Short visit this afternoon. Visitor centre feeders- Lots of Blue and Great tits. Ring- necked parakeet - 4. Nuthatch - 2. Great spotted woodpecker - 1.
Inflo channel - Grey Heron - 1.
Main lake - Gadwall - 12. Tufted duck - 9. Little Grebe - 1. Great crested grebe - 5. Cormorant - 12 some showing white patches. Mute swan - 2 ( one with leg ring 4DHH). Yellow- legged gull - 1 .
Broad ees dole - Gadwall - 1. Tufted duck - 1. Goosander - 1. Little Grebe - 1. Water level high and almost up to the path at teal pool.
5 willow tits 1 coal tit Plenty of blue, great & long tailed tits Plenty of Robins Several dunnock 1 wren 2 nuthatch 1 ring-necked parakeet 1 chaffinch Teal down on the marsh Common buzzard over
Mid-afternoon wander round with Michelle and Lucas, more importantly, it was secretly Lucass first proper birding trip, and a fairly successful one for him too!
Of note... - probable adult Yellow-legged Gull on light post near car park (Wasnt great conditions, bit foggy over the lake but it looked good when it came nearer to the car park) - Lesser Black-backed Gull - Herring Gull - Black-headed Gull - Common Gull - Canada Goose - Mute Swan (see below...rings) - Great Crested Grebe - Gadwall - Mallard - Coot - Cormorant - Magpie - Woodpigeon - Robin - Great Tit - Blue Tit - Kestrel sat in tree above main path
3 Mute Swans at far showed their ring numbers. 1 adult 4CYS 2 well grown imms 40HH and 40HJ
15 mute swans 12 cormorants 5 great crested grebes 4 little grebes 33 gadwall 25 tufted duck 1 grey heron 1 kestrel lots of gulls including an adult yellow legged gull. several redwings around
feeders at the visitor centre... blue, great & coal tits 2 willow tits 1 great spotted woodpecker 1 nuthatch 1 chaffinch
21 mute swans 12 cormorants 2 little grebes 1 linnet flew over the lake calling, a new bird here for me 1 common buzzard 1 kestrel 1 sparrowhawk 2 grey herons 2 grey wagtails 1 pied wagtail 8 redwings 1 siskin with a flock of goldfinch. Several tit flocks around, each flock having goldcrests with them ,at least 13 goldcrests seen. 3 treecreeper 2 nuthatch 1 willow tit 2 great spotted woodpecker 2 jays 3 ring-necked parakeets
At the Dry Weir adjacent to the Mersey earlier this afternoon were a Kingfisher, Kestrel, Moorhen, Buzzard and a calling Chiffchaff. A flock of circa 30 Goldfinch were also in the area.
Canada Geese, Grey Herons, Mallards, Little Grebe.
From the hide, at the left end of the right-hand island, there appeared to be a dead Mute Swan. It was lying awkwardly and didn't move for the 15min I was there. I'd like to be proved wrong, but I suspect some scrotes have been using the hide as a shooting gallery again.
Teal Pool
Canada Geese, nesting Coots. On the shore to the left were two enormous terrapins.
Main lake: 2 lesser black backed gulls 1 herring gull 2 great crested grebe
Broad ees dole: 23 minimum sand martins 1 house martin at least 3 snipe 1 lapwing 11 gadwall 7 tufted ducks (5m,2f) 2 goosanders (2f) 2 little grebe 1 grey heron and I saw a duck through the willows to the left which my mind went to wood duck or manadarin duck but by the time I'd moved along the path to get a clear view there was no sign of any ducks in that area,. I'm fairly certain it wasn't any of the other duck species already seen and Stuart's post has given me confidence that it was a mandarin duck but I'm not counting it unless my early morning visit tomorrow turns it up.
Main lake: 6+ sand martins (6 seen together but probably more like 8) 7 great crested grebes 5 cormorants (3 on pylons) 1 male tufted ducks 16 gadwall 1 herring gull 1 lesser black backed gull 2 common gulls 50+ black headed gulls mute swans, coots, moorhens, canada geese, etc.
Sale ees: 2 sand martins over 1 reed bunting 2 greenfinch 1 bullfinch
Broad ees dole: 5 little grebe (2 very clumsily dropped in) 8 grey heron 2 teal (1m & 1f) 4 tufted ducks (3m & 1f) 9 goosander (1m, 1 first yr m & 7f) 16 gadwall
-- Edited by Joel Tragen on Friday 15th of March 2019 12:58:49 PM
Hour skywatching on sale ees from 8am, then on to the lake and dole. Then returned from 1:45 - 3 after I warmed up at home.
AM
Main lake: 6 great crested grebes, all in pairs 10 cormorants 29 mute swans 3 goosanders (1M,2F) 5 tufted ducks (3M,2F) 35 gadwall 7 common gulls 2 lesser black backed gulls 6 herring gulls + usual coots, mallards, etc.
Sale ees: 3 goosander (probably the same male & 2 females seen later on the later) & 1 cormorant towards lake 1 sparrowhawk, 1 buzzard & 6 grey heron over Ivy green woods 1 goldcrest & 2 long-tailed tits in hedge woodcock flew towards Ivy green from direction of lake
Broad ees dole: 9 grey heron 4 little grebe 1 teal (M) 1 grey wagtail 6 lesser redpoll & 1 treecreeper in front of hides 2 buzzard, 1 collared dove & 1 ring necked parakeet flew across
Teal pool: 1 little grebe 1 chiffchaff
PM
Broad ees dole: 11 grey heron 3 little grebe 2 goosander (2F)
Lovely few hours spent around here earlier, from around 10 - 2.30.
2 goldcrest 2 willow tit 2 treecreeper 1 nuthatch 7 siskin 6+ goldfinch 5 greenfinch (including display) 2 bullfinch 1 reed bunting 2 sand martin (my earliest record by a good 2 weeks) 2 or 3 grey wagtail c15 redwing 4 song thrush 1 kingfisher 6 moorhen 31 coot 47 gadwall 7 shoveler over 6 tufted duck 31 mute swan 1 great crested grebe 2 grey heron 137 (or thereabouts) black-headed gull 3 common gull 2 lesser black-backed gull 3 herring gull 6 cormorant 1 buzzard
Broad Ees Dole (both pools):
4 moorhen 4 teal 1 shoveler 3 little grebe 5 snipe 4 grey heron (including one, frog hanging out of its beak, being chased by another attempting to win its meal for itself)
An hour and half from 7.30 this AM - some bits of bird movement in the sunshine including 3 curlew, 1 Woodcock, 2 lapwing, 1 brambling, 2 redpoll and 2 reed bunting over. Snipe (7) on Teal Pool, kingfisher, 1 redwing, 1 singing chiffchaff, willow tit, 6 or so siskin.
Main lake: 44 gadwall 21 mute swan 7 cormorant 5 little grebe, one party of 3 on the lake side of teal pool 3 great crested grebe + usual gulls, coots, etc.
Broad ees dole: 8 shoveler (4m + 4f) 9 grey heron 1 little grebe
Main lake: 20 mute swans 5 tufted ducks (4m + 1f) 61 gadwall 2 goosander (2 redheads) 7 cormorants (6 on lake + 1 on pylons) 3 great crested grebes 1 little grebe 1 yellow legged gull 10 lesser black backed gull 3 herring gull + usual coots, moorhens, common gulls and black headed gulls (which there seemed to be more of than usual)
Feeders: 3 willow tits 2 nuthatch 2 chaffinch 1 dark buzzard which flew behind the feeders + usual tits, robins, dunnocks
Sale ees: 2 bullfinch (1m + 1f)
Broad ees dole: 2 snipe (over the channel, but close-in on the right bank) 1 grey heron
Teal pool: 4 snipe visible in the far right hand corner but suspect more would be visible through a scope
Midday with Phil Kelly, bumped into him at the feeders and ended up walking around together
Highlights:
Main Lake: 1 Female Goosander 3 Tufted Ducks (2 Male, 1 Female) 48 Gadwall 1 Little Grebe 1 Yellow-legged gull (thanks to Phil for pointing it out for me) 12 Mute swans (counted from the far end so might not be full count) Usual gulls, coots, moorhens, etc.
Broad Ees Dole: 6 Grey Heron (5 sat on islands, 1 flew over Teal pool) 15 Snipe (1 on island, 14 sat in the far right hand side of Teal pool!) 1 Buzzard 1 Little Grebe 8 Teal 60+ Siskin flock with about 10 Goldfinch and 3 or so Lesser Redpoll
Broad Ees Dole, mostly frozen over: 1 Grey heron 1 Kingfisher (briefly catching fish right outside the hide)
Main lake: 2 Great crested grebes 2 Cormorants + 3 on the pylons 1 female Goosander Gadwall and tufted ducks (didn't go out of my way to count but would estimate the numbers were less than what Steven had yesterday) Lesser black-backed, herring, black-headed and common gulls in usual numbers Still 2 dead mute swans submerged in the channel between the 2 rectangle islands and the shore
18 mute swan 5 cormorants 1 great crested grebe 1 little grebe 59 gadwall 11 tufted duck 2 ring-necked parakeet 1 sparrowhawk 1 kestrel 2 siskin with a flock of goldfinch 3 lesser redpoll 3 goldcrest 3 willow tit, 2 at the visitor centre feeders 3 nuthatch, 2 at the visitor centre feeders 1 chaffinch 2 bullfinch 2 jay 2 treecreeper the usual herring, lesser black backed, black headed & common gulls, no signs of the yellow-legged gull.
broad ees dole...
11 grey heron 5 teal 3 goosander & 1 on the river
4 buzzards flew over from sale golf course & headed over to chorlton ees.
yellow-legged gull showing well on the main lake, eventually disappeared around 12pm. 1 great black backed gull, at times pecking at the small bouys. herring gulls lesser black backed gulls black headed gulls common gulls 8 cormorants, 2 of them catching big eels but struggled to swallow them pair of goosander 64 gadwall 27 tufted duck 2 goldcrest
Late post for yesterday Thursday 17.01.19 Main Lake - Common gull - 15. Yellow legged Gull - 1. Gadwall - c40. Mute Swan - 12 including 4CJJ and 4CUI. Cormorant - 6 ( one with white breeding patch).