Walked from the tram stop to the top of the lake across the railway bridge and down the river to Jacksons Boat birds seen were as follows blackbird x 3 jay x 4 song thrush x4 robin x 5 herring gull x 6 black headed gull x 100 + feral pigeon x 11 wood pigeon x 6 magpie x 12 carrion crow x 8 blue tit x 2 starling x1 mallard x 12 mute swan x 5 tufted duck x 6 gadwall x 4 coot x 10 house sparrow x 1 wren x 1 moorhen x 2 grey heron x 1 cormorant x 2 long tailed tit x 3 dunnock x 1 ring necked parakeet x 2 great spotted woodpecker x 1
Main lake this am.
Single drake Goldeneye, 8 Great crested grebe, 7 Gadwall, 5 Tufted Duck, 3 Herring gull and a Buzzard strutting round the car park completely unbothered by anyone or cars.
Mid morning until early afternoon; no water sports, so a good number of birds on the lake:
Lots of long-tailed tit 1 treecreeper 1 nuthatch 5 goldfinch 1 chaffinch 3 or 4 bullfinch 1 pied wagtail 1 song thrush 1 mistle thrush 1 or 2 kingfisher 4 moorhen 13+ coot 3 teal 11 gadwall 7 tufted duck 12 mute swan, three with blue darvics: VN6; 4CFH (first winter); 4BVL (this one also had a metal ring on the other leg, XY8876) 5+ great crested grebe 8 cormorant 120+ black-headed gull 10+ common gull 9 lesser black-backed gull 1 kestrel 1 buzzard
There were at least 2 Shovelers (both male) present on Broad Ees Dole earlier today, although there weren't visible from the hide, but from the gap to the right of the hide when looking at the water- most of the ducks seemed to be congregating there- from the hide I could only see one female Mallard and one Little Grebe.
Rob I have sent you a message, I have transferred my working area so no longer cover Manchester, sorry for late reply only just been made aware of incident.
Main lake infront of Deckers... Adult Mute Swan with fishing wire hanging from inside its throat. I phoned the RSPCA and made a note of some of it's grown cygnets ring numbers so that the responding officer(s) would know they were looking at the correct family group and only having to check 2 adults for the wire.
The call receiver took my details but nobody has phoned back as yet with any potential outcome, if indeed they do that?, any RSPCA forum members aware of any action taken in this particular instance? Thanks
ps. PM me or post on discussion thread if need be.
A bit of time around Broad Ees dole this afternoon (nothing on the main lake due to watersports):
1 reed warbler heard 8 moorhen 1 coot 6 little grebe (one on nest, and one almost fully grown juvenile) 7 grey heron
Around the back of the Dole there's been some good clearance of Himalayan balsam and other vegetation around the old worn viewing bench, so it's a great place to stop and watch again; had a very enjoyable, if occasionally frustrating, half an hour peering through foliage watching good numbers of small birds flit about:
5+ chiffchaff 2 blackcap 1 lesser whitethroat Plenty of long-tailed tit and blue tit.
Also a probable garden warbler, though too brief to be 100% certain.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Monday 29th of August 2016 10:11:12 PM
This afternoon . Main lake - Mute swan 11+ 4 juv. (Including Blue leg rings 4BV4 and 4BUU). Cow lane - Blackcap young calling (heard only ). Bullfinch 1m. Broad ees dole - The bird hide was fenced off as the roof was replaced. , so limited views. Little grebe 2. Grey heron 1 . Moorhen 2. At side of dole with steps to r.mersey - Blackcap juveniles calling 2.
Nuthatch 1.
-- Edited by phillipskelly on Wednesday 10th of August 2016 03:51:51 PM
Nice to meet you at Broad Ees Dole this afternoon Shannon. I hope and expect we'll bump into each other again. All the Swallows were feeding over Turn Moss Playing Fields. There must have been between 20 and 30.
-- Edited by Paul Wilkins on Sunday 7th of August 2016 11:16:01 PM
A wander around this pm produced; 2 Grey Wagtail on the Mersey 8 Mallard, 3 Moorhen, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Jay, Goldfinch, Swallow and House Martin in the vicinity of the Dry Weir. On Broad Ees Dole 1 Kingfisher, 25 Mallard, 12 Canada Geese, 4 Heron, 6 adult Little Grebe (with 3 young), a single Lapwing, 8 Black-headed Gull, 4 Moorhen and 1 Tufted Duck. On the waterpark (keeping well clear of the jet-ski's and open water swimmers) 43 Canada Geese, 3 adult Mute Swan (and 5 young), 1 Cormorant, 25 Mallard and 4 feral duck. In the area also Mistle Thrush, Greenfinch, Magpie and Woodpigeon. A distinct lack of small stuff!
2 grey heron 8 little grebe 1 lapwing 1 kingfisher
2 waders flying around the lake sounded like redshank but could not get on them quick enough before they disappeared over towards the dole, but no signs when I got there.
An afternoon wander around the lake produced only 10 Mute Swan and 1 Great Crested Grebe (prob due to the open water swim that was on). Around the visiter centre end 2 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff were still singing. Close to the water sport centre 85 Canada Geese and 24 eclipse Mallard loafed. On Broad Ees Dole 3 Little Grebe were on nests with a further 3 birds feeding. 4 Heron, 3 Moorhen and a Lapwing were on the islands and a Cormorant was overhead.
Brief look over main lake this morning, 8 Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe calling from behind islands, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk overhead numerous Blackcap singing and 2 Whitethroat singing near metro line.
Lesser whitethroat was on Sale Ees, showing in the large hedge that backs onto the water park, seen feeding quietly in the tree in bloom. Blackcap, bullfinch, reed bunting, chaffinch, blackbird and the two common tit species also all seen around this area. Had a lovely twenty minutes or so watching and waiting to see what'd pop up next.
Half an hour at The Old Carpark - Chiffchaff 1. Whitethroat 1. Meadow Pipit 1. (Not a common sighting but the carpark was used by contractors earlier this year and the ground vegetation was removed and replaced by churned up mud and puddles . )
One Kingfisher on Broad Ees Dole flew silently from left to right viewed from the hide. Must be a while since my last visit, it's willow carr now instead of the open Juncus marsh i was expecting. Still, it has Willow Tits now which it didn't then, so that's no bad thing.
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Timperley life list c. 89 (ish). Barn Owl 4.11.19, Green Sand 27.8.19, Little Egret 13.2.19, ringtail harrier sp 20.10.18, Fawn Yawn 15.10.18, Grasshopper Warbler 15.4.16, Tree Pipit 13.4.16, Yellowhammer 5.4.15, Hobby May '11, Wigeon Dec '10
on the dole 3 'redhead' goosanders 2 mute swans 1 lonely lapwing 4 grey herons on the main lake: 8 great crested grebes (6 half asleep in the usual bay and a pair more awake around the corner) 4 mute swans
-- Edited by Joel Tragen on Wednesday 13th of April 2016 06:16:57 PM
-- Edited by Joel Tragen on Wednesday 13th of April 2016 06:17:45 PM
-- Edited by Joel Tragen on Wednesday 13th of April 2016 06:19:55 PM
the dole had: 3 mute swans 9 canada geese 1 lapwing 2 moorhens 5 coots on the lake: 6 great crested grebes 4 chiffchaff 2 common sandpipers which were on shore opposite the island but quickly flew onto the island after a dog came charging down the path
Had a quick trip to Sale WP today as part of a walk round there, Chorlton WP and Chorlton Ees. The main lake was pretty dead- saw 5 Great Crested Grebes and a male Reed Bunting by the side of the lake and not much more.
On Broad Ees Dole there were quite a lot of Mute Swans- someone said it's rare to get them on it, so perhaps the watersports Chris Sutton mentioned displaced them, as the usual more interesting birds were lacking today- saw one Lapwing, one male Goosander, 3 Little Grebes and everything else was pretty common.
Also had great views of a Mistle Thrush on the field by the bike hire place next to Jackson's Boat, and 3 Grey Wagtails on the river near there too. Two Buzzards were overhead near Jackson's Boat too.
23 sand martin 2 house martin, first of the year & also my earliest. 1 buzzard 3 sparrowhawk in the air at once 1 kingfisher 2 ring-necked parakeet, over 2 Chiffchaff
10 minute pit stop at broad ees dole; Little Grebe 5 Goosander 5 (2m, 3f) Tufted duck 3 (2m 1f) Teal 11 Mallard 2 Canada Goose 6 Mute Swan 1 Gadwall 2 (side pond) Lapwing 1 Kingfisher heard Chiffchaff heard Heron, coot and moorhen Black headed gull 4 (one lesser black back gull yesterday) Buzzard 2 - low over back of the dole No hirundines on dole or main lake .... the latter very quiet with no gulls - probably due to watersports activities over the weekend
Main lake - Mute Swan 18. Grt.Crested Grebe 6. Cormorant 4 (on pylon). Old Carpark - Chiffchaff 1. Bullfinch 4 (2m,2f). Chaffinch 2. Jay 2. Wren 2. Broad Ees Dole - Little Grebe 4. Shoveler 2 (m,f). Grey Heron 6. Tufted Duck 1. Teal 6. Moorhen 2. Coot 3. Chiffchaff 1 heard at rear of dole. Lapwing 1. Also Chiffchaff heard over r.mersey on Chorlton Ees near heronry.
Pretty quiet at Sale WP today, very few gulls, fewest i've ever seen!
1 Great Black back 3 Lesser black back Small number of Black headed gulls 2 pairs Great crested grebe 4 cormorant, 1 with a distinctly whiter head lots of Mute swans, Canada geese, mallard, coot and moorhen
Broad Ees dole: 4 Little grebe 1 Lapwing decent number of teal 2 Herons
Today, 1200 - 1330 On the Water Park - 22 Mute Swan, 2 Cormorant, 6 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe. On Broad Ees Dole - 2 Lapwing, 1 Jay, 2 Gadwall, 6 Teal, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Grey Heron and good views of 1 Kingfisher. Also 1 medium Terrapin being chased by a Coot! Overhead 1 female Sparrowhawk displaying very high up. In Priory Gardens wood 1 Stock Dove looking for nest holes.
Note - The car park (and Rifle Road) at Jacksons Boat is now pay and display