Barrow Lane

A quail was singing sparsely from the arable NE of the lane at 6.00am. I came on from the Oven Back Farm end, it was over by the hedge that runs parallel to Barrow Lane, in the region of the end of the ploughed field. Also present were three yellow wagtails and a couple of corn buntings.

Three wheatear (2f, 1m) earlier on the plough SW of Dolly's Bridge (off Winwick Lane).

Called back to look at the ploughed field where I'd had the Whinchats and Wheatears on Friday. Four male Wheatears still present but couldn't refind the Whinchats.

Cheers David

Went out at 6.00 pm in sunny but blustery weather to see if I could relocate Mike's Whinchats. Walked down Waterworks Lane and was rewarded with one Corn Bunting, 2 Reed Buntings, 15 Tree Sparrows, 9 Yellowhammers and 6 Grey Partridge. No Whinchats, though but hardly surprising that they weren't sitting up, given the strength of the wind.

Decided to walk across the fields towards Hermitage Green Lane, then take a new (to me) footpath going east from Piper's Hole Cottage (wonder what the piper had to do to get a cottage named after him?). Several more Yellowhammers and another Reed Bunting plus 4 more Grey Partridges were the highlights. At the end of the footpath I cut back towards the eastern end of Waterworks Lane but across the motorway access road I spied a recently part-ploughed, partly flooded field. It held five pairs of Lapwing, at least two of which had small young. A pair of Oystercatchers flew over calling. (Nearly!) best of all 4 male Wheatears were feeding close to the road. I was 'scoping these when I saw 3 distinctive Chat shapes on barbed wire in a gap in the hedge - sure enough, three Whinchats, all males.

And all in a walk of an hour or so in roughly a one kilometre square. Really, really nice.
Cheers David

Woke early and decided to do a breeding bird survey at the Parkside Colliery site (part of my Winwick patch)

It was cool at 5.30 am but got nicer as the morning progressed. As usual, the site was heaving with birds, though being early and cool, stuff only started singing in earnest by 6.30 am. Totals included:

Lesser Whitethroat 1 in song
Sedge Warbler 1 in song
Reed Bunting 3 in song
Yellowhammer 2 in song
Grey Partridge 2
Meadow Pipit 2 in song
Whitethroat 15 in song
Chiffchaff 6 in song
Willow Warbler 12 in song
Blackcap 8 in song
Stock Dove 2
Bullfinch 1
Kestrel 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 3 (inc. a pair feeding young)
Robin 14 in song
Great Tit 7 in song
Blackbird 12 (7 in song)
Jay 1
Mallard 4
Linnet 10
Goldfinch 2 in song
Collared Dove 5 (2 in song)
Song Thrush 7 in song
Chaffinch 9 in song
Woodpigeon 25 (3 in song)
Carrion Crow 8
Magpie 7
Wren 12 in song
Blue Tit 2
Swallow 9
House Martin 2
Dunnock 5 (3 in song, 1 feeding young)
Mistle Thrush 2
Pheasant 5
Jackdaw 8
Feral Pigeon 11

Also scores of Rabbits, 1 Stoat and 1 Grey Squirrel.

Cheers David

Corn Bunting singing in Waterworks Lane this evening

A Corn Bunting was singing in Waterworks Lane this evening

Barrow Lane


Three singing male corn buntings competing with each other for the affections of what I presume were two females at Barrow Lane this morning. They were all perched within forty yards of each other along the bisecting hedge. Sadly the two females, perched side by side, looked bored by the male's monotonous serenading. A skylark also sang from the hedgerow for a short time, causing the female corn bunt's hearts to flutter no doubt.

A tiny lapwing chick strayed dangerously away from it's mother on a distant field. I watched them for a few minutes but could only see a single chick . . . two pairs of carrion crows looked on from the surrounding hedgerows.

Very pale buzzard, completely white down the front, was perched in a tree by Winwick Lane, just south of Dolly's Bridge.

Barrow Lane

Three corn buntings singing from the hedge that bisects the lane at 6.30am today - two on the Lowton side, one on the Winwick.

Bit of an influx of Yellowhammers last few days (typical at this time of year) with 16 present yesterday and 19 today. 70+ Tree Sparrows yesterday were annoyed by a male Sparrowhawk - 55 were present today along with 2 Grey Partridges. Usual Buzzard perched on fenceline (I swear its never left all winter) plus Kestrel.

A walk along Waterworks Lane and over to Hermitage Green Lane before heading back across to Winwick, via the public footpath, this morning produced 24 species -
Tree and House Sparrow, Grey Partridge, Blackbird, Magpie, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Crow, Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Lapwing, Jay, Skylark, Blue Tit, Gt. Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Song Thrush, Nuthatch, Buzzard, Mallard, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon and Black-headed Gull.
Then a visit to Houghton Green Flash added another 8 species (included in that report) and finally, towards Burtonwood, Pied Wagtails and Starlings in the horse paddocks.

A longer walk for Em and I today, given the spring-like weather. We started off in Waterworks Lane, where the usual Tree Sparrow flock was holding steady at c.65 birds, with a few less House Sparrows. A cock Yellowhammer was in full song, along with 3 Skylarks, while 3 Buzzards and a Kestrel were soaring overhead. We then cut across the fields to walk down Parkside Road towards Highfield Moss. En route, we saw 2 pairs of Grey Partridge, 3 more Skylarks in song and 5 soaring Buzzards.

Walking across the footpath towards Highfield Moss, we saw 16 Linnets, 2 more pairs of Grey Partridge, 10 Skylarks (inc. 4 in song), 14 Yellowhammers (inc. 2 in song) and another Kestrel.

The Moss itself was relatively quiet, due in no small part to the activities of two red gyro-copters, which buzzed the Moss at low level, several times, before repeatedly practising approach and take offs on the adjacent grass strip. Nice bit of planning, next to a SSSI but at least they flushed 11 Snipe

On the way home we heard Nuthatch calling near The Hermit, then cut across the fields from Hermitage Green Lane towards Winwick Church. In the area of set-aside by the start of the footpath, we flushed c.60 Linnets and 2 more pairs of Grey Partridge. Lastly, passing the Church another Nuthatch was calling and best of all, my first butterfly of the year, a Small Tortoiseshell, confirmed the feeling that Spring is just around the corner - maybe

Cheers David

Barn Owl again this evening just the other side of Winwick over the M62 - third time I've seen one there in two years now.

With the prospect of a drizzly day, decided to stay in and catch up on entering my Cheshire bird records onto RODIS for submission. If anyone isn't familiar with with this on-line recording system, just ask because its excellent

Any way, I've been keeping an eye on the garden where I've been feeding heavily during the cold weather. The Chaffinch flock has now reached c.60, with a single Tree Sparrow, 18 Greenfinches, 12 Blackbirds, 10 Collared Doves, 3 Wood Pigeons, 2 Dunnocks, 10 Starlings and 12 House Sparrows feeding actively. At least until a male Sparrowhawk came and sat on top of the seed feeders, which is now a regular occurrence. Almost makes me hanker for the days of garden ringing

In the garden's one deciduous pine tree (apparently the very rare Israeli Dwarf Redwood) a single Mistle Thrush was singing. Fly-bys included 31 Redwing, 16 Fieldfare, 9 Lapwings plus singles of Kestrel and Common Buzzard.

Still, this is not getting the work done.

Cheers David

Short-eared Owl this evening hunting field north of Barrow Lane

On a clear, crisp morning had a wander round the fields behind Myddleton Lane. In Waterworks Lane c.60 Tree Sparrows, c.45 House Sparrows, 9 Yellowhammers and 35 Collared Doves were the highlights. A couple each of Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were a sign of how productive the area is for predators. Singles of Mistle Thrush and Lapwing plus 2 Grey Partridge added to the variety and flocks of 30 Chaffinches and 25 Greenfinches were moving over, while a couple of Coal Tits were among the commoner tits.

Cheers David

Mike Baron wrote:

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The usual Buzzard tried to catch a cock Pheasant in Waterworks Lane this afternoon - missed by a couple of inches! It spent the rest of the time annoying the Tree Sparrows

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it was annoying them this morning as well

Waterworks lane at 3.00pm.

c40 Tree Sparrow
2 House Sparrow
3 Yellowhammer
3 Chaffinch
8 Grey Partridge
10 Collared Dove
1 Buzzard
1 Magpie
1 Heron over
2 Dirty great big rats.

Spent the morning, with Dave Steel, walking from my house in Myddleton Lane, Winwick, to the Moss (via Waterworks Lane and across the fields to Parkside Road and down to Highfield Farm) and back (via Parkside Rd, Hermitage Green Lane and the footpath over to Winwick Church). As this walk crosses four county boundaries, I'll post the records both here and under theCheshire/Winwick thread

It was grey, with a light drizzle as we set off at 8.30 am after a warming cuppa. Never ones to be deterred we set off down Waterworks Lane, where 9 Tree Sparrows and a Song Thrush were ensconced in a hedgerow, 60 Jackdaws and 35 Starlings were on the power lines and 3 Pheasants were running aimlessly around the adjacent field.

After taking the footpath across the fields we were walking down Parkside Rd, by Woodhead Farm, when more Tree Sparrows started calling. We picked up 10 coming out of a roost and working their way along the hedgerow, along with 5 Fieldfare and 2 Mistle Thrushes. Best of all, given their scarcity around here, we soon picked up a small, tight flock of 8 Golden Plover whirling round the field on our left, while a very pale-breasted Common Buzzard was stationary in a turnip field.

We then set off towards the Moss, checking out the stubble fields en route. One Kestrel, 80 Skylarks, 70 Meadow Pipits and 9 Grey Partridge were all seen in flight, while 2 more Tree Sparrows were in the hedgerow. The Moss itself was quiet, with the paths slippery with ice and a thin crust of ice on the marshy areas. A few Yellowhammers passed over as we were walking and 21 lapwing and another 18 Golden Plover skimmed the fields next to Barrow Lane. As usual, the most productive birding was in the hedges leading up to and alongside the set-aside field. While not comparable with the astonishing numbers currently feeding in the similar set-aside on Holcroft Moss (See Cheshire/Culcheth thread) it was still heartening to see 53 Yellowhammers, 24 Reed Buntings and 36 Linnets sitting like un-picked fruit in the hedgerow and then dropping into the seed-rich crop to feed

Heading back towards Parkside Rd we flushed another 10 Grey Partridge (8 and 2). As we walked back up Parkside Rd we saw a single Goldcrest plus one Song Thrush, 6 Blackbirds and a few Fieldfare feeding on windfall apples. As we turned down Hermitage Green Lane 44 Fieldfare and 2 Blackbirds were perched in a bare tree. The footpath from the Lane across the fields to Winwick Church is next to a good area of set-aside and a very rufous male Sparrowhawk was sitting on top of the hedge actively watching the crop and sure enough, a flock of 60 Linnets burst out of cover to mill around while the raptor slid away to try its luck elsewhere.

Near Winwick Church a Nuthatch was calling while Long-tailed Tits and a Coal Tit were moving through the tall trees. Finally, back on Myddleton Lane, 60 Fieldfare and 50 Chaffinches were flushed from my garden by a passing Sparrowhawk. Then, after another excellent morning, it was time for a welcome lunch and another nice cuppa !

Cheers David

A quick walk down Waterworks Lane before making my way onto Highfield Moss. Main sightings from the Lane were 52 Tree Sparrows and 41 Collared Doves, with Buzzard and Sparrowhawk also present.

Cheers David

Three skeins of Pink-footed Geese over this morning - NW at 11:52 to 11:54 comprising 110+, 45+ and 90+

10 Golden Plovers at Barrow Lane this evening

frid 14th 4pm
Barrow Lane
Merlin-1 pair hunting the linnets and skylarks

Mid afternoon Barrow Lane

Male and female Merlin perched together in what was the oat field
29 Redwings through south
8 Swallows through south
13 Skylarks
199+ Linnets in several groups
3 Buzzards
Kestrel
2 Stock Doves
13 Grey Partridges 6+7

DavidBowman wrote:

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Walked down Borrow Lane and then across to Highfield Moss and back. Barrow Lane was fairly quiet and most of the birds were seen on the walk to the Moss, as this is where most of the stubbles and set-aside is. Totals included: 54 Grey Partridge, 3 Bullfinches, 1 Reed Bunting, 10 Skylarks, 1 Mistle Thrush, 14 Blackbirds, 7 Linnets, 4 Buzzards, 48 Rooks, 5 Pied Wagtails, 2 Tree Sparrows, 1 Pheasant, 2 Yellowhammers and 1 Hare!
Cheers
David

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Just after I left you David I found 27 Tree Sparrows - they were in a small stretch of hedge next to a lone sycamore in the field south of Barrow Lane at the Parkside Lane end (hope that makes sense).