051223

Irlam Moss

4 Grey Partridge

600 Starling

60 Black-Headed Gull

60 Pink-Footed Geese Flying West 0835

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

16 Pink-Footed Geese...Flying east @ 0910

4 Snipe

2 Lesser Redpoll

64 Pink-Footed Geese Flying East @ 0938

12 Pink-Footed Geese Flying East @ 0946

8 Reed Bunting

1 Peregrine Falcon....Male

Little Woolden Moss

64 Skylark

200 Starling

031223

Irlam Moss

11 Skylark

2 Kestrel

320 Starling

160 Black-Headed Gull

5 Mistle Thrush

7 Grey Partridge

55 Lapwing

Chat Moss

70 Stock Dove

9 Grey Partridge

25 Reed Bunting

12 Yellowhammer

16 Linnet

2 Song Thrush

Little Woolden Moss

120 Reed Bunting

25 Yellowhammer

9 Corn Bunting

Little Woolden Moss NR - pm

1 Black Grouse male seen in flight again
3 Buzzard
42 Fieldfare over

Saturday 2nd December 11:30 - 15:00 hrs.

Walk from East of Little Woolden Moss NR - along River Glaze - right at Moss Lane - past Whitegate Farm and Red House Farms - through North Gate of Little Woolden Moss NR - and return by path anti-clockwise around reserve.

Nice to meet and have chat with Steve Atkins and Zoe.

Lapwing (100 plus)
Teal (20)
Reed Bunting (5)
Fieldfare (15)
Yellowhammer (2)
Brambling (1) - first of the autumn for me!
Greenfinch (3)
Chaffinch (50)
Snipe (2) flushed from fields as I walked past.
Tree Sparrow (1)
House Sparrow (10)
Grey Heron (1)
Dunnock (2)
Long Tailed Tit (2)
Linnet (30)
Buzzard (1)
Kestrel (2)
Canada Geese (75)

Irlam and Chat Mosses - am

6 Corn Bunting
1 Water Rail flew from a ditch
1 Marsh Harrier - female
250+ Skylark
60+ Yellowhammer
100+ Reed Bunting
60+ Chaffinch
2 Stonechat
13 Lesser Redpoll
c110 Pink-footed Geese over west (c65 + c45)
3 Snipe
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker - on telegraph pole
4 Kestrel - 1 eating a vole
1 Sparrowhawk-a large female
12 Meadow Pipit
c160 Jackdaw
c80 Stock Dove
6 Bullfinch
5 Goldcrest
12 Redwing
3 Song Thrush
1 Coot - heard from fishery
4 Herring Gull over east
5 Great Black-backed Gull over west
21 Lapwing over east

-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Sunday 3rd of December 2023 12:23:53 AM

281123

Little Woolden Moss

165 Linnet

25 Reed Bunting

2 Whooper Swan Flying South @ 1017

14 Meadow Pipit

1 Siskin

1 Sparrowhawk...Male

1 Brambling

55 Greenfinch

70 Chaffinch

1 Yellowhammer

18 Great Black-Backed Gull Flying North

270 Skylark

2 Buzzard...1 seemingly sunbathing...

Chat Moss

2 Stonechat

 

251123

Barton Moss

Chat Moss

5 Fieldfare

16 Starling

150 Linnet

10 Stock Dove

3 Snipe

11 Skylark

2 Woodcock

1 Sparrowhawk...Female 

1 Treecreeper

2 Goldcrest

2 Stonechat...Pair

1 Yellowhammer

2 Raven

 

 

231123

Chat Moss

9 Meadow Pipit

23 Reed Bunting

12 Yellowhammer

90 Stock Dove

1 Woodcock

3 Snipe

 

24/11/2023 Highlights of a circuit from Irlam Station

Cadishead Moss:
Common Buzzard made an unsuccessful ground level attack on a distant group of winter thrushes. Closer in another group consisted mostly of Redwing (8) with 2 Fieldfare and 3 male Blackbirds. Also Lapwing, Common & Black-headed Gulls, Starlings, & 2 Mistle Thrush.

LWMLWTR:
2 Whooper Swan on the eastern end pools - back left pool from the viewpoint where the path turns towards the Glaze. Told about them by another birder/photographer when I arrived around noon and still there at 12.37 as I turned back. Also 3 Fieldfares in trees along the path.

Little Woolden Moss:
2 Stonechat
1 male Brambling (at least) in among the Greenfinch flock on the set-aside crop. Very flighty, possibly because of the presence of 1 of 2 Buzzards up over the moss which was perched in trees behind. A female Sparrowhawk over didn't help either.

Irlam Moss:
One field had 2 Mistle Thrush, 5 male Pheasant, 7 Red-legged Partridge and 5 Grey Partridge. (More Partridges than we saw in two weekends in Norfolk!) Pink-footed Geese c200 SW- NE towards Croxton's at 3 p.m.

211123

Chat Moss

2 Whooper Swan Flying West @ 0840

Irlam Moss

140 Lapwing

60 Starling

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

2 Lesser Redpoll

8 Reed Bunting

16 Meadow Pipit

5 Snipe

8 Great Black-Backed Gull Flying North

300 Black-Headed Gull

Little Woolden Moss

3 Stonechat

75 Linnet

1 Male Sparrowhawk

160 Skylark

190 Starling

500 Jackdaw

191123...Rain (heavy at times) throughout!

Irlam Moss

7 Grey Partridge

2 Mute Swan...Flying West

36 Meadow Pipit

120 Black-Headed Gull

4 Snipe

35 Pied Wagtail

7 Skylark

2 Stonechat...Pair

350 Starling

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

68 Black-Headed Gull

6 Snipe

 

Little Woolden Moss NR - late am. Very wet

1 Merlin - female sat on a fence post

171123

Chat Moss

100 Chaffinch

2 Little Egret

6 Snipe

1 Marsh Harrier

1 Brambling

1 Water Rail

1 Lesser Redpoll

27 Reed Bunting

2 Willow Tit

3 Teal

45 Linnet

2 Woodcock

3 Yellowhammer

44 Mallard

 

 

151123 

Irlam Moss

4 Great Black-Backed Gull

250 Black-Headed Gull

2 Kestrel

2 Siskin

15 Meadow Pipit

1 Raven

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

5 Whooper Swan came from East...landed briefly on Eastern pool then took of heading Southeast

7 Snipe

2 Woodcock

1 Grey wagtail

1 Golden Plover flying South @ 1216

9 linnet

A single Corn Bunting on wires nr the Glaze ,2 different Marsh Harriers hunting over Little Woolden Moss,Buzzard and a couple of Kestrel in the general area. 2 Stonechat in the set aside in the field south of the access road,a few Meadow Pipit and Stock Doves in the field as well.
5 skeins of Pink-footed geese over ,2 going east and 3 going south,about 500 geese in total.

Afternoon stroll 2:20pm - 5:00pm with alternating sunny spells and filthy weather at quarter hour intervals. Highlights: 100+ black-headed gulls on field by Roscoe Road; three coveys of grey partridges on Irlam Moss, ten, thirteen and four birds in each; a female type marsh harrier by Four Lanes End (apologies to the birders watching this as I crunched on the gravel walking by), also a flyover great black-back here; possibly the same harrier on Little Woolden Moss, also a flyover buzzard being mobbed by meadow pipits; perhaps the same buzzard in the woods by the Glaze at twilight. There was a steady stream of small flocks of fieldfare, none more than a dozen birds, flying into the woods by the motorway. I've been having no luck whatever with yellowhammers on these mosses all year and today was no exception.

111123 am

Irlam Moss

22 Rook...an uncommon bird these days on the moss in my experience...mind you for the time put in covering as much of the moss as possible to try and gain an overall

'picture' of the fortunes of our farmland birds over time I can say with some feeling that these aching joints of mine find little balm for their effort as my records 

emphatically show that 'most' of our birds away from some reserves and honeypot areas are to say the least 'uncommon'....and increasingly so I'm afraid....

12 Stock Dove

1 Sparrowhawk...Male

5 Skylark

9 Chaffinch

2 Yellowhammer

62 Jackdaw

Chat Moss

11 Chaffinch

2 Grey Partridge

2 Yellowhammer

1 Sparrowhawk...Female

6 Fieldfare

1 Stonechat...Male

2 Redwing

2 Goldcrest

2 Buzzard

1 Mistle Thrush being harassed by a male Chaffinch...my 'take' on this was the Chaffinch was whizzed off with all the fuss and noise the Mistle Thrush was making in

trying to defend its larder of Holly Berries from the hungry Fieldfare/Redwing

10 Linnet

 

101123 am

Chat Moss

26 Skylark

21 Reed Bunting

8 Yellowhammer

1 Lesser Redpoll

1 Kestrel chased by 13 Jackdaw

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

6 Snipe

2 Peregrine having an Arial tussle...both chased off south.

Late pm walk Raven to L Woolden Moss & back

1 Buzzard

1 Marsh Harrier (cream-crown, prob near-ad fem) with no tags or jewellery

Pair Kestrel in conifers just before polytubes

2+ Brambling by entrance to White Gate Farm (nice setaside & planted sunflowers)

150+ Linnet

15 Grey Partridge, 4 still in their cage in the fields

250+ Pink-footed Geese (flocks 180, 45, 35) some flew E then all ended up flying W

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 11th of November 2023 06:31:15 PM

071123 am

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

8 Snipe

1 Green Sandpiper

120 Fieldfare

4 Redwing

7 Meadow Pipit

1 Lesser Redpoll

11 Wren

5 Reed Bunting

 

051123 am

Irlam Moss

20 Fieldfare

48 Lapwing

240 Starling

Chat Moss

1 Marsh Harrier hunting FN62

2 Tree Sparrow

2 Siskin

1 Woodcock

18 Lesser Redpoll

67 Jackdaw

15 Skylark

19 Meadow Pipit

19 Fieldfare

4 Snipe

1 Yellowhammer

1 Sparrowhawk...Male

1 Buzzard attacked by 4 Carrion Crow

 

031123 am

Irlam Moss

7 Grey Partridge

3 Snipe

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

7 Lesser Redpoll

7 Reed Bunting

1 Great Black-Backed Gull on East Pool

5 Snipe

1 Raven @ 1214

12 Skylark

 

011123 am

Irlam Moss

1 Buzzard

1 Kestrel.

Chat Moss

2 Marsh Harrier

1 Buzzard

40 Jackdaw

Little Woolden Moss LWTNR

4 Lesser Redpoll

8 Reed  bunting

1 Marsh Harrier which drifted north @ 0830

36 Meadow Pipit

4 Siskin

2 Marsh Harrier Hunting @ 0856

16 Skylark

7 Snipe

12 Fieldfare

Little Woolden Moss

12 Stock Dove

55 Skylark

150 Fieldfare

3 Buzzard

24 Starling.

 

 

A wander down Moss Lane from River Glaze nr Raven Inn to the sunflower set a side was worthwhile. Good numbers of finches etc feeding on the sunflowers with several Brambling,Tree Sparrows, good numbers of Greenfinch and Chaffinch plus a single Reed Bunting and Blue and Great Tits.
At least 100 Redwing in the area but only 3 Fieldfare,and singles of Kestrel and a Peid Wagtail on roof of barn.