Went up to Winter Hill this a.m. 7.15-9.00, hoping for Ring Ouzel, very misty and no chance. However was sat at roadside at a fenced area with warning about falling ice when lights flash, listening to passing Meadow Pipits and singing Skylarks, when out of the mist flying up the road and straight past me was a Short-eared Owl, totally unexpected and a GM first for me. Also heard 5 Red Grouse and 1 seen and 2 Curlew heard.
Cheers Ian
...........................
Just getting in car to leave when I got your text about the Herons Warfy

-- Edited by Ian Campbell on Friday 2nd of April 2010 10:50:10 AM

21/3/10 Senior & Phil.

Most bird activity I have seen up here so far this year.

4 Sand Martin flew north over the moor.
5+ Curlew
Peregrine 1 male
Raven 4+
Skylark 10+
Plenty Mipits about.
Linnet
Sparrowhawk over the moor.



-- Edited by Simon Warford on Sunday 21st of March 2010 07:13:30 PM

smithills moor and burnt edge today.2 mistle thrush,2 pheasant,2 grouse,and 1 raven displaying some suberb aerobatics.also a small grassy pool absolutely alive with mating and spawning frogs.croaking loudly and generally partaking in a free for all.i didnt know they lived this high up.how they survived the last few months god only knows.no mipits.

Mid pm

150 Pinkfeet NW just before a blizzard was unexpected up there(well done Melanie).
Peregrine 1
Little Owl 1 - peering at us with one eye from its bracken covered cave, what a coward.
Red Grouse 10

Black Redstart still present this morning (possibly an immature male apparently), still with the 2 Stonechats around the building (which are in Lancs) and 100 yards west of there along the fenceline (which is in GM).

Info thanks to Simon Warford

I,m not sure but I don,t think mr.wilcox would have typed 'summet fort weekeend' maybe the author has overdosed ont meet n pater

off to bed now geoff

No sign today 10.00 - 13.30 and again 15.00 - 16.00. Nice to see John Lyon and John Taverner also on a fruitless search.

Stonechat 2
Kestrel 2
Mipit 3

Mast Road 9.00 till 11.00 dark dank and misty,didn,t connect with the buntings but did manage 2 stonechat 2 raven 1 kestrel,10+ meadow pipit,1 skylark,as i left for brekkie the mist started to clear

cheers geoff

Single male Snow Bunting present at 2:45pm

Info thanks to Andy Isherwood

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 15th of November 2009 03:12:41 PM

Glad you suggested walking around that gully Paul wonderful to catch up with the pair of Snow Buntings a new bird for me in greater Bolton, and nice to see them by the pile of seed even though they werent eating it. Both birds still by the wooden bridge at 2.45pm at least, wasnt impressed by the sheep eating the seed though!

The female/immature Snow Bunting was present this morning in the area around the second barrier along Mast Road but with no sign of the male bird so far.

Info thanks to Andy Makin/Simon Warford

Male Snow Bunting still present by the wooden bridge at 4:20pm

info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Andy Makin had two Snow Bunting present near the mast this morning apparently. A male and juvenile though both were flighty.

Info thanks to Judith Smith

Originally posted today:

Dennis Weir had a Snow Bunting today (probably male) perched on the handrail of the new footbridge on the east side of Mast Road at SD658138 ( not far from where you can park if you drive all the way up to just short of the masts.

18/10/09

Burnt Edge Vis Mig watch
7am-10am
Partly Cloudy
SW breeze

Another good morning of movement.

CROSSBILL - 17, heard them chipping away, upon arrival so must have roosted in Walker Fold Wood, then flew over Burnt Edge towards Wilderswood.

Redwing - 906 mostly NW/W (best parties 150, 130, 100, 80, 70, 65)
Fieldfare - 337 mostly NW/SW (best parties 70, 58, 49, 36)
Brambling - 4 NW mixed in with Redwings
Woodpigeon 172 NW, plus 60 local
Starling 102 all NW
Greenfinch 5 W
Chaffinch 9 W
Siskin 5 SW
Bullfinch 2 W
Jay 1 W
Redpoll 2 S
Snipe 4 W
Raven 3 local
Stonechat 2
Goldcrest 2

This afternoon, "Vis Mig" watch 1-4.30pm between winter hill and Smithalls moor

Twite 2 flying around calling then flew NW (my first in Bolton)
Mipits 40+ on the moor and single flocks of 25+27 high South
Siskin 6 SW
Chaffinch 15 West
Goldfinch 12 West
Skylark 6 high South
Buzzard 1 high South

Also Sparrowhawk sat on a wall, Peregrine and 4 Raven over.

6 Ring Ouzels present at 09:40 this morning in fields along Georges Lane, just to the north of Wilderswood.

Info thanks to Andy Makin

A good 5 hour yomp around the mast, two lads,rivvy pike and burnt edge produced very little, it was very windy which didn't help.

Plenty meadow pipits
4 Wheatear
1 Winchat, near Holdens plantation
2 Snipe
2 Raven
and a Heron over the dog kennels, which had me going for a minute

Bumped into Phil Rhodes and another guy, Andy Makin perhaps? Mentioned the 57 wheatear from yesterday, so i assume so. Who'd had a Merlin near Holden's.

Dean.

Smithills Moor area, 07:30-11:00 today, myself and Andy Makin.

Everything from yesterday had not surprisingly moved through and numbers were well down on yesterdays which actually and amazingly rivalled anywhere else in the country

Still plenty to look at though and some serious searching produced (all definately new birds from yesterday, other than perhaps Meadow Pipits):

Whinchat- 3 by Holden's Farm
Tree Pipit- 1 right on the top not far from the mast (but in GM of course)
Spotted Flycatcher- 3 in the wonderfully secluded (and not checked yesterday!) little valley called New Field Plantation near to Walker Fold
Meadow Pipit- 500 on the moors and along Georges Lane early am
Wheatear- 11
Garden Warbler- 1 off Georges Lane, Wilderswood
Siskin- 3 (New Field Plantation)
Chaffinch- 80+
Blackcap-1 (New Field Plantation)
Chiffchaff- 5

The 'Warford incident' eclipses everything I've seen up there before Rob.

Imagine a man hell bent on catchng up with a stunning male Hen Harrier, striking out in his wellies across a very bleak moor as half a dozen mates look on from the road as terrible weather and the darkness of night can be seen rapidly approaching. Not content with giving him the soaking of a lifetime (he actually poured water from his wellies on his eventual return to the car!) the weather cast upon him fog which appeared from nowhere (and was actually the rain cloud which itself) and which reduced visibilty on the moor to within 30 feet. All alone on the moor, his worried mates cried with laughter, occasionally widing down their car windows when the heaters in them got too warm. We even flashed our headlights like lighthouses and laughed even louder to direct him towards us before Paul decided to get out and wave his very bright torch into the fog and gloom in a vain atempt to rescue his pal from the moor. The rest of us of course (including Warfy snior), chuckled some more and turned the heaters up a little warmer. He of course and thankfully returned eventually, but it was quite a sight indeed

Incredible I was up there taking some shots for a site guide I'm working on too and was chuckling to myself about that very incident but didn't remember the date. One that will always be in the memory, no doubt about it.

Big mooch today with great intentions and expectations. Viewing in the distance to the south west though clearly portrayed terrible weather to come but hey, it's only rain right

Single Wheatear just north of the quarry.
Single Tree Pipit in with a decent flock of Meadow Pipits feeding on the side of Burnt Edge.

Then the heavens opened I always wondered why I'd paid so much for that rather 'unsuitable' looking climbing fleece/jacket and found out as it defeated the worst the clouds could throw at it. Unfortunately it just ran down the jacket, onto my light weight, thin as a sheet of tracing paper pants and into my waterproof boots which of course aren't waterproof if the rain runs inside them! Fourty minutes later (still in the horizontal rain) I'd made it back to the parking spot on Mast Road to find the missus was still doing her mooching around the Reebok! Walking down Mast Road to find shelter by the houses at the bottom though it stopped raining and the sun came out! In the grass fields at the bottom 11 Wheatears had dropped in during the down pour. They were scurrying all over the dry stone walls and perhaps there was more or the odd Whinchat, but the optics had had enough and steamed up every time I put my eyes to them. By the time the missus had returned some 15 minutes later, all but a couple had continued onwards and over the moor on their way to Africa. Good luck to 'em too

Sunday 30 August 2009
early afternoon walk up Mast Road:

1 Grasshopper Warbler
1 Green Woodpecker
11 Wheatear
1 Stonechat
4 Red Grouse
2 Raven
3 Meadow Pipit

Most people seem to be specific to a particular section of 'the moors' which is the best way to go. The title of the thread as 'Horwich Moors' is a generalisation of the whole area.

A site guide is in preparation but it's a big area and will take a while