16 Wigeon this morning plus:

130+ Linnet
45 Goldfinch
560+ Wood Pigeon
13 Tufted Duck
107 Coot
3 Mute Swan
1 Little Grebe
4 Great Crested Grebe
26 Redwing
29 Fieldfare
4 Grey Heron
2 Sparrowhawk (female flew low all way up Delph Lane chasing a Blackbird)
1 Kestrel
7 Song Thrush
1 Reed Bunting

Yesterday

1 Willow Tit
6 Mute Swan
7 Wigeon
16 Tufted Duck
109 Coot
2 Pochard
1 species which must not be named
4 Little Grebe
4 Great Crested Grebe
1 Buzzard

Plus 33 Linnets this morning and 25+ Redwing heading west

Merlin at lunch time being mobbed by one of three Kestrels in the fields oppsite the pool.

5-6 Buzzards showing.

1 Wigeon present - 1 or 2 have been around for last 2 weeks or so.

BNG departed Thursday or Friday night. Plenty of other birds this morning though:

4 Mute Swan
46 Canada Geese
34 Tufty
4 Pochard
20 Little Grebe
6 Great Crested Grebe
2 Cormorant
2 Kestrel
19 Swallow
2 Willow Warbler
1 Chiffchaff
1 Whitethroat (juv/fem)
1 Lesser Whitethroat
25 Goldfinch
2 Jays
1 Nuthatch
1 Grey Partridge
40+ Lapwing
1 Stock Dove

Off to Scotland now for a short break!

sat-pm b.n.grebe still present,23 little grebe,9 g.c.grebe,1 buzzard,and 1 hobby over fields opposite(are these are becoming more common than kestrels locally ,or is it only me)

Wheatear at lunch in field opposite pool.

Adult BNG in winter plumage still present.

Only one BNG present tonight (down from three yesterday) - an adult now in winter plumage.

Also:

99 Coot
67 Tufties
8 Pochard
15 Little Grebes
6 Great Crested Grebes

Otherwise very quiet and very few hirundines around last few days. The Swifts appeared to stop passing through HGF & Winwick a few days ago.

3 BNG's this morning plus a Lesser Whitethroat in the south hedge

Thanks John - sounds a good theory. Never thought about it like that. I had a theory that the Tufties & Pochard etc used the pool as a safe place to moult and thus were unlikely to fly off any distance - maybe quick flits to somewhere local and then back again.

3 BNG's this evening. The usual juvenile, the adult which is half way moulted into winter plumage and a new adult which is still largely in breeding plumage. I estimate that at least 8 different birds have been on since the end of June.

Cheers

Mike

Got closer views in good light of the aythya hybrid yesterday evening. Looks more like a Pochard x Tufty now than anything else. Doesn't help that the coating has gone on my Leica scope.

Last year there was a Tufty x Scaup hybrid hanging around during the Spring & early Summer.

Both BNG's still present this morning - plus 1 Common Sandpiper and a Chiffchaff singing away.

Numbers of other species have been fluctuating widely over the last few days - for example last night the Tufty numbers had dropped to 51 and were back up at 64 this morning. Also a large number of Little Grebes have gone walkabout.

One thing I notice about HGF is that although when monitored over time (e.g. weeks) numbers appear to be stable, there is often a significant daily fluctuation in most waterfowl, grebes etc. Which begs the question - where do they go when they leave HGF?

I have checked most places in the surrounding area and although odd birds do turn up at places like Penny and Rixton, I can't help thinking they are generally going somewhere else.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Mike

hi mike-had quite a few of these weard hybrid tufted/pochard/scaup in my time when i was regular at the pool,it doas seem to atract these hybrids more than anywere else,even penny.

Mike - I also saw the adult but not the juv plus the Little Grebe and the Great Crested Grebe quite a hive of activity

3 adult Black-necked Grebes departed overnight - juvenile still present this morning.

Plus the usual stuff

4 BNG's still present this morning

Hi Gary

Best way is to proceed down Delph Lane with the pool on your left and go past it - approx 300 - 400 yds. Park up by the gate (carefully) with the field on your left - you will see a big old box trailer abandoned in the field. Follow the footpath - this takes you to the south bank - the best point to view the whole pool from.

Virtually everything has been on the east side the last few days (including 29 hawking LBBG's last night) - probably a big insect hatch.

Warblers etc behind east hedge. Common Sandpiper normally favours east side too.

Have fun

Mike

4 BNG's still present plus:

65 Coot
63 Tufties
7 Little Grebe
8 Great Crested Grebe

2 Black-necked Grebes this morning - 1 juvenile

Correction - 2 adults and a juvenile playing happy families this evening. A juvenile Coot even joined in for a while!

-- Edited by Mike Baron at 20:39, 2008-07-22

3 BNG's still present this morning.

I watched a female Sparrowhawk flying lazily over the field adjacent to the pool. She was flying approx 20 feet above the field - all the birds around went up but half heartedly as though they knew she wasn't hunting.

One Linnet flew up out of the field near her - the Sparrowhawk suddenly switched gears and pulled off an amazing manoeuvre dropping and twisting behind her and plucked the finch out of the air. Wonderful sight though not for the finch!

SAT 5TH-3 B.N .GREBE,3 COMMON SANDPIPER,1 OYSTERCATCHER

3 BNG's today plus Common Sandpiper

2 Black-necked Grebes this morning

This morning

2 Common Terns
1 Redshank
1 Common Sandpiper
Lapwing with 2 juveniles
3 Oystercatchers - all adults
1 Heron - immature
1 Cormorant
2 Mute Swan
9 Canada Geese
37 Coot - several juvs
34 Tufted Duck
5 Moorhen - 2 juvs
7 Pochard
1 Little Grebe- juv
9 Great Crested Grebes - 2 juvs
1 Black-headed Gull - juv
5 Pied Wags - 3 juvs

One adult Black-necked Grebe this morning plus male Yellow Wagtail

Male Blue-headed Wagtail present on the south bank this morning. Superb views of the bird preening and feeding. Eventually it flew off into the ploughed field immediately south of the pool where I lost it - due to work (***?#%cks) I didn't have time to search for the bird.

Also present Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher.