Dave Broome found 3 Mealy Redpolls today at Fairhurst Lane Reclaimation site today (an almost annual spot for them), this is off Delfhaven Court, Standish, Wigan way!
Peter Alker (Pennington Flash head ranger) phoned me this morning to let me know an observer had seen what was probably a Cattle Egret on the flooded golf course at Pennington Flash, around 10:15ish. The bird was with gulls and wasn't much larger than a Black-headed in it's 'hunched-up' position, th...
Congratulations to Paul Hammond today on seeing his 170th species in the County this year, keep going mate the end is in sight.
No doubt possibly one or two County Yearlisters from years goneby are now anxiously checking their rearview mirrors as Paul's hand hovers over his right indicator switch....
1.1.2008
Driving to Bolton, on the A580 slip road / M61 I wished I'd had a camera with me as there was a buzzard and 3 magpies all sitting on a fencepost. It would have made a great picture. They were all within 3 feet of each other.
Ian Woosey found an female/immature Long-tailed Duck on High Rid Reservoir, Bolton at approximately 3pm this afternoon. The bird was still present at the time of this post atleast. To access the resr, turn off the A6402 Old Kiln Lane onto Old Hall Lane, the reservoir is along the side of the road and is...
spotted by my sister today about 12.30. apparently she disturbed it on the path towards the farm, near the cow field, then it flew over viridor and 'caught something'. close views apparently.
A happy New Year to all birders in Greater Manchester and may it be as bird-filled as 2007 has been.
I shall be very happy to receive your 2007 records - there is a form on the Records page of this website which you can download, with tabs for species and sites, so you can cut and paste, to save typing. Pleas...
spotted hunting along the dual carriageway between the roundabout at chequerbent on the a6 and junction 5 of the m61. it was working the rough grassy area between the central reservation barriers which is quite wide in parts , as i drove along side it veered away to the right over the hedge into field ne...
at least 6 bullfinch and what looks like a bulls nest from this year. bare trees now revealing a few goldfinch and mistle thrush nests too. also 2 g.s.woods, a small flock of siskins, a sparrowhawk, redwings, plenty of jays and singing blue + great tits. kingfisher sill on rochdale canal with pied + gre...
Does anybody know if the long eared owls still roost at Pennington, been told there have a winter roost there. I did go down there the other week but no joy after spending hours serching the trees from most of the hides.
Does any body know if the Juv Whooper that was frequenting Pennington Flash in late October/early November has been putting in an apearance every now and again. A Juv Whooper flew into Rammies today at 1215hrs(27/12/07) and showed well in front of Horrocks Hide. It seems more advanced than the one pr...
I'm not much for listing, but given the superb coverage that Gtr Mcr is getting at the moment, I wonder how many someone could rack up if they were to spend the day listing, moving from site to site but with the local site watchers on each site using mobiles to update on what's about, staking out the tricki...
Had not time for birding for last few weeks but a couple of decent sightings in my garden over the last few day. 19/12 1 Fieldfare ( Life Tick ) 24/12 1 Treecreeper ( Garden Tick ) in a mixed flock of tits & finches 24/12 Lesser Spot WP Good Views at top of trees on other side of the field at the back of my hou...
Just looked out of kitchen window to see a Great Spot feeding on the ground on apples Id just put out for blackbirds. Only posting this because Ive never seen this behaviour before, is it common?. Its now on the peanuts which is much more like it!!.
Cheers Ian
The GM Fire Brigade at Eccles rescued a Mallard from the canal at Eccles on Thursday, which was stuck in the ice. They took it back to the fire station and kept it warm whilst they waited for the RSPCA to pick it up. During that time it laid an egg!! Sadly the egg was smashed, and the bird ended up at Three Owls...
John Butterworth had a redhead Smew on the Mersey at Banky Meadow with 4 Goldeneye at the hairpin bend on 18th. Sorry about the late posting, but I am living partly at my mother's due to her illness, and can only get to my emails intermittently at present.
I carried out the Atlas TTV at Watergrove (SD91E) this morning and in addition to the commoner species were the following:
Pochard 2 - my first here since 2003!
Goosander - 4
Woodcock -1
Little Owl - 1
Stonechat - 1
Siskin -20
Lesser Redpoll -30
6 Pintail (2 males) were in the middle of the resr j...
12/12/2007 -
No sign of LSW this morning, after a couple of hours producing a sore neck from looking upwards too long!
Other birds in the area though included:-
2 Siskins
2 Goldfinches
1 Bullfinch
3 Goldcrests
4 Nuthatches
2 Coal Tits
12 Long-tailed Tits
2 Pied Wagtails
1 Mistle Thrush
1...
I think people might not like this but::: Just thinking, is it fair that some people can see the birds that the rest of us can't because they can visit 2 sites that have limited numbers of permits but lots of good birds. Then count them on lists when most could not see them. Not that I keep lists of course,(S...
I may be accused of nit-picking, but the waterbody at Worsley Mesnes is (according to Ordnance Survey) SCOTMAN'S Flash, not SCOTSMAN's. The extra 'S' in the middle is often added, understandably so, by unwary souls. A sign erected for the sailing club last year did say "Scotsman's Flash"...
Some great sightings yesterday and today. Yesterday a Houbara bustard walked across the main runway at Dhahran Military Airport, unfortunately cameras are not allowed on the Airport but fortunately I had a fellow birdwatcher nearby who I grabbed to confirm the sighting.
Today with the same guy...
Had a visit up on to the moors near Ashworth Moor Res and was amazed to see 8 Snow Bunting breifly before heading towards the new wind turbine (or dotterel beacon!), saw them for about a minute before they flew off. 2 Snipe up there and that was it. I will be doing some photos up on the moors over xmas for uni s...
Trying to get a good picture of the bird, I managed still not to get a decent pic, but have seen TWO birds. Definately two of them as they were next to each other at one point.
I'll be in all day if anyone want to contact me.
Wandered around Pearsons yesterday, couldn't find the public footpath nad it was really quiet.
Everybody I asked looked at me " what are you talking about" look.
Where is best to park and find the path.
Mike
Whilst un-happily counting Coot in a gale at Sale WP this afternoon I received news of this monstrous rarity. Oh my god Back home to tinternet and landline. I could have got a morning flight over on Skybus but you can't get off again until Monday, which dosn't leave enough time to book leave from work as I...
