Walk around Elton Reservoir only this evening.
4 Chiffchaff. .
4 Little Grebe. 2 In Creek, 2 at Capsticks end of Res. .
2 Gadwall. Drakes. .
1 Drake Pochard. .
6 Teal. .
12 Tufted Ducks joined by another 32 at 17:15pm. .
1 Buzzard. .
1 Sparrowhawk. .
Only a handful of Swallows and House Martins high up passing through. .
Cheers Steven
Pintail - juv with Mallard at wader point but later flew off when Dog walkers flushed it 2 Shoveler 3 Gadwall 6 Teal Pochard - male 85 Tufted Duck 260 Coot 3 Little Grebe 200 + Meadow Pipit south 100+ Swallow 60+ House Martin
06:30-11:15am
1 Spotted Flycatcher in Dip. .
59 Tufted Duck . .
2 Gadwall. .
6 Teal. .
3 Goosander on River. .
2 Kingfishers. .
4 Snipe. .
1 Peregrine Falcon. .
2 Buzzards. .
3 Kestrels. .
1 Possible Merlin at flying low across canal near Crow Trees but to quick a view to be sure. .
Mixed flocks of Swallows and House Martins heading south. .
9 Chiffchaff. .
2 Goldcrest. .
Cheers Steven
This am with Malcolm, 45 Pink-footed Geese East at 9.08, 1 Peregrine, 500ish House Martin with fewer Swallow a small number of Sand Martin and 1 Swift. Also 40 Meadow Pipit amongst Highland cattle. Cheers Ian
8-9 this am, trying not to exaggerate but approx 1,500 mixed Swallow and House Martin over the res an awesome sight. Also 1 Common Sandpiper and 34 passing Meadow Pipit. Cheers Ian
So far this am with Brian and Malcolm, 7.30-8.30, 1 Arctic Tern, 4 Swift, 1 Tree Pipit(heard), 20 Meadow Pipit, 1 Common Sandpiper, huge numbers of House Martin and Swallows with fewer Sand Martin. Cheers Ian
This am 8-9 in heavy rain, at least 500 Swallow, 40 House and 4 Sand Martin over the res. an amazing sight in the rain and worth getting wet for. Also 9 Teal and 4 Gadwall. Cheers Ian
Cream Crown Marsh Harrier - distant bird over Bradley Fold - west Peregrine Buzzard 4 Redshank west Dunlin west Swift south 1000+ House Martin south with around 200+ on the res 500+ Swallow south with 300+ on res 500+ Meadow Pipit south 9 Grey Wagtail south Skylark 4 Gadwall 5 Teal 2 Little Grebe 2 Kingfisher
7 Gadwall 10 Snipe (7 on old hall flood) 56 Mallard - wader point Swift south 355+ Swallow (155 south and 200+ on res) 5+ Sand Martin 60 House Martin Little Grebe
And I wasn't the only mad one out this morning thanks for the lift home Steve H, think Ian C had the right idea by not even getting out of the car
3 duck sp south high directly over the pump house looked good for Pintail but got on them too late to 100% confirm Swift south 36 Meadow Pipit various directions but mainly S/SW 4 Grey Wagtail south Skylark south 7 Sand Martin south plus 10 on res 98 House Martin south plus 200 on res during rain 152 Swallow south 5 Gadwall 300+ Lapwing 6 Blackcap Redstart - Elton Goyt Buzzard 2 Stock Dove
After a circuit of Withins and the canal in the rain, the House Martin numbers on the res had increased to about 100. 1 Sand Martin with them and a Peregrine with prey on top of the pylon to the west of the car park.
This am, juv Ruff still present with 2 Common Sandpiper also approx 70 House Martin and 8 Meadow Pipit over. In highland cattle field 200 Goldfinch, 40 Pied Wagtail, 7 Snipe and 13 Teal. 2 Kingfisher on river and Simon had a Redstart. Cheers Ian
Whitethroat, chiffchaff and willow warblers around the creek.
Four cormorants, 60+ black-headed gulls, 30+ coot and 5 great-crested grebe on the reservoir. Sand martins, house martins, swallow and one swift hawking over the water.
2 ruff on wader point, two redshank also flew in just to create a couple of minutes' confusion.
1 First Winter Kittiwake flew through heading west towards lowercroft. 2 Ruff giving me great views landing within 8 ft of me. Photos attached. 2 Great Black Backed Gull adult. 1 Common Gull. 3 Tufted Ducks.
06:15-10:15am With Ian C Highlights out of 48 species seen. 2 Shelduck. 2 Gadwall. 7 Tufted Duck. 8 Teal. 2 Kingfisher. 1 Meadow Pipit. 25 Cormorant. 3 Common Gulls. 1 Snipe. 184 Lapwings. Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Whitethroat in most Hedgerows. Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch all present.
To add to Simons post this Evening . 2 Adult Great Black Backed Gulls dropped onto the res. The Gadwall flew towards Lowercroft around 7pm. Also another Scaup faced Tufted turned up in Bay near Car park to add to the other 6 Tufted Ducks.
And Going back to tufted/scaups if going off the bill pattern ( thanks Steve for pointing that out) and a few other features 2 of the 3 birds present previously were juv Scaup
This am with Malcolm, no sign of Scaup/Tufted today (thank God !!), 1 Common Sandpiper on res. and 4 Goosander over. 1 Peregrine on distant pylon, 2 Buzzard near crow trees and 2 Kestrel. 9 Teal and 4 Snipe on pond by canal. Cheers Ian
and 2 of the 3 Aytha's were again near the car park and i'm now not sure what they are!!
It's always good to see experienced birders confused over relatively common birds - shows what an interesting pastime it is. It also shows how few field guides are up to the mark when it comes to non-adult plumages. Harris, Tucker & Vinicombe is where I look to sort out such confusion species and, looking back through the relevant section, the size and shape of the black tip of the bill is reckoned to be the best indicator. Sadly, none of the images really show this feature. For what it's worth (not very much, I hasten to say!) my money is on Scaup.
Make of this what you will, I'm by no means saying what they are and please don't get disheartened but one of Tuesday's images seems to show a hint of a tuft that could be indicative of Tufted Duck. This feature is shown on the plate for Tufted Duck in the Collins, and incidentally the plate and the image match pretty well. Cheers Rob
Wheatear on pump house which flew off down res then later it or another was on the wires at old hall farm 3 Buzzard in the field at crow trees 240 Lapwing flew SW 12 Snipe south plus a further 11 landed in old hall marsh Spotted Flycatcher 11 Goosander flew SE 7 Meadow pipits over 3 Tufted Duck
and 2 of the 3 Aytha's were again near the car park and i'm now not sure what they are!!
This am with Steven, Malcolm and partly Simon J, best was a Whinchat 2 Redstart and a Wheatear found by Simon near coney green, by the. Canal 9 Teal 4 Snipe and 59 Lapwing. A Peregrine was on one of the pylons and the Scaup/ Tufted confusion continues. Cheers Ian
Just thought I'd point out something that could be of interest?
I've noticed there has been some dispute about some scaups, if it helps, I cannot say whether the ducks I've seen in my previous post were the same ones in dispute, but the 3 I've seen were no doubt juvenile tufted ducks. Scaups are slightly larger, and even juveniles have a very finely patterned back according to my references, the ones I saw by the car park i got quite close too and my pictures show no evidence of amy degree of such markings, just the juvenile patterned wing sides. I must have been 20ft-30ft away at the time. I studed these pictures and there is little doupb in my mind.
If there were scaups about,i i therefore didn't see any of the like and were likely hidden on my visit??
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Wednesday 30th of August 2017 09:27:43 PM
Having a walk around this Evening 30th August I came across an Injured Spotted Flycatcher that looks to have an Injured wing but not been able to catch it as keeping a small distance away photo attached.
Also a couple of photos attached of the debated Scaup/Tufted Ducks.
-- Edited by Steven Higginbottom on Wednesday 30th of August 2017 10:54:24 PM
Late afternoon ... looks like these aytha's are causing a bit of debate
3 birds feeding together close in to the car park 2 of which I'm happy with juvenile scaup. The third bird I think is a juvenile male but I'm not 100% sure on whether it's a Scaup or Tufted.
A 4th bird was sleeping out within the coot and eventually after being disturbed by these 3 birds started feeding with them and was also a juvenile scaup but for some reason unknown this bird spoked and flew off south
I walked it home today after visiting Bury, gave me an opportunity to catch up on the Elton birds. Highlights include; 3 tufted ducks by the car park (apparently 2 had white patches on their face- something I haven't seen often around locally), several lesser black backed gulls with a couple of herring gulls, chiffchaff, willow warbler, reed bunting, kestrel, 3 snipes, 4 teal and my key highlight- a spotted flycatcher between the Creek and wader point. Ta!
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Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06
This am with Brian, 1 Peregrine, 1 Redshank, 7 Snipe, 2 Kingfisher. Then joined by Simon W who also had had 1 Common Sandpiper then 3 Redstart in Elton goyt. Then joined at the car park by Roger H and Malcolm where the real fun started trying to identify the 3 Scaup/Tufted present, after much discussion Simon left thinking 2 were juv. Scaup, more head scratching from us left us all still not confident as to what they were/are, aarrrggggh!!. Can anyone out there give an opinion? Cheers Ian
06:33-10:15 am with Ian, Brian, Beth & Malcolm. 1 Redshank. 2 Common Sandpipers. 1 Little Grebe. 1 Common Gull 1st one this autumn. Good numbers of Willow Warblers. Chiffchaff's, Blackcap's and Whitethroats in the Hedgerows. 3 Snipe 1 fly over 2 in pool in Elton Goyt. 6 Pheasant. 2 Linnet. 1 Spotted flycatcher. 1 Kestrel . 2 Buzzards. 1 Peregrine falcon. 2 Tufted ducks that looked very much like Scaup photos attached.
06:10-10:00 am with Ian C, Brian and Beth. A very quite morning with only 42 species seen. 1 Little Egret dropped in briefly near Car park as I was getting my scope out of the car. 1 Great Black Backed Gull 2nd year. 6 Swift. 13 Snipe in flight groups of 6, 1, 2, 4. 3 Goosander on River. 2 Kingfisher. good number of Chiffchaff with fewer sightings of willow Warblers, Blackcap and Common Whitethroat. 80+Lapwings 35 flew over and 45+ in field Near crow Trees. 1 Kestrel.
This am with Ian C and Malcolm.
1 Common Tern juvenile.
2 Great black backed gulls 1 juv 1 Adult .
1 Sparrowhawk.
2 Kestrels.
1 Snipe.
3 Whitethroat.
12 Chiffchaff.
1 Willow Warbler.
4 Blackcap headed.
4 Kingfishers.
1 Teal.
Cheers Steven
This am with Steven and Malcolm, 1 Common and 1 Arctic Tern, 18 Swift, 1 Peregrine, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Kingfisher and 1 Snipe. Steven earlier had numerous Chiffchaff also Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Garden Warbler. Water Rail heard in capsticks. Cheers Ian
06:05-10:00am with Ian C.
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2 Little grebe.
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4 Common Terns.
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2 Raven.
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1 Spotted Flycatcher.
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1 Lesser Whitethroat.
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61 Lapwings over SW
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1 Teal .
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Stuart have you dropped your lens cap as found one ?
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Cheers Steven
-- Edited by Steven Higginbottom on Thursday 24th of August 2017 10:13:48 AM
06:00-10:00am with Ian C highlights
1 Green Woodpecker in Elton Goyt and flew towards Old Hall Farm seen by Ian C.
1 Little Egret flew from Creek heading east.
1 Juv Arctic Tern through South.
1 Sparrowhawk Crow Trees.
150+ House martins with 100+ Swallows on wires fence's and hedges at Crow Trees.
10 Snipe Elton Goyt.
Cheers Steven