7 Goldeneye from Peel Park just now, I had imagined this might be a fair sighting but reading through this thread it is to be expected. Also 4 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe all catching the sun nicely.
Early morning - 7-7.45 am - to Kersal wetlands - good to see 4 spp of duck on the wetland - 1 wigeon, 3 teal, 2 gadwall and several mallard. Also 2 kingfisher and 5 little grebe
Late post from visit to Kersal wetlands yesterday just after midday. Singles of Little egret, Green sandpiper, Kingfisher, gadwall and Kestrel on the wetlands. Also 5 Little grebe and 9 Grey heron, and 2 buzzards.
My first Kingfisher in the locality today, doing a loop of The Meadow at Salford Crescent at about 14.30. Also a few Sand Martin and a singing Blackcap, plus some smart Little Grebes on the river. My list for the park and the Meadow is now 45, but running out of common birds to see now!
There were over 20 swifts, dozens of sand martins, a few house martins and even some swallows over the Irwell and adjacent Peel Park/playing fields yesterday afternoon.
All feeding very low over the water/wildflowers and affording some great views.
An excellent morning before the dog walkers arrived, from 06:20 til 08:20ish. Highlights: 1 common gull early but flew off 2 lapwing 1 chiffchaff 1 willow warbler 1 whitethroat 2 blackcap 2 kingfisher 1 greenfinch several sand martin & 12 swift & 5 swallow all feeding together over river and wetland 1 treecreeper 1 grey wagtail 5 stock dove 1 collared dove 3 goosander on river 1 mute swan on river
6.40 am for an hour with Ollie Metcalfe. Similar birds to James except 2 Little ringed plover, 1 lapwing, and, unusually, a single Rook - not sure if rooks are regular round these parts
1.30- 2.50pm today - 3 Little Ringed Plover, 3 gadwall, kingfisher, 25 sand martin, 2 stock dove, 4 meadow pipit. Looked like quite a lot of water on the wetland today - the plovers seemed at home.
Cycle round from 15:30ish.
Highlights were 2 kingfisher on the river, seen fishing. Up to 15 sand martin feeding over the wetland, 1 buzzard and 1 sparrowhawk circling over.
One small wader was flushed briefly by a dog, couldn't get a positive i.d.
Several lesser black backed gulls, a few herring gulls, 2 black headed gulls, 2 mute swan.
1. The river has been in flood for several days now and the detritus you see is a reflection of the water reaching levels and areas it wouldn't normally. If you want another example of that then head down to Salford Quays and have a look at the Ship Canal where you can literally walk across large swathes of it at present
2. In terms of the plastic and indeed any other waste matter I think the topic of this type of pollution has been done to death. Plastic is an undesirable and in many cases (but not always) unrecyclable product created my modern man for our convenience. What frustrates me is that the debate never asks how that rubbish finds it way in to our watercourses in the first place. It's because sadly that same modern man can't be bothered to dispose of rubbish properly, i.e. put in a bin and not just litter the streets.
Currently cycling at kersal wetland.
1 sand Martin
1 chiffchaff singing
2 grey wagtails singing
1 kingfisher heard only
5 mute swans
1 grey heron
1 great spotted woodpecker heard
Plus usuals
The river Irwell is disgusting. The amount of plastic in the surrounding vegetation is unacceptable.
Currently cycling at kersal wetland.
1 sand Martin
1 chiffchaff singing
2 grey wagtails singing
1 kingfisher heard only
5 mute swans
1 grey heron
1 great spotted woodpecker heard
Plus usuals
The river Irwell is disgusting. The amount of plastic in the surrounding vegetation is unacceptable.
Yes, it means Eurasian teal - ebird is a US platform, I'm sure I can change the settings somehow.
Unfortunately the default view for folks who aren't logged into eBird is US names not displaying subspecies identities, so species names are prioritized by US common names - e.g. Mew Gull (Common Gull), White Wagtail (Pied Wagtail) etc - see comments here: https://manchesterbirding.activeboard.com/t64547516/help-with-manchester-urban-green-space-bird-surveys/?page=1#comment-65314596 if you have an account you can choose to display common names or scientific names as you see fit.
Yes, it means Eurasian teal - ebird is a US platform, I'm sure I can change the settings somehow. Security is OK at the moment, quite a few dog walkers around, happy enough. I imagine Spring will bring out the black-trackied ones.
Note that this is a list of birds I saw there on 1st Feb - full list on https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52260335
My last visit, with Anna Reuleaux, was yesterday (10th) where I saw pretty much what Shannon saw - full list https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S52558168 plus a migrant skylark sat on the bund
I was cycling around the new wetland this afternoon as such I didn't have the right equipment to study al the gulls properly but there was one great black-backed gull amongst the black headed gulls, and one first winter herring type gull with a clearly very pale head and small beady black eye.
My first thought was Caspian gull but this would need verification if anyone's heading there with bins/a scope.
14 Goldeneye on the Irwell by Salford Wetland today w/ Ollie Metcalf, also 5 Lapwing and a Common Snipe there, full list: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50651478
Todays highlights at Castle Irwell wetland
2 Little ringed plovers over
2 Lapwing
2 Oystercatchers
1 Lesser redpoll over
1 Willow warbler
1 Kingfisher
1 Little grebe
2 Goosander
57 Meadow pipits in grass - site record
Also singing chiffchaff, greenfinch, mistle and song thrushes
No joy with the mandarin this afternoon but it was nice to see a dabchick and a grey wagtail under the bridge.
Five goldeneye (2 ducks with a drake and two single drakes) along the stretch between Broughton Bridge and Trinity Way. Also a rather nice male goosander sat on the river bank entirely unconcerned by the building work on the new flats.
Sand martin 3 near Agecroft bridge Lapwing 7 - on littleton playing fields Skylark 2 - flying over Kestrel - near castle irwell Fieldfare, redwing and meadow pipits in small numbers on playing fields
-- Edited by Zoe Barrett on Sunday 18th of March 2018 07:53:21 PM
This morning on river towards Kersal dale:
1 Dunlin
1 Lapwing
3 Goosander
3 Teal
6 Goldeneye - males displaying and fighting
27 Fieldfare
Univeristy of Salford/Crescent area:
42 Tufted duck - numbers down this winter but highest count had this year
4 Meadow pipits - unusual to see feeding here
Also 5 Song thrushes and 7 redwing
Kestrel
Pair of Little Grebes involved in some pre-nuptual display on the Irwell by the Old Pint Pot this morning.
Having moved work premises to Salford, I'll be posting from some new sites from now on. The last two places I've worked have both had Black Redstarts, so am hoping they move here - plenty of good habitat
Short walk behind Magnesium Elektron up to the old canal viaduct.
Four seperate Little Grebe
A pair of Goldeneye
Male Goosander flying upstream
Single Grey Wagtail.
Late post from yesterday afternoon between crescent and Boniface bridge:
Chiffchaff with tit flock making swoo noises which could be eastern/scandi race
4 Teal
4 Goosander
11 Goldeneye
16 Tufted duck
2 Treecreepers
2 Sparrowhawks
After earlier reporting a female Goosander with 5 young (on Bury Water Treatment Works thread) I have just come across another female with 6 young at the bottom of Milltown Street, Radcliffe on the Irwell. All 6 young were repeatedly diving but I think they might need a bit more practise as I didn't see any come up with fish.
-- Edited by Peter Johnson on Sunday 2nd of July 2017 05:45:09 PM