A mega day's walk all the way from the city centre to Forest Bank Bridge upriver - about 5 miles all in.

Loads of good things seen:

On the river -

16 Goosanders in different groups, the highest featuring 7 individuals
40 or more Goldeneye, some in large groups.
over 40 Tufted Ducks
7 Teals
4 Grey Wagtails
Not a single swan

Trees along route:

2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and another Woodpecker not able to be seen, but definitely drumming on a pylon!
2 cracking Song Thrushes seen singing away, and LOADS more heard.
6+ Mistle Thruses
2 Goldcrest at edge of playing fields opposite Kersal Dale, waited 20 minutes for them to show from the conifers, one did, then they both flew out.
Pair of Coal Tits at the same location
Handful of Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch seen throughout
No Bulfinch
2 Jays together
Redwing flocks in the tress on both sides of the river near Kersal Dale
Some Starling
Plus lots of the usuals



Football pitches (belonging to the Uni??) downriver from Agecroft Bridge - a mixed flock of Starlings and Fieldfares, about 80, feeding with a few Redwing and Mistle Thrush thrown in and some arriving from and departing to trees across the river.

Scrub near Forest Bank:

1 Kestrel in a tree.
A single Buzzard over, escorted by ten or so Crows.

Drinkwater Park ponds:

A lone Great Crested Grebe
1 Grey Heron

Cheers






-- Edited by John Doherty on Wednesday 14th of March 2012 04:39:45 PM

-- Edited by John Doherty on Wednesday 14th of March 2012 04:50:25 PM

adjacent to peel park

16 tufted duck
4 mallard

Kestrel taking voles by forest bank today perching on the pylons

Thanks for that. I will keep on trying.

Lunch time walk from Clifton CP along the Irwell past 13 Arches and back.
Miserable weather but plenty of birds.

Disappointed not to see Green Sandpiper - is it usually further down river towards Agecroft? Still waiting for a life tick!!

Did get great views of Goldcrest and Treecreeper though - just in the CP.

I visited the location where the Green Sandpipers usually are. Today, two Green Sandpipers, two Dunlin (seen by Bill Myerscough yesterday) and 2 Common Snipe and all the other usual suspects.

Agecroft Bridge to 13 Arches

0745-1200

40 species

2 Green Sandpiper
drk Gadwall
4 Goosander
10 Song Thrush (9 singing males)
Male Bullfinch
2 Dunnock
10 Goldeneye
10 Tufted Duck
5 Little Grebe
5 Grey Heron
c70 Redwing
2 Kestrel
1 Sparrowhawk
5 Siskin
5 Jackdaw
5 Cormorant
c70 Mallard
3 Moorhen
2 Canada Goose
1 Grey Wagtail
2 Pied Wagtail
5 Wren
15 Great Tit
15 LT Tit
20 Blue Tit
1 Goldcrest
9 Blackbird
2 Mute Swan
4 Coot
10 Wood Pigeon
5 Magpie
5 C Crow
c50 BH Gull
c20 Feral Pigeon
7 Goldfinch
1 GS Woodpecker
3 Chaffinch
7 Robin
8 Greenfinch
6 Jay

I remember seeing a pheasant down to about 6 feet there, it didn't recognise me otherwise it would have erupted!! Lapwing can sometimes be around there too (just up from thirteen arches on the meadows)

Bill Myerscough wrote:

In surrounding woodland/scrubland - 2 singing Song Thrush, excellent views of a singing Willow Wit near the Thirteen Arches, 8 Lesser Redpoll, 1 male Siskin, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Pheasant, 4 Bullfinch and c15 Redwing. Plenty of vocal Dunnocks, Wrens and Robins.

Cheers,

Bill.


-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Wednesday 18th of January 2012 01:55:39 PM

---

Willow Wit....surely worth a .Bill.

29th November.

Green Sandpiper approx 300 yards downstream of the Agecroft Bridge this morning. Presumably the same individual bird that has wintered here for a few years now?

Also 3 Goldeneye together on the river here.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Tuesday 29th of November 2011 09:09:39 PM

Walk from Castle Irwell to Agecroft Bridge in inclement weather produced:

c10 Blackheaded gulls
1 Kingfisher
3 Mute Swans
c80 Sandmartins and a few Swifts mixed in



-- Edited by John Doherty on Sunday 15th of May 2011 04:16:13 PM

2 adult Whooper Swans behind Kearsley Mill, Prestolee late evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

26/12/10 9-12.30 With my Dad & Phil Rhodes.

A concerted effort to check various parts of the river between Nob End & Giants Seat garden centre, Ringley produced one or two suprises.

At Nob End confluence with the Croal, Coots, Pochard, 10 Tufted, 5 Goldeneye, 10 Goosander, 3 Little Grebe & Lapwing.

At Prestolee, 3 Whooper Swans (2 ad & 1 juv) resting on the ice behind Kearsley mill was a very unusual but welcome sight. Also here another 3 Goldeneye & 4 Goosander.

Lower down between Ringley sewage works/filtration beds & Giants Seat, Kingfisher, Lapwing, 10+ Goldeneye, 5 Goosander, male Shoveler, 10+ Gadwall, 30+ Teal, wonderful views of a woodcock on the ground by the river. Then to top of a good morning the Smew flew upstream & landed right in front of us and proceeded to catch small fish 100 yards west of the garden centre!

Several Goldcrests & Treecreepers also seen & Gadwall & Teal on the filtration beds themselves.

19th April.

Morning visit.

A single Common Sandpiper on the Irwell near the Cliff.

Also on mown sports playing fields on the hairpin bend of the Irwell in this area between Lower Kersal and Higher Broughton and seen amongst the foraging Woodpigeons, corvids and gulls was a single Curlew!

Cheers,

Bill.

Tuesday 2nd March

pair of Goosander on River Irwell by Peel Park displaying before flying north

River Irwell WEBS count 19th February 2010

47 Tufted Duck
9 Goldeneye (3 drk, 4 imm drk, 2 fem)
4 Little Grebe
14 Cormorant
14 Mallard
1 Moorhen
1 Coot
17 Canada Goose
5 Black-headed Gull
2 LBB Gull


Also, 2 Treecreeper, Sparrowhawk & GS Woodpecker

Steve Suttill wrote:

---

Stephen Young found a Green Sandpiper on the Irwell just downstream from Agecroft Bridge yesterday whilst doing BirdAtlas survey work.

Steve

---

26th January.

Green Sandpiper still showing very well in same location this morning. Also just a few hundred yards from this bird on the Irwell were 2 Little Grebe, 4 Goosander (1m,3f) and 7 Goldeneye together (all females).

Just a shame that the sandpiper was in tetrad SD80A Lower Kersal and not in "mine" SD80B Prestwich, which I surveyed this morning.

Keep atlasing!

Bill.

Stephen Young found a Green Sandpiper on the Irwell just downstream from Agecroft Bridge yesterday whilst doing BirdAtlas survey work.

Steve

November 27th about 9.30 am. Kingfisher from Victoria Bridge, Salford. Fishing from scrub below bridge old tax office side then moved under bridge to old bus station side.

-- Edited by Mike Noon on Friday 27th of November 2009 02:57:02 PM

12th October

Kingfisher, 3 Little Grebe, fem/imm Goosander and 5 Tufted Duck between Castle Irwell and Peel Park

Kingfisher this lunch time, flying by bridge across Irwell by Lowry Hotel.

drake Goosander by Blackfriars Bridge this morning

3 Teal (2 drake), 2 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Wagtail, c50 Tufted Duck, 5 Mute Swans, c20 finches (prob Siskin) on River Irwell between Adelphi building and Castle Irwell

fairbrother st am
all as reported before but the swans had 2 juv (still in brownish moult)who got chased around a lot,
a pair of little grebe were on this side of the river for a change but made a hasty retreat as the light changed,the kingfisher was spotted and posed nicley on a shopping trolley for a while.

cheers geoff