaffinch 5+
Goldcrest 1
Redwing 1
Willow Tit 1
Stock Dove 2
etc.etc.
Grey Wagtail 1
Yellowhammer 1
Buzzard 3
Peregrine 1 adult 1 juvenile.
Raven 1
Sand Martin 2
Swallow 2
Treecreeper 3
etc.
Also in the general area were 5 Whitethroat, 5 Skylark and 6 Yellowhammer (one collecting food).
--
-- Edited by Tony Darby on Wednesday 22nd of June 2016 06:57:41 PM
2 Redstart on the southern edge of Birchmoss Covert. Fine views of a male that posed on the telephone wires and then flew SW. Thirty seconds later a second bird took off from the hedge and follow the same route (not a male).
2 Yellow Wagtail in F4 (not on the BBS survey route).
A single singing Willow Warbler (the only one I've had on the moss in half a dozen visits this spring). I havent had any others locally either that I can recall. Whitethroat and Chiffchaff numbers seem ok but Willow Warblers very thin on the ground (except in my recent week in Scotland where it was all Willow Warblers and no Chiffchaffs!)
Spotted one Yellow Wagtail last week.
Several Grey Wagtails present.
usual oystercatchers, Ringed plovers ,Linnet, Pheasant, Lapwing Wheatear (now gone). Pair of Ravens on silos.
Dainewell park... Cuckoo singing in woods next to the park this morning.
F4 = 1 Whitethroat, 2 Yellowhammer, 3 Skylark
F13 = 1 Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear
F12 = 1 Wheatear
F11 = 2 Whitethroat, 2 Yellow Wagtail
F1 = 1 Whitethroat, 1 Yellowhammer
7 Chiffchaff, 5 Whitethroat and a couple of Blackcap, but no Willow Warbler.
There were 2 Wheatear in F13 and 1 in F60. A single Fieldfare was in F5.
Whilst watching 3 Linnet on Isherwood Road I was stopped by a Police Officer who, thankfully, just wanted to discuss binoculars!
All the normal species you would expect, Yellowhammer number @ 15
Several species of butterfly seen.
Keep Birding.
Field 4:
2 Grey Partridge
2 Mallard
Old Orchard:
4 Fieldfare
1 Treecreeper
4 Robins
1 Song Thrush- singing
Ex- Basell site:
2 Oystercatcher
2 Little Ringed Plover - very briefly as they flew off towards the middle of the site somewhere
1 Yellow Wagtail over
12 Linnet
1 Skylark singing
9 Lapwing
1 Sparrowhawk flew over and began circling overhead causing panic as the Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Linnets, Skylark and Yellow Wagtail all flew up to mob it en-mass!
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Tuesday 19th of April 2016 08:06:52 PM
Brambling 3 field 5.
Yellowhammer 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Skylark 4 singing.
Blackcap 3 singing.
Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, etc.
ex Basell Site:
Wheatear 2m.
Ringed Plover 1
Lapwing 10+
Linnet 20+
Starling 15+
Mistle Thrush 4
Fieldfare 8
Kestrel 1
Skylark 1 singing.
Late post from this morning - Sinderland Green area 0830 to 1000.
Swallow at Yew Tree House Farm, also male Blackcap.
Another Blackcap singing in Sinderland Green Woods, with at least three singing Chiffchaffs.
Male Wheatear field 72.
6 Bramblings field 71.
At least 75 Meadow Pipits field 26.
Male wheatear field 73 and Swallow over Sinderland Green.
Sinderland Green area 0830 to 1030 (before the rain)
Male Wheatear field 73,
White Wagtail field 70, (with 100+ Fieldfare)
Only a maximum of six Buzzards in the air
A quick mooch for me and Josh in the search of Wheatears, none yet I may add.
Field 4 many Skylarks, as did fields 2 and 1.
Meadow Pipits (15) in Field 10
Old Orchard had Reed Bunting, Linnet & Bullfinch.
Field 4 on way back to car 20 plus Fieldfare.
1 Yellowhammer in normal bushes top of Field 4.
2 possibly 4 Willow Tits on path from Old Orchard to crossroads of fields 2.4 & 11. Definitely 2 in trees which we then lost to sight, but when watching the Yellowhammer, 2 more flew in from over field 11.
15 Buzzards on the Thermals over field 4 which was a fantastic sight as the males were bombing each other and came after a bizarre comment from a dog walker, whom had not seen a single buzzard all winter...(suggest you look up then).
Sinderland Green area. Three White Wagtails (plus 2 Pied Wagtails) in recently ploughed field 72 this morning.
Basell site Saturday.
Large mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing. Approx 50 in total.
Several Oystercatcher, Approx 20 Lapwings , 2 Buzzards being mobbed by Crows. 1 flew into the inside of a redundant plant so I will keep an eye to see if has a roost in there
amongst the pipework.
17:00 Large Sparrowhawk (female?) took a feral pigeon. A real struggle ensued as the Pigeon did not give in lightly and flew away a couple of times before being finally subdued.
Chiffchaff singing in Sinderland Woods this morning (my first this year).
Little else of note apart from a major conflict between two Goldcrests (presumed males) with a third (female?) following them.
1 Grey Partridge
c.40 Fieldfare
Sinderland Green area; late visit 15:30 to 18:00.
Yellowhammer: 57 in field 70 with 5 Reed Buntings. Otherwise finches only present in small numbers.
Kingfisher on Sinderland Brook.
Nothing else unusual but I did manage to record 22 species after sunset (16:54) which I thought was quite good.
Sinderland Green area.
A short visit today 3pm to 5pm in spite of the weather as the forecast for tomorrow is even worse with rain all day. With the high winds and occasional hail/snow/rain I spent most of the time trying to find areas sheltered from the wind in the hope that the birds would do the same! In the end I spent about an hour in field 70. The strong wind was always a problem but the visit was not as bad as I expected with:
Peregrine over field 67 and female sparrowhawk over field 70, and surprisingly (considering the weather) Buzzards were seen many times.
Massive numbers (for here) of Yellowhammers in field 70, with at least 40 actually counted but I believe that the total may well have been over 80. They were very difficult to count in the high winds. Also at least 6 Reed Buntings which is quite good for here.
Finches were difficult to see apart from about 40 Linnets and a handful of Chaffinches and single Siskin and Bullfinch all in field 70.
Two Moorhens on Sinderland Brook (which are quite scarce here) which brings my year total here to 61 (the same as in 2105).
I also had fabulous close views of Long tailed Tits and Goldcrests, and I even heard Treecreeper singing!
One advantage of the appalling weather was that I could get close to birds without them noticing me and they could not hear me coming because of the incessant wind. Conversely there were many birds flying over that I could not identify by call because of the wind. I normally would have expected Skylark and Meadow Pipit and they may well have flown over but I did not pick them up.
A long trudge over the moss from the bus layby at the end of Whitehouse Lane, towards the flare, past the MUFC training ground approach road and down to Brookheyes Farm. then back along the same route. I got back to the car just as the snow fall became heavy.
Teal Pheasant Buzzard Black-headed Gull Woodpigeon Kestrel Magpie Jackdaw Carrion Crow Blue Tit Great Tit Skylark Long-tailed Tit Treecreeper Wren Blackbird Fieldfare Song Thrush Redwing Mistle Thrush Robin Chaffinch Greenfinch Goldfinch Yellowhammer Reed BuntingChaffinch 50+...ditto.
Yellowhammer 6+...ditto.
Fieldfare 100+...over SE corner F5.
Redwing 1 only.
Missel Thrush 1
Jay 3
Rook/Jackdaw 300+
Wood/Feral Pigeon/Stock Dove 100+
Goldcrest 1
Skylark 3
Gold/Greenfinches.
Sinderland Green area this morning 9am to 12.
Finch numbers are way down from before Christmas with only about 60 linnets today (compared with 400 on 23rd Dec) but 32 Yellowhammers in field 26 was my highest count in almost 2 years.
Merlin (female type plumage and size) chasing Skylark in field 26 (for its second day), Peregrine over field 11, and 2 ravens over field 26.
Also 4 Goosanders on Sinderland Brook (only one seen yesterday).
Yellowhammer showing well between F4 and F12/13.
Large mixed flock of finches in F9 - predominantly Linnet.
Chris
Walk around field f4 between 10-30 and 12 this morning.
Large finch flock of around 150 Chaffinch and approximately 50 Brambling along MUFC access road between f4 and f5.
Good numbers of Reed bunting and Yellow hammer with a mixed flock of up to 40 in hedges around old orchard edge of f2.
75 fieldfare between f2 and f11/12.
Covey of 15 Grey Partridge in f2.
Large mixed flock of Wood Pigeon with some Feral Pigeon between f2 and f4.
Other birds Great tit, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Dunnock,Goldfinch,Jackdaw,Carrion Crow.
Good to meet Tony Darby.
At 12.45 pm at northern edge (and in northern hedge) of field 5 was a flock of finches some 350/400 strong. Probably 95% Chaffinch with 15/20 Brambling. Also Robin, Blue Tit, Jay and Yellowhammer, one of each.
Elsewhere on site were Rooks, Crows, Jackdaws, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, Starlings and Black-headed Gulls. Possibly one Redwing seen at some distance.
I spent two hours in search of Bramblings this morning, without success; however, it was pleasantly mild and dry and there was plenty to look at (about 30 species in all).
Highlight was a very noisy Willow Tit not far from the building works, at the junction of the path that leads into Dainewell Woods. There were at least a dozen Yellowhammers in the hedges, a rare treat for me these days, c25 Skylarks and four Fieldfare. The only finches I saw were two Chaffinches and a dozen or so Goldfinch. There were four Gadwall and a drake Shoveler on the pond opposite Altrincham ETW.
Saw a large flock of bramblings this afternoon at Dainewell Woods, Carrington
There was a mixed flock of about 30 Chaffinches and Bramblings (about 50/50) plus 4 x Yellowhammers about 11.30am today, moving to and from from in the trees that border the MUFC site adjacent to field 5.
I saw this flock around fields 65/67 last week. There are odd Tree Sparrows mixed in with it too
Field 71 late morning (near Sinderland Green). Finches and buntings in abundance in field 71 where the margins have been planted with wild bird seed mixture. There were so many birds that they proved difficult to count especially as two female sparrowhawks were repeatedly flushing the birds.
Chaffinch: 40+; Brambling: one female; Greenfinch: 60+; Goldfinch: 2; Linnet: 150+ (there were 180 here last Saturday; Redpoll: 5; Siskin: 4 (probably more); Bullfinch: 2; Yellowhammer: 4; Reed Bunting: one.
Also of note was a Tree Sparrow at the rear of Townsend Farm, this is the first here for some weeks.
Additional note: a local dog-walker informed me that there had been two egrets on Sinderland Brook near to Brookheys Farm about five days ago but not since. I do not normally take much notice of what dog-walkers tell me but this individual is quite knowledgeable and was the one who told me of two egrets here in the last week of March. This was later confirmed by Nick Hilton who found one here on April 2, and I found two on April 4, with a single the following day. Brian Benson had reported one near the flare on March 15 so it is possible that at least one had stayed for some weeks.
Sunday 8/11/15.
Couple of visits, as first one was curtailed by the appalling conditions.
0800-0900 only bird of note was a Kestrel sat on fence of Utd training ground on cross roads.
1330-1630hrs was more productive and a definitely drier..
The path that was Amazonian on last visit, which runs parallel to Shell, is now approx. 20ft across, as all vegetation has been cleared and the ditch has been widened also, if following this path be careful as the ditch now continues towards the flare and you can only jump across at various points....
Birds of note: 32 Pink Footed Geese in Field 5 along with 80 Canada Geese, normally see 1 or 2 Canadian and have never seen a grounded flock of Pink Feet here personally. Peregrine in field 5 was of much interest ( Ian sent you a pm on this )
Fieldfares were on the berry bushes at the top end of field 4 and another 1 in field 1. 60 Skylarks possibly more were flushed by a dog walker in field 4 at 1530hrs obviously this is now a favoured route rather than the actual footpath.
And as I was heading back to the car field 4 again 25 Carrion Crows making a right racket.
Huge numbers of Jackdaws in the trees behind the stables at the security barrier and also big numbers of Wood pigeon across the whole of the moss in general
Jeff,
These have been around for a while, noticed them when driving home from work, prior to the clocks changing...
Sinderland Green Woods - one Mandarin (female or immature) with large group of Mallards on Sinderland Brook. Also seen on Tuesday 27th Oct.
Double spacing - did this with me a couple of weeks ago. I tend to post using my i phone and I think when I made the screen bigger in the usual way, I accidentally touched the spacing icon above the posting bit. I struggled to rectify it on the day but found that the following day it had sorted itself out. I am far from being an expert on these things but hopefully that will help!
A little walk from Isherwood Road to f24/25.
Skylark 25+
Chaffinch 100+
Brambling 2
Meadow Pipit 5+
Redwing 30+
Fieldfare 1
Missel Thrush 2
Yellowhammer 10+
Goldfinch 10+
Siskin 3
Goldcrest 1
Willow Tit 1
Lesser Redpoll 1
Greenfinch 5+
Starling 10+
Jay 1
Kestrel 1m
Buzzard 1
etc.
Why is it double-spacing?
Brambling 11 in f25 (I thought I'd found these till I saw Jeff's post when I got back home!) with 3 males in near breeding plumage
Chaffinch 165 f25
Redwing 100 f25 briefly
Goldcrest 1 in Hawthron with Blue Tits 4, Great tits 2, Long-tailed tits 4
Buzzard 4 various fields
Pink-footed Geese skeins of 37 E at 2.27pm and 357 E at 3.07pm