Re willow tit with leg bands, the bird was ringed as part of a scheme in Washington Tyne and Wear
Interesting, I've read papers suggesting that Willow Tit are reluctant to fly across an open space of a few hundred metres between decent scrub or woodland habitat, but this one has crossed the Pennines!
Willow tit on the first feeder from wellham Rd, bryn viewpoint, willow tit,goldcrest ,coal tit,nuthatch, birds round this area are fed regularly by passers by and seem to follow folk around, if you're missing out on willow tit, maybe put some seed out and sit and wait,?
Short walk in a loop from wellham Rd entrance via ochre flash, bryn viewpoint ,canal and back,willow tit with leg bands,right leg red over white ,near to the feeding station that is no longer,blue tit, great tit, robin,blackbird, ochre flash 40+black headed gull,3 coot viewpoint, tufted duck 2,moorhen 2 ,goldfinch and siskin feeding on nearby alder,along the canal toward moss Bridge, goldcrest, redwing,Jay, Robin, blackbird ,moss Bridge, collared dove,sparrowhawk over and circling, back toward the feeding station, bullfinch ,blue tit great tit1 dunnock,2 house sparrow on the feeder on the left as I left
-- Edited by David Hughes on Friday 10th of November 2023 02:58:06 PM
A walk today from poolstock locks to horrocks's,12 30 /3pm on westwood fleash a few black headed gulls and a pair of mute swan, on Pearson's flash coot, tufted duck, cormorant,lapwing, more black headed gull, onward to moss bridge great tit ,blue tit ,long tailed tit, woodpigeon, mallard on canal,jay calling from woodland opposite, terrapin in canal ,peregrine on pylon nearest the railway as previous, on horrocks flash grey heron, lapwing, cormorant, black headed gull, mallard, terrapin on island, with lapwing, on return peregrine still on pylon, 6 raven or more over scotmans flash, chiffchaff calling in the wooded bit before Pearson's, plenty of black headed gull, and some lesser black backed gull on scotmans.
It is with great pleasure I can confirm that a pair of Marsh Harriers successfully bred for the very first time in the county at this site during the summer.
Raven over ochre flash,3 marsh harriers airborne over bryn flash viewpoint, a cettis warbler seen here too ,also several buzzard,a peregrine falcon on the pylon nearest the canal,another cettis warbler singing near the metal bench 1 30 -3pm today
Spotted Crake heard late yesterday evening from within the reedbed at Horrocks Flash in the farthest E/NE corner as viewed from canal footpath.
This morning the bird has been seen on several occasions very briefly on muddy edges in the same area (VERY roughly at ///camp.first.swing) but viewing is very restricted, rather distant and a telescope probably essential.
A wander today 2pm/4pm,from the canal near st James church,to moss bridge and back,several Cetti’s warblers calling in different locations, reed warbler 3 or 4 seen in the reeds near Pearson's flash, lesser black backed gull, black headed gull, cormorant, sparrowhawk, mallard, canada goose, long tailed tit, blue tit, great tit, reed bunting ,teal ,tufted duck ,coot, moorhen, buzzard over, robin ,2 at least 2 common tern,and 3 swifts
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 29th of April 2023 09:46:28 PM
A wander today 11 30 -13 30 from locks and to moss bridge and back, on westwood flash just a couple of tufted duck, on Pearson's flash cormorant, lesser black backed gull and black headed gull, goldeneye, coot, mallard, moorhen, tufted duck, robin in the bushes between the canal and Pearson's flash,goldfinch, siskin,lesser redpoll on alders on the corner of Pearson's, long tailed tit also in a few places,blue tit, great tit too.I went to the feeding station/screen behind the school and have to report that the tree that carried the existing feeders has now fallen. However the feeder nearest to metal entrance was active with blue tit, great tit ,long tailed tit, and 1 willow tit,jay also seen in nearby trees ,blackbird a few in this area,back along the canal,Canada goose,mallard on canal, scotmans flash goosander female, tufted duck, coot,canada goose, mute swan, great crested grebe, cormorant, pochard, 2 Cetti’s warbler calling this visit.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 14th of March 2023 04:15:24 PM
Mon 13-Mar-23: Lunchtime visit, during which it rained continually. Visibility wasn't great, so I may have missed a few things. Certainly didn't find any Willow Tits.
Afternoon excursion, willow tit on feeder nearest to school also a few at bryn marsh bench (feeders nearby) great spotted woodpecker, 2 raven again ,bullfinch, long tailed tit, coal tit plus usual suspects.also cettis warbler calling in 3 locations
-- Edited by David Hughes on Tuesday 24th of January 2023 03:15:15 PM
Pink-footed Goose 147 over NW in 2 skeins Gadwall 66 Wigeon 33 (two flocks flying around of 13 and 20) Teal 3 Tufted Duck 210 Goldeneye 29 Goosander 8 Little Grebe 4 Great Crested Grebe 1 Coot 177 Willow Tit 1 Colour ringed bird, by the school, at 53.524171, -2.635863. Red over blue on left leg, green over silver on right.
Bittern: Flying over Scotsman's to the right hand side reeds and showing well there.
Red-crested Pochard: Surprised to see it on the canal at the bridge at Westwood Road with mallards etc. Strange white base to it's bill and limp looking leg. Very tame.
A fruitless search for the red crested pochard today but was more than made up for by bittern flying to south west corner,1 willow tit and one goldcrest.
-- Edited by David Hughes on Wednesday 14th of December 2022 02:15:27 PM
Yesterday 11/12 30, short walk to Pearson's from the lock,on westwood flash shoveller, little grebe ,coot ,mute swan ,teal ,goosander ,on Pearson's flash, snipe ,teal, goldeneye, black headed gull, lesser black backed gull, gadwall, cormorant, reed bunting , bullfinch, long tailed tit, tutted duck, mallard ,coot, party of about 10 little grebe,.
Looks like a Lesser Black Back gull unfortunately, mantle too dark for Yellow Legged gull,sun can "bleach out" LBB mantle and make them look paler than they really are.
82 Mute Swan, 2 Common Tern, and a small but steady flow of Lesser Black-backed Gulls coming in from the north stopping briefly then moving off south, at Scotmans Flash this late morning.
Sunday sunny and warm,blackcap singing, willow warbler singing, wren seen,kingfisher,tufted duck,gadwall,mallard,mute swan ,greylag with young,Canada goode,blackbird, robin,lesser black backed gull, black headed gull, coot, great crested grebe, sedge warbler singing but hidden,a couple of sand martin over scotmans flash,cormorant, cettis warbler both vocal and active by moss bridge i saw 3 ,one from 5 mtrs
This evening a short walk to moss bridge and back to poolstock lock,blackbird, song thrush ,long tailed tit, mute swan, coot,cettis warbler in 3 locations, blue tit,cormorant, tufted duck ,mallard,goldeneye, kingfisher, black headed gull, lesser black backed gull, kestrel,canada goose,great crested grebe, a steady stream of sand martins ,with swallow amongst them i counted at least 20 swallow, and a single reed bunting.
-- Edited by David Hughes on Saturday 9th of April 2022 08:31:45 PM
1pm-3pm,carrion crow ,song thrush, blackbird, woodpigeon, chaffinch,goldfinch ,coal tit ,great tit, magpie,blue tit,long tailed tit ,reed bunting, jay,robin,skylark high singing, meadow pipit, wren, dunnock ,stonechat male in same field as reported previously,.Bryn marsh viewpoint gave gadwall,coot,tufted duck,mallard and kingfisher obligingly gave a great view
-- Edited by David Hughes on Wednesday 16th of March 2022 03:27:40 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 16th of March 2022 04:34:02 PM
1 Stonechat (female) was in the northern corner of the field which borders the south-west of Bryn Marsh, at around 8am. A surprisingly rare bird here, and a long-awaited Wigan Flashes tick for me!
Also of interest, 8 Whooper Swan flew north over Scotmans Flash at around 9am.