Willow Warbler - 1 a stunning new arrival in brilliant nick Lttle Ringed Plover- 2 Shoveler - 7 - Gadwall- 2 pair Little Grebe-2 Common Buzzards 2 in talon tumbling display flight Swallow- 5 House Martin -1 -chased off by the swallows Sand Martin-10 Wigeon-1 Teal-4 Tufted Duck-2 Reed Bunting-4 chiffchaff -4 Mallard - 8
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 3rd of April 2016 05:55:37 PM
Little Ringed Plover - 2 Widgeon-1 Shoveler-4 Chiffchaff-1 Mallard-4 Gadwall-3 Teal -4 Little Grebe-2 Swallow - 10 Sand Martin- 10 Rooks - at least 36 occupied nests by the pool Pied Wagtail-8 Common Buzzard-1
With the recent rains partially re-flooding the flash the walk around it produced an interesting array of birds among the mix of riparian and rank vegetation.
Wigeon 36
Mallard 12
Lapwing 30
Oystercatcher 2
Black Headed Gulls 50
Kestrel male
Grey Partridge 2
Magpie 16
Mistle Thrush 2
Song Thrush 9 (7 feeding on the ground & 2 singing from nearby trees)
I called in at the Flash today on my way home to see if the winters heavy rain has had much of an affect, and indeed it has. Water levels are considerably up compared to late summer when I was last there, the main problem now is that there is very little muddy shoreline for waders because the tall vegetation is flooded. Still not a lot on the water, I saw just three species, 42 wigeon, 20+ mallard and a couple of coots, but at least it's looking like it might be worth a look occasionally.
Called in this afternoon ,the puddle left is about 20 feet across,and contained no birds. If you consider it used to be half a mile to walk round the pool ,you can see its gone now as a real wetland bird site :(
Little ringed plover 4 Little grebe 1 Lapwing 10 Yellow wagtail 1
Not much left of the "flash" now. It's at least a metre lower than it was in the spring. It might just survive the summer and perhaps get a reprise with winter rains, but it could just as easily disappear by the end of August. One thing I can guarentee, water extraction will stop soon.......
Ringed plover and oystercatcher present this evening. That's 9 species of wader for me at this site in the past couple of months but mainly all singles of each.
Very quiet at the moment, a single redshank and yellow wagtail the highlights, plus the usuals. Still, over the past few weeks black-tailed godwit, redshank, dunlin and green sandpiper have all managed to stay more than a day despite the constant disturbance, so maybe a Temminck's stint or curlew sandpiper will be next??
Thanks John. Complicated things these races of yellow wagtail. I did see two channel wagtails last year and they were much brighter than this, but then again they were both males. Females are a nightmare!
Possible female blue-headed wagtail at the flash this evening (photos on my blog), male yellow wagtail and single redshank.
It looks like one of the channel wagtails you get now and again see Ians Article on the main site ,The pool has had visits before of Channel wagtails over the last few years.
An awesome hobby flew through chasing swallows at high speed late afternoon. Also 2 common sandpipers and a redshank, but no sign of the blue-headed wagtail, just a single yellow wagtail.
A cracking blue-headed wagtail with at least two male yellow wagtails this evening. Rubbish photos on my blog "Birds to Bryophytes". Also a couple of redshanks.
On the way back from The Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve, George Dunbar and I made a brief stop. No sign of yesterday's two Mediterranean Gulls among the 750 Black-headed Gulls, 13 Common Gulls and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Two Oysercatchers and 11 Tufted Dck were also present.
JOHN TYMON wrote: I never thought that would happen in this day and age ,its a warning to everyone ,enjoy what you have as you never know whats going to happen. Formerly my local patch when only me knew how good it was really and one of the best sites in the area,200+ wigeon all winter ,Black necked grebes were so common in spring and summer ,I hardly took much notice on most visits, Black Terns waders in abundance in spring, and the water board was given permission to extract water to send to st Helens and look whats happened. I f the pool had been owned by the public or Warrington council ,it would never have happened, but because it was privately owned ,there was nothing that could have been done, as the owner allowed the extraction. I cannot visit any more ,it annoys and upsets me as much at the same time. Its tragic what can happen to a great wildlife site if not protected in any way.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 5th of March 2015 06:38:39 AM
In total agreement John, this is such a shame for a fantastic site, as you say a warning to us all to appreciate the locations we cover now. Fond memories of my first ever Lesser Yellowlegs here in the 1990's.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 5th of March 2015 09:21:25 AM
Drove past today on way back from the eyes almost ALL the water has gone
Pretty much the finish of this place by the looks why is it being drained ?
I never thought that would happen in this day and age ,its a warning to everyone ,enjoy what you have as you never know whats going to happen. Formerly my local patch when only me knew how good it was really and one of the best sites in the area,200+ wigeon all winter ,Black necked grebes were so common in spring and summer ,I hardly took much notice on most visits, Black Terns waders in abundance in spring, and the water board was given permission to extract water to send to st Helens and look whats happened. I f the pool had been owned by the public or Warrington council ,it would never have happened, but because it was privately owned ,there was nothing that could have been done, as the owner allowed the extraction. I cannot visit any more ,it annoys and upsets me as much at the same time. Its tragic what can happen to a great wildlife site if not protected in any way.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 5th of March 2015 06:38:39 AM
Had a wander round Winwick this morning, starting with 9 Tree Sparrows among the House Sparrows in the garden, plus 2 Common Gulls among the score of Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the field behind the house. A Sparrowhawk then came into the garden, spooking everything, So I set off for Houghton Green Pool, where the much reduced water levels meant that just 1 Redshank, 44 Mallards and 1 Coot were the on the water. Around the margins, however, masses of seed-bearing plants were attracting lots of passerines, with 115 Linnets, 42 Meadow Pipits and 11 Reed Buntings counted. Then, walking up Highfield Lane, 3 Yellowhammers, 135 Starlings, 5 Skylarks, 10 Linnets and 4 Swallows (still around the farm) were noted. Checking out a boggy copse, looking for Teal, instead produced an early Woodcock. Then homewards along Waterworks Lane to finish with 35 Skylarks, 2 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Redpolls. Then a nice cup of tea!
Not a bad 45 minutes at the flash this evening, Ruff 1 (photo on blog), Mediterranean gull 1 juvenile, Tree Pipit 1 over calling, Yellow wagtail 1, Common sandpiper 1, white wagtail 1
4 common sandpiper 1 black necked grebe (moulting adult) 2 buzzard 2 kestrel 3 little grebe
Also a strange wader standing amongst the black headed gulls. after about 15 minutes of trying to find it's id, the best we could come up with was a moulting juvenile ruff, but I'm not 100 percent sure. Still, a very good first visit to this site