Over the last couple of weeks I've had a couple of sightings of what I thought may of been a hobby.
This morning 100% sighting of a hobby over my flixton garden, it circled several times then stooped down over towards Irlam.
A whitethroat continues to sing in the fields beyond my neighbours houses, I walked around to see it last week & it actually flew into the gardens behind my bungalow, but not seen in my garden, yet !
Kestrel seen on a few more occasions now.
Sparrowhawk over this morning.
Oddly I haven't seen any buzzards recently, normally see them every day.

5 x Redshank seen and heard at 21.30 over Atherton garden flying SE

There was 9 ravens over my flixton garden this morning, circling & cronking for at least 5 minutes before 7 gained height & headed over the ship canal into irlam. The other 2 went low & out of view.
A new bird for my garden on Friday was a female chaffinch.

Peregrine over the back garden just now,circling round and hunting,eventually drifted off east

I've been away for a week to Dungeness but on my return (Monday 5 pm) my Stretford backyard feeders were completely empty with not a bird anywhere around.
Having filled them only 2 Goldfinch showed up then went.
The next day just a few feral pigeons and a Dunnock, I hope the word gets around where the food is.
My neighbour Sue has been keeping an eye out for the breeding Blue tits but they've completely disappeared ( no fledgelings ... nothing).
The pair of Blackbirds (collecting worms)have had at least 2 of their brood taken by local cats (Sue's son).
Things can only get better... I hope .

Bury . Male , adult great spotted woodpecker just now feeding sunflower hearts and fatball to what must be the younger chick , on the tree , by the feeders . The older bird has been feeding itself for a couple of days .
Great excitement and joy !

A siskin was another new bird for my flixton garden this morning. Nice to see after being heard only flying over.

A Common Tern over the garden this afternoon heading north east ,presumably back towards Blackleach country park.Also 5 Greylag Geese flew over.>I've filled up 3 fatball feeders because of this cool weather and have been rewarded by a constant stream of birds visiting them,mainly Blue and Great Tits including good numbers of young birds. Also several Coal Tits and young,male and female Great Spotted Woodpecker,Blackbird,Robin and a few visits from a Jay. Unfortunately both Magpie and Jackdaw have also discovered them and take a lot of them.
Wondering if this cool weather has badly affected their food supply and that's why we're getting so many birds on them??

-- Edited by pete berry on Friday 14th of June 2024 02:30:43 PM

2 new birds for my flixton garden list.

A male kestrel flew over on Friday, seen often though in the field between me & the ship canal.
Stock dove feeding on the lawn with pigeons, woodpigeons & collared doves was nice to see.
Other birds around...
Lots of juvenile starlings 30+ at one point recently.
Lots of house sparrows
4 collared doves
2 greenfinch
4 adult goldfinch is the most I have seen so far, but 4 juveniles were seen yesterday.
3 juvenile magpies fledged from the nest in next doors garden & are already very confident & taking over.
Chiffchaff & whitethroat have recently been heard only over near the ship canal.

Jay in the back garden today feeding on the fatballs,first time I've seen them feeding on fatballs

-- Edited by pete berry on Monday 3rd of June 2024 04:17:52 PM

2 adult Mediterranean Gulls North over the Astley Green back garden just now.

31 swifts whizzed low over my flixton garden in 10 mins going in a westerly direction this morning, amongst them I got a new garden tick with 2 house martins.

The same scruffy Red Kite just passed over my Davyhulme garden, going south.

Bury . Ten days ago , songthrush making nest in the bushes . Now Mr. Songthrush singing his heart out . Hurrah !
Goldfinch often hovers above the dandelion clocks to take seeds , despite sunflower hearts readily available .
One swallow seen , one swift ; their nesting places gradually disappearing .
Wren feeding chicks . Four newly-fledged starlings being fed fat balls . One greenfinch returned four days ago .

First young Starling of the year in my garden this afternoon.

Hardly any birds visiting my Stretford backyard feeders in the last few weeks except for a few Goldfinch,a pair of Blue-Tit and sometimes a Great Tit.
This morning around 6am there were 5 Goldfinch and a single Blue -tit.
One of the Goldfinch was sat crouched on the phone wires above the feeders and when flew onto the feeders I could see it couldn't stand and both it's feet were enlarged,pale and swollen .
I wonder if this is Fringilla Papillomavirus which affects finches legs and feet.
The bird was still able to feed although not very agile on the perch.

-- Edited by phillipskelly on Thursday 16th of May 2024 12:34:20 PM

-- Edited by phillipskelly on Thursday 16th of May 2024 12:38:04 PM

Male Bullfinch in my Astley garden this morning.

New garden bird pair of Oystercatcher just flew over Ashton-on -Mersey garden towards Mersey.

Red Kite over Davyhulme 12.15

Hazel Grove garden tick today. My attention was drawn to a noisy cronking Raven which ended up mobbing a distant circling raptor. Rushed in for binocs and found it was mobbing a Red Kite.

Cheers John

2 Swifts screeching over my Irlam garden this evening

Another 2 new birds over my flixton garden today, 2 swifts whizzing around but soon disappeared & a great black-backed gull.
Also over throughout the day...
12 sand Martins
1 Swallow
1 sparrowhawk
1 buzzard
And a distant blackcap heard singing over towards the ship canal, surprised its the first one I've heard though.

Whitethroat singing from my Astley garden this morning.

Whilst sat in my flixton garden this evening after work, what sounded very much like a water rail going over at 10.48pm, very noisy as well, At 11.02pm oystercatcher over then at 11.29pm whimbrel over.