i had a quick look round at 7am and couldn,t find the ringed plovers but the lapwing and skylark must be in for shock i,ll have a look from the war musem in the morning to see if the plovers have adopted the match day car park.
2 wheatear 6 lapwing 6 skylark 2 ringed plover 2 blackbird 2 mistle thrush 2 dunnock 1 wren 6 swallow 4 swift 1 falconer and terrier (must be 24/7 now) and usual water fowl on river. i,ve been told the site is being fenced off on monday and the bulldozers are coming,so i,ll have to find somwhere else to watch.It will be interesting to see if the birds come back and adapt to the new landscape??
james ,falconer present at 7am wednesday was chatting to him and he asked me to wear an hi,vis vest next time i visit (almost an invitation) i saw both wheatear and 6 skylarks in addition to your list
15/05 - 1800hrs 1 Ringed Plover viewed on the area, with a couple of Lapwing. Viewed from the War Museum Car Park so views restricted. 1 Ringed Plover on the Bronnington Car Park.
I had a quick look at the site after work today at 12.45pm and was surprised to see 2 R Plovers within 15m of a Harris hawk which the falconer had placed close to the ground about 5m from his vechicle. The plovers hardly moved at all and kept well down in the grass.A pair of Wheatears flew across the site and landed near the dry dock.
nick,i had quick walk round this morning at more or less the same time and had three ringed on my side four lapwing,s 2 wheatear and i can still hear the skylark,s singing ,hopefully they will all move over when work starts. cheers geoff
The two Ringed Plover (and at least one Lapwing) have moved over the canal to the Bronnington Car Park. They were there last night at 6pm and this morning at 7.30am. This site has potential for them to breed. The car park, as far as I know, does not get busy except when Man U are at home. There is only one game left, West Ham on the 13/05 so if they do not get disturbed then it will be promising. Best viewed thru the fence from the War Museum Car Park (when the gate keeper isn't there !!).
Geoff, I had a quick look near the lock but I did not see any Wheatears ,the Lapwings could have been defending a possible nest site so I will have another look tomorrow after work.
early morning visit to site revealed a treat,present were
6 lapwing 4 wood pigeon 2 skylark 1 heron 2 mistle thush 2 swift 2 swallow 4 ringed plover 2 mute swan 2 canada 6 wheatear ,the wheatear were bobbing around the site and 6 was my best grouping could have been a few more
There was an article in The Times on saturday on how work was stopped on an housing developement in Yorkshire because Lapwings were nesting on the site. If the law is being enforced there, why isn't being enforced here? Bringing falconer's in sounds a bit underhand to me.
He was still there at 2.15pm this afternoon while sitting in his vehicle watching me for the 45mins I was watching him.
I could not find any plovers at all and only present were
3 Skylarks 4 Canada geese 2 pair of Mistle Thrushes, 1 pair with 2 young. 1 Lapwing that did not settle but just flew around the site for 15mins. 4 Swallows over.
Please note that I have just placed some important information regarding this falconer (and others like him) on the 'County Notice Board' page of the main website that may assist observers there
Will anybody who can prove nesting by any of the birds at North Wharf (especially Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Skylark) + any sightings at all of Little Ringed Plover (look for yellow eye rings to distinguish from Ringed Plover) let me know a.s.a.p as there may be legal implications with this falconer? Cheers.
__________________
Judith Smith
__________________________________
Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
sat/14/04/07 07.00 a quiet walk around site only noticed new pins in field and spray paint instructions for ground workers,none the less birds seem very calm and afforded candid views at 3m or less 6 lapwing 6 skylark 2 moorhen 4 woodpigeon 7 ringed plover 2 coot 4 cormorants 1 heron 1 kingfisher 2 mute swan 6 starling 1 robin 2 blackbird 4 greenfinch 1 lesser bb gull it,s a shame it will change when work starts but let,s see what stays cheers geoff
From the war museum car park on the waste ground (bbc site) I saw a 4x4 vehicle with NBC on it and an email address on it . this is a bird pest control company http://www.birdsolutions.co.uk Does anybody know why they were there ?
