13/1/08 Pearson`s Flash p.m.

Come on lads and lasses, lets get this thread in order (for when our grandkids look back on it) ;

GREEN-WINGED TEAL - (Judith smith et al)

CETTI`S WARBLER - (Brian Fielding)

BITTERN - (Warford`s & Rigby)

The county`s premier site ?

According to Birdguides there is a drake Green-wing Teal on Pearson's Flash

late afternoon, between Turner's Flash and the former landfill: a vocal and lively flock of approx 55 Goldfinch, feeding very actively on Alder catkins, with 1 Lesser Redpoll and 2 Mealy Redpoll (one strikingly white bird and one duller male bird, with pale streaked rump and whitish wing-bars and tramlines, showing a hint of pink on rump)

dover lock cow fields and viridor wood 11.00 till i filled my wellies up with very coldwater

all the usual tits etc 1 kestrel,2m/1fgoosander on the canal,4 cormorant over, 15 moorhens feeding in the fields,6 snipe flushed from the marsh

cheers geoff

But surely every reasonable living organism has a fear of Wiganers

Brambling at the feeding station early afternoon with Water Rail underneath it. Whooper Still present with 2 Mute Swans also.

juv whooper was coming to bread this afternoon

herring gulls
a large movement of herring gulls this morning at least 500 going north from 9.30 onwards only noticed them at that time so probably missed a lot more could have been coming from a roost but was not stopping off at the flashes

23/12/07

Treecreeper along the track parallel to the cemetery wall, at the rear of Pearson`s.
(Good bird for the Flashes).

A few Birds seen today around the area of Pearson's flash:

Female Brambling, 2 Bullfinch, c10 Goldeneye, Many Goldfinch, Great crested grebe, 30+ Lesser redpoll, Redwing, 2 Reed bunting, c30 Ruddy duck, 3+ Siskin, 5+ Teal, 10+ Shoveler, 3+ Grey heron, Lots of Tufted duck.

Horrocks Flash 14/12/07 midday

1 kingfisher 1 bullfinch
1 dunnock 8 long tailed tit
2 grey heron 12 moorhen
51 coot 2 canada
6 great tit 28 mallard
20 teal 18 mute swan
32 tufted 1 herring gull
80 b/headed gull 13 gadwall
3 little grebe 4 blue tit
1 gs w/pecker 6 blackbirds

a bit damp and cold

cheers geoff

Ince landfill site pm 50+ goldfinch 20 lesser redpoll 4 reed bunting,small tit flock and some lovely
sunshine for a change.

cheers geoff

long stake out on wednesday at " the weedies" no sign of bittern, warfy,s bench no good at keeping you dry
reeds reeds reeds all looking well couple of water rail a pheasent coming through the reeds doing an impression of a bittern
large flock of finches near the screen hide Redpoll siskin greenfinch goldfinch etc, couple of goldcrest
kingfisher on canal.
Cettis heard
round two this weekend

steve the redpoll/goldfinch flock is still present but ranging over quite a large area I tried to find them this morning started at moss bridge with a few goldfinch and lesser redpoll searched the land fill area finding a few tit flocks,the main flock was just behind the industrial est ,quite a bit of hiking and then they 'do one'

cheers geoff

2 Firecrests again at Scotsman Flash this afternoon, in the sw corner off Rosley Road, near Hawkley Brook.

Info thanks to Dave Broome.

At approx. 11am this morning Dave Broome heard what he is almost certain was a Cetti's Warbler singing, albeit breifly and faintly from the back of Pearsons Flash (Wigan Flashes) by the cemetary. Unfortunately, despite several birders turning up to assist in locating the bird (my thanks to you all for your efforts) it was not seen or heard again, although the ever increasing wind velocity helped none at all!

The bird will continue to be looked for starting again tomorrow morning, as if it was indeed a Cetti's (and Dave's not often wrong) it should stick around for atleast a bit.

This sighting also has it's own dedicated thread within the sightings section (Probable Cetti's Warbler, Pearson's Flash, 29/11)

As an angler as well as a birder I can say that there are enough eels in the canal to make them a target for some specialist anglers. They grow to a good size (4lbs+) and are usually caught (but not very often1) after dark.

If the eel the cormorant was eating was as big as you say, then this is one of the reasons that anglers have no love for these birds!!!

A angler freind of mine once saw a cormorant battling with a very big eel on Southport Marine lake, which it eventually swallowed after a great struggle. My friend could not believe the bird could eat such a large eel.

paul thanks i,ll take that on board and have another butchers soon,would dropping the odd crumb or a packet of seed leaking out of my pocket
on the path be seen as 'coming to bread' or just a ruse to get some good photos.

cheers geoff

glad you enjoyed it steve,i went upto the landfill site this p. m ,there,s still a huge flock of goldfinch and redpoll flirting about,good views of redpoll on the path over the top,poor pictures
i,m struggling to sort out a mealie from the flock and my field guide isn,t helping,can anyone give us some pointers or a good website to look at please

cheers geoff

Sightings from the Warford bench, reeds reeds reeds
water rails
snipe
teal
herons
kingfisher.
P.hammond trying to get 171
reeds reeds moving reeds then dark.

BITTERN - super views in flight at Bryn Marsh at 10.15 am today. Who said they were difficult, only took two attempts Found by warford senior, bout time he picked up something, seen really close from the bench overlooking Bryn, it got up from and flew about 100 yards just at the back of the pool and landed near the channel towards the scotsmans end of Bryn Marsh really close to the canal.

Also bumped into the Bolton RSPB group down there, but they missed it, oops.

Definately better than the Leighton Bitterns!



-- Edited by warfy at 13:37, 2007-11-25

jimmy meadows found atleast 2 mealy redpolls today with a large lesser redpoll flock (approx 100 birds) in the area south of pearsons flash and around the old ince landfill site but the flock is typically mobile

Hi Paul

Which part of Wigan flashes were you getting wet in. Frosty when I arrived at about 07.20, no Bittern. Didn't go as far down as Horrock's, sounded like they were shooting down that area.
Just Willow Tit and a flock of five Lesser Redpolls to add to the list.
Retreated back to car just after nine, wet, fed up after such a promising start.

After the promise of a heavy frost -5, was hoping it would make a bitterns bottom cold enough to come out of the reeds this morning.
early start saw the dawn over the marshes,wet wet and blooming wet
300+coots 40+ moorhen
shoveler 25+
Goldeneye 5 males 5 females
pochard 7+
gadwall, little grebe, GS Woodpecker
blue, great, coal, long tailed tits.
kingfisher on canal
blooming big dinosaur on an island.
and a very wet birder peering into soggy reedbeds
I,ll be back.
keep birding