After a relatively quiet few weeks, an excellent few hours this morning were enjoyed that makes local patch watching certainly worth the effort! First up were 2 Kingfishers watched disputing over fishing rights over a small lodge. Close up views of them as they "zipped" low over the glas...
does anyone have any info on croxden peatworks or bickershaw coal rucks as i want to find my first jack snipe this winter and have heard these are the places to try. cheers
Monday 13th. County birder Pete Berry is taking part in an organised seawatch off Porthgwarra over the next week, although the seawatches are taking place at many sites across the south coast of England throughout the late summer and autumn. Today was his first day there and this is what he recorded t...
Quick tour around the resrs at lunchtime today;
3 Whinchats (male & 2 juvs) may have bred locally, but not regular at this site.
2 Stonechats (the male still in brilliant breeding plumage)
100+ Canada geese (inc one Greylag hybrid)
c12 Tufties
16 Mallard
7 Lapwing
2 Heron
1 Gt Crested Gr...
A few migrants this morning - at least 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Wheatear, 4 Blackcaps, 20+ Willow Warblers & a Curlew over.
Yesterday 3 Redstarts all together in one little hawthorn bush! Felt like I was at Spurn....well maybe not quite!
Simon
45 minute watch this morning from 6.45 - 7.30 a Single Swift South, 8 Swallows East in the clear before the mist started to move in from the west when 75 Swallows appeared from no where and where feeding very high up over Tesco's Prestwich with the odd one or two heading on SE.
Sptted Flycatcher with a flock of LT tits and Blue tits on the canal (sadly didn't stay around for Ian Woosey to see it), also Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher and Redshank on Horrocks Flash.
Vis Mig has started:-
21/8 pm
3 Swift NE, Sand Martin N and an influx of 40 House Martin.
22/8 am
11 Swallow E and heard what im pretty sure was a Turnstone calling over.
Thanks to everyone who helped with this survey.
If you haven't already returned your forms to me, please could you send them as soon as you can?
If you have returned forms and I haven't acknowledged them yet, please accept my apologies - I'm pretty busy organising the field work for the new BTO Atla...
Mixed tit flock at the Bury Old Road entrance opp tram stop contained 17 Long tailed tit, 15+ Willow Warbler, 5+ Chiffchaff, 4 Nuthatch, 2 Treecreeper, Blue and Great tits, single Coal tit, 2 Chaffinch and 31 Goldfinch.
RSPCA inspector and county birder Paul Heaton picked a Nightjar up from Trafford today ' in the line of duty'. The bird is in apparently perfect condition and will be released tonight on or around Astley Moss SSSI, I do not currently have a time for the release but those interested should give me a ring a...
Went home to Bradford last night to see family so spent the morning birding on the other side of the pennines.
They live in a place called Allerton which is on the hills above Bradford. Good moorland birding and excellent from now till November for Vis Mig!
1st Stop was Denholme clough for my 1st Visi...
Am in Berlin then travelling on to Halberstadt in Saxony later today. Being very rusty indeed, and having been unable to find any of my better birding books, I'd appreciate some guidance on what ticks to keep my eye out for.
Halberstadt is right slap bang in the middle of the forest and right by a large...
Im after a bit of help if possible.
i have found in the garden a juvinile collared dove that i think has an injured wing, its been in the garden most of the day and will not fly, its a little bloody around the notrils and its right wing is drooping, ive picked it up and put in in a large box. Now i need some advi...
Just found out a YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS was taken into care in Someret and kept overnight before been released at 4pm the following day, what a twitch that would have been, how much could they have raised for a local charity and how many birder would have gone to see it, what would you have done, kept it q...
Perhaps the best week's garden viewing in 21 years started with a huge passage of Swifts 5/8, perhaps 500+ all going south. On Wed, 8th, a full adult Med Gull circled around in the evening for about 1/4 hour, following harvesting in the adjoining field, and on Thurs 8th 4 Buzzards soared for over half an...
I have located black redstart along Mossley Street Manchester and feel confident they have bred. Please keep an eye out for the birds which are active on the roof tops near the Art Gallery. I located them first by call and have not as yet seen them come to ground to feed. I will be contacting relevant buil...
Garganey and Goldeneye still present today, also broods of Tufted, Little Grebe, GC Grebe and a certain unmentionable species... numbers of Shoveler also increasing.
Very wet and not much doing 7 Gadwall, 17 Teal, 22 Little Grebe found another pair with young so defo 3 pairs bred possibly 4. Tufted duck with 4 yng, 20 Swift, 15 House martin and 36 Swallow
Details of the atlas project are covered elsewhere, but a big thank you to Henerz1 for volunteering to do a tetrad in 'my' 10km area of SJ78. Any takers for Altrincham town centre ??
I did a similar survey for the Cheshire and Wirral Atlas project last year, and it is very addictive trying to get new spe...
Pearson's Flash: Garganey, which promptly disappeared into the reed bed, immature Goldeneye, 175+ Tufted Duck,
22 Gadwall, 4 Shoveler. Ian W also had a brood of Tufties (6y)
Horrocks Flash: 304 Lapwing, 8 Shoveler, 6 Snipe (12 the other day), one family of terns left there only, now.
Although not really within the Greater Manchester boundary, some birders and certainly Rochdale birders, consider the complex of reservoirs up there as part of our area. So i thought i'd better pass on that Alan Nuttall found an avocet at whiteholme res on saturday afternoon. Big thanks and great r...
Sorry if this has been done before but I'm a newbie so it's allowed.
Come on... you must all have some... bare your soul...say your confession... it's cathartic!
-Setting fire to my sleeping bag with a cigarette after an exhausting afternoon pursuing Booted Warbler at Spurn
-Banging on abou...
2 Green Sand, 11 Gadwall, 23 Teal, 3 Goosander, 3 Swift, Spahawk, Jay, 40 Blue Tit, 12 Long-tailed Tit & 16 Chiffchaff all in one flock plus another 2 Chiffchaff elsewhere, 5 Blackcap, single Whitethroat & Willow Warbler and 20 Little Grebe 13 adults, 2 well grown Juv and 5 chicks. Seems to be a...
Never been here before i didn't realise how big the place is.
Had a 3 hour walk which took in the main Mere and surrounding woods.
The Mere had fantastic numbers of Great Crested Grebes 60+ probably nearer 80. Loads of juv with plenty of adults still sitting on nests(6 at least). A Buzzard flying over...
stroll after tea
30+golfinch in the cow field munching on thistles
2 swallows feeding young in the nest
20 house martins also feeding young
1 yellow hammer
1 jay
1 kestrel
1 buzzard
4 common tern
lapwings on lightshaw
b/head gulls on lightshaw
1 curlew (headed for wigan flashes) a site fir...
