Highlights from a visit early afternoon today were a flock of 12 Yellowhammer by Lightshaw Flash, with plenty of displaying Teal on the flash itself and a Water Rail, 3 Goosander and 4 Pochard on Dover Basin.
Green Sandpiper over and Curlew > high NW just before noon. Single Grasshopper Warbler reeling briefly and Yellow Wagtail by pasture field below canal at far eastern end (below old railway embankment).
Linear walk from Plank Bridge car park - along Leigh Branch of Leeds/Liverpool canal - Lightshaw Meadows (circuit of) - Dover Lock - and return.
Saturday, 16th July 2016. 14:30 - 17:00 hrs
Common Tern x 7 (including cracking view of one catching fish from canal) Kingfisher x 3 separate sightings Common Whitethroat x 1 Reed Bunting x 1 Song Thrush x 1 Buzzard x 1 Kestrel x 1 (hovering above field behind Dover Lock pub) Jay x 4 separate sightings Chiffchaff x 2 Lapwing x 3 Goldfinch x 15 Swallows x 10 Swift x 60 House Martin x 80 Collared Dove x 1 Grey Heron x 3 Wren x 1 Mute Swan x 4 Great Crested Grebe x 1 Coot x 50 Moorhen x 4 Cormorant x 4 Blue Tit x 1 Blackbird x 3 Mallard x 50 Black-Headed Gull x 5 Herring Gull x 4 Woodpigeon x 30 Carrion Crow x 5 Magpie x 20 Feral Pigeon x 5
Grasshopper Warbler reeling on Lightshaw Meadow this morning as I went past on Mountain Bike. 1 Common Tern just past Dover Lock fishing and successfully catching a fish, cracking views.
Walk along Leigh branch of Leeds/Liverpool Canal from Plank Lane Bridge car park - Lightshaw Meadows - Dover Basin and return
Saturday, 21st May 2016. 14:00 - 16:30 hrs.
Common Tern x 3 Shelduck x 2 Redshank x 1 Sedge Warbler x 2 Gadwall x 2 Pied Wagtail x 1 Chiffchaff x 1 Lapwing x 6 Swift x 20 Swallow x 7 Mute Swan x 2 Coot x 2 Chaffinch x 1 House Sparrow x 1 Robin x 3 Blue Tit x 1 Cormorant x 1 Mallard x 7 (and total of 10 chicks) Woodpigeon x 50 Feral Pigeon x 10 Carrion Crow x 4 Magpie x 10 Starling x 3 Blackbird x 4 Male Pheasant x 1 Canada Geese x 7 Black-Headed Gull x 3 Collared Dove x 1 Buzzard x 1 (on way home above East Lancs - crossing into Tyldesley) Skylark x 2 Jay x 1
-- Edited by Steve Judge on Saturday 21st of May 2016 09:47:07 PM
This morning, 1 cuckoo heard and seen well, 2 common terns displaying, 5 shelduck, 1 common sandpiper, 2 shoveler and 2 Cetti's warblers singing. Add the latter to the two Cetti's I saw earlier in the morning at Pennington, and that's 4 singing Cetti's warblers on a short bike ride from Lowton to Lightshaw! Who would have imagined that a few years ago?
Lightshaw Flash (from viewing screen) 2 Shelduck 18 Teal 6 Mallard 1 Grey Heron 5 Shoveler (3M/2F) 1 Kingfisher over the water briefly, seemingly from fields to the right 2 Coot
Plus: Song Thrush (1) Long-Tailed Tit (1) Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (5+ over) Woodpigeon (20+ next to Lightshaw Flash) Mute Swan (4 - in field next to Dover Lock Inn) Cormorant (7 - over from direction of penny) Plus usual Robin, Wren, Blackbird & tits.
Lightshaw flash this evening, about 50 lapwings, 2 shelduck and a buzzard over. Lots of exposed mud at the moment, chances of a few more waders soon hopefully.
Two redshank on Lightshaw Hall Flash, also two Oystercatchers, drake shoveler, pair of shelduck still with two chicks and a single cormorant. Common tern over Dover Lock.
-- Edited by colin davies on Wednesday 10th of June 2015 08:06:30 PM
More exposed mud today on Lightshaw Hall Flash, but no waders other than 10 lapwing and a flyover oystercatcher. A pair of shoveler and 10 gadwall, also the shelduck pair still have 2 chicks.
Very flooded today, no exposed mud at all. I guess any waders breeding on the mud have been flooded out
The shelduck family now appears to be down to 2 chicks. Still a few swifts and a buzzard but not much else.
Generally pretty quiet, but the pair of shelduck still with the three chicks - delightful little characters - 1 redshank, 4 lapwings, reed buntings and plenty of swifts.
No sign of garganey on Lightshaw Hall Flash at 18:30 so probably moved to Pennington, though it could easily be tucked away out of view here.
Pair of shelduck with 3 chicks, oystercatcher & a cormorant plus the usuals.
Garganey still present at 3.20pm. -
But hard to see (from the hide accessed from leeds /liverpool canal ) due to its proximity near to the bank infront of hide .
Drake garganey still on Lightshaw Hall Flash at 13:45. Only really viewable from screen off lightshaw lane (with a telescope!). Spending a lot of time in reeds in front of the other screen but out of view from there most of the time due to height of vegetation.
Canal and towpath- 1 mute swan,4 mallard,2 Canada geese with 1 gosling, jay,chaffinch,willow warbler,chiffchaff, great tit,blue tit,reed bunting, Dover flash- 2 mute swan,4 coot,1 great crested grebe,1 shelduck, swift and swallow over water, Lightshaw flash- 2 oystercatcher,8 grey lag geese,4 Canada geese, 1 kingfisher,1 cormorant,2 grey heron, c20 lapwing, 6 coot,several mallard, 4 skylark singing, buzzard over, cuckoo heard from direction of farm and then later from near canal possibly different birds.
Arrived here around 1030, might have been Mark Burgess I met, if so hello mate, that was me!
No Wood Sandpiper I could find, just Redshanks for me. Annoying but it's my fault, I was too lazy to head up here last weekend...
Interesting site, reminded me of Lunt Meadows in some ways. With the birds at that distance I would say well done indeed to the finder of the Wood Sandpiper, Rob. A great bit of work
I found the Cuckoo! In trees between the canal and the viewing screen. Seen in branches singing, then it dropped down into the scrub, but perched up on a branch for a minute or two, long enough for me to see that pose they have with the wings held down below the line of their body. Quite a dark bird, gun metal, darker than males I've seen before.
Also a Willow Tit that flew onto a reed head by the little stream alongside the path and I heard a Green Woodpecker from the Lightshaw Hall side
Good mooch about both sides opf the canal Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin, Shoveler Redshank Teal Gadwalll Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Blacktailed Godwit, Oystercatcher Cuckoo heard Abram flash area, Reed Warbler Sedge Warbler Cetti Warbler reeds before path to viewing redoubt, Willow Warbler Reed Bunting, Grey wagtail, Yellowhammer back of pub, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat.
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Thursday 30th of April 2015 02:51:55 PM
Wood sandpiper still present (distant , no zoom but 95% certain). Also- . Dunlin x 8 . Redshank x 2 . Little ringed plover x 2 . Lapwing x 2 . Common sandpiper x 1 . Black- tailed godwit x 2 . Shelduck x 2 . Oystercatcherx1.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 29th of April 2015 04:06:21 PM