6 drake Mandarins on weir pool this am. No sign anything else notable.

First visit around 1600 today in the hope of seeing Mandarin....... and did - 3 pairs!

My first thought before I looked at the picture was I bet it's an American Crayfish...Sadly the waterways of Stockport are over-run with them.

Not sure what that thing is though, but it needs removing.
Best bet Phil, is to report this to whoever is in charge of that stretch of the Etherow before things get out of hand...Could be a lone exotic fish or worse case there may be numbers of them.
The Goyt around Stockport has been thriving over the last few years with plenty of Trout and I've heard reports of small Salmon runs...An outbreak of anything alien could have dire consequences.

Not much today out of the ordinary

Lots of pairs of birds, inc:

Chaffinch
Dunnock
Treecreeper
Stock dove
Usual tits...

Then some singletons:

Sparrowhawk
Buzzard

Oh...and THE LOCH STOCKPORT MONSTER!

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2195/ju7f7207.jpg

Take a look at the photo, it certainly looks a little exotic for the River Etherow....

Reed bunting at the hide today!

I'd love to say the usual suspects too...but it unfortunately lacking in our avian friends :(

Afternoon walk up to the pump house.

Goosander 2m 1f ( other f must have been hiding ).
Dipper 1 just downstream of the bridge.
Mandarin 13m 8f
Mute Swan 2
Tufted Duck 11
Grey Heron 1
Buzzard 2
Redwing 15+
Missel Thrush 4
Gt.Crested Grebe 1
Cormorant 11

etc etc.

6 Goosander on Keg Pool today, they don't seem to have been reported previously. 4 males 2 females
Nuthatches between main car park/lake & weir, (and also at Sunny Corner feeding station - constant visits to bird table during 30 min stay.)
At least 3 tree creepers in trees around this feeding station also, and buzzard circling overhead.

6 Tufted ducks on river above weir, males and females.

Long tailed tits

How strange to see the single Egyptian Goose on the pond adjacent to the main car park among the Canada Geese, gulls & mallards.

A very scenic, sheltered and varied venue for a birding walk - my first visit, won't be my last.

Martin Cuthbert

Had a walk around Etherow yesterday, so I'll add a few more to the list for the weekend...

1 Siskin
3 Goldfinch
1 Goldcrest
1 Treecreeper

Very nice Declan, hope it was 13 of each?

Where did you see both kinds of WP please?

Regards

Geoff

Saturday 3rd January 2009
08.25-11.40

Egyptian Goose
Mandarin 18
Redwing 6
Treecreeper 3
Jay 2
Buzzard 2
Dipper

and the usual woodland birds

Phil,

Yes, bullfinch is usual at Etherow. You'll usually hear them at least if you take the top path in the park that comes down near the toilet block. They are not as common as they used to be though - I seem to remember a flock of ten once in the past. I was at ECP myself the week before you and had reasonable flocks of siskin (c15) and redpoll (c20) so keep an eye (and ear) out for them.

16/10/08 - 12:00 - 2.30 from the CWT hide

Little grebe
Robin
Coal tit
Kingfisher
Nuthatch
Chaffinch
Wren
~16 cormorants upstream roosting...including 3 who flew down right in front of the hide, seemingly to check me out, then flew back again...about time I got some good shots!!

Buzzard also seen from main boating lake looking South

first visit to very nice bit of g. m. the blustery weather didn,t help my sightings ,
chaffinch,g s pecker,blackbird,chiff chaff,mistle thrush,coot,lots of canadas on the lake,i,ve resolved to return in better conditions to enjoy this 'outpost' of the county

cheers geoff

this morning, 2 pied flycatchers, 3 mandarins, garden warbler, dipper, treecreeper, nuthatch, coal tit and great spotted woodpecker.

Went out on Wednesday with Paul (Cliff) and along the river and weir we saw three
adorable Dipper chicks being constantly fed,also with young were Coot,Greylag and Mallard.
Others we noticed were nesting Mute Swan,Canada Geese, Greywagtail,Cormorant and beautiful Mandarin,sadly no Kingfishers.
In the woods,all the 'usual suspects' and great views of a singing Chiffchaff directly in front of us and Nuthatch (always a pleasure) one or twice along our walk,and although no sighting,we did hear a Tawny Owl!!
luv birding l do..

Gentlemen, can I remind you not to discuss the actual location (down to a specific tree in this instance) of rare county breeding birds on an open forum such as this. If this is necessary, and please, only to people you know personally (if you need any observer information please contact me first) then use the private messaging facility on the forum.

Cheers.

1 Egyptian Goose and at least 5 Mandarins 12/05

3-5 pm

Male Pied Flycatcher
pair of Dippers
Green Woodpecker
3x GS Woodpecker
2 Buzzard
1 Sparrowhawk
3 Mandarin
plus other usual woodland stuff.

What is a Yorkie birder doing in my park? How dare he see an osprey without my permission!! Wait til I'm next over Barnsley way.

Report on Birdguides today

16:40 26/03/08 Osprey Manc'r Etherow CP 16:20
one flew north late afternoon

Only saw 5 Mandarins last Sunday, but even that seemed a significant increase on former years. 20+ makes it an abundant species. How long has there been upward trend?

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the response; you told me about the Mossley pair before and we followed them up last year. We ringed the adults as follows:- Male Right leg- Orange over BTO metal, Left leg- Light Pink and White striped; Female Right leg- Orange over BTO metal, Left leg- Light Pink and Mauve striped. The nest eluded us, even though it was where you had said, but at least 2 pulli fledged.
The nest up river from there was nr the Saddleworth WwTW, where we ringed the adults and juveniles, but there are likely two more pairs between, say Roaches Locks and Scout Green, plus one down stream at Heyrod. Any clues will be welcome; if there is a good response to this project we are prepared to send e-mail Newsletters to interested observers.

Tony

Thanks for your record of the Compstall Bridge Dipper pair.
In 2007 after a pilot run in 2006, South Manchester Ringing Group colour ringed 73 adult Dippers, 143 Dipper pulli, and added 59 nest record cards to the BTO archive.

The Compstall Bridge breeding pair were unsuccessful, the nest being predated at egg stage. The Etherow Weir pair were successful laying 3 eggs and fledging 3 pulli. These pulli were ringed, metal only on the right tarsus, so it seems that the pair carrying nest material was from these three. The question to be asked is what happened to the adults from 2007?
Thanks to Chris Johnson we are now in the process of erecting Dipper nest boxes near where breeding has been attempted unsuccessfully in the past and Compstall Bridge has been included.

As Phil Kenyon's delightful photographs of an Uppermill bird show, the colour rings are not easy to read, and a telescope may be necessary. But remember records of unringed Dippers are also of great value.

Exact locations of nests anywhere between Stockport and Roman Lakes, and Stalybridge and Greenfield would be very valuable; details to either Judith Smith or me, to preserve site confidentially. The national annual total of Dipper nest record cards is approx 200, so it is easy to realise how useful our 59 will be in providing data on nest success rate, number of eggs laid and hatched and numbers of pulli fledged.

Is Etherow CP in the Greater Manchester bird recording area? I thought it was in Cheshire.