a visit here from 12.30 til dark. (also included a trip around chorlton ees sightings in that thread)

32 mute swan
1 great crested grebe
12 redwing
2 bullfinch
12 siskin
1 nuthatch
5 chaffinch
4-6 goldcrest
2 great spotted woodpecker
6 jay
1 song thrush
4 cormorant
willow tit heard only near visitor centre

broad ees dole

8 snipe
8 teal
1 little grebe
3 grey heron

plus all the usuals around.

Barn owl seen flying over the M60 at 6.45am, came from the direction of the water park

Today ... Approx 2.10pm - 2.55pm on a tacho break.

Lots of usuals including...

-Canada Goose - around 75+ at least
-Mute Swan - 3
-Black-headed Gull - around 60 of various ages and adults
-Cormorant 1 swimming and diving, 2 on pylon, 1 of which was leaning forward and then stretched its neck out pointing down and at the same time stretched its wings out aerodynamically angled up and back. Just looked like it was going to dive off, needless to say it didn't.

Joel Tragen wrote:

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David Morris wrote:

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And...I *think*...1 Water Rail- I was looking down at my Collin's Guide and when I looked up I saw something run quickly from the water to the bush. Has anyone ever spotted one there?

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Hi david,
A water rail at sale water park would be unusual but I once heard one at Chorlton ees 2 years ago so it is always possible one has turned up.

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hi david, the answer to your'e question is yes, I have heard water rails on several occasions on broad ees dole over the years but got my very first full view of one on 4th November 2014.

Had a quick look at Broad Ees Dole today. Spotted:

3 Grey Heron
About 6 mallards (3 female, 3 male)
1 Great Crested Grebe
And...I *think*...1 Water Rail- I was looking down at my Collin's Guide and when I looked up I saw something run quickly from the water to the bush. Has anyone ever spotted one there?

quick look at main lake this morning

Kingfisher showing well near boat club
singles of Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard over lake
8 Cormorant
23 Magpie feeding on all the rubbish spread around the car park
2 Grey and 12 Pied wagtail feeding on boardwalk
3 Lesser Black Backed Gull and c.40 Black headed gull
single Siskin in trees by entrance road and mixed tit flock of c.30 made up mainly of Long Tailed.

afternoon stroll around.

7 mute swan inc 5 cygnets
2 bullfinch
5 chiffchaff
1 willow warbler
1 blackcap
1 jay
40+ mostly house martins with several swallows
1 buzzard, 1 kestrel & 1 sparrowhawk all circling around together over the dole & towards Stretford ees

broad ees dole... 5 little grebe, 2 grey heron, 1 coot, 4 moorhen

Black-headed gulls starting to turn up here in a few numbers here this evening; perhaps 30 or 40 or so. Quite a few feeding long-tailed tit parties, too.

Broad Ees Dole:

3 grey heron
Roughly six little grebe, including a couple of juveniles
A few moorhen and a couple of coot
c10 black-headed gull
1 lesser black-backed gull
1 stock dove

Great spotted woodpecker heard calling in the wooded area behind the pools.

1 Little Egret
4 Kingfisher
1 Great Crested Grebe
2 Little Grebe
7 Mute Swan (2 adults & 5 cygnets)

Little Egret present on Broad Ees Dole at 2:55pm today.

Info thanks to Tony O'Mahony

Little grebe with several young yesterday on Broad Ees Dole. Also roughly 20 black-headed gull, a big moorhen fight and a kingfisher.

Reed warbler and dunnock heard singing.

I went on a bike ride yesterday evening along the Tranz Pennine trail with a few mates, and thought id break off and do a lap of the water park on the way. As I got to the stepping stones on the far side that crosses the brook there was a family of swans with a few cygnets hanging around. One of the cygnets looked to be in great difficulty stuck stationary in the mud..there was a crowd of concerned onlookers but it was in deep mud and was being furiously protected by the parents.. I stopped for a closer inspection and noticed it was tangled in fishing line.. I know I shouldn't really have intervened but it would of played on my conscience all night if I had not, so I waded out into the mud and with the help of my friends and a passer by,,we managed to use our bikes as a shield round the cygnet, just to stop the parents attacking us as I attempted to free their baby.. It had two hooks connected to a metal tracer and about 6 metres of line and a heavy lead weight completely wrapped around its legs and wings, luckily the hooks had not penetrated its skin. However it took me over 5 mins with the aid of a knife and a lighter to cut and burn the line of until eventually it was free.. I checked it over for any other signs of injury or entanglement and then let it go, it swam out to its other siblings and began to preen itself as it was covered in mud. The parents gave me a massive hiss (which I presume was a thank you in swan language) and off we cycled into the sunset........

Late report for Sunday
1 reed warbler calling outside broad ees dole on the water park it's self
Broad ees dole
2 lapwing and while scanning the shore I spotted a young lapwing wondering the shore got some photos of that as well.
2 little grebe nests with 7 little grebes (2 on nests 5 swimming around) the max count for me here is 14 last summer.
1 grey heron
2 coots
3 moorhen
3 black headed gull
A pair of mute swans with 5 cygnets
7 mallards
2 Canada geese sticking their heads out of the long vegetation on the island directly in front of the hide.
2 cormorants on the pylon outside the hide.
1 of the lapwings flew over the trees at the back leaving just one when I left. On my way home I spotted it taking off from turn moss playing fields heading in the direction of broad ees dole

Main Lake . . . . . Mute swan x 2 (4ADD and 4BDH ) with 6 x Cygnets . Reed warbler x1. Gt. Crested Grebe x 3 . Greenfinch x 2 . Canada goose x c. 220 . . Chiffchaff x 1 . Wf. Meadow . . . Greenfinch x 3 . Blackcap x 1 . Wf. M. Rear of old carpark . . . . Bullfinch x 1m . Willow warbler x 1. . Great tit x1. Reed bunting x 4 (3m + 1f ) . . Whitethroat x 2 ( pair with food). I spent a good hour at least watching the above birds all interacting with each other in this small area . Birdwatching , Just like it says on the tin.. . Cow ln . . . . . . . Blackcap x 1 . Willow warbler x 1 . . . . . Plus lots of young blue tits about shouting for food. . . Broad ees dole - Little grebe x 5 . Lapwing x 2 . Grey heron x 4 . R. Mersey . . . . . Grey wagtail x3 (family party ). Nice afternoon from 1.30 till 5pm.

From around 7.40 to 9 this evening:

3 blackcap
4 chiffchaff
2 song thrush
c5 swallow
1 greenfinch
1 goldfinch
15+ swift
1 kestrel

Main lake:

30+ Canada geese, including one pair with goslings
3 great crested grebe
2 mute swan
coot and mallard
1 black-headed gull
1 lesser black-backed gull

Broad Ees Dole

6 little grebe
4 coot
4 lapwing
7 mallard, including two growing chicks (the same ones from the post below, probably)
2 goosander
13 Canada geese, with another pair with gosling
Blackbird, robin, dunnock, reed bunting and song thrush all heard singing.

Little Egret at Broad Ees Dole

Info thanks to Phil Kelly

April 29th 15;00-15:30

Main Lake

2 Great Crested Grebe

Broad Ees Dole

4 Little Grebe
3 Lapwing - down to 2 fairly quickly when a fight broke out
2 Lesser Black-Backed Gull
2 Cormorant (on pylon)
1 Reed Bunting (male)

Abundant Chiffchaff, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard and Canada Geese.

Common tern on bouys on main lake 2.15pm but looks like it's gone .( 2.30pm).

6.30-8.30pm

19 mute swan
6 great crested grebe
2 teal
40+ sand martin
3 swallow
6 blackcap
6 chiffchaff
1 bullfinch
1 jay
4 song thrush
1 kestrel
1 sparrowhawk
4 grey heron, over

broad ees dole...

4 snipe
4 little grebe
2 teal
1 kingfisher
1 lapwing
10 goosander
1 reed bunting
1 grey wagtail on river

Couple of willow tit here this evening. Couple of chiffchaff and a song thrush going through its full repertoire, too, around the wooded areas.

Broad Ees Dole

1 lapwing
4 goosander
2 teal
3 little grebe
1 kingfisher
2 moorhen, etc.

Also c100 jackdaw flying over to roost.

Beautiful evening; Venus and Jupiter looking fantastic in the sky, and managed to pick out at least one of the Galilean moons with my binoculars.

-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Friday 10th of April 2015 10:34:38 PM

Yesterday's sightings, late afternoon / early evening:

3 teal & 3 mallard on the marshy area

Main lake:

1 goosander
4 gadwall
7 (at least) great crested grebe
c25 mute swan
lot of coot and canada geese
a few mallards
1 common gull juvenile (the only gull on the lake, that I saw)
1 kestrel
1 grey wagtail
1 chiffchaff
4 long-tailed tit
3 sand martin (seen at the far end, flying off and feeding over the Mersey)

Broad Ees Dole

5 little grebe (giving very good views)
4 moorhen
2 coot
2 lapwing
4 teal
4 mallard (including two that seemed to be on a nest)
4 goosander
1 tufted duck
11 canada geese
2 mute swan (including one that lumbered across the path in front of me; ring no.: 4BDH)
1 jay
1 kingfisher (perched right in front of the hide, dealing with, and eating, a 3-spined stickleback in its spawning colours)

Hi Maggie

It could be that the birds were on migration - spring migration is underway now with birds which have wintered here and further south are now heading back to breeding grounds.

Current tacho break coming to an end...

Birds of note on a very choppy main lake due to the strong winds
20 Black-headed Gulls
4 Common Gulls
2 Herring Gulls
~26 Mute Swans
~65 Canada Geese
4 Mallard
5 Gadwall
~20 Coot
1 Great Crested Grebe
3 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
3 Jackdaw
5 Magpie
2 Woodpigeon

Hi Maggie,
I don't think there is anything too unusual about your 7 Common Buzzards circling together, they are however strongly territorial in the breeding season.

Usual numbers of the usual species...
Mute Swan - at least 41
Canada Goose - around 75
Tufted Duck, Coot, Mallard.
Only around 20 Black-headed Gulls
1 Common Gull
1 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
1 Pied Wagtail