191224 Including a Carbon Landscape Winter Bird Count Barton Moss
6 Reed Bunting
4 Meadow Pipit
3 Snipe
1 Song Thrush
6 Common Gull
1 Stonechat
2 Bullfinch
....and yet another stark reminder with this year really putting in focus that our Birds are in many places Absent....and I don't mean temporarily....especially emphasised that after at least an half hour checking over a large area of 'farmed' fields that my sum total of birds was 1 Reed Bunting and 2 Meadow Pipit....
Little Woolden Moss NR, Little Woolden Moss and Chat Moss. 14th December 2024.
Marsh Harrier (1) Field 63, Stonechat (2) Field 20, Chiffchaff (1) Field 52, Redwing (12) Field 52, Brambling (1) in large Chaffinch flock with Greenfnch above 'Sunflower field' near Whitegate Farm, Kestrel (1) Field 17, Buzzard (1) Field 20, Rook (2) Field 52.
A wander down Moss Lane over the Glaze to the set aside where the farmer has planted flax.
There were at least 400 finches feeding on the seed,mainly Linnet and Chaffinch,couldn't find any Brambling amongst them unfortunately. The birds spend time perching in nearby trees where good views can be obtained.
On the surrounding fields several hundred Woodpigeon,about 100 Starling with a few Redwing mixed in with them,and a Kestrel hunting .
Approx 80 Pink Footed Geese flew west at midday.
Highlight of a late morning to mid afternoon visit was a male Merlin loitering with intent to take a finch for lunch. Unsuccessful while I was watching. A female/immature Kestrel was also interested but moved off before the Merlin did.
A covey of 10 nondescript Partridges in F 57 looked suspiciously similar to birds in a wooden coop on fields to the west and behaved like headless chickens when spooked by walker in a white coat. Freshly released for the Christmas shoot?
Otherwise.
Linnet, Greenfinch and Chaffinch in good numbers, also Goldfinch and 2 sightings of Bullfinch Blue, Great and Long-Tailed Tits, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Reed Bunting Several Blackbirds, 1 Mistle Thrush on Irlam Moss, 1 Fieldfare feeding on fallen apples. Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lapwing Magpie, Pied Wagtail, Pheasant.
Greenland White Fronted Geese - 3 Adults seen to cross the Glaze from Silver Lane and back into usual area at Lwm. It would be great if these could be posted daily if anyone sees them as I keep seeing them over Silver Lane and would like to know if I'm getting the same birds as it seems these birds must be present daily on lwm area but not posted, has people keep sending me that they are on birdguides etc . But this is the best place to post them surely? Pic attached of the birds this morning.
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 19th of November 2024 06:26:10 PM
New Moss Wood...this woodland was deemed to be the place where there would be a 10% Biodiversity gain by the Greater Manchester Spatial Planners in compensation for building on nearby Greenbelt Farmland...from today's and previous occasional visits I feel in my opinion that it could do with a 90% biodiversity gain of its own....
Took my lads to see the geese today and ended up doing a full circuit Little Woolden Moss and along the Glaze.
10 Greenland White Fronted Geese in field 56 (we didn't use the path to North of that field!!) - GM Lifer
Large mixed flock of chaffinch, linnet, reed bunting, AN Others. Hard to spend time trying to identify them with a 3 year old!
A large 100+ flock of skylark on fields just off Moss Lane going towards Glaze Brook
Also a few fieldfare and redwing knocking about.
Distant skien of 80+ Pink Footed Geese heading Eastish
Trustingly left my lads pushchair next to the gates of the reserve and am happy to say it was still there on our return!
-- Edited by Rick Hall on Saturday 9th of November 2024 08:49:28 PM
Hi Rick, it was me and Chris Chandler that saw you at the reserve entrance, we should have introduced ourselves.
Not many birds around at the east end but we had a distant Merlin near the western pools tussling with an immature Marsh Harrier as well as great views of the White-fronted Geese from the northern perimeter path. A guy came through on a pushbike and the geese didn't flush as we expected, but scuttled away on the ground in amusing fashion. They were a GM tick for us too
The 10 White Fronted geese still present in the usual field at 3pm today although they were not too happy with a few observers who were trying to get better pictures/views by walking along the northern edge of the fiepd. There is absolutely no need to use the path north from the reserve to watch these birds. A single Pink footed goose flew north then back south and looked to land on the reserve pools
The ten Greenland White-fronted Geese still present around Little Woolden Moss this morning. Were on field 56 at 10am then moved slightly west before being flushed by a tractor and appeared to land around the west pools on Little Woolden Moss LWTNR
Possible Ring Ousel F in the central area of f42 -seen briefly on the ground with a Mistle Thrush feeding nearby, then flew to the lone hawthorn in the field division on Astley Road side but couldn't be relocated.
Single Fieldfare flew from f17 across Twelve Yards Road into trees along f18, then later NE towards 61
C 200 corvids, mostly Jackdaws with a few Carrion Crows in NE corner of f14, with a flock of Feral Pigeons, c 20 Starlings and minimum 6 Linnets, but very flighty, possibly because of the slowly advancing detectorists and gradually departed south onto Irlam Moss f12 and beyond. Also at least 1 Skylark (singing) in the field.
Mr Tymon's Raven south from f56 over LWTNR
On/around the Nature Reserve Kestrel 2 F/imm along the eastern tree line. Bullfinch 1 heard and flight view silhouette along the track heading to the west end Black-headed Gull 10 west end pools Mute Swan 1 immature ditto 13.50 but flew towards the Glaze around 14.05 (maybe flushed by the smelly model plane!) Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Wren, Robin, Carrion Crows, Wood Pigeon.
Skylark 1 singing over fields to west on the nature reserve
Collared Dove 10, in pairs f39 between Little Haven and Birch Tree Farm, Pied Wagtail.
Common Gull c200, 1 Common Buzzard 3 male Pheasants f30/34
1 Merlin...Male Perched (for at least three quarters of an hour) betwixt 2 Birch trees and scanning constantly for prey which may elude him as day on day the 'day to day' birds thin out to nought it appears to me...oh how our birdlife is on the edge....and the UK countryside and its insecticide drenched 'Farmland' shun the needs of the wild...
The 10 Greenland White-Fronted Geese still present in same field North of Little Wooldon Moss at 13.30 today ,although they were spooked 3 times by various fly over planes etc they soon returned to the same area .
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Wednesday 6th of November 2024 03:38:26 PM