Walking around Daisy Nook this morning at approximately 09.15 am with the dogs. Heard the familiar sound of honking very high up and a way off. Thought I would see a skein of wild geese when I eventually caught sight of them. The sound was not as high pitched as Pink Footed Geese which was strange, through binoculars saw that the birds were all white, long white necks, I'm sure they were Whooper Swans. There were 37 altogether in a fairly tight skein with one out at the front. They were flying roughly East or North East. Did anyone else see them flying over Greater Manchester?

(This evening I was lucky enough to see a Curlew flying over and calling, heading for Stalybridge/Glossop.)

VERY MILD DULL AND MAINLY OVERCAST  12:15 -15:00

CANALSIDE FEEDING POINT  NEAR RIVERSVALE.

Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit,  Nuthatch, Dunnock, Robin also 4x Ring-necked Parakeets in trees opposite.

CANALSIDE FEEDING POINT TOWARDS CRIME LAKE.

Long-tailed Tits, Great Tit, Reed Bunting (Male). Chaffinch, Robin. Also noted bathing below the wall  Wren, 4 x Bullfinch (three male & a female ) .

CRIME LAKE.

Kingfisher, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Tufted Duck (two male), Canada Geese,  Cormorant ( flew over), Mute Swan (pair on the canal). 

Also noted. Blackbird, Black-headed Gull, Goldfinch, Carron Crow, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Heron.

Thank you for the confirmation, glad I got something right 

Andrea

Please can someone confirm that this is a lesser black backed gull. I really am useless with gulls and wouldn't know a yellow legged gull if it fell on my head, I always go for the obvious first.

Report of a Great White Egret briefly appearing at Crime Lake yesterday morning. Photo by Malcolm Doyle, with permission.

11.9.20

15.30-16.30

2 Kingfisher flew along River Medlock not too far from the fishery.

8 Collared Dove at Daisy Nook Visitor Centre.

3 Great Crested Grebe (2 juve)

7 Mute Swan (5 juve)

12.30 - 16.00 3/7/20 Overcast initially sunny later in the afternoon

Great-Crested Grebe - Both adults and 4 young all doing well

Mute Swan - Both adults and 5 young now beginning to moult and turn white

1 Nuthatch on feeder by cafe

1 Treecreeper - about 5 feet from path giving cracking views

1 Willow Warbler

Plus all the usual residents 

14.00 Today - walk from cafe to crime lake and back

All the usual Coots, Moorhens and Mallards. One female mallard on the first pond after the visitor centre with some very recent ducklings

Both adult Mute swans with 5 juvs - getting big now! All on the boardwalk around Sammys basin having a group preening session

Just the 1 adult Great crested Grebe on crime lake with 3 young - 4th may have been with adult elsewhere

Hirundine and swift numbers noticeably less. A single Swift over crime lake, 3 Swallows and 2 house martin

Bridge over crime lane where food has been left out was really productive - 2 nuthatches, a great tit, 4 robins and a coal tit all feeding right on the wall by the path giving really close up views 20 Canada geese and domestic Chinese goose

What looked like Mallard/Call duck hybrid on canal

X2 Grey herons

-- Edited by Sean Molloy on Wednesday 29th of July 2020 04:30:20 PM

15.00 - 17.15 Intermittent drizzle & overcast

Highlights:

Fantastic views of Kingfisher on NW end of crime lake fishing from low branches and fishing platforms

Grey Wagtail on river medlock viewed from bridge on main path

Swifts 10 + flying low over bridge several came very close

Great Crested Grebe 2 with 4 chicks - enjoying watching these guys grow, still have their striped heads and are currently practicing their diving skills. They were quite close and you could see them underwater like black and white torpedos!

2 Mute swans with their 5 cygnets 

2 House Martin

Flock of c10 Long-tailed tit 

Goldfinch 

Song Thrush

Swallows

All the usuals Mallards, Coots, Canada Geese, Moorhens all out in force

Collared Dove

Small flocks of Great Tits around the canal path

18.30 - 20.00 Overcast occasional light drizzle

Moorhens and Coots still doing well with many still building nests and plenty of young chicks about

8 Swallows and 3 Swift over Sammy's basin

Coots with young having repeated standoffs with brown rat at the basin - rat wanted to get to some bird food that had been put around their but the coots were having none of it!

Chiffchaff heard several times

2 Adult Mute Swans and 5 cygnets! The 5th one must have been hiding very well last time but I was chuffed to see it'd rematerialised

1 of the adult swans spent a good ten minutes pursuing a female mallard with chicks, repeatedly trying to peck the female. Eventually the mallard chicks went and hid under the overhanging trees on the edge of the canal and the female mallard led the swan down to crime lake before flying off back in the direction off it's chicks. 

25 Canada Geese with a domestic Chinese goose amongst them

2 Adult Great crested grebe with 4 chicks -  all doing well and growing up quickly

Song Thrush

Dunnock

River Medlock near stannybrook road:

1 Grey Heron

1 Grey Wagtail

30 Swallows

8 Swift

Dipper very briefly seen

4 Robin 

3 Blackbird

Walk from visitor centre and back this PM. 1430 - 1645 drizzling rain

Lots of Moorhen and Coots in every available bit of water either with chicks or nest building - seem to be doing really well this year

Bridge over medlock very productive:

2 Grey Wagtails (M + F) feeding in river viewed from bridge

9 Swifts diving over really close

Flock of 5 Long-tailed tits

Sammy's basin to crime lake:

Fledgling robin very close to the path waiting for parents to return

The 2 Mute Swans were on Sammy basin with 4 cygnets - 1 must have died as I stuck with them a while and there was definitely no sign of a 5th. One adult (silver ring left leg) later passed by with the 4 cygnets on the canal going toward crime lake

Brief fly-by from Kingfisher flying away from Crime lake over crime farm close to canal. Flew over trees and down presumably toward the river

2 Black-headed Gull  - one over sammy basin and another at crime lake

2 adult Great crested grebe with 4 chicks on crime lake reasonably close to the path which gave fantastic views of the chicks and the parents fishing for them

5 goldfinch in trees around crime lake

Dunnock

Chiffchaffs heard several times

Attached a few mobile phone pictures of the cygnets and adult when they passed on the canal - other adult remained at Sammy's basin

Quick walk around 17.00 - 18.00. 6 Swallows over car park

Great close up views of a Nuthatch near the little squirrel table

20+ Swifts engaging in some serious aerial acrobatics seen from the bridge over the river

2 Great crested grebe on crime lake

Plenty of mallards and coots with chicks in tow

Heard a few Chiffchaffs calling

Kestrel hunting over crime farm

Zero sign of the Mute swans and their chicks which was a little worrying - hope theyre all okay!

Didn't stay long as it was pretty busy but hope to pop by early one morning soon when its quieter

Cheers

-- Edited by Sean Molloy on Monday 22nd of June 2020 10:37:21 PM

Two buzzards above The Garden centre on telegraph poles viewed from M60

This is good news after the happenings of late they where als over my failsworth garden on Sunday 

Bit of good news after the goings on in the nook lately one of the buzzards is back on territory at the side of  M60 above the garden centre 

Late post from Sunday morning:

Kingfisher still showing well at Crime Lake, along with 8-10 Goosander (apparently paired up) and a single male Wigeon

A wander along the Daisy Nook Trail with a friend who is a member of  the Hollinwood Canal Society .some highlights

43 Redwing

2 Nuthatch

1 Treecreeper

98 Mallard

13 Chaffinch

1 Buzzard

5 Siskin

26 Blackbird

18 Coot

16 Moorhen.

Nice to see some variety still on Crime Lake today.

Pair of Gadwall

Shoveler

3 teal (2m, 1F)

1 goosander (flyover)

Even managed to get a fleeting glimpse of a male sparrowhawk in the woods

Pair of Wigeon still on Crime Lake along will Call duck and what I thought was a female teal a few weeks ago turns out to be a juvenile male who's looking quite smart now.

Andrea

Thanks Mark. It looks like it's made itself at home with the mallrds on the lake for now.

Andrea 

Looks like a domestic call duck

Can anyone id this duck that has been on Crime Lake at Daisy Nook for a few weeks. It has a short beak and is much smaller than a mallard, more teal sized.

Quiet morning today with a few exceptions, pair of blackcaps, my first Whitethroat at Daisy Nook and my first ever Redstart, otherwise just the usual suspects.

Apologies for the lack of detail yesterday - the Redstart was a male seen hopping around in an open field (I assumed feeding) and occasionally perching on small mounds of grass.

Thanks Steve,

I'll let everyone know. The nest building has stopped for now. Their first efforts were not in a very suitable place to be honest. Any more developments I'll let you know. 

Hi Paul,

4API was ringed as a cygnet on 13/11/2010 at Rhodes Lodges, Middleton

It was then sighted a couple of times at Boggart Hole Clough in 2012 and 2013

In 2014 and 2015 it nested at Reddish Vale. 

Interesting that it has now moved breeding site. 

Many thanks,

Steve