Off Gristlehurst Lane - Great Spotted Woodpecker in (at top of) hawthorns + solitary Jay.
Redwings c 6 in total.
Mistle Thrush x 1
Chaffinch - odd ones
Blackbirds and Robins - plentiful
Heron x 1
Off Ashworth Road 15 Crows on 'muck spread' field. Rooks x 30, Jackdaw x 6, Wood Pigeon x 6 on adjacent...
Apologies for not putting this on a thread earlier, but have been all over the place during Christmas (London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Staffordshire and Oldham!) and barely sat down to go on the computer. For the record I had a few good birds on my Atlas work around Heaton Park and Simister on 2...
Visited Martin Mere today 18th Jan:
51 species not including the feral barnies or the accompanying Red Breasted Goose.
The list includes all the usual suspects (i.e. Whooper Swan PF Goose) so I wont list everything, but highlights included M&F peregrine harrassing just about anything th...
just for fun, no prizes etc, shall we see who can predict what the best bird in 2008 will be in the county. best bird i e the rarest. everyone gets 3 guesses. the only rule is that the bird must be seen by at least 2 people.i will start the ball rolling with
1. marsh sandpiper
2. purple heron
3. wilsons pha...
I,ll be out of the county this year and unable to help anyone trying to smash the big 81, so come on out of your shells ,nail your flag to the post,Whose aving a go??
And can I politley ask has anyone been pressganged as the 2009 yearlister
cheers geoff
I fancied a bit of change for 2009 so i have decided to have a go at how many species i can find on my own in Manchester in 2009. It may seem weird to think of what is self found but there is the UK 250 Club rules (to which i am following);
http://www.surfbirds.com/uk250club.html
Basically i fancy a year li...
While it is not my intention to alert visitors to the forum to new items on the website (that's what the 'what's new' page is for ), if you miss 'em it's your own fault but with the Manchester Tournament for 2008 not far away I'd like all visitors to website and forum to give a little back and join in the fun.
...
SJ98 - 2008 review
I live in Hazel Grove which lies within the 10k square SJ98 and this square covers 3 counties, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. The major problem is that it doesn't include any decent water body so ducks, for example Ruddy Duck, Goldeneye, and Gadwall, remain extrem...
i've been such a lucky birder this xmas... got this! and some lovely books; extreme birds, how to be a bad bird watcher, bird by peter hayman & rob hume (including an ipod dvd) and my darling wife an...
Had a pleasant morning exploring the fields,but not much to show for it
1 kestrel 1 grey heron
usual tits ect but birds a little sparse but miles of fence posts to check
crankwood wood,from the outside of course 4 g s woodpecker calling/displaying and a lot of drumming
cheers geoff
Whilst reading one of the papers last week there was an interview with that annoyingly handsome Channel 4 "T4" presenter Steve Jones. During the course of this question and answer interview it came to light that Steve is a skilled, keen and knowledgeable birder. For those of you not famil...
2 Buzzards seen 9.45am today. 1 in a dead tree in the middle of the field between Middlewood and the canal, a second sat on the fence bordering the filtration beds near to the motorway (Worsley).
Just been out for a quick walk this morning. Had really good views of a Merlin in the field to the west side of Newton road. It was initially on a fence post but it was quickly moved on by a crow. It then perched up on a lump of earth in the field whereby I managed to watch it for quite a while.
Then to top this of...
Driving along Burnley Rd out of Accrington today, towards the A56 turn-off, I saw 3 Waxwings silhouetted in a tree about 100m W of the Texaco petrol station. Luckily I had bins with me so pulled in quickly and was able to have a good look before they flew off.
Thought we could lighten up these dark evenings......
Just received a copy of Birdwatch issue 199 January 2009, and there is an excellent article on the back page from the lads in Norfolk known as Punkbirders.
Not certain if Ian would be able to reproduce the article on the website,as it makes ver...
There have been potential or confirmed recent sightings of Black Redstarts in the city centre over the past couple of weeks at the following locations:
1/. Samuel Ogden Street, near to the junction of Whitworth and Princess Street.
Birds were regular afew years ago along the canal off Whit...
New thread hopefully to cover an under reported area of god,s county,this morning covered a to z page 84 7d and 7e.
Diggle Flash? and Bolton house road and fan lodge,27 species jotted down excluding gulls over and feral pigeons.Mostly all the regular birds but strangley no redwing or fieldfare tha...
2 Firecrest were in a stand of conifers at Leiber Cement Silo on George Richards Way in Altringham at 1:20pm today (19th Dec), showing well from the road. Note there is no access to the yard itself. Info thanks to Geoff Hargreaves. -- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 17:36, 2008-12-20
There is currently a pretty impressive Starling roost in Astley which I've been watching from my house, always nice
Today there were around 3000 birds swirling around for atleast 40 minutes, forming typically impressive shapes with the flock ranging over Manchester Road in Astley between Ma...
A female in a Hindley Green garden today (filmed). This garden is another regular place for Firecrests and had a female last year as well. (Information from Andy Makin)
May I be the first to wish everyone who utilises the Forum, A Happy Christmas and hope you all get what you want from Santa.....
Thanks for all the hardwork you have put in this year , Ian , we all appreciate it.
All the best
Steve
42 Waxwings at Central Carpark, Keswick on 7/12/08. Numbers increasing daily from 8 two weeks ago. Still lots of berries on small Rowans in town centre so they are likely to stay for a while yet.
