1 Firecrest showed well for 5 mins at 11.15. In conifers near abandoned building opposite Spring Bridge Road entrance.

Cheers John.

No luck for me or Phil Owen between 10am-12pm for the Firecrest, will have another crack in the morning.

In addition to other reports today there were:
1 Treecreeper
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Mistle Thrushes
1 Grey Heron (1w)
1 Pied Wagtail
2 House Sparrows
2 Greenfinches


-- Edited by Henry Cook on Saturday 15th of December 2012 06:38:07 PM

I managed to get the firecrest after about 15min, very lucky! Thanks to Tim Wilcox and Tony Darby for showing me where it was. :)

Also great to meet steven burke and Neville Wright. Good company and a stonking bird. I think I saw the duller bird (missed the bright male by 5min, but not complaining!) See Tim's directions below

Also jay, nuthatch, 3 male (at least 1 sub-adult) goosander, male shoveler and lots of goldcrest plus some commoner woodland species.

The firecrest was not seen after about 1445hrs. (But heard it call as I was leaving)

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 15th of December 2012 03:35:18 PM

Two Firecrests plus two Goldcrests showing well despite the rain in the silver birch at the south west corner of the lake at 2pm.

Info thanks to Iain Johnson

Firecrest (m) seen at 2:45 - 3:00. It flew in from the conifers at the entrance and stayed for at least 15 minutes (Thanks to the other birder who pointed me in the right direction. It was also seen flying into the birch on the West side of the lake.

Numerous Goldcrest and Tit flocks
3 Goosander (m)
1 Shoveler (m)

-Back home at 6 p.m.

After a 3 hour drive I arrived at Alexandra Pk at 11.30 a.m. (totally new area for me, and rather more extensive than I had thought) and put in 3 hours of slowly exploring all the hollies and conifers, listening, and "squeaking out" just about every species in there, apart from Firecrest!
I met up with Mike Brown and Heath Green who similarly had had no luck;- they went off for lunch as I soldiered on, chewing my butties on the hoof.
We met up and carried on (not filled with optimism by this time, though I felt sure the bird/s would still be around).
At 14.30, checking the same line of hollies (already checked 3/4 times), Heath spotted one Firecrest some 20 ft away at eye level.
- Jubilation all round as it performed for a good 5 minutes, flitting between two large hollies. -A duff record shot obtained.

I left them with it and shot off to the car to clear Gr. Manchester ahead of the rush hour.

For precise directions, (assuming this is a key part of the bird's circuit):

Starting/entering at the Spring Bridge Rd entrance to the park (i.e. at it's southern edge, along Demesne Rd) turn immediately left and go some 50 yds hugging the fence by Demesne Rd. This marks the start of a longish row of tall hollies, and the bird was in the first two that you come to. Opposite, in a Demesne Rd garden is a tall conifer which helps to confirm you as being in the same spot.
This would seem to tally with where the two birds were seen well on Sunday at 15.30, and may be a good bet for late afternoon attempts. We heard no calls at any time so it was just a case of putting in the time and getting lucky.

28 species logged in all, - best of the rest a drake Goosander on the lake.

Good Luck, and don't give up!

Regards,
Mike P.

After a 3 hour search 1 Firecrest still present at 14.30 in same area as 9th Dec.

[Info from Mike Passant]

Cheers John

-- Edited by John Rayner on Tuesday 11th of December 2012 04:28:13 PM

Alexandra Park 14.30 - 15.20

Mark Rigby, Karen Foulkes and myself tried for the Firecrest without much expectation. We were rather too late in the day and light was fading fast.

A brief search round the boating lake Holly trees and Mark thought he heard a call, so we lingered. Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, and Goldcrest slowly revealed themselves. Hope was fading with the light but in the nick of time a Firecrest showed briefly at first, then well. It flew from Holly trees across Desmene Road into a Willow on the corner of Spring Bridge Road. It eventually flew back into the park to what may be the favoured Holly Trees and showed well at no more than 10 feet range. Amazingly it was then joined by a second bird, the two being only 1 foot apart on the same branch.

The very bright general colouration, rich rufous tones around the lores / fore-supercilia and the orange edging to the yellow crown stripes on both birds led us to believe they were 2 males.

Cheers, John

John Rayner wrote:

---

Alexandra Park 14.30 - 15.20

Mark Rigby, Karen Foulkes and myself tried for the Firecrest without much expectation. We were rather too late in the day and light was fading fast.

A brief search round the boating lake Holly trees and Mark thought he heard a call, so we lingered. Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, and Goldcrest slowly revealed themselves. Hope was fading with the light but in the nick of time a Firecrest showed briefly at first, then well. It flew from Holly trees across Desmene Road into a Willow on the corner of Spring Bridge Road. It eventually flew back into the park to what may be the favoured Holly Trees and showed well at no more than 10 feet range. Amazingly it was then joined by a second bird, the two being only 1 foot apart on the same branch.

The very bright general colouration, rich rufous tones around the lores / fore-supercilia and the orange edging to the yellow crown stripes on both birds led us to believe they were 2 males.

Cheers, John

---

You all must have arrived just seconds after Tony Darby and myself left after two hours searching having been tipped off by Tony O'Mahony. The main tit flock of 20 odd Long-tailed Tits, 15 or so Blue Tits, 2 Coal Tits, 2 Coal Tits and 2 Great Tits with 2 Goldcrests was a little further East around the lodge. We went back around the boating lake twice (where 3 more Goldcrests seemingly resident in tall firs) but missed out and left getting cold. Almost on the final whistle of the Derby I got a text off Ian and Tony Darby and myself raced back on our bikes to join Tony O Mahony. As the light faded tantalising probables flitted around the tall pines by the private blocks of flats on Greysham Court off Demesne Road. We heard them call very close by but no view for a positive ID

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Sunday 9th of December 2012 11:05:25 PM

No further sign of the Firecrest by 2pm but large roving tit flock still present.

Info thanks to Tim Wilcox

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 9th of December 2012 03:22:09 PM

I didn't visit during the breeding season though a comment made in response to one of my videos on the Friends of Alexandra Park Facebook page states that a pair nested and three chicks hatched this year. A local told me two pairs had nested, so take your pick. Vids can be seen on the FOAP website

http://friendsofalexandrapark.com/news/

Excellent Pete, I could have seen those from my old flat on Demesne Road!!!

4 Goosander
1 Teal
11 Tufted

Pete Hines wrote:

---

Monday 29th Oct

10 Siskin
Redwing
Goldcrest
7 Tufted
3 Mute Swan

---

Keep the sightings coming guys, I am really interested in thsi thread since I lived on Demesne Road abutting the park for over 10 years. Unfortuantely those were my lapsed years in terms of birding, grls & beer were much more important then (all equal now with birding ). I regret not birding the park more, I was unemployed & could have done it as a daily patch. My total birding experiences amount to rescuing a Muscovy duckling that had been hooked by a fisherman & hand rearing it!!!

Quick visit this afternoon:

3 Shovelers
2 Mute Swans
1 Nuthatch
amongst the usuals

27th August 9.25am

Female and juvenile Sparrowhawk circling over the westside of the park.

Steve Christmas wrote:

---

I recorded a juv sparrowhawk in Whitworth Park, which is a different tetrad, on 15th July. Possibly the same brood?

---

Do you have any information Steve on how far from the nest site juv. Sparrowhawks are likely to move whilst still dependent on the adults for food? I was wondering whether these could be the offspring of two different pairs, given the relative lack of suitable habitat in this urban area.

According to The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91 the distance between breeding pairs can be as little as 0.5km (admittedly in continuous forest) and that in Edinburgh there were estimated to be 35 pairs. Not sure about the relative size of Edinburgh and Manchester but I calculate the distance between Alexandra and Whitworth parks to be approx. 1.5 km as the Sparrowhawk flies.

At Watergrove recently fledged juv Sparrowhawks have been calling from the same area of plantation for 11 days. In other words they haven't moved more than about 300 metres.

Steve

Nadine Andrews, Katherine Miller and I heard a juv. Sparrowhawk hunger calling in the park at 08:00 hrs. It was still calling late this afternoon. So it was great to confirm breeding of this species in SJ89H Whalley Range tetrad.

Another addition to the tetrad's confirmed breeding species list was Bullfinch with 2 juvs being fed by a male in the park.

Also seen today:

A Treecreeper sunning itself on a Black Poplar and stretching its wings to soak up the early morning sun's rays.
A pair of Ring-necked Parakeets
Swifts - 4 overhead
Family party of 4 Mistle Thrushes plus another group of 6
Family party of 3 Song Thrushes
Nuthatch - 3
Pair of Coot with 4 small chicks just a few days old
Moorhen with 3 small downy chicks

Steve

5th April 6.20pm

3 Swifts high above Stanley Road at junction with Alness Road, headed south.

19th April 7.20am Stanley Road

1 Jay

13th April 7.40am Stanley Road

1 Jay

24th March 5.30pm - 5.45pm

1 Grey Heron on nest
1 Coot on nest

37 Tufted Ducks (23 males 14 females)
22 Canada Geese
27 Mallard
4 Coot
1 Moorhen
15 Magpies
5 Woodpigeons
3 Blackbirds
1 Song Thrush

8th March

Quick 5 minute walk along western side of the lake.

11 Tufted Ducks (8 male 3 female)
16 Mallards
2 Coots
1 Moorhen
5 Woodpigeons
1 Crow

Manchester Council is now gearing up to submit a Round Two bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Parks for People programme. This is for £2 million to help restore the Park to its original Victorian glory while ensuring it offers a range of activities fit for a 21st century green space.

Further details on the project can be found here.

22nd Feb 7.20am - 7.35am

14 Tufted Ducks (10 male 4 female)
1 Pochard
2 Moorhens
4 Coots
c33 Mallards
c53 Canada Geese
1 Grey Heron
1 Cormarant feeding
12 Black Headed Gulls
c20 Woodpigeons
2 Blackbirds
2 Song Thrushes