Yellow Legged Gull - 1 ad

Great Egret 1

Rook 135 roost

Tawny Owl 2

Water Rail 1 (bred or early migrant??)

Cettis Warbler 1

Reed Warbler 1

Hobby 1

Lapwing 14

51sp  cumulative on checklist (I missed a couple) - no Jackdaw recorded today!

Cuckoo

Yellowhammer and Skylark along Dirty Lane. Lapwing over the field to the north.

-- Edited by Mike Duckham on Friday 7th of June 2024 10:39:12 PM

1 ad Caspian Gull yesterday Sun 26th Feb, different to previous. Crap pic attached (hopefully!) with HG & LBBG. Nice dark eye. 

Just tried, nope still can't attach pics, not sure why. Nvm it's crap anyway!

Also an interesting bird which was probably argentatus, tho a bit early for a clean white head on a northern breeder, but mantle only slightly paler than cach. Head shape perhaps suggested cach x HG, in addition to mantle.

And a subsinging Blackbird imitating a Song Thrush imitating a Tawny Owl! Apparently known as "hypermimicry"!

Thur 4.1.23

Fairly quiet, not many birds in general and the gull roost fairly small. One interesting gull though, had some features of Azorean ssp atlantis: the classic dense dark streaking on the face to mid crown but lacking from mid crown to nape; striking bill pattern with a noticeably pale tip, dark mid section (poss with some red? but too busy trying to get pics ) then paler base.  Bird seemed adult with no sign of immaturity, tho of course could be near-adult. Mantle mid way between LBBG and HG in direct comparison. Forehead somewhat flattish compared to micahellis. Sadly, without open wing shots (and ideally a look at the legs) this is only a possible. Since getting interested in gulls late 90s, I've never seen an atlantis candidate til today, nor in fact a bird looking remotely like this one!

Pics are very very poor due to fading light and  long distance, and have totally failed to get the bill pattern (except for slightly on one, but only because i know its there!). On some, the dark streaking on the face/head can be seen and mantle can be assessed compared to LBBG and HG. My new phone has 3 lenses and i dont know which one to hold to the scope! Pity it was my last day in Cheshire today, so unable to make a return visit for a couple of weeks.

Redpoll calling round the Obs.

Edit- unable to attach crap pics, when I click on attach file below, my phone doesn't offer my gallery, just voice recorder or camera. Not sure what I'm doing wrong as managed a couple of times previously.

Edit - will try again to attach pics, tho they are fairly worthless!

Yesterday Sunday 10th Dec: Caspian Gull 1 ad, prob one of the ones from last visit. Gull roost much reduced - 1/4 to 1/3 the size of last visit, presumably contrasting the frost and ice with the current very mild spell. Tawny Owl, Kingfisher & Snipe calling.

2 Redpolls, 2 adult Caspian Gulls, a 2nd winter Yellow Legged Gull, calling Water Rail and Cettis Warbler. Will try to attach pics with different exposures. Edit - 1 of the Casps.

A decent-sized Starling murmuration this evening.
5 Woodcock flew out of woodland towards the mere fields (one swerving to avoid telephone wires), and 2 Little Owls emerged and called.

13th Nov Yellow Legged Gull - 2. (None yesterday or day before, or Caspian either.)
Slavonian Grebe present til at least Oct 28th.

Sun 28th Aug Hobby 1 feeding on dragonflies. Calling from time to time, but it seems it's on its own - has it lost an offspring or mate I wonder.. 

Cettis Warbler 1

Sat 27th

Kingfisher 1

Hobby 1

Cettis Warbler 1

2.3 - singing Cettis

4.3 - Song Thrush imitating Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Moorhen, intermedius LBBGull, and a very odd gull which looked like you'd imagine a LBBGull x Ring Billed to look like.  A Google search of other hybrids of this combo reveal similar looking birds, but hard to say with certainty. 

5.3 - leucistic BHG, 3rd cal Yellow Legged Gull,  Oytercatcher, intermedius LBBG.

Caspian Gull - 1 ad.

Mediterranean Gull - 1 ad, some flecking coming through from behind eye to rear of crown.

Missed 4 Whooper swans which flew off just prior to my arrival.
Nice to chat to a local birder, from several metres away obviously!

From the church:

Adult Caspian Gull - at least 2, (prob 3 but a mature leafy tree in the line of sight didn't help).

GBBGull - 1 ad

Intermedius LBbGull- 1 ad

Not all the roost could be checked. 

Redpoll, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting heard.

After my last look at the roost on Sun 18th was a tad disappointing - only notable  gull being a "normal looking" intermedius (so not the small, dark bird seen a couple of weeks ago), I was pleasantly surprised that the strong southerlies seemed to have brought up some birds of interest.

3 Yellow Legged Gull: 1st W, 2nd W, near-ad.

Caspian Gull: ad & 1st W. These 2 birds were aggressive,  booting HGs around, and interacting with each other. The adult had at least p10 not fully grown. 

Red Kite & Cettis Warbler from the church this evening. 

Brambling, Redpoll, Green Woodpecker and 6 Fieldfare over the cricket pitch.

The leucistic Black Headed Gull has returned for its umpteenth year. 

Yesterday Sunday: 1 ad Yellow Legged Gull, 1 small, dark, long winged intermedius/ fuscus (dodgy pic), 1 pale graellsii (prob the returning bird), 1 Pink Footed Goose in the gull roost. 

Today the ad Yellow-legged Gull again,  calling Cettis Warbler

-- Edited by Mike Duckham on Monday 28th of September 2020 10:14:00 PM

Cettis Warbler singing near Boat house. Stock Dove singing by church. 31 LBBG. Hornet.

Late news from last week (apols, been largely offline): Mon 7th Sept: Willow Tit 2, Spotted Flycatcher 1, Cettis Warbler 1, Stock Dove 23.

26.8.19, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Hobby - 1
Teal - 11
Shoveler - 6, moved in a very tight group from right of mere all the way to far end. 1 was an eclipse male, at least 2 looked like pale fresh juvs though dsitance didn't help. Could these be a family party?
Mandarin - 4 

Little Egret has been present on and off, and Common Scoter for a few days a couple of weeks ago.

3 Swifts fairly high towards Mere Covert from the churchyard. Nearby at least 1 Raven being mobbed by a Buzzard in the sheep fields along Marsh Lane.

Caspian Gull - 2; 1 ad, 1 x 4th winter. Different birds to the one on the 10th.
Recent sightings include Barn Owl and Lesser Redpoll.

The leucistic Black Heaed Gull has also recently been photographed at Hope Carr!

Realised i wasn't clear - i'm referring to the leucistic Black Headed Gull, which has been seen at Pennington. Wasn't able to go into my post again to re-edit.

Yesterday Sun 10th Feb 4p.m to dusk:

Caspian Gull - 1 ad. The very dark, small eye was particularly noticeable.
The leucistic all-white Black Headed Gull again.
At least 2 intermedius-type LBBG.
Stock Dove - 1.
A Woodcock gave three flight calls as it flew unseen past the obs as i was leaving in the failing light.

Edit - i've just noticed that this bird has also been seen at Pennington Flash, wondered where it had been!     I hadn't thought about the possibility that gulls move from the Rostherne roost to the Pennington roost and back again, presumably based on where they end up feeding at the end of each day.

Goldfinch - c.20 in tree in the garden of The Rowans, prob a pre-roost gathering
Sparrowhawk - 1 on the bird table
Little Egret 1
Caspian Gull - 1 ad
Yellow Legged or Caspian Gull - 2 ads. Unfortunately, 1 was obscured by a tree in the foreground, and the other was mostly facing directly away. I suspect one was another Caspian and one was a Yellow Legged, but i'm by no means certain.

Bittern and Great Egret have been reported in the last couple of weeks.

Woodcock 1 - Wood Bongs
Pochard 53
Cetti's calling
Yellow Legged Gull 2 ads
Lapwing 200+

Peregrine 1 imm female
Yellow Legged Gull 1 ad
Cetti's Warbler calling mere edge still

Lapwing - c. 150 flying around above the mere.
Yellow Legged Gull - 3 ads.
Pochard - 38 yesterday.
No sound of the Cetti's today or yesterday, hopefully not gone far.

Noticeable increase in Teal in the colder easterlies - 61
Goosander 12
Yellow Legged Gull 4 ads
Cetti's Warbler- 1 calling

Caspian Gull - 1 ad. One noticeable feature i hadn't noticed on Casps before, or even seen mentioned, was the extensive feathering extending down the uppper mandible.
Yellow Legged Gull - 3 ads.
Cetti's Warbler - 1 calling along mere edge below obs.

Pochard 6
Kingfisher 1
Yellow Legged Gull min. of 3 ads.
Cetti's Warbler calling below the obs.

2 ad Yellow Legged Gulls - 1 small one from previous visits, and a new larger bird.
The small intermedius/fuscus still present. Also an oddly pale graellsii, which i think was probably the same bird i saw on 25th Nov last year. Also a partial leucistic LBBG.
At least one dark presumed argentatus, prob 4th calendar.
One Cettis Warbler.

1 ad Yellow Legged Gull.
Barn Owl past the obs in the half light.

2 ad Yellow Legged Gulls.
1 intermedius/fuscus LBBG - this was the smallest i've ever seen and was markedly smaller than all the graellsii.

Edit - yesterday, 15th Oct.
The leucistic Black Headed Gull is back again! Otherwise fairly quiet. One other bloke present, we worked out we were in the same class in school aged about 7! 

16.8.18

Hobby 2

1.8.18

Around the Obs:
Common Whitethroat 1 fem/imm.
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Willow Warbler 1 juv.
Chiffchaff 3 juvs "chasing" the tits and nuthatches as they went to and from the birdtable, most amusing.
Spotted Flycatcher caught and quickly ate a wasp.
Bullfinch ad pr + 2 juvs.
Kestrel 1 juv still present, fed by the male.

Great Black Backed Gull 1 on mere.

Edit - 1st Aug.

27.7.18
Willow Wabler - 1 juv.
Sand Martin - 1 (c. 5 on 25th).

-- Edited by Mike Duckham on Saturday 28th of July 2018 11:11:18 AM

lYellowhammer - 1 singing along Dirty Lane, i can't remember having them in the area before.
Lesser Whitethroat - 1.

24.7.18

Lesser Whitethroat 1
Kingfisher 1
Curlew 1

Yellow Legged Gull 1 adult (judging by its size & jizz, i think the same bird as previous)
Bullfinch 3 on the table in front of the obs
Robin 1. As i was about to close the window at 6pm i noticed a decent-sized spider just outside the window, lowering itself on a thread. As i wondered how and why it was functioning while it was -2 deg C, something whizzed past. It was the Robin grabbing the spider in mid air, it perched up and quickly swallowed it.
Mandarin 1 drake
Snipe 2
Fox 1.

Earlier there was an adult Yellow Legged Gull in the roost (Fri 23rd), and it was really nice to see the leucistic Black Headed Gull back again for it's nth winter.   1 pr Goosander, 2 pr of Mandarin, 1 male Goldeneye.