1 goldcrest heard singing 8 chiffchaff 3 blackcap 3 whitethroat Willow tit heard Lots of fledgling blue and great tit Goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch 2+ bullfinch 1 reed bunting 1 grey wagtail over 3 song thrush 1 jay 3 swift 3 coot Mute swan pair with brood of five 2 grey heron 2 cormorant over
Broad Ees Dole
4 reed warbler 1 reed bunting 1 jay 1 kingfisher (extremely fleeting glimpse) 2 moorhen 2 coot 5 little grebe (two occupied nests and a pair building another) 1 lapwing 11 grey heron
Two more reed bunting and (pleasingly) a house sparrow at the dry weir pond, and c15 swift, c5 house martin and 2 swallow over Stretford Ees.
A wander around the lake earlier this pm produced singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and Reed Warbler. 4 Little Grebe on Broad Ees Dole with Mallard, Canada Geese and a couple of Grey Heron. A Kingfisher flew across the lake and a Buzzard circled overhead.
The Dole 4 little grebes 6 canada geese 1 black headed gull mallards, moorhens and coots The Main lake including flying field and neighbouring field 6 great crested grebes 2 lesser black backed gulls 3 herring gulls 1 great blacked gull 2 black headed gulls 1 cormorant 1 mute swan double figures of chiffchaffs calling, 3 seen 4 willow warbler calling, 3 seen
Inflow channel - Kingfisher 1. Old car park - Bullfinch 4 (2m + 2f). Reed Bunting 1m. Grt. Tit 1. Long-tail Tit 1. Across R.Mersey over Chorlton Ees - Raven 2. Main lake - Tufted Duck 4. Grt.Crested Grebe 9. Mute Swan 8. Cormorant 4. Broad Ees Dole - Grey Heron 9. Gadwall 12. Little Grebe 5. Plus it was a nice surprise to see the Wildflower meadow has been mowed and raked . (That's not been done for years !)
Single Ring Necked Parakeet in trees near visitor centre this am, on main lake 3 drake Goosander and 16 Gadwall. Also a dead immature cormorant on the side of the M60 slip road here.
Single Ring Necked Parakeet in trees between visitor centre and lake c.8.20 this morning. On lake were 12 Tufted duck, 13 Cormorant, 12 Gadwall and 5 Great crested Grebe.
This morning: 47 Coot, 11 Tufted Duck, 5 Great Crested grebe, single Kingfisher, 9 Goosander flew over heading west and a kestrel eating a catch on the boardwalk by the boat ramp.
Thin layer of ice over most of lake this am, birds seen included
45 Coot
16 Gadwall
8 Tufted Duck
c.110 Black Headed Gull
8 Lesser black backed gull
6 Common Gull
3 Great Crested Grebe
Walked from the tram stop to the top of the lake across the railway bridge and down the river to Jacksons Boat birds seen were as follows blackbird x 3 jay x 4 song thrush x4 robin x 5 herring gull x 6 black headed gull x 100 + feral pigeon x 11 wood pigeon x 6 magpie x 12 carrion crow x 8 blue tit x 2 starling x1 mallard x 12 mute swan x 5 tufted duck x 6 gadwall x 4 coot x 10 house sparrow x 1 wren x 1 moorhen x 2 grey heron x 1 cormorant x 2 long tailed tit x 3 dunnock x 1 ring necked parakeet x 2 great spotted woodpecker x 1
Main lake this am.
Single drake Goldeneye, 8 Great crested grebe, 7 Gadwall, 5 Tufted Duck, 3 Herring gull and a Buzzard strutting round the car park completely unbothered by anyone or cars.
Mid morning until early afternoon; no water sports, so a good number of birds on the lake:
Lots of long-tailed tit 1 treecreeper 1 nuthatch 5 goldfinch 1 chaffinch 3 or 4 bullfinch 1 pied wagtail 1 song thrush 1 mistle thrush 1 or 2 kingfisher 4 moorhen 13+ coot 3 teal 11 gadwall 7 tufted duck 12 mute swan, three with blue darvics: VN6; 4CFH (first winter); 4BVL (this one also had a metal ring on the other leg, XY8876) 5+ great crested grebe 8 cormorant 120+ black-headed gull 10+ common gull 9 lesser black-backed gull 1 kestrel 1 buzzard
There were at least 2 Shovelers (both male) present on Broad Ees Dole earlier today, although there weren't visible from the hide, but from the gap to the right of the hide when looking at the water- most of the ducks seemed to be congregating there- from the hide I could only see one female Mallard and one Little Grebe.
Rob I have sent you a message, I have transferred my working area so no longer cover Manchester, sorry for late reply only just been made aware of incident.
Main lake infront of Deckers... Adult Mute Swan with fishing wire hanging from inside its throat. I phoned the RSPCA and made a note of some of it's grown cygnets ring numbers so that the responding officer(s) would know they were looking at the correct family group and only having to check 2 adults for the wire.
The call receiver took my details but nobody has phoned back as yet with any potential outcome, if indeed they do that?, any RSPCA forum members aware of any action taken in this particular instance? Thanks
ps. PM me or post on discussion thread if need be.