Moore NR

John Williams · Status: Offline

RE: Moore NR

Andy Slee · Status: Offline

Anyone know why the Norton Marsh Hide has been removed?

I say removed as I was there 14th Sept happily watching owls / gull and corvids and raptors over the marsh and surrounding fields into twilight; I went there this afternoon planning to stay until the evening watching the birds go by and there is just a concrete plinth and evidence of a caterpillar tracked vehicle on the path up to the hide. No signs of any burnt material so presume not burnt down and site actually very tidy so presumably deconstructed deliberately. Moore NNR Facebook not posted anything since 7th Aug so none the wiser from there or Google.

Could it be Forestry England removing legacy assets? The remains [inaccessible wooden base only] of the long defunct "Forestry Commission" Hide had also disappeared I noticed last week, but I thought that was just general tidying up.

Shame as it seemed in very good structure still. Even did an overnight stay this spring to heard the Reed Warblers and Grasshopper Warbler (single reeling) with the dawn.

From Halfway House as a consolation, 1 peregrine, put up a flock of Lapwing and all the Corvids. 2 Little Egret and a first for me on the site (I'm counting anywhere south of the North Bank of the Mersey as "Moore Patch") Adult Yellow-legged Gull.

37 Curlew in the 2nd field West of the South Bank by the Port Warrington Swing Bridge.

Andy Slee · Status: Offline

Hi,

Lurker since Covid killed my work and I three decades later returned to my teenage [daily rather than once a few months] birdwatching habits in March 2020.

Moore is my local reserve and I used to visit often in the late 2000s, especially during the heavy winters and a few names on the thread sound familiar as people I met in the past at the reserve. During 2020 avoiding dog walkers, the reserve was quiet and not many birders to talk to. I've had a good read through this thread and some of the adjacent sites like Richmond Bank.

I had two Qs;

1) Is anyone 'patching' the reserve these days - my other local is Marbury and the guys there are great for helping you get onto unusual bird but also just explaining the ornithology as well and the changes of the seasons / site over time. I haven't noticed any regular birders there in 30+ visits in 2021 but I do visit around my shifts so can be there early / late / anytime.

2) Is there a 'patch total' list - I've had a go at cobbling one from this thread and a couple of other sources on the internet, I think I got just above 140 - though not following any particular criteria. But I've seen individual birder claims of annual patch totals of 125+ which seems close to the total? I'll post what I have found if anyone is interested.

For one reason and another I haven't and still don't do Twitter or Facebook (I look at warden Anne-Maries recent posts that you can view without an account) but I'm not sure there is anything extra to be found there or not that couldn't be found with Google / Wayback Machine / various birders individual blogs. If their is please let me know.

If anyone is patching and keeping annual totals I hit 90 today with an Osprey just over the tip at Gateworth, though it must have passed directly above UMS as it went down the Mersey (I reported on Birdguides and CAWOS birds WhatsApp). Then from UMS a little Egret was on the Moore bank of the Mersey, taking my annual patch total to 90, though I'm missing Green Woodpecker and Willow Tit which were always 'regulars' 15 years ago. The site seems to have done really well with Kingfisher this year, I've seen two on Lapwing Lane pool at the same time, then in walking time another on Birchwood Pool and then 20 minutes later another on Pump House Pool. Perhaps they were stalking me.

Be interesting to see the future of the site with more non orni recreation occurring and also the effects of the next proposed Western bypass for Warrington which would go very near or through the Eastern Reedbed.

Cheers,

Andy

(Not at all interesting landfill fact - I did my Msc in the design of the geotextile liners and leachate recovery on landfills but never worked on Arpley, did work on Risley IV)

-- Edited by Andy Slee on Saturday 28th of August 2021 05:24:02 PM

-- Edited by Andy Slee on Saturday 28th of August 2021 05:24:58 PM

John Williams · Status: Offline

15.30-18.30

Lapwing Lane Pool

2 adult+ 3 Juvenile Little Grebes

Birchwood Pool area

3 adult + 4 juvenile Great Crested Grebes, 1m Pochard, 1 Buzzard and 2 adult + 1 juvenile Little Grebes.

A female Tufted Duck was caring for a brood of 6 small ducklings. A Green Woodpecker was heard calling loudly.

Pumphouse Pool

1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Cormorant, and 3m + 1f Pochards. 12 Sand and 4 House Martins were over the pool.

Eastern Reedbed

1 Grey Heron, and on a nearby dead tree 1 Green Woodpecker.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Afternoon visit.

Birchwood Pool : 6 adult + 6 juvenile Great Crested Grebes.

Pumphouse Pool : 2 adult Great Crested Grebes (Brief courtship display), 2 Little Grebes, 3m+1f Pochard and 7 Sand Martins.

A Buzzard soared high above the ship canal, and a pair of Chiffchaffs fed a couple of newly fledged young by Birchwood Pool.

3 Blackcaps and 1 Chiffchaff were still heard singing.

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker explored a dead tree near the feeding station.

John Williams · Status: Offline

15.30-18.00

Lapwing Lane Area: 1 adult + 1 young Great Crested Grebes, 1 Tawny Owl and 1 Buzzard.

Birchwood Pool area : 3 Great Crested Grebe families (6 adults and 5 young in total) and a flock of 30 Greylag Geese.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe and 30+ Sand Martins.

Pumphouse heath area : 1 Buzzard, 1 Goldcrest and 1 singing Greenfinch.

3 Chiffchaffs and 2 Blackcaps were still singing in the reserve woodlands.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Afternoon visit.

A Reed Warbler was showing well in bushes alongside Lapwing Lane Pool.

8 Great Crested Grebes were on Birchwood Pool.

Pumphouse Pool held 3 Little Grebes and 1 Great Crested Grebe.

Unusually no hirundines were seen over any of the pools.

1 Lesser Whitethroat and at least 1 Cettis Warbler were heard calling along the old canal behind the Eastern Reedbed.

The Cettis Warbler gave the occasional brief view, but the Lesser Whitethroat stayed hidden.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker, a single Common Whitethroat and a Sparrowhawk were seen in the same area.

Just 1 Grey Heron was found at the Eastern Reedbed.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.30-14.30

Lapwing Lane Pool : 1 Little Grebe and 1 Great crested Grebe.

A couple of Kestrels were on wires alongside the dog walkers field.

Birchwood Pool : 4 Great crested Grebes.

Pumphouse Pool : 2 Gadwall, 1 Shelduck and 1 Great crested Grebe.

Above the pool were 10 Sand Martins, 10+ Swifts and 3 highly vocal Ravens.

Along the old canal behind the Eastern Reedbed a couple of Garden Warblers chased each other around the hawthorns, before one

of them settled down to sing. A Cettis Warbler gave a burst of song in the same area.

Eastern Reedbed : 6 Grey Herons, 1 hovering Buzzard and 6 Sand Martins.

The water level on Birchwood Pool is almost high enough to flood one of the hides.

Pumphouse Pool is swollen too with no areas of exposed mud.

Dave Riley · Status: Offline

Went for a walk around the west end of the reserve and Upper Moss Side, plenty of warblers singing with the following minimum counts:

1 Lesser Whitethroat, we managed to get some good views as well, near the old bird table behind Upper Moss-side Farm

15 Whitethroats

20 Blackcaps

3 Cetti's Warblers

2 Willow Warblers

10 Chiffchaffs

1 Goldcrest

1 Lesser Redpoll

-- Edited by Dave Riley on Saturday 1st of May 2021 02:50:37 PM

John Williams · Status: Offline

09.00-13.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 10 Little Grebes.

1 Great Spotted Woodpecker at the feeding station and 1 Goldcrest nearby.

Birchwood Pool : 4 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Little Grebes and 2 Oystercatchers.

Pumphouse Pool : 7 Gadwall, 4 Little Grebes, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 1 Mistle Thrush.

Eastern Reedbed :1m Wigeon, 2 Pochard, 6 Gadwall, 6 Grey Herons and 5 Reed Buntings.

No Willow Warbler song heard throughout, but 6+ Chiffchaffs and lots of Blackcaps were singing.

A Cettis Warbler gave a brief burst of song by the Eastern Reedbed.

Highly vocal Wrens seemed especially numerous, some with beaks full of moss and lichen.

Oddly no raptors were seen throughout, neither were any hirundines.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Morning walk

Lapwing Lane Pool : 1 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 4 Sand Martins.

Willow Tit still a regular visitor to the feeding station.

Birchwood Pool : 4 Great Crested Grebes.

2 Chiffchaffs in song by the path along the former canal.

Pumphouse Pool : 7 Gadwall, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Little Grebes and 2 Common Gulls.

Eastern Reedbed : 2 Shovelers, 5 Gadwall and 1 Grey Heron.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Morning walk

Lapwing Lane Pool : 20 Wigeon and 2f Goldeneyes.

Birchwood Pool area : 4 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Common Gull, 1 Willow Tit and 2 Buzzards.

Pumphouse Pool : 7 Gadwall, 3 Common Gulls, 2 Oystercatchers and 2 Little Grebes.

Eastern Reedbed : 2 Grey Herons, 3 Shovelers, 7 Gadwall and 10 Teal.

Amongst the common garden birds visiting the feeding station was a noticeable abundance of Great Tits.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Afternoon walk

Walked from Sankey Bridges to Moore NR via Trans Pennine Trail.

Pumphouse Pool & adjoining heath : 10 Gadwall, 8 Shovelers, 17 Lapwings (Flying SW), 2 Little Grebes,

30 Fieldfares (Joined Starlings in tree top roost at 5pm), 1m Great Spotted Woodpecker, 15 Redwings and 1 Goldcrest.

Birchwood Pool : 2 Great Crested Grebes and 1 Little Grebe. (Oddly no ducks on the pool, not even a single Mallard).

Lapwing Lane Pool : 2 Shovelers and 3 Wigeon.

Eastern Reedbed : 2 Grey Herons, a pair of Gadwall and a flock of 15 Chaffinches.

The water level on all the pools was high, with no exposed shoreline, even on Pumphouse Pool.

A massive influx of corvids (Mainly Jackdaws) gathered over the Eastern Reedbed at dusk.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Walked via Sankey Valley Park and Trans Pennine Trail to Moore NR.

Pumphouse Pool : 32 Gadwall and 1 Little Grebe.

Birchwood Pool & Woodland : 60 Black headed Gulls, 1 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard and 1 singing Song Thrush.

Lapwing Lane Pool : 4 Shoveler and 17 Wigeon.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Snipe, 2 Shoveler, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 6 Tufted Ducks and 1 Buzzard.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Walked via Sankey Valley Park and Trans Pennine Trail to Moore NR.

Pumphouse Pool & Heath : 18 Gadwall, 38 Coots, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Goldcrest and 2 Ravens.

Only the NW corner of the pool was unfrozen.

A few Teal were also seen here but were impossible to count as they often hid in the vegetation.

A Jay was also noted, and it gave away the presence of a large fox sneaking through a thicket above the unfrozen area.

The heron too was alerted to the presence of the fox, probably just in time as the sneaky predator was only a few feet away by then.

Once the heron made it clear that the fox had been spotted, the mammal turned away and crept into a dense thicket.

The Gadwall were clearly aware of the threat and stayed away from the bank, but the Teal and Coots appeared more relaxed.

The Coots seemed more concerned about chasing each other than they were about a potential predator, maybe the fox knows that?.

Birchwood Pool : 2 Common Gulls with a group of Black Headed resting on the ice. Also 1 Little Grebe in an unfrozen spot.

Lapwing Lane Pool was largely frozen with just a few Teal and a couple of drake Shovelers in the ice free margins.

The only sign of life at the Eastern Reedbed was a single Grey Heron.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Walked via Sankey Valley Park and Trans Pennine Trail to Moore NR.

46 Teal on the Mersey near the WCML rail bridge. 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Buzzard by the Eastern Reedbed.

All pools appeared to be still frozen over, but were slowly thawing .

1 Grey Wagtail was by Pumphouse Pool.

A Firecrest had been reported near Birch Wood just before I arrived. The bird was apparently seen moving around with

a flock of Long Tailed Tits. I managed to find a flock of 13 Long Tails close by shortly afterwards, and with them were

4 Blue Tits and a single Treecreeper, but no crests. Another flock of Long Tailed Tits was also found a short distance away,

but again there was no sign of any crests amongst them.

Singles of Common Gull and Little Grebe were on Birchwood Pool.

A Willow Tit was seen to visit the bird feeders, as were a couple of highly vocal Nuthatches.

Another Treecreeper was located in the mature woodland nearby, where a group of 14 Siskins fed amongst the Alder cones.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Walked via Sankey Valley Park and Trans Pennine Trail to Moore NR.

Near Gatewarth Sewage Farm : 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Buzzard.

River Mersey by railway arches : 1 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant and 1 Grey Heron.

The grebe managed to catch a stickleback and the Cormorant a bigger silver fish, similar to a Chub.

24 Rooks roosted on a nearby pylon. A single Buzzard was the only bird seen around the Eastern Reedbed.

All the pools at Moore NR were frozen over apart from a few small patches below overhanging trees.

A Kingfisher flew low across Pumphouse Pool, but apart from that the only birds on the pools were the odd Moorhen and Coot.

Willow Tits made several visits to the feeding station during the few minutes I was there.

John O'Neill · Status: Offline

11.30AM-1.30PM
Very busy here, car park and even roads packed with cars, presumably due to people sticking close to home at the moment.
Most of the standing water was frozen.

Feeding station was lively, though some usual species, eg Reed Bunting, not present. One unusual bird from the screen at the feeding station was a Kingfisher, shooting through very close, disappearing into the trees twisting and turning. At least 2 Williow Tits.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Walked from Lapwing Lane to Half Way House, outward via feeding station and Moss Side, returned alongside ship canal.

12.00-15.15

Lapwing Lane Pool & Woodland : 13 Wigeon, 18 Teal, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Goldcrest and 1f Siskin.

Moss Side : 6 Curlew (On Farmland) and 4 Bullfinches.

Newton Marsh : 19 Curlew, 35 Lapwings, 1 Grey Heron and 2 huge "Argentatus" type Herring Gulls.

Manchester Ship Canal : 74 Tufted Ducks, 6 Gadwall, 1 Shelduck, 8 Grey Herons, 8 Cormorants and 3 Teal.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.00-15.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 20 Wigeon and 5 Shovelers.

Feeding Station : A Grey Wagtail posed on top of one of the bird tables for a while .

Willow Tits appear to be regular visitors to the feeders again, whilst the influx of Coal Tits recorded on December 3rd has abated.

Not a single Coal Tit was seen around the feeders today.

Birchwood Pool : 6 Little Grebes, these were shadowed and harassed by 3 Black Headed Gulls who attempted to steal any small fish

the little anglers caught. There was a noticeable drop in the number of ducks on the pool, all the Pochard seen on recent visits have left,

only 9 Tufted Ducks and a few Mallard remained.

Pumphouse Pool : 1m Goldeneye, 1 Little Egret, 4 Shovelers and 5 Common Gulls. Still large numbers of Gadwall on the pool.

Eastern Reedbed : A pair of Shoveler.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.30-14.30

Lapwing Lane area : Flock of 22 Curlews heading East above the ship canal.

1 soggy looking female Kestrel on an alder by the car park, nearby 12 Lesser Redpolls were on a birch.

1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Grebes and 15 Wigeon on the pool.

5 Goldcrests with a roving flock of Blue and Great Tits.

A very noticeable increase in Coal Tits around the feeding station, an obvious influx of Chaffinches too, but

no sign of any Willow Tits whilst I was there. A Grey Heron was patrolling the marshy area alongside the bird tables.

Birchwood Pool & Woodland : 4 highly vocal and agitated Jays signalled a female Sparrowhawk resting in a tree.

She looked very passive and non-aggressive, but you can't fool a corvid. On the pool were 8 Pochards and 5 Little Grebes.

Nearby were 2 highly vocal Buzzards.

Pumphouse Pool & Heathland : 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Common Gull, 60 Gadwall and 30 Teal.

6 Redwings and 2 Song Thrushes were with several Blackbirds on the heath.

Every winter this small patch of heathland attracts thrushes, especially Redwings, and I've never found out what the attraction is,

the only trees there are a few small pines.

A very agitated flock of 800+ Lapwings circled over the former tip, they'd obviously been flushed off the Mersey sandbanks,

but despite the fact the group often packed into a very tight formation there was no sign of any attacking raptor.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Grey Heron, 6 Shoveler (All paired and indulging in their "whirlygig beetle" display routine) and 1 "light phase" Buzzard.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.00-15.00

a charm of Goldfinches flitting through the tops of some young alders.

40+ Tufted Ducks on Lapwing Lane Pool contained a female with some classic Scaup characteristics.

13 Wigeon, 7 Shovelers and a single Little Grebe were also on the pool.

Willow Tits were frequent visitors to the feeding station.

13 Pochards, 2 Little Grebes and 4 Wigeon were on Birchwood Pool.

An impressive 72 Gadwall plus 4 Common Gulls and a Little Egret were on Pumphouse Pool, whilst a single Goldcrest was by Collins Hide.

A Green Sandpiper was flushed from the edge of the Eastern Reedbed by 1 of the 3 Grey Herons seen there.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.30-14.30 Highlights

Lapwing Lane Pool & Woodland : 22 Wigeon, 6 Shovelers, 6 Little Grebes and 1 Treecreeper.

Birchwood Pool area : 8 Pochard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Little Grebes and 15 Greylag Geese (Flew over heading West).

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Chiffchaff (Briefly posed on a small oak alongside Collins Hide), 1 Little Egret, 2 Grey Wagtails,

4 Common Gulls (With Black Headed) and 10 Shovelers.

Eastern Reedbed area : 2 Buzzards (inc 1 Light Phase), 6 Shovelers and 4 Stock Doves.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.30-14.00 Walk from Lapwing Lane to Halfway House (Newton Marsh).

Lapwing Lane Pool area: 4 Shovelers, 8 Wigeon, 1 Little Grebe and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

A Willow Tit was frequenting the bird table at the feeding station.

4 Curlews on farmland at Moss Side, plus a flock of 60 over the river at Newton Marsh during high tide.

The high tide flooded the whole marshy area and reedbed at Newton Marsh, which attracted a couple of patrolling Buzzards.

A Kestrel rested on a post on the power station side of the river, whilst a nervous flock of 88 Lapwings sat out the high tide below

the former hide. 2 more Kestrels (m+f) hovered by Stobart warehouse alongside the ship canal.

26 Tufted Ducks and 7 Gadwall were on the canal, whilst 6 Greenfinches and a female Bullfinch fed on Guelder berries nearby.

John Williams · Status: Offline

09.00-12.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 2 Little Grebes, 17 Gadwall and 10 Wigeon.

Birchwood Pool & Woodland : 16 Pochards, 4 Little Grebes, 45 Tufted Ducks and 2 Buzzards.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Grey Wagtail, 32 Gadwall, 2 Little Grebes and 1 Cormorant.

Eastern Reedbed area : 1 Kingfisher and 2 Sparrowhawks.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.00-14.30

Lapwing Lane Pool area : 1 Little Grebe, 5 Wigeon, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Treecreeper.

Birchwood Pool : 4 Little Grebes, 2 juv+ 1 adult Great Crested Grebes and 114 Greylag Geese (including 2 all-white birds).

Pumphouse Pool** : 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Raven, 1 Little Grebe and 3 Wigeon.

Eastern Reedbed & area around Phoenix hide : 10 Shoveler, 1 Buzzard, 1 Grey Heron and 2 Little Grebes.

** The water level on Pumphouse Pool is really low with large areas of exposed mud, so it is currently ideal for waders.

However the site warden advised me that the reason for drop in water level is beyond their control, and they are concerned that it could drop

even further. Work currently being carried out on an adjoining site is being blamed, the hope is that heavy rain over the coming weeks will

see the water level held high enough for the winter waterfowl.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.00-15.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 4 Little Grebes

Birchwood Pool area : 1 adult + 2juv Great Crested Grebes (Both youngsters now catching their own fish on each dive),

2 Little Grebes, 1f Kestrel** (Soaring above the pool and carrying what seemed to be a House Mouse, i.e long tail but appeared

too big to be a Wood Mouse) and 1 Buzzard.

Pumphouse Pool : 2 Green Sandpipers, 3 Snipe, 3 Pochards, 2 Little Grebes and 1 Buzzard.

** The Kestrel soared over Birchwood Pool for quite a whille, whilst I expected her to fly to a feeding post to enjoy her meal, could

it be that she thought the Buzzard may try and snatch the mouse from her if she landed?.

John Williams · Status: Offline

09.30-13.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 1 Kingfisher and 2 Little Grebes.

Birchwood Pool area: 4 adult + 4 juvenile Great Crested Grebes, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Buzzard, 6 Sand Martins,

1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 50+ Sand Martins, 1 Little Egret, 1 adult + 4 juvenile Great Crested Grebes,

1 Kingfisher and 1 male Pochard.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Green Sandpiper and 2 Grey Herons.

John Williams · Status: Offline

From 8.30am

Lapwing Lane Pool area : 3 Little Grebes, 1m Bullfinch and 1 Treecreeper.

Birchwood Pool : 2 prs Great Crested Grebes (1 with 3 small young) and 4 Little Grebes.

Pumphouse Pool area : 1 Dunlin, 1pr Great Crested Grebes, 4 Little Grebes and 2 Buzzards.

Around a dozen Sand Martins were flying above Pumphouse Pool.

A Cuckoo was calling loudly near Collins Hide but could not be located.

Along the old canal a pair of Moorhens had 4 "Blackbird" sized young with them.

6 Grey Herons were seen close to the Eastern Reedbed.

John Williams · Status: Offline

Bike ride to Moore NR this morning.

Highlights were : Reed and Cettis Warblers singing along the old canal opposite the Eastern Reedbed.

Swallows, House and Sand Martins, around 30 birds in total, swooping low over Pumphouse Flash.

Also seen there were 1 White Wagtail and a pair of displaying Great Crested Grebes.

3 pairs of Great Crested Grebes, a pair of Oystercatchers and a couple of Mistle Thrushes were at Birchwood Pool.

A singing Garden Warbler and 2 vocal Lesser Whitethroats were heard at Moss Side.

A Sedge Warbler was noted in song flight whilst a female Wheatear posed on a nearby fence post at Newton Marsh.

Across the river, and high above the now derelict power station hide a Pergrine soared on thermals before going into a breathtaking dive,

but it was not seen to catch anything.

3 Buzzards were in flight around Newton Marsh, where 32 Shelducks, 4 Great Black Backed Gulls and a single Oystercatcher were on the mudflats.

30 Tufted Ducks, 2 pairs of Great Crested Grebes, 3 Grey Herons, 1 Kestrel and a single highly vocal but elusive Cettis Warbler were along the ship canal.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.45-15.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 8 Wigeon and 3 Little Grebes.

2 Goldcrests were on alders near the car park.

2f Great Spotted Woodpeckers had a territorial tiff near the feeding station. Where a single Willow Tit made brief visits to the bird table,

grabbed a beak full of seed, then quickly retreated to the safety of a patch of brambles to eat.

Birchwood Pool : 4 Great Crested Grebes and 2 Litttle Grebes, whilst a single Buzzard flew over.

A Stoat flushed a Goldcrest and a Dunnock from a bramble patch in Birchwood.

Pumphouse Pool : 170 Black Headed Gulls, 4 Common Gulls, 4 Cormorants, 2 Little Grebes and 2 Great Crested Grebes.

A single Grey Heron was by the Easter Reedbed.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.30-14.30

Lapwing Lane Pool : 8 Wigeon and 2 Little Grebes.

Feeding Station : An immature Sparrowhawk turned up twice whilst I was there, visits 10mins apart.

On one occasion it sat on top of the bird table for about 30 seconds, then moved to nearby tree for a minute or so.

This bird clearly knows there is easy meat to be had there, and it really spooked the visiting tits and Chaffinches,

no small birds showed for several minutes after the hawk had left, even the squirrels were nowhere to be seen.

A Merlin zoomed along the edge of the former landfill.

Birchwood Pool : 1 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 adult Herrring Gull, 80 Black Headed Gulls and 1 Buzzard.

Pumphouse Pool : 2 Common Gulls, 180 Black Headed Gulls, 4 Little Grebes, 8 Cormorants, 14 Gadwall and 18 Tufted Ducks.

Eastern Reedbed : 2 Grey Herons, 12 Teal and 10 Tufted Ducks.

John Williams · Status: Offline

14.00-17.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 5 Wigeon and 12 Cormorants.

12 Redwings, 3 Goldcrests and 1 Treecreeper were in woodland near the feeding station.

A single Willow Tit visited the bird table which was again very popular with lots of Blue and Great Tits,

together with numerous Chaffinches. At least 1 Chaffinch, a resplendent male had an awful looking crusty

growth on one leg, but it did not appear to bother him much. No sign of any Bramblings amongst the

Chaffinch flock. Nearby a line of young alders was packed with Goldfinches and amongst them were at least

3 Lesser Redpolls plus a couple of Siskins.

Birchwood Pool : 5 Little Grebes, 14 Tufted Ducks, 2m+1f Pochards, 4 Wigeon and 8 Gadwall.

Pumphouse Pool : 2 Little Grebes, 36 Gadwall and 10 Tufted Ducks, whilst 6 Fieldfares roosted nearby.

Eastern Reedbed & Heathland : 28 Shoveler feeding "Whirligig Beetle" style, 8 Tufted Ducks, 3 Grey Herons

and 3 Stock Doves. No raptors were seen anywhere on the reserve.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.30-15.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 18 Wigeon and 25 Tufted Ducks.

3 Goldcrests were alongside the track leading to the feeding station.

Feeding Station : 2 Willow Tits, 3 Jays and 1f Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I waited 30 minutes before the first Willow Tit turned up, whilst it was feeding another turned up nearby,

they both appeared very nervous and after grabbing a quick morsel they made a speedy exit.

In contrast to the Willow Tits the other diners seemed more relaxed, the bird table was often jammed with

Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits and the occasional Coal Tit. I can't recall seeing the feeders this busy before,

often with about 10 birds on the main bird table simultaneously.

Birchwood Pool : 3 Little Grebes, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 3m+1f Pochard, 13 Tufted Ducks and 1 Buzzard.

Pumphouse Pool: The most noticeable feature was the high number of Gadwall, 62 in total, I can't recall

anything like this number being seen on this pool before. Also on PP 8 Common Gulls were amongst the usual

Black Head roost, and a Song Thrush rooted through the vegetation in front of Colin's Hide.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Raven, 13 Shoveler and 15 Tufted Ducks.

Dave Riley · Status: Offline

A very pleasant walk around Upper/Lower Moss Side to see the Stinking Hellebore and Sweet Violets produced a couple of nice surprises, a Water Rail squealed from a damp field and a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker showed well, but briefly, opposite Moss Side Farm

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.00-14.00

Lapwing Lane : 1 Song Thrush bathing in a puddle in the middle of the road and very reluctant

to move, I had to take extreme care to avoid hitting it. A single Kestrel was perched on wires near the

car park. On the pool were 37 Wigeon, 16 Tufted Ducks and 9 Gadwall, whilst a pair of highly vocal Buzzards

soared nearby, and 3 Goldcrests flitted through the ivy covered trees along the track to the feeding station.

2 Willow Tits were showing at the feeders, 1 of which spent most of time feeding on the ground and frequently

plunged into the cover of the nearby brambles. The reason for this birds anxiety soon became apparent when a

Sparrowhawk zoomed through and passed within inches of the bird table.

Birchwood Pool : 60 Tufted Ducks, 5 Little Grebes, 8 Pochard, 1 Shoveler, 4 Wigeon and 7 Gadwall.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Buzzard (Light Phase), 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Common Gulls, 11 Gadwall and 1 Shoveler.

25 Redwings were on the ground feeding below the pine trees on the heath, together with a couple of Blackbirds

but I could not see what the attraction was, there was no obvious food source there.

John Williams · Status: Offline

11.00-15.00

Lapwing Lane & Pool : 1 Sparrowhawk, 30 Wigeon and 2 Goldcrests.

Feeding Station : 3 Willow Tits, 3 Jays and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

(1 Willow Tit spent a lot of time foraging on the ground alongside a Dunnock and well

away from the feeders, both birds were seen turning leaves over picking up a few morsals.)

Birchwood Pool : 1 Kingfisher, 7m Pochards, 8 Shoveler, 3 Little Grebes, 80 Tufted Ducks and

50+ Gadwall.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Little Grebe and 1m Pochard. 8 Common Gulls were amongst

a large group of Black Headed.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Buzzard and a pair of Shoveler.

John O'Neill · Status: Offline

AM
pretty quiet
Mixeds flock of tits and finches moving through trees included good nos of Lesser Redpoll

John Williams · Status: Offline

09.30-12.30

Lapwing Lane Pool :1ad +1juv Graet Crested Grebes.

Birchwood Pool : 2ad+1juv Great Crested Grebes, 1ad+2juv Little Grebes, 6 Sand Martins,

2 House Martins and 3 Jays.

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Little Egret, 1 Snipe, 1 Kingfisher, and 1 male Pochard.

John Williams · Status: Offline

10.00-14.30

Lapwing Lane & Pool

A family of Reed Warblers were showing well in front of Lapwing Lane hide.

2 Adult + 2 Juv Little Grebes and 3 Cormorants. 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Birchwood Pool area.

1 Green Woodpecker, 2 Goldcrests, 3 Little Grebes and 2prs Great Crested Grebes.

(1pr GCG with 2 small young, whilst one of the others was brooding).

Birch Wood : 1 male Kestrel.

Pumphouse Pool

2 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Little Grebes, 4m Pochard, 4 Lapwings and 3 Stock Doves.

Green Woodpecker heard calling loudly.

Eastern Reedbed : 3 Grey Herons.

John Williams · Status: Offline

12.00-16.00

Lapwing Lane Pool : 2 Great Crested Grebes

Birchwood Pool area : 4 Grey Wagtails (Family Group), 3 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Little Grebes and a singing Chiffchaff.

20+ Sand Martins were feeding over the pool. A male Blackbird was seen vigorously chasing off a couple of Jays.

Pumphouse Pool : 1m Pochard, 2 Great Crested Grebes and a single Lapwing.

Eastern Reedbed : 3 Little Grebes, 3 Grey Herons, 2 Gadwall and 1 Buzzard.

Steve Costa · Status: Offline

09:40 - 14:45

Oystercatcher 1
Common Sandpiper 1

Great Black-backed Gull 2
They swam close to the shore of an island. One took a Canada Goose egg which looked huge, even in the formidable beak of this gull species. The Canada Goose flapped around in an agitated but ineffective manner. The gulls moved a couple of metres away and dropped the egg several times onto the ground. Sometimes it rolled down a slope and had to be retrieved. Not sure if this was a deliberate effort to crack the egg, or just difficulty in manipulating it in order to break it with the bill. (I think the egg would have been too cumbersome to carry in flight without dropping it) Eventually, it was opened and both gulls fed together on the contents. A carrion crow was in close attendance during the whole episode, presumably hoping for some leftovers!

Cuckoo 1 - heard calling

John Williams · Status: Offline

09.15-13.00

Lapwing Lane Pool area :

23 Wigeon, 18 Gadwall, 2 Little Grebes,1 Goldcrest and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Birchwood Pool area :

A flock of 140 Greylag Geese flew in, with them were 2 white Greylags plus 5 feral variations of Snow Geese. The later moved away from the mass of Greylags once they had

landed on the water, and formed a seperate tightly packed group on the North side of the big island. Also here were, 1 Sparrowhawk and 4 Little Grebes.

Pumphouse Pool :

9 Black Tailed Godwits, 7 Common Gulls, 9 Cormorants, 2 Little Grebes,1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Buzzard.

At the Eastern Reedbed there was no sign of a Bittern, just 5 Shoveler and a few Teal.

John Williams · Status: Offline

17.30-19.45

Walked to Halfway House from Lapwing Lane, along the ship canal.

Along the ship canal : 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 3 Bullfinches, 1 Linnet and 14 Cormorants (In flight over the canal).

1 Spotted Flycatcher shared an Elder bush with a Goldcrest.

On the ship canal : 1 Kingfisher and a pair of Great Crested Grebes.

Newton Marsh (Mersey sandbanks) : 1 Little Egret, 2 Greenshanks and 27 Curlew. There was a steady trickle of Swallows heading West throughout.

-- Edited by John Williams on Thursday 6th of September 2018 10:18:09 PM

John Williams · Status: Offline

13.30-17.00

Moore Lane (South of Ship Canal) : 1 Kestrel and 1 Buzzard.

Lapwing Lane Pool : 9 Gadwall and 4 Little Grebes

Birchwood Pool : 16 Gadwall (Several males now out of eclipse), 8 Little Grebes and 1 Grey Heron.

Pumphouse Pool : 1m+1f Pochard, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Lapwings, 4 Little Grebes and 2 Grey Herons.

Eastern Reedbed : 1 Kingfisher, 9 Gadwall and 1 Grey Heron.

The water level was noticeably down on Pumphouse Pool and at the Eastern Reedbed.

Also the hides at Pumphouse Pool and the Phoenix hide/screen have been refurbished.

Mike Mulholland · Status: Offline

Wood Warbler still singing along canal towpath midday but difficult to see..

Dave Riley · Status: Offline

We had a walk around the western end of the reserve yesterday, amongst other things we heard a Garden Warbler singing and saw a family party of Long-tailed Tits with about six juveniles, the earliest I have ever seen fledged young by about three weeks!

Mike Mulholland · Status: Offline

15.45-16.45 Wood Warbler singing and occasionally showing reasonably well in trees by the canal towpath north of the Eastern Reedbed. It favoured the west end of the path near the steps.

John Williams · Status: Offline

08.30-14.30

Lapwing Lane Pool Area : 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe and a Cuckoo that was heard but not seen.

On Lapwing Lane opposite the gate leading to the feeding station, a Grasshopper Warbler posed for a few seconds and reeled from vegetation alongside

the ditch. A single Goldcrest was seen nearby, and 4 Grey Herons were stalking prey in the pools by the feeding station.

Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were singing in profusion throughout the area, and a single Garden Warbler was in full song from a thicket by the old canal.

Birchwood Pool : 1 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 12 Sand Martins, 10 Gadwall and 8 Tufted Ducks.

A Lesser Whitethroat was singing from a bramble patch alongside the pool.

2m+1f Bullfinches were in Birchwood, both finch males were enduring the wrath of a territorial Robin

Pumphouse Pool : 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Little Grebe, 10 Gadwall and 2 Buzzards.

Eastern Reedbed : 2 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Stock Doves, 4 Grey Herons and 3 Greylag Geese. Raven heard here.

The vandalised Colin's Hide has been replaced by a screen and benches, whilst the burned down Phoenix screen as been replaced by a new one.

Mike Mulholland · Status: Offline

Good views of the Great Grey Shrike earlier today (approx 12.30 ) at Upper Moss Side approx 100 metres west of the wooden bridge.