Before and after visiting Frodsham this a.m.for the Cattle Egret we visited Moore looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, no luck here though. Great place however, did see all the English tit species(except Marsh) lots of Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4Chiff Chaff, Tree Creeper(making nest), Nuthatch, 15 Sand Martins, Teal, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Little Grebe plus lots more.
Cheers Ian

Paid my first ever visit to this reserve and within 5 minutes had seen the male LSW on the first stretch of Lapwing Lane. Excellent close views. Around 10.45 am.

Great place - will be back hopefully when it's not raining so hard!

Managed 40 mins there this morning and was very pleased to see my first ever LSW - on Lapwing lane 40m from the crossroads on the right [about 10m after the sub station type building].

Also very obliging male Kestrel [nice change from Buzzard!] perched on tree in meadow behind the LSW. At the feeding station loads of squirrels scaring everything but a GSW managed to sneak in for a go at the fat feeder.

Gary the same thing kept happening to me - just getting the Lesser lined up in the scope and a Greater came along and chased it. Doesn't look as though they live side by side very well.

A good morning on Arpley Landfill with a juv glauc, 2x1w Iceland, 4 YLG, 1w Med & a frustrating gull ? Then onto Richmond Bank holding 1 adult & 1w Iceland Gulls.
Full account and pics on my blog.

cheers
jason

Two of us were there this morning and saw the LSW

Not much else about though, and the Bittern did not show

No sign of LSW by 9:30 - a few Great Spots drumming though.

Same birds as Gary plus Treecreeper

Friday 20-2-09 10.30 - 15.30

My first visit to the reserve and what great place it is. I went specifically to see the Tawny Owl as I haven't seen one for a while and had a great view of it.

Also seen:

Buzzard - one of which almost ended up as a bonnet mascot on my car when it flew up from the side of the road as I was driving along the lane to Moore. Another Buzzard was being mobbed by what I think was a Peregrine but it was quite high.

Kingfisher
Great Spotted Woodpecker, Reed Bunting
Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull
Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Oystercatcher
Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mallard, Teal, Coot, Moorhen, Canada Goose, Grey Heron
Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch
Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Wren
Woodpigeon, Magpie, Crow, Jackdaw, Jay

In the words of Arnie "I'll be back"

Gary

James Dyson wrote:

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First post so please be gentle..

Went to Moore on Sunday and spotted my first Tree Creeper prob no big deal to most but I have not been birding long so it was a real treat!

Here is a link to the Pic I took of it..

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Welcome to birding and to the North Wests premier birding website James!

Nice pics of the Treecreeper.

Mike

The gull fest moved to Richmond Bank (the mud bank on the river opposet the tip)this morning where the adult RING BILLED GULL was found at low tide in amonst 5-6000 other larus.
Also present one 'small' 1st winter Glaucous Gull and several Yellow legs.
For those doing Birchwood Pool the next pool along (Pumphouse) towards the Eastern Reedbed seems to be getting most of the roosting/bathing big gulls at the mo.

Tawny Owl in the usual spot.
Lots of vocal Nuthatches.
GS Woodpecker but no Lesser.
10+ Reed Buntings at the feeding station and a very frustrated Squirrel.
female R***y Duck

3 Bullfinch, 2f 1m by Birchwood Pool

I have seen Barney the Barnacle on more than one occasion with a flock of Canadas at Dunham Massey

Saw it twice yesterday and must say that its a very tatty individual, with very worn flight feathers especially on the left wing as you look at it flying away from you.

cheers
jason

-- Edited by jason atkinson at 12:35, 2009-01-25

Pinky the Pinkfoot has been around for several years now associating with the Canada flock that travels all over Cheshire he/she has been seen at Budworth Mere, Neumanns Flash, Sandbach, IMF, Moore, Frodders and every where inbetween. It will regularly be on many a local patch yearlist

Pete

Pinky the Pinkfoot flew over the tip twice - there was also a Shelduck up on the tip.

I managed to miss all the YLG's but 3 Iceland Gulls (adult and 2 first winters) and a 1st winter Med gull was a satisfying morning.

Mike

There is a relatively small amount of standing water at the mo, most of the pools have been drained while new parts of the site are engineered. Workers on the landfill site have noticed a fluctuation in gull numbers in general from day to day. Perhaps in the credit crunch people are disposing of fewer food scraps...

Hello all,

I have an arrangement with Arpley Landfill Site that no more than 15 people can attend the supervised trips to view the gulls - I did specify this when first organising the visits late last year. This is based on site health and safety regs. and the conditions of the site permit. The sessions will run from around 8.45 to 11.30. Latecomers will not be able to join the group.

I'm afraid that only 15 people will be allowed on each visit, I'm not sure how many people have already expressed an interest.

Sorry for any inconvenience - may I suggest that for the next watch (7th Feb) people book in advance by calling me on 01925 444689 no later than midday on 6th Feb.

Gull workshop! at Moore NR is open to anyone the more eyes the better.
Just incase check www.wrg.co.uk/moorenaturereserve for contact info.
The last one was run by ranger Paul Cassidy phone 01925 444689.
I think it will be a regular occurance every other Saturday.

cheers Pete

-- Edited by Pete Antrobus at 12:20, 2009-01-22

Pete

Is this Saturdays workshop an "open " event


Mike

Went down to Birchwood Pool today with the intention of practising my digiscoping. Unbelievably not a gull on the pool for a good 30 minutes and the tip also seemed quieter. Hope it picks up for this Saturdays gull workshop.
Over at the screen hide feeding station by the ponds there was:-
2 Willow Tit
3 Coal Tit
Great Spotted Woody
Reed Bunting
2 Nuthatch
Siskin

19/01/2009 - Managed a few hours here this afternoon but in tough conditions at times which prevented productive birding. 2 Green Sandpipers were spotted down at the eastern end on the reserve (1 on the flood just south of the barrier + 1 on the lagoon viewed from the eastern reedbed hide).
Other sightings included:
1 Tawny Owl (in the usual spot!)
2 Willow Tits (feeding station)
1 Reed Bunting
2 Siskins
6 Bullfinches (dotted about the reserve)
1 Grey Wagtail (Ship canal)
4 Cormorants (on ship canal)
28 Curlews (flew over ship canal)
5 Pochards

Towards lunchtime Simon and l called into Moore NR,as we parked,we had VERY close views of a Buzzard in the trees.Once at the hide,the only object of desire was a male Sparrowhawk just 'chillin' in the trees above the reedbed,other sightings were a Kingfisher,Green Sandpiper,Great Spotted Woodpecker and finally a Bittern flying in

I'd love to be there earlier but unfortunately most attendees on the RSPB trips are not hardcore birders