Only a couple of Bramblings left this afternoon (a pal of mine saw 12 there this am) Also an immature Marsh Harrier over,heading towards the SSSI 3 Buzzards up together and a Swallow feeding over the treetops.
1 Whitethroat singing 20+ Willow Warbler 5 Chiffchaff 7 Blackcap 2 Coot - pair - not a common bird on the mosses 2 Moorhen 2 Little Grebe - one seen collecting nesting material 1 Little Egret 1 Curlew in display flight 1 Oystercatcher 2 Gadwall - pair 2 Swallow 2 Sparrowhawk - pair in display flight 1 Raven over
.And worryingly still no sign of any Willow Tit in 2024
-- Edited by Steven Nelson on Saturday 13th of April 2024 12:32:11 PM
Chat Moss....ahh the further joy of having two large (Greyhound Type) Dogs chasing through an area which once had no such regular (now daily) disturbance...then again it's ONLY an area that hosts ground nesting birds....
1 Yellowhammer
4 Lapwing in Display
1 Lapwing on nest
400 Woodpigeon
3 Teal
2 Lesser Redpoll
22 Willow Warbler in song
1 Curlew hoping to nest where dogs rule...yeah right...and we wonder why such as Curlew are on the Red Data List....
Little Woolden Moss LWTNR Thursday 11th afternoon until the rain got bad...
Western end first:
Mallard, Teal, Gadwall & Canada Geese on the Glaze (from the bridge)
Sand Martin & Swallows above the river and around
Redshank on the big "puddles" in the field above the Glaze and several also flying about and landing on the "puddle" in the field beyond the western end
1 Oystercatcher
1 Chiffchaff - I didn't see this one
Willow Warbler - lots, I saw some of these
5 Lapwing on the field
Mallard duck with 12 or 13 ducklings - bit difficult to count
1 Snipe - which of course I only saw after it had flushed
Then from the Eastern end - walked most of the southern boundary path and back:
Sparrowhawk - as I drove round, soaring above Glazebrook "village", actually I'd seen 2 soaring above the East Lancs on the way there
Somebody photographing something from the far side of the field next to the track to the Eastern end parking spot - they should have some great photos unless they're totally incompetent
Chiffchaff - in 3 different places - saw 2 of them - so that was 4 overall
Willow Warbler - lots more, again I saw some of these but from the amount singing there must be at least 10 for every Chiffchaff
Curlew - several, lots of calling and flying about - is the bit where they almost stall a display flight?
Gadwall - 2 pairs
Teal - 1 pair
Shoveler - 5, a pair and 3 other males, at one point the male from the pair was getting really aggressive with one of the other males
Tufted Duck - 1 pair
Lapwing - several
Greylag Goose - 2 flying W, landed somewhere in the Western pools
And of course several Mallard, Canada Geese, Crows, etc
I've never seen the water level so high, the ditch next to the track to the Eastern end parking spot was almost overflowing. The rain means that there's loads of water in most of the fields and a lot of birds will be on these "puddles" rather than in the more normal wet spots.
I'd forgotten how uplifting it is to have singing Willow Warblers all around, enhanced by the Curlews calling.
62 Lapwing....possibly last vestiges of hope for these birds in the breeding season on Chat Moss South of the Manchester Liverpool Railway Line now that most of the Farming Activities have ceased/virtually ceased on much of a Farmed Landscape (to the east of this Farmland) that in only recent times could 'boast' of hosting a good population of these birds in the breeding season especially when it had more wildlife friendly Spring Sowing (might have offered less money making yields---BUT was MORE THAN compensated for in its wildlife 'value' (sadly only monetary value is the order of the day on farmland these days)...Admittedly Farmers aren't Charities but surely if LWM can do it....????
35 Linnet
1 Curlew in Display
1 Stock Dove Nest
6 House Sparrow...extremely worrying decline in the space of a few months as this Farmstead usually had a large population of these birds...Habitat/Owners Feeders as full as ever...????????
20 Lapwings, a singing Skylark and two Grey Partridges off Moss Lane.
Around Astley Moss itself, Marsh Harrier, single Grey Partridge, singing Willow Tit, two Siskin, a flock of 50+ Chaffinches, one Curlew, 12 Stock Doves (one flock), two singing Skylarks.
2 White Wagtails with 3 Pied Wagtails 1 Wigeon - male 2 Tufted Duck - pair 1 Marsh Harrier - female trying to catch a Mallard but gave up. 1 Sparrowhawk