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BACK TO THE MANCHESTER BIRDING WEBSITE HOMEPAGE -> Manchester Birding Forum -> Cheshire and The Wirral -> Houghton Green Pool
Post Info TOPIC: Houghton Green Pool
DavidBowman


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RE: Houghton Green Flash
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Hi John. When I spoke to the gardener about the piece of wood across the entrance he said it had been put there by the travellers when they released the horses there. The owner has asked him to rebuild a proper style and apparently has no problem with birders going onto the site, which is good news. The new owner of the house is keen to buy the Pool and keep it as it is but needs to raise £100,000 for it. I'm going to try to meet him and talk to him about possible fund raising to try and turn it into a protected reserve - might not happen but its worth a try.

Cheers David

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DavidBowman


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Despite the 10 horses roaming around there were still some good birds present at mid-day today : 3 Black-necked Grebes, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 White Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails and 1 Reed Bunting.

Spoke to the gardener at the "big house" who said that the new owner was speaking to the police about getting the horses shifted - they apparently belong to a group of travellers.

Cheers David

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JOHN TYMON


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DavidBowman wrote:

Despite the 10 horses roaming around there were still some good birds present at mid-day today : 3 Black-necked Grebes, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 5 White Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails and 1 Reed Bunting.

Spoke to the gardener at the "big house" who said that the new owner was speaking to the police about getting the horses shifted - they apparently belong to a group of travellers.

Cheers David




Looks like the small entrance at the top end has been blocked as well, someone has removed the style and replace it with a nailed board, so it also seems the new owner does not want people using that entrance any more cry as it was always only the owners entrance to the pool, and not a public right of way .
3 black necked grebe still present at 4.15pm

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 19th of April 2013 05:56:21 PM

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Austin Morley


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I took another trip this morning down here and saw the Common Sands only two though along with one Little Ring Plover and TWO Sandwich Tern I took some pictures and wrote a new update on my Blog please check it out guys

http://austinmorley.blogspot.co.uk/

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DavidBowman


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An hour's visit this tea-time and found the following: 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Common Sandpipers, 4 Redshanks and 5 White Wagtails.

Cheers David

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JOHN TYMON


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Austin Morley wrote:

I took another trip this morning down here and saw the Common Sands only two though along with one Little Ring Plover and TWO Sandwich Tern I took some pictures and wrote a new update on my Blog please check it out guys

John Tymon Wrote

Sandwich tern is a mega for the pool, I have only seen 2 in the best part of 15 years, good record for the pool that :)



-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Tuesday 16th of April 2013 08:22:19 PM

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Kev123


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I tried to visit Houghton Green Flash for the first time today but found it inaccessible. Can you tell me where is the best place to park and how to access the site. Thank you. My email address is: kevnewns@yahoo.co.uk Thank you in advance.

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DavidBowman


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A quick stop at 1.30 pm, on my way back from Woolston. Found 2 Black-necked Grebes, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Sand Martins, 3 White Wagtails, 5 Pied Wagtails, 1 Redshank, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 11 Tufted Duck, 9 Mallard and 7 Coot .

Cheers David

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DavidBowman


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With the change in the weather, nipped down to the pool at 4.00 pm. Two Swallows flew through and 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank, 17 Lapwings, 7 Pied Wagtails and a Wigeon were also present.

Cheers David

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Lawrence Hindley


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All birds seen between 3.30 and 4.00pm

2 Little Ringed Plover
4 Lapwing
3 Stock dove
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Wigeon
1 Cormorant
4 Tufted Duck
2 Great Crested Grebe



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L Hindley
Brian Burnett


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Two Little-ringed Plovers, one Black-necked Grebe plus small Wigeon flock in the sunshine around 2:30 pm

Brian & Helen Burnett

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Austin Morley


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I went up around 14.00 and there was still no sign of any BN Grebes but there were a few GC Grebes, 1 Redshank and 4 LR Plover, I will put my pictures of the Plover up on my Blog as soon as I can, Cheers

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JOHN TYMON


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only things of note pm
widgeon-25
2 redshank
no signs of any black necked grebe or little ringed plover-my guess the plover are over at penny and the grebes have gone to Woolston
smile

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Patrick Earith


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Now 3 Black-necked Grebes present here this morning. Also, a single Redshank and a Buzzard over

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KEV BROWN


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Dusk:
1 Stunning Black Necked Grebe
1 Little Ringed Plover
1 Sparrowhawk

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DavidBowman


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Quieter this morning, though still with 1 Black-necked Grebe present, along with 1 Redshank, 23 Wigeon, 9 Common Gulls and 72 Black-headed Gulls.

Cheers David

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Mike Baron


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Black-necked Grebe this morning plus three Little Ringed Plovers and two Ringed Plovers plus twenty five Wigeon and twenty two Stock Doves

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DavidBowman


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Hi John, despite the dog walkers tramping round the edge of the pool, there were still 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Ringed Plover, 2 Redshanks and 20 Wigeon this afternoon.

Cheers David

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JOHN TYMON


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21 Widgeon at 4pm
2 redshank
5 Great crested Grebe
10 common gulls
smile

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 30th of March 2013 06:12:14 PM

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JOHN TYMON


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late pm -Quick Call in
5 Little Ringed plover
2 Ringed Plover
21 Wigeon

Anyone visiting the pool-be careful ,there have been quite a few groups of dodgy looking people hanging about in the woods on the north bank-better to just stay near the car and scope the pool, better safe than sorry. :) The pool is at its lowest ever water wise,they are extracting too much water and I fear that there will be no pool left in 12 months time disbelief

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 29th of March 2013 05:32:07 PM

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Mike Baron


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Two Little Ringed Plovers this morning

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JOHN TYMON


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Mike Baron wrote:

Two Ringed Plovers, two Oystercatchers, three Great Crested Grebes, nineteen Wigeon and nineteen Linnets this morning




plus 2 redshank pm and the widgeon were up to 21
s

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Mike Baron


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Two Ringed Plovers, two Oystercatchers, three Great Crested Grebes, nineteen Wigeon and nineteen Linnets this morning

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DavidBowman


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Called in briefly on my way back from Woolston Eyes. Still 1 Redshank present, along with 3 Oystercatchers, 23 Wigeon, 1 Grey Wagtail, 6 Common Gulls and 3 Siskins.

Cheers David

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DavidBowman


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Went down after the rain today, hoping for a wader or two. One Redshank, 2 Oystercatchers and 5 Lapwings were feeding actively, along with 17 Wigeon, 1 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 22 Mallards, 2 Pied Wagtails and 11 Coot. In the hedgerows, 13 Linnets, 3 Redwings, 1 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrushes were with a few Chaffinches and Greenfinches.

Cheers David

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JOHN TYMON


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16 wigeon only thing of note this afternoon

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JOHN TYMON


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Pete Astles wrote:

Had a walk round here today in the afternoon. As John described just a few mallard and the odd tufted duck and gulls.

Absolutely terrible



This to me Just shows how quickly a fantastic site can deteriorate ,by just allowing dogwalkers to walk around and upsetting the eco system by extracting the water and to me its been on decline since it was filled with hundreds of fish about 10 years ago,that were just allowed to grow,when orriginally the thought was for it to become a trout fishery,its a shadow of the place I had to myself in the 1990's At this time of year there would have been 100+ wigeon,200 coot,100+ tufted,100 pochard,30 great crested grebe,up to 30 little grebe,+ the odd rarity like smew etc.The other day there was 8 Mallar

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Pete Astles


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Had a walk round here today in the afternoon. As John described just a few mallard and the odd tufted duck and gulls.

Absolutely terrible

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JOHN TYMON


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AM
Almost bereft of birds-never seen it like this in february,there used to be in the region of 500 waterfowl/coots etc of various species at this time of year brfore the water was started being extracted by the water board.
Wigeon-12
large group of fishermen on the south bank,obviously ignoring the no fishing signs
even worse today-no wigeon

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 24th of February 2013 04:02:04 PM

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DavidBowman


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Houghton Green Pool was fairly quiet this afternoon, with 1 Oystercatcher, 330 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 Common Gulls, 5 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel and 20 Wigeon along with the usual odds and ends.

Cheers David



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Mike Baron


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Adult Mediterranean Gull this afternoon

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JOHN TYMON


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this morning
33 Pochard
66 Wigeon
Plus the usuals :)

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DavidBowman


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Made a quick stop at 1.00 pm, on my way back from Woolston Eyes. Totals included: 61 Wigeon, 153 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Common Gulls, 24 Lapwings, 10 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Pied Wagtail, 13 Pochard, 6 Great Crested Grebes and 1 Teal.

Cheers David

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Ian Coote


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JOHN TYMON wrote:


Its interesting looking back how the population has declined at the pool,since the water has been extracted, at the similar period in 2007 there were 172 Wigeon, 100+Coot,and in the years previous to that 200 wigeon was not unusual,and 200 coot was also not unusual,so how coot have declined at the pool over the years



I think Coot numbers are dropping generally, they has been a definite decline during my WeBS counts.

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DavidBowman


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Hi John, I'm sure you're right. Even in the two years I've been living in Winwick and visiting the pool I've seen a negative change. The smaller water area seems to make the birds jumpier and more easily disturbed. It's a shame that it hasn't been given some real protection. If it gets sold, you do wonder what the future holds

Cheers David

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JOHN TYMON


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DavidBowman wrote:

Quick scan at lunchtime today produced: 63 Wigeon, 18 Pochard, 1 Teal, 36 Mallard, 75 Black-headed Gulls, 5 Common Gulls, 6 Lapwings, 1 Kestrel, 5 Coot, 27 tufted Ducks and a couple of over-flying Fieldfares.

Cheers David



Its interesting looking back how the population has declined at the pool,since the water has been extracted, at the similar period in 2007 there were 172 Wigeon, 100+Coot,and in the years previous to that 200 wigeon was not unusual,and 200 coot was also not unusual,so how coot have declined at the pool over the years

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DavidBowman


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Quick scan at lunchtime today produced: 63 Wigeon, 18 Pochard, 1 Teal, 36 Mallard, 75 Black-headed Gulls, 5 Common Gulls, 6 Lapwings, 1 Kestrel, 5 Coot, 27 tufted Ducks and a couple of over-flying Fieldfares.

Cheers David

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Andy Isherwood


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Quick look yesterday c.1.30ish found
Pair of goldeneye
Around 150 bathing black headed gulls
58 wigeon
11 tufted duck
18 pochard
And 2 buzzard showing very well in stubble field on other side of road to flash


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Mike Baron


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Drake Goosander today

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JOHN TYMON


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PM
of note
21 Pochard
66 Wigeon


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JOHN TYMON


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JOHN TYMON wrote:

AM of note
Wigeon -72
plus the usuals



same as today

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JOHN TYMON


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AM of note
Wigeon -72
plus the usuals

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JOHN TYMON


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PM
Wigeon-56 (numbers starting to build up at last )
Mallard-68
Tufted Duck-28
Pochard-12
Teal-2
plus the usuals

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JOHN TYMON


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37 wigeon-this morning



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JOHN TYMON


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Late PM
Wigeon-11
Little Grebe-2
Common Buzzard-2


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JOHN TYMON


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sat 13th pm
Wigeon-14
Cormorant-8
Great Crested Grebe-18
Little Grebe-3
Common Buzzard-2
Sparrowhawk-1
Rook-50+
Jackdaw-60+
Pied Wagtail-2
Goosander-1f
Pochard-4
Tufted Duck-25


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JOHN TYMON


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LATE PM
WIGEON-5
GOOSANDER-1F
BLACK NECKED GREBE-1 Imm /1st w
GREAT CRESTED GREBE-22
SWALLOW-1>S
TUFTED DUCK-20
CORMORANT-3



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JOHN TYMON


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JOHN TYMON wrote:

late PM
Wigeon-2
Black necked Grebe-1
Goosander-1 f
Great crested grebe-22




Same Tues apart from the Great crested dropped to 16


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JOHN TYMON


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late PM
Wigeon-2
Black necked Grebe-1
Goosander-1 f
Great crested grebe-22


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JOHN TYMON


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PM
BLACK NECKED GREBE-1
GOOSANDER-1F
GREAT CRESTED GREBE-26
TUFTED DUCK-30
POCHARD-3
WIGEON-1F
TEAL-1F


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