24/6/07 early morning

Horrocks Front Pool ;

2 Little Ringed Plover
2 Oystercatcher
Redshank
16 + Common Tern chicks
5 Teal (4drks.)
Lesser Redpoll

Grasshopper Warbler reeling nr. Moss Bridge
Willow Tit nr. Hawkley Reedbed
23 Pochard - Pearsons
G.S.Woodpecker
numbers of Sedge, Reed Warbs, Whitethroats & Reed Buntings

horrocks flash,07/06/07 19.00
good job i didn,t log on before i went tonight or i would have left the chick count till fri pm.i counted 23 tern chicks 2 teal
1 little ringed plover and suprisingly 1 black tailed godwit which i observed for about 10 mins, went to set digiscope
thingy up and couldn,t find it again.

cheers geoff

Thanks Ian. - I`ll have to `tice it nearer wi` some bread !

7/6/07 mid-afternoon ; Horrocks Flash

3 Little Ringed Plover - at first viewed from the `back pool` constantly flying around, but later settled on the `front pool` (canal-side)
also single Ringed Plover here
Redshank
managed to count 17 Common Tern chicks from various nests and some well developed Black-headed Gull chicks
3 drk Teal
5 Gadwall
6+ Pochard
G.S.Woodpecker
Greylag
Mute Swan - CJ56 (green darvic)
a Tufted Duck with an orange/red `bill saddle` but it was too distant / hazy to read. (if indeed that`s what it was ! Someone please tell me I haven`t dreamt this and that there is a scheme for `ringing` Tufties in this way ! )

Horrocks Flash10-30am to 2.30pm

G.C.Grebe and young

Ringed Plover
Pochard
Lapwings
Reed Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Whitethroat on opposite bank of Canal
Turns on nests
usual other stuff

Nothing much on other Flashes, but little grebe

Geoff

-- Edited by geoff at 16:39, 2007-05-25

Geoff, the winter months are your best bet for Bittern, and even then you have to be extremely lucky !

24th May. early a.m.

2 Little Ringed Plover over Bryn Marsh
Ringed Plover on Horrocks. Also here 2 Redshank
Lesser Whitethroat still with us, though less vocal than of late
Willow Tit feeding young opp. Bryn Flash
Green Woodpecker over Moss Br.
Kestrel

15th mid-morning til early p.m

Dunlin, 3 LRPs & single RP on Horrocks`. Also at least 23 Common Terns.
2 (together) Water Rails
2 Stock Dove
Common Sandpiper on the causeway of the yachting club, Scotmans
Kingfisher - Pearsons
Willow Tit - round Ochre Flash
5 Reed Warblers in the reeds at Moss Br.
Also my pal the Lesser Whitethroat singing his lungs out at the top of his very own Hawthorn tree. (a male Reed Bunting is keeping a beady eye on him ! ! )

12/5/07 early - mid morning

Turnstone - briefly on Horrocks Flash. It looked to have settled down on a bit of mud but was moved on. Also witnessed by a chuffed Geoff Hargreaves.
Also Dunlin, LRPs & RP.

Lesser Whitethroat performing @ Moss Br.

The `Poolstock` Grey Wagtails had 2 fledged chicks.

Leucistic drk. Tufty on Scotmans

Kestrel carrying prey (small enough to be a shrew) over canal @ Bryn Fl.


-- Edited by Ian Woosey at 17:15, 2007-05-12

6.00 this morn lesser whitethroat showing well ,cuckoo calling
from rainfords area that odd tufty on pearsons and grey wagtail
taking food in to nest site near to wigan rovers ground

9/5/07 06.00 - 09.30

3 LRP & 3 RP on Horrocks. Also here ;
single Dunlin
17+ Common Tern
4 drake Pochard
along canal - Mallard with 13 ducklings ! - is this a record ?

The Lesser Whitethroat was showing extremely well on top of the Hawthorn tree at Moss Bridge steps. Further along the canal opposite Bryn Flash ditto a Garden Warbler.

2 pairs of Grey Wagtail - one `holding` Westwood Lock, the other, Poolstock Lock.

2 Shelduck and the drake Pintail on Scotmans.

2/5/07 06.00 - 11.00

Black Tern - flew from Scotmans @ 06.50. Presumably went to Horrocks` `cos I re-found it there @ 09.50
Cuckoo - flew over me on Moss Bridge (after calling from different areas)
2 Ringed Plovers - Horrocks`
2 LRPs - displaying/chasing over Bryn Marsh
21 + Common Terns - Horrocks`
2 Oyc
2 Grey Wags
11 Greylags
2 Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Stock Dove
numerous Blackcaps, Sedge Warblers, Willow Warbs, heard Reed Warb at Bryn Flash

23/4/07 06.30 - 09.30

Grasshopper Warbler - Moss Bridge (guaranteed place !)
4 LRP - 3,Bryn / 1,Horrocks
10 Common Tern - 2,Scotmans / 4,Horrocks / 4,squabbling over Bryn Flash (probably some inter-change between flashes, i.e. there might have only been 4 or 6 altogether)
5 Snipe - Horrocks
2 Greylags with 6 goslings (aaahhh ! )
80+ Sand Martin - Scotmans
2 L.Redpoll
1 Pinkfoot - Horrocks

-- Edited by Ian Woosey at 14:53, 2007-04-23

11/04/07 19.30
the whooper swan was back on horrocks front pool this evening and about 50 sandmartins over

cheers geoff

i had the Black-necked Grebe on tuesday, around 150 sand martins and 2 swallows.

Reading `Birds Britannica` (Cocker & Mabey, 2005) I came across this ;

`They (Cormorants) have been recorded to take 86 species of fish, from tiny fry to 2.5 - foot conger eels. An elastic throat pouch and a specially hinged beak means that, unlike Grey Herons, they can also cope with large flat fish, which look like small plates bulging in the distended gorge once the birds have finally shovelled them down. However, for sheer dietry eccentricity, little beats the record of a Cormorant eating a waste-filled plastic bag, or the individual found with an 11 inch kitten in it`s stomach ! `

Food for thought indeed ...............

there are eels in the canal at maghull, thats a dead cert.

does anyone know where a good place to park the car is? ive only ever been once and i walked from by boars head, ive got a scope now though, so walking is a bit tricky from boars head.

im pretty sure there are eels in the canal,as they seem to find there way into most canal systems,i know the sankey canal is full of them-ask anyone fishing on the canal,im sure they will know

24/03/07 black neck grebe still present on scotmans,smashing view,s close to banking

cheers geoff

scotchmans flash - commerant, tufties,goldeneye,heron,little grebe no sign of the black neck,sand martin,willow tit and all the usual stuff.

15/3/07

OSPREY (see seperate post)
redhead Smew - Horrocks`.
2 Pink-feet
2 Greylags
Oystercatcher
2 Raven over Scotmans heading N.
4 Sand Martin
Water Rail
f. Red-crested Pochard - Westwood Fl.
Chiffchaff - nr. feeding station
3 Willow Tit
2 Grey Wag

10/3/07 a.m.

redhead Smew - Horrocks, canal-side
2 Pink-feet
5 Greylags
Oystercatcher
Redshank
15 Shoveler
4 Teal
Green Woodpecker - Moss Br. area
8 L.Redpoll
Willow Tit
6 Bullfinch
2 Grey Partridge - Park House Fm.
m. Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
33 Goldeneye - Pearsons
4 Little Grebe

heard a Chiffchaff nr. Hawkley school

Geoff,

The Water Rail was lurking along the reed-line in the corner opposite the `Pink-feet` field. This was the first time I`d seen one at Horrocks`, others being at the feeding station and in the canal-side reeds at Pearsons.

Gary,

As you walk along the canal towpath from Moss Bridge (check the info. boards for locations) towards Horrocks`, Bryn Flash / Marsh appears on your right just after the derelict footbridge.The pylon in question is on your right just before you go under the railway bridge. This was the second time in the last three weeks that I`ve seen the Peregrine there and Geoff has seen it also within the same time-scale.

Good luck to you both in your respective quests.

ian,the water rail?spotted, scoped,or heard? i,ve only seen one flushed and in flight so i can,t put it in my horrock,s list which i,m very keen to do but i do have rules( and they are my rules)so tell me where it was ,or else

regards geoff