Single flock of around 20 Siskin, in the tree tops at Tirley Hollow.
Mark Jarrett said
Mon Jun 8 1:08 PM, 2020
Walked the full length of the wood and returned to Kings Gate via Tirley Lane and Waste Lane. A walk with Mrs J rather than out and out birding. Cool but fine. Amongst others :-
I usually check the area each spring for Tree Pipit. Certain spots have been thinned out and look bang on but, once again, to no avail.
James Walsh said
Mon Jun 19 10:57 AM, 2017
Iberian Chiffchaff still present but elusive also 2 Crossbills
Jim Caulfield said
Mon Jun 5 11:38 AM, 2017
10:25 to 10:50 with Tom Jones Iberian Chiffchaff in plain view at the original location mentioned in earlier postings, path to the right of the left hand bend in the track.
Mark Burgess said
Sun Jun 4 11:12 AM, 2017
Iberian Chiffchaff still present this morning 7.30 - 8.45am, still favouring the same area as described in below posts, a few metres down path to right of left hand bend, Patience needed as it does go AWAL for 5/10 minutes at a time but always returns to that general area.
Mark Burgess said
Sat Jun 3 11:16 AM, 2017
Iberian Chiffchaff still present this morning 8.00 - 10.00am tho very elusive, It's was 50m along road after left hand bend.
John Watson said
Fri Jun 2 5:20 PM, 2017
RBA reports it's back, though seems to have moved 200 yards W
"Walk N along track to RH bend then walk N thru wood SJ 549 668"
-- Edited by John Watson on Friday 2nd of June 2017 05:21:31 PM
John Watson said
Fri Jun 2 4:50 PM, 2017
re tape playing, people should do what I did: play the tape in the car !
re the contact call, it wasn't very loud & reminded me slightly of the 1st few notes of a Tree Pipit's song, before the song gets going. There was nothing else in the woods that could make that noise, and it came from the location of the Iberian (which wasn't showing at that moment, unfortunately)
PS, I just realised that it's possible someone might have seen me recording it on my phone when the bird was singing - this might appear that I was playing back ! Sorry if that caused anyone to be confused
-- Edited by John Watson on Friday 2nd of June 2017 05:07:44 PM
Doc Brewster said
Fri Jun 2 3:08 PM, 2017
Cheers Mark.
From observers on site this morning, no sign at all, sight nor sound. This afternoon no positive news on pager either.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 2nd of June 2017 03:21:49 PM
markwoodhead said
Fri Jun 2 2:17 PM, 2017
Fully support Doc's comments. It does perch in the open but not often so be patient. It does interact with the local Common Chiffchaffs at times, and yesterday this seemed to be when it came out into the the open most frequently.
Doc Brewster said
Fri Jun 2 10:44 AM, 2017
We have just received info on tape luring of this bird. As Ian states in another post - DO NOT under any circumstances use tape lures on this bird. It is easy to see without doing this, if your fieldcraft is so poor that you need to tape lure birds, then that is a very poor state of affairs
markwoodhead said
Fri Jun 2 10:39 AM, 2017
Watched it yesterday afternoon. Very mobile and doesn't perch in the open / on tops of tress very often, but faithful to the same dense patch of trees as per directions in earlier posts.
Song striking though and attached images capture the key features I think
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 2nd of June 2017 01:02:53 PM
It's singing most of the time, and calling in between. A "normal" Chiffchaff came over for a song, and the Iberian Chiffchaff sang briefly the same song in reply. Otherwise, the contact call & song are pure Iberian.
Hi John, and anyone one else who goes. Thanks for the info that you heard it call and it was an Iberian call. We are compiling info on the bird for submission and were missing anyone hearing it do the Iberian type call (rather than just the song). Anyone hearing the call too please post here as the more the better We will add Johns evidence to the Iberian Chiffchaff submission.
John Watson said
Fri Jun 2 9:00 AM, 2017
PS, throat evidently not yellow, but supercilium is quite yellow
Mark Jarrett said
Thu Jun 1 7:49 PM, 2017
Couldn't get over to Primrosehill Wood yesterday, so went this morning instead. Arrived at 8.40, initially heard the bird, clear Iberian song, very close at times and fortunately it came in to view after about thirty minutes. As John mentions, the bird is mobile within its small range and at times remains silent. With a bit of patience, it should be heard and should show well enough. Key id features of lemon yellow supercilium, lightish bill/base, yellow throat/white belly, yellow vent area and fleshy/dark (not black) legs, all noted. Two photos attached.
As Doc says, head N on the dirt track, which then bears R and after 200 yards bears L. At this point, there's a track on the Right which you should follow for a few yards. Stand & listen, the bird's elusive & mobile, foraging at ~10 foot up; sometimes goes much deeper into the woodland, but returns soon after. Seems to have a pattern to its work
It's singing most of the time, and calling in between. A "normal" Chiffchaff came over for a song, and the Iberian Chiffchaff sang briefly the same song in reply. Otherwise, the contact call & song are pure Iberian. Face & throat quite yellow, belly white, under tail yellow; didn't see bill & legs properly
Oh, and the song, recorded on a Samsung S2 - use Windows Media Player (iTunes doesn't like it)
Yesterday local birder Luke Fleece chanced upon a bird late in the day that he suspected was a particular species in this location. He returned and the bird was still present this morning and so news was broadcast on the info networks and on the Cheshire WhatsApp grapevine in which the ID was discussed at length with photos and sound recordings.
The bird in question is a probable Iberian Chiffchaff, a fabulous find for Luke, and the consensus of opinion of all that have seen the bird is that it both looks and sounds good for this species In fact latest updates on the pager has it as a definite one
The location is in the Primrose Hill Woods. Park on the minor road, where Heaths Lane & Tirley Lane meet at a T-junction. Park in the pull off and take the track opposite the side road into the wood on a gravel track. When you reach a sharp LH bend in the track a small path leads L.into the wood & the bird favours the trees a few yards down this path. I watched it this afternoon and it showed well and was faithful to this area. The bird shows a lemon wash to the shoulders and vent and to the supercilium. It has paler legs than normal Chiffchaffs and a paler beak. Worth a look if you missed the Dibbinsdale bird in Cheshire which Phil Woollen found and we jointly put in the rarity form that got it accepted. Lets hope that with all the pics and recordings that this one gets through a little more quickly than our submission did
Mark Jarrett said
Thu May 5 3:52 PM, 2016
Today roughly the same walk as last time out, although I went a bit further, right to the eastern end of the wood at Tirley Hollow. Then back to King's Gate car park by the same route. Weather warm and sunny. Amongst others :-
Sadly, no Tree Pipits around despite the habitat in places. The Yellowhammer were slap bang in the middle of the wood which was slightly surprising. Will give it another go in a few weeks.
Butterflies on the wing - Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Green-veined White, Brimstone and Orange Tip.
Mark Jarrett said
Tue Apr 19 12:21 PM, 2016
I visited this wood, just east of Kelsall, a couple of months ago when there wasn't too much about. It looked quite interesting, so I thought I would give it another go. Mixed woodland, albeit mainly coniferous, with farmland surrounding it. Delamere Forest is a couple of miles to the north. Amongst others :-
Sparrowhawk (1) Buzzard (1) Willow Warbler Chiffchaff Blackcap Garden Warbler (1) Green Woodpecker (1) Jay Cuckoo (1) Yellowhammer (2)
Nice to see and hear an early Garden Warbler and also my first Cuckoo of the year. There is quite a large cleared area that has been planted with young conifers, perhaps three or four years old, with mature conifers both alongside and standing amongst the younger ones. It looks very suitable Tree Pipit habitat. I'll have another walk here in a few weeks time.
Sparrowhawk (1)
Buzzard (8)
Raven (1)
Barn Swallow (2)
Chiffchaff (1)
Long-tailed Tit (2)
Nuthatch (1)
Siskin (20)
Single flock of around 20 Siskin, in the tree tops at Tirley Hollow.
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Garden Warbler (2)
Blackcap
Whitethroat (2)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (2)
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Linnet
Yellowhammer (2)
Skylark
3 Linnets on adjoining cattle pasture.
In the largely coniferous woodland : 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Treecreepers,
and 3 Goldcrests. Also a large mixed tit flock containing 3+ Chiffchaffs.
Blackcaps appeared to be numerous throughout, with 1 bird still singing.
A couple of Willow Warblers were seen persistently fly catching, flycatcher style from
a patch of birch trees. No raptors were seen throughout, and oddly no Nuthatches either.
Willow Warbler (c.10)
Chiffchaff (c.10)
Blackcap (4)
Mistle Thrush (1)
Yellowhammer (1)
Linnet (c.12)
Coal Tit (4)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (1)
Buzzard (1)
Cuckoo (1)
Sparrowhawk (1)
Buzzard (2)
Yellowhammer (1)
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Garden Warbler (min 4)
Blackcap (min 12)
Nuthatch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Goldcrest
I usually check the area each spring for Tree Pipit. Certain spots have been thinned out and look bang on but, once again, to no avail.
Iberian Chiffchaff in plain view at the original location mentioned in earlier postings, path to the right of the left hand bend in the track.
"Walk N along track to RH bend then walk N thru wood SJ 549 668"
-- Edited by John Watson on Friday 2nd of June 2017 05:21:31 PM
re the contact call, it wasn't very loud & reminded me slightly of the 1st few notes of a Tree Pipit's song, before the song gets going. There was nothing else in the woods that could make that noise, and it came from the location of the Iberian (which wasn't showing at that moment, unfortunately)
PS, I just realised that it's possible someone might have seen me recording it on my phone when the bird was singing - this might appear that I was playing back ! Sorry if that caused anyone to be confused
-- Edited by John Watson on Friday 2nd of June 2017 05:07:44 PM
Cheers Mark.
From observers on site this morning, no sign at all, sight nor sound. This afternoon no positive news on pager either.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 2nd of June 2017 03:21:49 PM
Fully support Doc's comments. It does perch in the open but not often so be patient. It does interact with the local Common Chiffchaffs at times, and yesterday this seemed to be when it came out into the the open most frequently.
We have just received info on tape luring of this bird. As Ian states in another post - DO NOT under any circumstances use tape lures on this bird. It is easy to see without doing this, if your fieldcraft is so poor that you need to tape lure birds, then that is a very poor state of affairs
Watched it yesterday afternoon. Very mobile and doesn't perch in the open / on tops of tress very often, but faithful to the same dense patch of trees as per directions in earlier posts.
Song striking though and attached images capture the key features I think
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 2nd of June 2017 01:02:53 PM
Hi John, and anyone one else who goes. Thanks for the info that you heard it call and it was an Iberian call. We are compiling info on the bird for submission and were missing anyone hearing it do the Iberian type call (rather than just the song). Anyone hearing the call too please post here as the more the better
We will add Johns evidence to the Iberian Chiffchaff submission.
As Doc says, head N on the dirt track, which then bears R and after 200 yards bears L. At this point, there's a track on the Right which you should follow for a few yards. Stand & listen, the bird's elusive & mobile, foraging at ~10 foot up; sometimes goes much deeper into the woodland, but returns soon after. Seems to have a pattern to its work
It's singing most of the time, and calling in between. A "normal" Chiffchaff came over for a song, and the Iberian Chiffchaff sang briefly the same song in reply. Otherwise, the contact call & song are pure Iberian. Face & throat quite yellow, belly white, under tail yellow; didn't see bill & legs properly
Oh, and the song, recorded on a Samsung S2 - use Windows Media Player (iTunes doesn't like it)
Yesterday local birder Luke Fleece chanced upon a bird late in the day that he suspected was a particular species in this location. He returned and the bird was still present this morning and so news was broadcast on the info networks and on the Cheshire WhatsApp grapevine in which the ID was discussed at length with photos and sound recordings.
The bird in question is a probable Iberian Chiffchaff, a fabulous find for Luke, and the consensus of opinion of all that have seen the bird is that it both looks and sounds good for this species
In fact latest updates on the pager has it as a definite one 
The location is in the Primrose Hill Woods. Park on the minor road, where Heaths Lane & Tirley Lane meet at a T-junction. Park in the pull off and take the track opposite the side road into the wood on a gravel track. When you reach a sharp LH bend in the track a small path leads L.into the wood & the bird favours the trees a few yards down this path. I watched it this afternoon and it showed well and was faithful to this area. The bird shows a lemon wash to the shoulders and vent and to the supercilium. It has paler legs than normal Chiffchaffs and a paler beak. Worth a look if you missed the Dibbinsdale bird in Cheshire which Phil Woollen found and we jointly put in the rarity form that got it accepted. Lets hope that with all the pics and recordings that this one gets through a little more quickly than our submission did
Sparrowhawk (1)
Buzzard (3)
Willow Warbler (c.10)
Chiffchaff (c.20)
Blackcap (c.20)
Garden Warbler (2)
Jay (3)
Yellowhammer (4)
Sadly, no Tree Pipits around despite the habitat in places. The Yellowhammer were slap bang in the middle of the wood which was slightly surprising. Will give it another go in a few weeks.
Butterflies on the wing - Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Green-veined White, Brimstone and Orange Tip.
Sparrowhawk (1)
Buzzard (1)
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Garden Warbler (1)
Green Woodpecker (1)
Jay
Cuckoo (1)
Yellowhammer (2)
Nice to see and hear an early Garden Warbler and also my first Cuckoo of the year. There is quite a large cleared area that has been planted with young conifers, perhaps three or four years old, with mature conifers both alongside and standing amongst the younger ones. It looks very suitable Tree Pipit habitat. I'll have another walk here in a few weeks time.