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Post Info TOPIC: Bits & Bobs, Odds & Sods


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RE: Bits & Bobs, Odds & Sods


Is anyone else having big magpie flocks? This time of year we routinely get teenage gangs of a dozen to eighteen birds, twenty being unusual. This month thirty-odd has been the norm and this morning there were forty on the school field across the road.

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A big influx of herring gulls on Lostock School playing field this afternoon, at one point there were 49 birds (including 27 adults and 17 first-Winters), a remarkable number for this site. Also 29 black-headed gulls, 2 common gulls and 5 lesser black-backs.

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A third Winter Yellow-legged gull amongst the playground gulls at Lostock School as I was passing at 10:35. On the way back all the large gulls were heading over towards Trafford Park though I can't confirm the YLG was amongst them.

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Six Ring-necked Parakeets in trees by Bedford High School on Manchester Road, Leigh this mid-afternoon, which eventually flew off east towards Leigh Cemetary.



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18:26 a swallow flying around the roundabout where Chorley Old Road meets the A58 in Bolton.

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Sun 6th Oct
- heard 5 single Redwings in Dane Bank whilst walking for a pint Sunday night. Then after a few minutes they were more frequent and it became more difficult to count.

Mon 7th Oct
- 2 single Redwings over Mums house, Dane Bank, teatime.

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Fri 8th Sept

- Hobby just flown over Greenbank Park, Levenshulme 6.40pm towards Stockport.
It didnt pay any attention to the few House Martins whizzing around but they were certainly bothered by it, they disappeared but have just returned.

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A few sightings from around Abraham Moss from the last couple of days.

Juvenile Grey Wagtail feeding in the puddles on the primary school roof on Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday two Swift and at least one House Martin flying around above the tram stop in the pleasant early evening sun.


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A water rail flying overhead with its "Kik" call as I was just putting the bin out gave me a few identification headaches and a new garden tick. Not one I was expecting to hear in our bit of Stretford.

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Greenbank Park, Levenshulme.

- Great Spotted Woodpecker just flown through the park and over Mount Rd towards Reddish
- 10+ Swift currently over the park

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Tern species flew North over the M60 junction 14 this morning at 11:30. Presumably Common but only glimpsed whilst driving.



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This evening on Greenbank Park, Levenshulme.

- 14 Swift, increasing to 28, then even more up high, c40+
- 4 House Martins
- 2 Swallows
- 1 Ring-necked Parakeet over towards Longsight

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As I was walking home from Humphrey Park Station just now there was a commotion amongst the jackdaws, woodpigeons and starlings on Lostock School's playing field. I looked around for the usual sparrowhawk and found a male peregrine instead. Having scattered the birds he did a handbrake turn around one of the rooftops and steamed off towards the Trafford Centre.

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Oystercatcher at the Omega Drive industrial estate, Irlam.

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A Tawny Owl flew across the M60 between Jn 9 & 10 from the Trafford Centre over to the Urmston side this evening c5.00pm as I was driving home.

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Hi Phil,

2V10 was ringed as an adult on 28/11/2020 at Salford Quays.

Then sighted on 7/4/2021 at Groene Str, Terschelling, Waddensee, Netherlands.

Many thanks,

Steve Christmas

 



-- Edited by Steve Christmas on Thursday 5th of January 2023 03:54:09 PM

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Black-headed gull with Blue leg ring 2V10 (orZV10) at Nansen street park , Gorse Hill, Stretford today.

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Mon 2nd Jan

- single Redwing on top of Hawthorn privets at Greenbank Park, Levenshulme, this morning

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One hour at Nansen street park, Gorse Hill, Stretford.
(This park is only about 2 acres ).

Carrion crow 3.
Starling 13.
House sparrow 4.
Magpie 5.
Blackbird 15.
Robin 3.
Redwing 10.
Fieldfare 1.
Greenfinch 2.
Goldfinch 7.
Blue -tit 2.
Woodpigeon 1.
Black - headed gull 1.
Common gull 1.

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Boxing Day.

- 5 Common Gulls (4 ad + 1st W) in Tesco Gorton car park.
Mainly chasing Black-headed Gulls around.


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Thanks, will be sure to take more evening walks round that way and keep my eyes (and ears) peeled.

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Also saw one of the Booth road/wellington crescent Tawny Owls on Sunday night, the house of which it was perched on aptly has a photo of an owl stuck to the window. Wonder if the owners have seen it! No sign of any tonight after a brief evening dog walk round the block at 23:45



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Two tawny owls - one initially heard calling on Booth Road in Old Trafford yesterday evening. It was perched on one of the higher rungs of a telegraph pole, then flew to a nearby chimney, closely followed by another. Have heard them around here before but this is the first time I've seen them.

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Over the weekend I've been looking at my records for the past few years for the Greater Manchester area and I've found that in November for most years there's a slump in how often I'm seeing woodpigeons. Most of the year woodpigeons are the most-seen birds, in November they're third or fourth. This year it's been conspicuous because when I have been seeing them I've not seen many at a time and locally I've not been seeing them at all. I won't bore you with the details but my general conclusion is that I've got to stop thinking of our local woodpigeons as a resident population augmented by Winter visitors and instead think of them as migrants with a breeding population and a Wintering population, like the local starlings, blackcaps and chiffchaffs.

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Seen on a short visit to Nansen street park,Gorse Hill, Stretford late this afternoon .

Redwing -7.
Starling - 7.
Mistle thrush - 1.
Greenfinch - 3.
Goldfinch - 33.
Great tit - 3.
Blue tit - 3.
Magpie - 16.
Carrion crow - 2.
Black-headed gull - 2.
Common gull - 1.

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I'd noticed that, usually when I'm ongoing by there's a few round the park and nearly always a couple feeding on the grass by the flats opposite the Gorse Hill. I never thought I'd be missing woodpigeons.

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I've not seen any woodpigeon around Gorse Hill, Stretford for a good while , confirmed by my neighbour Sue a non- birder but she has got bird feeders (for blackbirds,robins and wrens) front and back of her terraced house which the woodpigeons empty .


-- Edited by phillipskelly on Wednesday 30th of November 2022 12:52:18 PM

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After an absence of the best part of a month I've seen the first couple of woodpigeons in our bit of Stretford this lunchtime. Evidently I've been wrong in thinking our local population is largely sedentary and augmented by Winter visitors, they must have been among the tens of thousands that steamed through the region this Autumn while the Winter visitors hung back feeling no pressure to move on while the weather was unseasonably mild.

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Steven Heywood wrote:

Has anyone else seen an almost complete absence of woodpigeons from their usual haunts this week? There's always an ebb and flow of numbers due to food supply but I've never seen this before. I'm hoping it means there's an oversupply of stubble fields in the region.


 So glad you've brought this up Steven as I've had half a dozen permanently on the feeders for months & then suddenly for about the past 2 weeks have gone missing. There are farmers fields only a couple of hundred yards away which like you I was thinking was responsible for their absence. A usual 2 day fill up of the feeders has now become a twice a week fill up so something is responsible.



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Has anyone else seen an almost complete absence of woodpigeons from their usual haunts this week? There's always an ebb and flow of numbers due to food supply but I've never seen this before. I'm hoping it means there's an oversupply of stubble fields in the region.

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Small flock of Redwings by McVities in Levenshulme



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A couple of buzzards working the woodlands either side of the canal by Worsley RHS

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2 vocal Ravens circling Leigh Spinners Mill at noon today.



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Parakeet flying west over wardley industrial estate . Spotted twice within an hour , between 8 and 9 .

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2.30 pm today. Adult summer plumage Mediterranean Gull stood in middle of Rylance Road at junction with Ashton Old Road. 3 or 4 Black-headed Gulls flying overhead.
I was driving East, sub 30mph. Double take, classic pose, very similar to Tristan Bantock photo of summer adult standing on beach.
Turned next left and doubled back to Rylance Road, only to see back end of car turning onto Ashton Old Road and, after stopping, a small group of Gulls flying South.




-- Edited by Ian Yeomans on Thursday 18th of August 2022 05:45:52 PM

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Sat 18th June
Evening walk on Greenbank Park, Levenshulme.

- 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
- 1 Blackcap
- c50 Swift moving high over
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls over

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Saturday morning.

- Great Spotted Woodpecker in tree in car park of Abingdon Rd Primary, South Reddish, where Lucas football lessons are.

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Greenbank Park, Levenshulme.

Great Spotted Woodpecker moving about back and forth in trees this evening between the park and over Mount Rd to Small Wonders nursery, and back again.

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I was looking out of the window on the 356 bus between Uppermill and Diggle when I thought to myself: "That's an odd-looking buzzard." It was an osprey, flying North and outpacing the bus.

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Few things of note today Sunday.

- Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing in scrub at corner of Hyde Rd and Mount Rd, Belle Vue, Gorton, this afternoon.

- Blackcap singing behind Aldi, Gorton.

- Blackcap singing on Greenbank Pk, Levenshulme, early evening.

- Sparrowhawk sat on house roof at edge of Greenbank fields, Levenshulme, it was eyeing up all the commotion of the House Sparrows before being driven off by a Magpie.


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Good Friday.
Late teatime on Greenbank Park and the playing fields opposite (Levenshulme) with Lucas.

Yes! Some Gulls!
- 5 Lesser Black-backeds on the field, someone mustve dropped food on the grass.
- 3 Blackcap singing, 1 seen
- 1 Chiffchaff
- few Long-tailed Tits
- 1 Song Thrush
- 2 Common Buzzard circling high

Saturday morning.
- both Blackcap and Chiffchaff singing from the bushes at the junction of Mount Rd and Hyde Rd, Gorton, near the old Belle Vue Dogs.

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A buzzard perched on one of the line pylons just outside Ashburys Station is the nearest to the city centre I can remember.

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- Blackcap singing Greenbank Park, Levenshulme, as it was going dark whilst on a dog walk tonight.

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A couple of ringing records that I got back recently, both of Herring Gulls at Heaton Park.
Firsta 3rd winter bird that was ringed on Calf of Man as a pullus which spent its first 2 winters in Southern Ireland before spending this winter at Pilsworth landfill.
The 2nd bird was ringed as a pullus just outside Dublin last year and like the previous bird has been feeding on Pilsworth all winter.

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Tuesday 29th March

Nipped to Tesco Gorton mid-evening and then on a dog walk in Greenbank Park, Levenshulme. a bit later I could hear
Redwings overhead in both locations.

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Thurs 24th March.

Reddish works yard.

- singing Blackcap in nearby shrubbery
- singing Chiffchaff in same area
- 1 Ring-necked Parakeet over
- 1 Common Buzzard over

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Three buzzards over Humphrey Park Station at 12:15. The pair usually seen over Stretford Meadows letting the Barton Clough individual know where the territorial boundaries lie.

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Monday 21st March

- 1 Raven over Reddish works yard this afternoon.

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Reddish works yard.

- 1 Ring-necked Parakeet over on Friday morning
- 3 Parakeets over this morning
- 2 Grey Herons over being mobbed by Gulls

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A pair of Grey Wagtails was on the roof of the primary school at Abraham Moss this afternoon. The male briefly displayed to the female but she wasn't interested. One of my colleagues came to see what I was looking at and was very impressed by them, particularly the splendid male.

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