Two Red-legged Partridges in the hedge on the northern boundary and a single Buzzard the highlights of a quiet mid afternoon walk.

Cetti's Warbler still present and the first Grasshopper Warblers are back on site with two new in since weekend. The first Willow Warblers were also present.

Highlights today were a large (compared to recent years) flock of Siskin in the woods adjacent to the railway line. I would guesstimate around 30 birds however they were difficult to see and there were also a number of Goldfinches and Chaffinches mixed in so difficult to be accurate. A single Treecreeper and two Willow Tits were in the same area. A single Yellowhammer was on the western side. These always seem to appear briefly at this time of year but then vanish.

I hadn't realised it was such a long time since I posted in here - shows what a quiet spring and autumn it has been on the site. Anyway, a female Brambling was the best bird today, joining the growing finch flock feeding on the sunflowers in the field on the northern boundary of the western half. This flock is growing daily but, as the sunflowers are still standing it is incredibly difficult to see the whole flock. I did however have a flock of Greenfinches in flight earlier in the week and counted approximately 70 in it. This was on top of several smaller mixed parties of Green and Goldfinches, Linnets and Reed Buntings.

Cetti's Warbler yet again today. Seems hardly credible that I twitched a Cetti's at Wigan Flashes 13 years ago and now they're comparatively widespread in GM. The first Whitethroat of the year was also present.

Only bird of interest today was a single White Wagtail with a Pied in one of the horse paddocks.

A Cetti's Warbler was singing at the pond opposite the Paddocks this afternoon. Almost a year since I heard my first Cetti's on this site at exactly the same spot.

A single Swallow, and a number of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs proved that spring is definitely coming despite the overnight snow.

A couple of flyover Redpolls were presumably lessers.

A total of 3 Buzzards, 2 Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Willow Tits, amongst the usual stuff today. 

Circa 70 Fieldfare and 50 Redwing in the recently ploughed field on the Northern boundary of the western half. Very difficult to count accurately as they constantly disappeared in the plough lines and frequently flew from one spot to the next, overlapping each other constantly.

A flock of 65 Fieldfares was in the hedge on the northern boundary this PM.

Saturday 07 November 2020

Early afternoon on the eastern side:
6 Whooper Swan over west, with 2 Pink-footed Goose
3 Goosander over east

Also, last Saturday (31 Oct) a Woodcock flew from beside the main path at dusk.

Again out with the dog at lunchtime - very quiet but a very large flock of finches, probably 100-150 flew from the Mortons Dairy area, south towards the paddocks. Didn't have time to go and look for them, but based on the calls and gis of the birds going over it was largely Greenfinches with a supporting act of Chaffinches and Linnets and I'm sure I heard the odd Reed Bunting too. I would guess if the flock can be located there's a better than average chance of a Brambling or two and maybe something better!! I am presuming they are still feeding on the large field adjacent to the northern boundary of the site.

Sunday 11 October 2020

2 Stonechat (pair) in the marshy area at the bottom of Rose Farm horse paddock, around midday.

Only had time for a quick walk round the western half today. It was immediately noticeable that Chiffchaff numbers were well down, I only heard two or three all the way round.

By far the 'best' sighting today was the flock of over 40 Greenfinches which is by far the biggest I remember seeing on here. There were also considerable numbers of other finches and buntings around - Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet, and Reed Buntings, but due to not having much time I couldn't spend any time counting them. Their presence is, I suspect due to the fact that the farmer cut the large rape field yesterday and they are feeding on the spilled seeds. If said farmer is true to form the filed will be ploughed by weekend so the flocks may not hang around, but he has planted a significant game crop of sunflowers around one edge of the field so I'm hoping this will hold a few birds at least for a while.



-- Edited by Craig Higson on Tuesday 22nd of September 2020 10:57:40 PM

Sunday 12 July 2020

Hundreds of Swift swarming over the field between the railway and the caravan storage, in the south-east corner of the site, late morning.

A singing Cetti's Warbler on the western side was, I believe after consultation with the other site regular, the first record for Viridor. It was certainly a first for me. I also thought I had a Hobby but it was just a very slender winged Kestrel.

Sunday 26 April 2020

A Grasshopper Warbler, singing and showing relatively well this morning, on the East side, close to the railway bridge.

Saturday 21 March 2020

Nuthatch again, early this morning, near the railway. Also at least 4 Chiffchaff and 2 Treecreeper nearby, and some very distant swans heading north, presumably Whoopers.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Saturday 21st of March 2020 12:15:20 PM

Sunday 15 March 2020

A Nuthatch on the east of the site was a site-first for me.
Also nearby were Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Siskin and my first bumblebee of the year.

-- Edited by Rob Thorpe on Monday 16th of March 2020 09:30:25 AM

Had a look round both sides today. Plenty of Whitethroats around and Grasshopper Warblers have increased a bit. Willow Warbler numbers have dropped, possibly because they've stopped singing or, more likely they have moved on as nesting habitat isn't ideal for them here. A Willow Tit was heard on the eastern side. Other than that pretty quiet. There is still a distinct lack of Hirundines, with Swallow numbers well down on usual.

A lunchtime walk with the dog on the western side in a very strong westerly (force 5/6 gusting 7 at times) produced not a lot. 13 Meadow Pipits and 9 Pied Wagtails in the paddocks and two Buzzards displaying the most exciting things !!!

Late evening walk with the dog on the eastern side:

Woodpigeon - several hundred passing over

Common Snipe - 1 over

Woodcock - 3 leaving various roost sites

Approx 1500 Woodpigeon this morning around the part of the site between Riding Lane and the railway

A quick half hour blast around the site at lunchtime today was quite enjoyable with 25 species noted. Best bird(s) were undoubtedly the 5 Buzzards and a single Raven 'kettling' over the western side. A Yellowhammer was also near the stables - these birds always seem to re-appear in autumn after an almost complete disappearance in spring.

The site has been pretty good this autumn (comparatively speaking) with Hobby, Yellow Wagtail and the best bird of the Autumn the other week in the form of a Ring Ouzel. There are some healthy looking flocks of Goldfinches and quite a few mixed tit flocks plus plenty thrushes knocking about now the Redwings and Fieldfares have arrived. A flock of 61 Fieldfares last week was one of the biggest I have seen on here.