ooohhh far to much christmas spirit mike baaah humbug

Webs today (14th)

Bottom Res.
Mallard 45
Moorhen 2
Black-headed Gull 26

Top Res
Little Grebe 2
Mallard 12
Coot 1
Moorhen 3
Common Gull 3
Black-headed Gull 57 (with more on fields nearby)

best of the rest ( 16 species)
Long-tailed Tit 12
Pied Wagtail 8 (with the black cattle)
Siskin 2 (flight calls only)
Goldcrest 1 heard
Greater-spotted Woodpecker 1f

plus a selection of the commoner fungi

Playing 'spot the little grebe' between showers.

Never had all the birds visible at once, but a family group of 1 adult & 3 juv with a 4th juv in the background and a definate sighting of 3 adults at once seems to indicate there are still 7.

Looks like a family of 2 adults and 3 juv plus lone adult and youngster. Lots of regrouping and skittering over the water didn't help! 1 adult was making a much more musical piping whistle in contrast to the usual call. Seemed to bring all the juveniles towards it, then 1 of the other adults came steaming in and all the chasing around started.

Other sighting inc.

Grey Heron 1
Coot 3 (2adult 1 juv -at opposite ends of Upper Res)
Moorhen 5 (1 juv Lower Res; 1 juv 3 adults Upper)
Tufed Duck 1m1f Upper

Sparhawk 1 male over top res mobbed by
Swallows 6
House Martin 1+
Willow Warbler 1 juv (calling)
Chiff-Chaff 1 singing
Blackcap 1 juv/female flycatching
Goldcrest 1
Bullfinch 2+

Also some interesting scat on the wall near where the Little Owls used to be seen. Contained lots of tiny black insects (all dead) Didn't look like a pellet but some avian faecal deposit in/on 1 nearby.

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Sunday 12th of September 2010 04:26:22 PM

23rd August.

9.30 - 11.10 am.

Highlight was the sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher foraging off telephone lines near a farmhouse on the eastern side of the valley at SD958066. Had some really great views before the rain finally set in.

There appeared to be 3 adult and 3 juvenile Little Grebes on the upper res.

Both Bullfinch and Lesser Redpoll were heard but not seen. c10 Swallows were still about, including 4 juveniles sat on telephone lines waiting to be fed. Flocks of c35 Meadow Pipit, 5 Mistle Thrush, 7+ Linnet and 3 Pied Wagtail were seen. 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen and what appeared to be a Tawny Owl was heard "kewicking"......until a Jay flew out of the tree where the sound was coming from!

Cheers,

Bill.

19/05/2010

No Garden Warbler or Whitethroat today

Barn Swallow (5) - 1 briefly mobbing
Sparrowhawk (1)
Bullfinch - 2 pair collecting Dandelion seeds
ChiffChaff(2)- inc. 1 self-winding
Dipper (1)
Greater-spotted Woodpecker- calling
Green Woodpecker- called twice, distantly
Jay (1)
Little Grebe (1)
Mistle Thrush- 2 juveniles
Robin - at least 2 fledged young

Also, Rob will be glad to hear, the Linnet was high up the valley

Mike Chorley wrote:

---

also 1 Linnet (m) - first I've seen this low down the valley. Maybe the good weed crop has brought it down.

---

Shouldn't that be "first I've seen this high..."?

Between the "showers"! this p.m.

Bottom res

Canada Goose 2 pair
Mallard 13 m 2 f

Top Res

Little Grebe 1
Mallard 1m
Coot 1
Moorhen 2

Blackcap 1
Chiff-Chaff 1 (in willows near proposed school site)
Willow Warbler 12 (min) singing males
Bulfinch 1m
Jay 2
Skylark 1 (song flight)
Coal Tit 2
Song Thrush 2

Plus usual woodland species

late pm
pair bullfinches
pair grey wagtails
goldcrest
chiffchaff (didnt hear it just watched it for ages)
female goosander
goldfinches
and all the usual stuff

Crunched, slid, paddled and dog turd dodged around today for the WeBs

Both reservoirs 98% frozen still, except at the inflows.

Bottom res

Mallard 55
Black-headed Gull 36
Moorhen 2
Domestic Goose 4 (feral)

Top Res

Mallard 4
Black-headed Gull 1
Grey Heron 1

(that's 6 more birds for the top res than Dec. visit)


Also
Bullfinch 6 (in 1's & 2's)
Kestrel 1
Greater-spotted Woodpecker 1 (M)
Jay 1
Sparrowhawk 2

The latter apparently in display, both circling over the Hillgate street 'carpark' before
the lower bird flew low upstream behind the Visitor Centre, with the upper bird stooping, then flying parallel & slightly above

Bottom Res;

32 mallard
1Coot
1 Moorhen (juv)

Top Res:

Little Grebe ( 2 adults, 2 very vocal young & 1 larger juvenile-1st brood?)
Grey Heron
Tufted Duck 3 males (1Adult winter, 2 partial eclipse)3
3 Moorhen 2Adults, 1 juv.

Long Tailed Tits 24 with
Great Tits 3
Blue Tits 2

3 Swallows, working north

1 ChiffChaff contact-calling
1 Greater Spotted Woodpecker

-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Tuesday 15th of September 2009 11:06:15 PM

3 Waxwings feeding upper valley near holroyd skips 15.00

Saturday 31.01.09
goosander 4 m
grey heron
tufted duck 1m 1f
hoorhen
coot
song thrush 2

-- Edited by Graham Beverley at 20:21, 2009-02-01

Siezed the chance to visit today for a couple of hours 'just for fun' so of course several species showed that weren't seen on any of the Atlas visits most prominently the Little *****, sorry, Grebes. 2 adults and 3 large young, one still very vociferous in its' begging.
Good numbers of common passerines (I stopped counting Robins at 12 half-way round) with several species starting to gather in small flocks (Carrion Crows, Common Gulls, Blackbirds(!) ) but the biggest was a flock of c60 meadow pipits, flushed by a young Kestrel hawking merlin-like from a fence post along the top field. It didn't seem bothered by my presence as I worked round to get better views nor by the mobbing group of pipits, 12 swallows and at least 4 pied wagtails.

Could'nt spend as much time today as I'd have liked but a good walk with a variety of flora & fauna for t'other forum as well

Hi Mike,

Visited Strinesdale for an hour and a half early yesterday afternoon (30/6). It was very, very quiet - I didn't even manage to get your Little Grebe! Had a flock of 9 Mistle Thrush, 4 Tufted Duck were present. A juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen and a male Blackcap was singing in one area - it was singing in a style that sounded not too dissimilar to that of a Pied Flycatcher - that certainly created a initial rush of excitement, which quickly subsided when I spotted the offending bird! A very agitated female Blackcap was in another part of the valley, probably with a nest close by. A Chiffchaff was singing! - I have logged this species down as holding territory at Strinesdale with this and earlier records.

This was my first visit here since 8th May when singing birds included - 2 Chiffchaffs, 10 Willow Warblers, 5 Blackcaps and a Reed Bunting.

Have input all my sightings as roving records and hope to get up again before the end of July.


Best wishes,


Bill.

Oh, so it's you wot nicked them is it? for Piethorne! and i thought Mr Rigby must have them in his shed along with the Little Crake, Cattle Egret, Ross's Gull and that funny penguiny thing with the razorbill-type beak

I don't think it's the weather as the last record I have for them for Strinesdale is a drizzly July day in 2003. I know we moan about 'Manchester weather' but I'm sure there must have been SOME periods of nice weather since when I've been up there and not heard them, as well as the times when I've heard them lower down when it HAS been wet.

Thanks for the ousel offer,btw, but it was more the 'cup of sugar' type loan I had in mind, rather than the 'bank' type. At least you didn't want interest:

Here today for a willow warbler survey-meant to be 1 hour of the early visit (breeding) ttv for SD 90 N but I reckon, with all the noise and flitting about from 12 willow warblers singing at one another across the reses, everything else got fed up and f###ed off. Even the usually reliable Little Owls had stopped topping up their tans and gone back in their wall for some peace and quiet.

So only 27 species for the hour here, including a raven harrassing a sparrowhawk, plus some over-flyers. But the swallows are back and, like most of the residents, in 2's. Hopefully, if I can get up next month, more to add via the Roving report.

No sign of Bill's chiff-chaff from earlier. Must have moved on. I noticed last year that there seemed to be a dividing line, more or less along the old railway embankment in Mr. Rigby's square due south of here. Never heard a chiff-chaff north of it all last summer. Will be interested to know if Mark finds any singing birds in the top third of his square.

P.S. Lend us a couple of Ring Ousels please, Bill

-- Edited by Mike Chorley at 22:33, 2008-04-22

The brambling was new!

4th April.

Really getting to like this place - 4th visit in the last 4 to 5 weeks. It was an excellent morning - 42 species in a 3 hour visit - absolutely no pressure on whatsoever for your TTV then Mike!!

Best bits - 2 singing Chiffchaff, a Sparrowhawk, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Coot amongst the Mallards and Moorhens, a flock of at least 5 Bullfinch, 3 Fieldfare, 4 Linnets flew over.

The Little Owl was in exactly the same spot it always is - nice to finally come across something even more idle than me!

A male Lesser Redpoll was singing from the top of a large tree and later at least 3 were feeding on Larch cones. 2nd day running I have recorded singing L. Redpolls in G.Manchester!

A male Brambling was a really unexpected but welcome find.

Cheers,


Bill.

As I meant to say last week (but apparently forgot to click "submit post" ) I suspect that the new academy won't have that much impact if it happens. Maybe more "traffic" through the valley either side of school times with pupils from Strinesdale & Counthill using it as a dry weather shortcut but I do't think anyone else will hang around much. Any use during lessons/break/lunch would have to be supervised as the school is ,presumably, in loco parentis at those times.

What would probably have far more environmental impact would be the 2 or 3 school strong school run as pupils (some of whom might have walked to a more local school) travel in along a main road at rush hour. Hopefully, whoever is in charge of the planning will do some joined-up thinking in conjunction with the local travel involving off-road parking/dropping-off points, a reliable school bus service and maybe even car-sharing clubs

Hang on, this is a council scheme isn't it? so..........nah

Incidentally, I don't object to the amount of use it gets-the more people who use and value it the less chance of it disappearing- it's the ABUSE the annoys me. I walked along Lees Brook recently and was disgusted at the amount of junk dumped in it. It's a wonder there's anything on it, let alone grey wag., dipper and the occasional kingfisher

Now now the youth of today have there problems and can be a nusiance, however lets still look at the potential here,
The little tikes will be to lazy or drunk to be up early in the morning so i suggest we visit the site before the little blighters wake up.
KEEP BIRDING

Unfortunately Strinesdale's "terrific potential" is highly unlikely to be realized.

As you may be aware from the previous posts the area already has a problem with youth nuisance and if Oldham Council has its way it will build one of its new Academies on the old factory site at the bottom of the access road then it will be constantly full of youths disturbing the peace. It is my understanding that they are looking at building a new school to replace Breeze Hill, Counthill and Grange on the former Mill Site. I know the fishing club that looks after the bottom reservoir are very concerned about the effect this will have on the environment and are making representations to Oldham Council but it is highly unlikely this will have any effect.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic but I thought this may be something of which you would like to be aware

re: Strinesdale reservoirs. It's my WeBs survey site/Atlas tetrad and does quite well despite getting a lot of disturbance from local kids. In fact the Medlock Valley wardens, based in the offices at the old waterworks by the bottom res., had to take a tern/gull/duck nesting/resting raft off the top res because so many kids were swimming out to use it as a diving platform!. It is certainly much more productive than it was when I first visited it back in 1975 while it was still in use as a reservoir. The little owls bred on a regular basis and I think there have been breeding redstarts in the surrounding woods on a couple of occasions. Typically, the best ducks of the winter turn up when I'm at the other end of the County. But it was worth it for the cetti's -and we did see 11 goosander(2 drakes & 9 ducks) at Pennington