Elan Valley I started some new surveys in the Elan Valley area of south Powys this week with a long day in the field on Wednesday 27th April. I've not been to this area before, but if you can imagine a series of small valleys running out from a larger one, with wooded river banks, grassy tops with cr...
Site close park paper works Roe Deer Ground Beetles paradromius linearis Harpalus affinis metalic green 2 found ocys harpaloides true bugs Stenodema laevigata found in grass Ischnodemus sabuleti European Chinchbug moving north found in large number in reeds adults and red nymphs can swarm spid...
In actuality this North Manchester Reserve consists of 4 or so wooded areas, linked by public footpaths. Adjoined variously by housing, farmland, golf course and surrounding the former de la Salle training college. Habitat consists of broadleaf woodland of oak, beech and birch, with ponds and se...
Hi all. I'm fairly new to this lark (pun not intended) and as my poor mince pies frequently let me down, methinks I need a camera to capture my sightings so I can identify at my leisure. I don't want to pitch in at the deep end and pay £500+ for a Canon or Olympus, I'd probably never use 25% of the capacity of th...
If you can't handle the withdrawal symptoms and need another shot of atlas adrenaline, the following may be of interest. "Although the national bird atlas has finished the North Wales bird atlas is continuing for one more season. The idea of this last season is to fill in the last few gaps. Curre...
Nice day out with a good walk along the river at low tide 1 Pied wagtail 3 Great black backed gulls 10 Lesser black backed gulls 7 Common gulls 1 Cormorant 50-60 Rooks and Jackdaws 3 Mallard 15 Shell duck 14 Red shanks Plenty of Oyster catchers and Curlew Other waders to far out to identify will take a scope...
I managed to get a bit of birding done whilst coinciding a visit to my brother in Brussels. We took a walk in the Sonian Forest in the hope of finding a Middle spotted Woodpecker, Crested Tit or Short-toed Treecreeper. We ended up with a list that could have been written anywhere in Manchester. Lots of Gr...
Went to see Common Whitlowgrass (a pretty flower not a grass - grows in between the pavement) outside the Co-op museum today. It is the oldest known site in Rochdale for this plant, sadly (for the plant) they are carrying work out on the building so its not there anymore, however there w...
At 10:15am today Rob Adderley had a male Red-breasted Merganser fly off Arnfield Reservoir (just inside Derbyshire) and fly (flushed by the first emerging boats) strongly west into the Greater Manchester. One might presume Audenshaw Reservoirs to be its first visible decent looking site to drop...
I'm trying to decide between the Manfrotto 393 telephoto lens support (£120) and a Wimberley II clone from China on ebay here (£62). I prefer the look of the Wimberley clone an...
Last May (during our "big day" onslaught in Greater Manchester) I confessed to being impressed by Mr. Rayner's ability to i/d Egyptian goose solely on call, as I could not recall that I myself had ever knowingly heard one. One of my little local sites, Low Barns (known to the said J.W. Rayne...
Over the past few months I have been discussing putting on some birdwatching workshops with Ian, his knowledge about bird identification is extraordinary and I was very keen for him to lead some bird workshops for our company - www.discoverthewild.co.uk. Well at last I am please to announce that Ia...
I know I'm often late with my own submissions of BBS, Atlas and other survey data, but after I received my Lancashire Bird Report 2010 last week through the post I wondered if there was any sign of 2010 GM Bird Report on the horizon? I appreciate that a lot of hard work goes into the report, but my ex...
Personally I have always referred to " 12 Teal" or "500 Wigeon" , or a flock of Shoveler for e.g. I have noticed in the RSPB magazine and, more recently on here, people referring to "Teals" and "Wigeons". To me, Teals is the equivalent of "geeses&quo...
Hi all. I am about to start working on an assignment for my Species Conservation module at University (I am studying Wildlife Conservation and Zoo Biology at The University of Salford). My chosen topic for the assignment is to study the reasons behind the decline of Britain's migrant breeding birds...
Hi All, I'm curious as to whether anyone has recorded any roding woodcock yet in Greater Manchester, in view of you all being some way further south of us here in Durham. I was surprised to hear the familiar overhead squelchy grunt and saw a bird circling our valley here at dusk on March 1st, which surely...
Just read in bird sightings that 7 Sand Martins are in Salford is this the earliest ever, I know I should check in past GM bird reports but I,m not near them. Cheers Ian
Manchester birders contributed 52 species of Bird last year (which isn't bad for Dove Stone!) We're still looking for volunteers for a one off 24hour event (6th-7th July). Anyone interested in sharing their knowledge on any branch of natural history would be greatly received. We believe Wildlife...
Whilst on the prowl for fungi a good flock of Redwing held 1 fieldfare and surprisingly 1 Waxwing. A Siskin was seen feeding on Alder and 5 Ring Necked Parakeets were in their usual place. Treecreepers were showing well. Fungalpunk Dave - www.fungalpunknature.co.uk
I was at Pennington Flash on sunday and whilst at Tom Edmondson Hide, I heard a great commotion as two geese winged in. One was a Canada, but its companion was rather different. It was a grey goose, roughly the same size as the Canada, with a white head and a 'messy' join between the white upper neck and gre...
I have a book for Sale. Birds of Costa Rica by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean. I have only used it for two weeks recently but it does have one or two ticks against birds I saw and it is a bit tired at the edges. It cost £24.99 and I will sell it for £10.00.
Hi, wondered if anyone might know where I could get a spiked tree collar? Trying to do what I can to protect our nestboxes and prevent the local cats from getting up to them. Cheers, Tom
I appreciate that a lot of hard work goes into the report, but my ex...
is this the earliest ever, I know I should check in past GM bird reports but I,m not near them. Cheers Ian