2 Stonechat, fairly elusive in the middle of the mound, 5 Skylark, some fitful singing, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Kestrel, 2 of them slightly off site calling over towards the leisure park, Pair of Teal on the flooded horse field, Not seen any Snipe on here since 21st November, probably due to regular weekend disturbance by off road bikes and the ever increasing off lead dog walking activity.
4 Tufted Duck (2 pairs) and 5 Mute Swan on Sheldon Pool 6 Lapwing and Grey Heron on horse field Song Thrush singing in trees by Mockridge Garden Centre 5 Moorhen on Mockridge Pool
5 Mute Swan and 2 Tufted Duck on Sheldon Pool, At least 4 Teal in the rushes on Mockridge Pool, 8 Lapwing in flooded horse field, 2 Heron, 3 Stonechat, 2 Kestrel, Meadow Pipit and Skylark heard.
WEBS count, Sheldon Pool ]5 mute swans 18 canada geese 2 moorhen 1 tufted duck 4 mallard 4 coot 2 teal (pair)- good spot for the WEBS count, 1st ones I've recorded. Hiding in reeds at back of pond (tram side) 78 black headed gulls
5 Mute Swans all still on Sheldon Pool 1 Grey Heron 2 Kestrel 1 Sparrowhawk At least 17 Collared Dove, all at the western end of the site 2 Stonechat 10-15 Meadow Pipit spread out around the mound 1 Skylark Linnet heard overflying a couple of times 2 Reed Bunting 2 Mallard and 2 Coot on the back pools
The Mute Swan family is still on Sheldon Pool, all had a brief flight from one end to the other. Also 2 Mute Swans on Moss Lane pool, one darvic ringed 4CLA the other just metal ringed.
On or around the mound 1 Buzzard, again hovering over the mound then later presumably the same bird seen in a tree on Moss Lane. 2 Stonechat, male and fem. 3 Skylark 3 Common Snipe 5 or 6 Meadow Pipit 1 Chiffchaff Lots of Long-tailed Tits heard all around the edges of the mound. Linnet heard Overhead, a skein of Pink-footed Geese were heading north west at about 11am. Notably the last 2 birds in the flock were probably about 25% larger than the others but I couldn't make out any other differences at that distance.
1 Buzzard was hovering low over the mound for a while, hopefully a sign of decent rodent numbers, if so perhaps a chance of Short-eared Owl again if there is a sizeable influx. 2 Buzzards later soaring together. 1 Kestrel 1 Skylark c10 Meadow Pipit dotted around 1 Chiffchaff singing Small number of Swallow, some coming to drink from the back pool 1 Little Grebe 1 Grey Heron.
Mute Swan family still present on Sheldon Pool along with Grey Heron and two Coot
Mound area
40+ Swallow became one less after one was taken by a Sparrowhawk 10+ House Martin 1 Sand Martin 1 Swift drank briefly at back pool before flying off again 3 Coot including a small chick 2 Moorhen 1 Buzzard
2 adult and 3 juvenile Mute Swan and a juvenile Grey Heron on Sheldon Pool, On or around the mound 2 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard 20+ each of House Martin and Swallow c10 Sand Martin 2 Swift 2 Reed Bunting Mixed flock of mainly Willow Warbler perhaps 10+, with Whitethroat, Long-tailed Tit and Great Tit. On the back pool a Kingfisher was perched on one of the larger grey overflow pipes for a while Also on here 2 Little Grebe, 2 Coot and a Moorhen.
The Mute Swan pair with their three cygnets are still present on Sheldon Pool Also pair of Coot Moorhen Grey Heron 2 House Martins arrived to drink Willow Warbler singing in the area
On the mound
Common Whitethroat singing 3 Reed Bunting also singing
The pools at the back contained Grey Heron, 2 adult Coot and 3 younger birds of various sizes and a pair of Canada Geese with 2 goslings
Mute Swan: pair with 3 cygnets Moorhen: could only see one with a smallish chick Coot: just the one Heron: one House Sparrow: 3 males Willow Warbler: still singing
8 Willow Warbler 10+ Skylark 5+ Reed Bunting 1 Swallow 6 Goldfinch 2 Bullfinch Singles of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat heard singing, Also heard calling were a Meadow Pipit and a couple of Linnet A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from the centre of the mound just after 7am. Seems to be quite an influx locally of this species at the moment, I have only heard 2 birds in Tameside in the last 10 years, this bird is the 4th in 5 days.
A Wheatear and 6 Linnet were seen during my last visit.
I had thought the swans on Sheldon Pool had only 1 metal ring between them but now one of them at least has a blue davic, unfortunately only able to read 4M the rest of the ring was buried in the feathers. Maybe a different pair or perhaps they have been ringed over the winter. On the back pools 4 Coot 2 Tufted Duck 1 Canada Goose 2 Mallard 1 Little Grebe Lots of singing from Skylarks, well into double figures At least 6 singing Reed Buntings C10 Meadow Pipit
Still fairly quiet but nice to hear some sustained singing from Skylarks, over 10 birds present, not all singing. 2 Stonechat, both males, previous sightings this winter have always included 1 female. 1 or 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Reed Bunting Lots of Carrion Crows and Magpies On the back pools A pair of Tufted Duck 3 Mallard 4 Coot 1 Moorhen Just off site 2 Kestrels were interacting high over the Leisure Park
Of interest looking across to Littlemoss 2 Pink-footed Geese were seen feeding alone in one of the horse fields. One of them being very dark, possibly melanistic or hybrid. Couple of distant photos hopefully attached.
The darker Pink-footed Goose looks like the bird which was also seen at Audenshaw Reservoirs a few days ago.
2 Stonechat, 1 Reed Bunting 7 Meadow Pipit 1 Goldcrest 1 Sparrowhawk 6 Heron and 9 Lapwing in the Horse field near Mockridge Pool
Of interest looking across to Littlemoss 2 Pink-footed Geese were seen feeding alone in one of the horse fields. One of them being very dark, possibly melanistic or hybrid. Couple of distant photos hopefully attached.
1 Skylark 1 Meadow Pipit 2 Stonechat, first sighting for a couple of months, possibly new birds. 6 Snipe of which one was probably a Jack as it flushed from close quarters, flew silently low and straight and looked to have a shorter bill.
2 possibly 3 Stonechat, fairly mobile on the mound. 20+ Meadow Pipit 1 Skylark 3 Reed Bunting 1 Fieldfare flew over 10 Collared Dove 15+ Wren 1 Redpoll 1 Goldcrest 15+ Long-tailed Tit in 2 flocks 4 Little Grebe (back pool) 4 Mallard, 3 drake (back pool) Seemed to be lots of Redwing and Blackbirds in the fields and hedges over towards Littlemoss
The Kingfisher was on one of the far pools near Moss Side Farm. Can't recall ever seeing one on Sheldon Pool but no reason why they wouldn't get on there occasionally, though I suppose it gets a lot more disturbance than the far pools.
c70 Meadow Pipit 24 Collared Dove 200+ Starling 1 Skylark 1 Snipe 1 Kingfisher 5 Little Grebe including the 3 juveniles. Mixed tit flock, mainly Long-tailed, c15 with a couple of Chiffchaffs. 2 Mute Swans still on Sheldon Pool.