" With the reservoir well on the way to being emptied im waiting for somebody to get completly stuck in the mud with their dogs, its gotta happen"

Im right with you Simon, and then we can laugh at them and say "well u should keep your dog under control" - I was disgusted to see the dog attacking the coot this morning and its owner not doing much to stop it! What gets me even more is these people who allow their dogs to do this call themselves animal lovers!



-- Edited by Simon Johnson on Saturday 25th of July 2009 03:27:32 PM

-- Edited by Simon Johnson on Saturday 25th of July 2009 03:31:01 PM

Mr.Warford, you are quite correct. When I win the lottery I will be buying Elton and the surounding area. It will become a haven for wildlife, free from dogs and their walkers(just making sure I have spelt that right), cats (cause they are crap), motorcycles and their riders and the "scroat"element.

Birds will flock from the East coast, missing Spurn and Norfolk

What I didnt mention is that I will also be changing its name to "CASTLESHAW" and all you lot will have to do your birding at the "New Elton" some 5 miles to the north east of Oldham

Good luck with your new local patch-by Christ you will need it

-- Edited by Mark Rigby on Friday 24th of July 2009 08:06:37 PM

Mike, sounds good in theory, but in practice it aint gonna happen. The thought of a bunch of dog owners sat in front of Mr Campbell, Mr Wilson and myself, with us trying to explain how not to stand on a one legged Knot and why they shouldnt throw sticks in the water for their dogs, think we would be lucky to get out with all our limbs in one piece.

The problem with dog walkers has always been there and it always will be. Its not just dogwalkers, theres fishermen, boats and the nice folk Paul calls "scroats" who pitch tents on the shoreline and not to mention the newly formed "Elton Resr quad&motor bike club" with their "lets see if we can deafen everybody in a mile radius and rip up as much shoreline as possible" attitudes.

I think its all been more evident with the water level being so low for the last couple of years, which will be rectified by 2010 when the problems with the wall are fixed, then we will have no shoreline whatsoever like the old days when its full every year.

We just have to live with it and make the most of it usually means getting down there for 7am but even then you cant beat some of them. God knows what state some of these dogs go back to there homes like, i saw 2 this morning rolling around in 2 foot of deep mud in the creek and I know it stinks in there. With the reservoir well on the way to being emptied im waiting for somebody to get completly stuck in the mud with their dogs, its gotta happen.

When Riggers wins the lottery he is gonna buy the whole of Elton so our worries will be over!

In the meantime its mud galore till the Winter.

Many of the dog walkers are OK - in fact we talk to quite a few when we meet them. There are only a small minority who cause problems and I doubt they would listen to us anyway - they seem to think the res was built purely for their benefit.

As for a night in the pub with them - no thanks

Hi All, As some of you know, I lived near Elton 1969-1973 and did some of my early birding there. That's before Warfy was born!! As I worked in Warrington and my priority was raising my two very young boys, I was never able to do more than a quick scurry round, (mainly at weekends sandwiched between my family commitments). I have been impressed at some of the records in recent years and the excellent coverage by a few dedicated birders. Last night I went through all 18 pages of the Elton thread to get a reasonable feel for the current scene there. It does seem to be a hell of a shame that the dog walkers all too often ruin things, (basically out of ignorance, rather than deliberation)? Is there a case for some educational bridge building/scope for diplomacy here? How about a night in a pub as a joint "get together" with the major culprits amongst the dog walkers; you probably know them all, at least by sight? Even if you came to an understanding with just a few of them, things would surely be bound to improve, and people might gain some insight at least into the importance of Elton in the context of Manchester Birding and also what motivates us as birders. At best, one or two of them might become friends and therefore give the birds some much needed space and consideration; (or even, who knows, show some positive interest in birding, once they have been shown a few things through telescopes etc). It is all too easy to get into a confrontational situation with two opposing camps and once it gets there, people start to deliberately flush the birds out of sheer bloody mindedness. - Just a suggestion, but who knows, dafter ideas have worked, Regards, Mike P