Polish Black-headed Gull a couple of days ago. Ringed on 20th October 2014 at Stargard Szczecinski:ul, Portowa, Poland (ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE). Next seen on 17th & 22nd July 2017 at 's-Hertogenbosch: Brabanthallen, Netherlands (Noord-Brabant), then not again until at S.W.P.

Some best counts in last four days:

Great Crested Grebe -- 9.

Coot  -- 174

Shoveler  --  7

Jackdaw  --  1350, roost count into B.E.D.

Redwing  --  80, perhaps the Turn Moss flock moved across.

Siskin  --  At least 45

Lesser Redpoll  -- 15

Otherwise much as usual.

Apart from the Kittiwake and a Jack Snipe a very quiet start to the year. Some best counts in last few days:

Little Grebe    12 regularly.

Shoveler    Up to 11 at B.E.D. roost.

Teal    Up to 38 early in year, now just mid 20's.

Goosander    Very variable at the B.E.D. roost, but one count of 39 was my best ever.

Gadwall    Up to 57 early in year, but now under 40. Disturbance from boats increasing.

Coot    Counts varying between low of 151 and high of 163 as birds come and go.

Water Rail     1 flew across Teal pool.

Wood Pigeon   Another big movement early in year, this time to N., across broad front, Carrington - Northenden, c.2450 birds in an hour around sunrise.

Otherwise, 2 Willow Tits at the feeders, regular Kingfisher etc.

Although there has not been a swan death since 11th Dec., HPAI is still active at S.W.P. In the week before Christmas I found a dead drake Gadwall and a dead adult L. B.-b. Gull, both at the E. end of the lake. On 27th Dec. I noticed a Canada Goose with obvious symptoms, and found it dead the next day by the stone bridge. On 29th, another Canada Goose showed severe symptoms; it was still alive today, with neck bent right down along its back, gasping for breath, but still able to fly strongly. This symptom is often seen in Canada Geese, but not in swans. Also, the slipway by the boardwalk is again showing droppings characteristic of infected birds. A second wave of HPAI infection seems possible.

A dead drake Gadwall at the W. end of the lake today is a bird I saw with a broken wing two days ago, so a natural death of sorts; likely another power lines victim.

In the last ten days or so I have recorded 70 species on the S.W.P. - Chorlton W.P. - Chorlton Ees - Turn Moss circuit, so not too bad. A few things of interest:

Wood Pigeon   Large movement on one day early last week and one day early this week. Last week, birds began arriving about half an hour before sunrise, and continued moving until an hour after. Flocks descended over a wide area of S/SE Manchester; Chorlton, W. Didsbury, Withington, Platt Fields, Northenden areas, then dispersed or moved generally south. I watched from the riverbank at S.W.P. each time, and the two big movements plus very small ones on other days gave well over 3000 birds.

Redpoll   There is a pale bird with the small flock. I first saw it on Chorlton Ees a couple of weeks ago, then again last week at B.E.D. Trouble was, each time, I was looking straight up against the light into the top of a 40ft. tree. The undertail coverts appeared unstreaked, and each flank has a couple of strong streaks on a very pale background. Worth a look for perhaps.

The gull, presumably a Glaucous x Herring (or American Herring) hybrid, might still be around. Thought I saw it distantly last week heading for Turn Moss, but no sign when I got there.

Swans usually 38-41, 171 Coot a few days ago, still around 55-60 Gadwall, 13 Little Grebe if you have patience to wait for them all to be on the surface, very occasional Snipe, Woodcock and Water Rail, a Little Egret heading upriver, daily Kingfisher etc. Only 1300 Jackdaw at the roost recently; then a couple of nights ago I saw several hundred go to roost on Hardy Farm / Chorlton G.C., so these must be the missing B.E.D. birds.

Visits on recent days. Did another dawn to dusk today, S.W.P. & Chorlton Ees areas. Difficult at dawn, mist from lake freezing on my binocular lenses and my glasses.

No more swan deaths or signs of new HPAI infections. More swans are still arriving as smaller waters get iced up; 39 on lake today.

Gadwall 68 today.

Teal  Up to 10 scattered around lake / river. Saw one with green attachment on bill, but couldn't read code.

Shoveler  4 arrived yesterday.

Goldeneye  1 fem./imm. did a fly through yesterday.

Little Grebe   Still 12 on lake.

Coot  Slight decrease to 154 as their favourite feeding areas become frozen over.

Moorhen   Did another count:  16, lake + 3, B.E.D. + 18, river Jackson's Boat down to Metro / canal bridge. The B.E.D. birds have now moved; the Heron carcase now bare of anything eatable, as are the Canada Geese. Just 3-4 Magpies still hanging around in hope.

Common Snipe  Up to 5 around, by lake or river.

Woodcock   1 flew off Chorlton Ees and onto B.E.D. area this evening.

'Herring' Gull  A 1cy bird, very pale, bill pale with very well-defined black tip, tertials very pale and finely barred, likely some Glaucous genes in there somewhere.

Jackdaw  Only 1700 in to roost at dusk today.

Otherwise still two Kingfisher, up to 19 Long-tailed Tit, up to 10 Siskin, occasional Fieldfare over, but very little else.

Walked the river from Jackson's Boat bridge downstream to the Metro / canal bridges:  Canada Goose (12);  Mallard (55); Teal (2);  Goosander (1);  Grey Heron (1);  Moorhen (18);  Common Snipe (3);  B.-h. Gull (3);  Kingfisher (1);  Grey Wagtail (1).  A bit better than usual.

A few effects of the cold weather, but really not very exciting:

Gadwall increased from 47, then stable with most recent counts of 63, 66, 66, 63, highest I have had here.

Wigeon  A drake did a quick fly by last weekend, but did not stay

Goldeneye  One fem./imm. for one day. Only the second I have had this winter.

Great Crested Grebe   Increased from 3 to 6.

Little Grebe   Best recent count of 12 on lake + 1 on river.

Little Egret   One flew from upriver on 6th, past Jackson's Boat, and was on B.E.D. later, but gone by dawn next morning.

Grey Heron  One ad. freshly dead on B.E.D. at dawn today, cause unknown. Being scavenged by two Moorhen and half a dozen Magpies, which must welcome its demise as the pickings on the Canada Goose carcases have become very thin.

Coot  Early December count of 153 now increased to 165 yesterday and 164 today, the highest I have ever had here.

Moorhen   Did a count last weekend, getting 18 around lake area + 4 on B.E.D. + 14 on river from Jackson's Boat downriver to Metro / canal bridge.

Woodcock  1 over Rifle Rd. / Sale W. P. metro station this dusk.

Black-headed Gull  Small influx; 440 today.

L. B.-b. Gull  A few more than usual, best count 40.

Jackdaw   Roost of 1700 on B.E.D. early in month now increased to 2170. There is also a roost on Hardy Farm / Chorlton G.C.

Cetti's Warbler  Still there! Heard it today.

Otherwise just the usual 2 Willow Tit, 2 Kingfisher etc. etc.

Did a dawn to dusk today, nearly nine hours non-stop, Sale, Chorlton and Stretford side, hard work, but at least nice weather.

Now 31 swans dead / put down, last one died on 11th having first shown symptoms (along with mate) on 5th Dec. Mate had to be put down on 8th. Will give an update later, but no discernable new infection since 5th is a good sign.

After escaping from any obvious infection throughout the year, avian flu has finally reached S.W.P. I noticed one dead and one dying Canada Goose about ten days ago, then at dusk on Monday 21st Nov. I found a Mute Swan showing symptoms. At dawn next morning, this bird was close to death, so was put down. Four Canada Geese died during the next few days, as did a Mallard and a Gadwall (so now just 41). Yesterday evening, all the swans looked O.K., but at dawn this morning, we found one dead and one very sick, which we put down, and by late afternoon another dead and another which we needed to put down. Also, by then, a further three birds were showing symptoms and several others looking suspect. There have been 44 swans (37 birds 2cy+ and 7 cygnets) at S.W.P over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, nearly all are concentrated at the extreme E. end of the lake, partly because people throw bread at them there, but also because the male of a new young pairing has been strong enough to control the whole of the main body of the lake, even dominating the two males of the 2022 breeding pairs. So, a large death toll is expected. We are removing corpses, and birds beyond recovery; this may reduce transmission, also the site is very public.

If anyone sees a very sick or dead swan, a note here would be useful. I live just 6min. walk from the lake, so check early morning and evening, but sick birds are easy to miss. Swan 4DNZ can look a bit ill (probable obstruction to digestive / respiratory tracts), but has been for months and is improving. Cygnet 4FHY is just a weak bird, the only survivor of the late brood (12th June) of five on B.E.D., and often looks unwell, so ignore these two unless either is very bad.

We removed one dead Black-headed Gull from S.W.P. today, and in the morning I saw two on Turn Moss which looked unhealthy. A recent influx to the lake gave a count of 310 a couple of days ago.

Woodcock:  At least a dozen have been picked up in the Manchester general area in the last couple of weeks; many more than usual. Either higher numbers are arriving, or something is happening. Only a tiny number of these birds survive. However, one picked up in Salford today seemed fine, and we successfully released it at dusk on the Sale Ees section of S.W.P.

This afternoon -
Main lake .
Coot 30.
Gadwall 8.
Little grebe 1.
Tufted duck 4.
Kestrel 1.
Cormorant 2 on pylon.
Mute swan 20 (inc. 3 juveniles - 4FFA ,4FFC, 4FFD).

Broad ees dole .
Shoveler duck 6.
Gadwall 9.
Little grebe 1.
Teal 11.
Cettis warbler and Water rail not seen or heard.
Plus a dieing Grey Heron on an island near to the path on the Teal pool.

Cetti's Warbler singing from Broad Ees Dole at 11.30 this morning.

Two Redwings in blackthorn bushes on the riverbank this morning were my first of the season.

A surprisingly productive early visit, with two patch ticks for me: Cuckoo and Whinchat.

The Cuckoo (brown; presumably juv) was in the trees along the river behind Broad Ees Dole, but flew across the river into Chorlton Ees before I could get a photo. The Whinchat was also very active, but I managed to get a couple of distant record shots before it also flew over the river. (See photos attached.)

Apart from those highlights, fairly typical for the time of year. 

Water Rail creeping along the muddy reed edge on the Teal pond next to Broad Ees Dole this evening. Patch tick for me!

I must admit that LBH did briefly cross my mind, but juvenile Little Egret seemed far more likely. 

Interesting photo of little egret (presumably a juvenile).

There have been claims in the past of this plumage, with a pale bill with dark tip and pale legs, being a juvenile little blue heron. (Recorded in Ireland but not yet on the British list).