Very sunny but frosty morning Flock gold finchers carpark three flocks of LT Tits River CarparK Woods Pair of very tame Goosanders baCK OF Main lodge allowed me to get up to 8 feet to them from path. Three Treecreeper, One a pair on tree between lodges one in woods pied wag carpark
45 Swans seem to have reduced 35 Tufties seemed to have increased 12 Mallards in the woods seem to be hiding 5 Goosanders on lodges 2 Oyster catcher main lodge bank 2 GC Grebe displaying but will probably be bullied by the coots they always do fly over heron flock of lt tots very very close in a hedge Dipper flying up and down ricer 2 goosander on river mistle thrush
Lodges mainly frozen still large hole on main lodge. 55 Swans on lodge and river 1 cormerant on river 7 goosander on river (1 Drake) kingfisher flying up stream tufties river and main lodge lots of blackbirds on feeders
59 Mute Swan, 155 Canada Geese, 172 Mallard, 41 Tufted Duck, 22 Goosander, 12 Moorhen, 60 Coot, 220 Black headed Gull, 6 Common Gull, 4 lesser Black backed Gull,Sparrowhawk, Dipper on the river croal near red rocks, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker,30 Fieldfare over, 3 Siskin, 3 Bullfinch. Over 750 birds on Crompton Lodges, not counting farmyard ducks , geese and 30+ feral pigeons.
Not much so counted the fowls 58 Mute Swans 15 Tufted 55 Coots 57 Mallards 1 GC Grebe 1 Greylag Others Great Blue Long tailed tits Robins, Song thrush Wrens ETC 2 Gold Crest 4 Cormerant 1 Heron
Andy, One of the birders present this morning is actually a vet and it was he who placed his 'healing hands' on the dead Gannet. None of us present were expecting to witness such a miracle. If your fictitious cat ever suffers from a serious illness, then I suggest you get in touch with me and I will put you in contact with him.
Arrived at 9.45 only to discover a little later what had happened. Remind me never to ask any of you guys for a second opinion if my cat is looking a bit peaky. You'd have it buried in the garden before it knew what had hit it!!!
P.S. I don't have a cat but the 'joke' wouldn't work without it, and I needed a laugh after missing out.
The Gannet has been seen to fly off with Canada Geese on a couple of occasions now but has always flown back and has also been seen diving underwater too. I believe thus far a decision has been made not to attempt a stressful 'capture' at this point but hopefully that visiting birders and the site's local watchers will keep a close eye on it and any obvious change reported so that a rescue can be made if and when necessary.
Info thanks to Paul Heaton
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 29th of September 2010 09:26:10 AM
Arrival at first light and the Gannet was drifting with it's head under it's wing. With a lack of any movement and it slowly drifting to the lake side, we started to fear the worst. After some deliberation and the fact that the bird was now just a yard from the shore,we decided to retrieve its corpse.
As a member of the watching group stooped to pull the dead Gannet from it's watery grave, it suddenly came back to life and flew a few yards towards the centre of the lake. It is still alive as of 0810hrs but not looking very strong!
Just in case anyones wondering what the fuss is about,I hang my head in shame every time the 'watergrove gannet' is mentioned,My excuse was pure innocence as i decided to 'wait till tommorow',I haven,t checked but seem to remember that gannets turn up about once every preston guild,so if you can go get there at dawn,Bragging rights last a long time
Even the current county year lister managed to get across the county in time!
Just as it was going dark(it was virtually black!!) the peace was shattered as a maniac year lister, screeched into the car park, then walked over casually and took a look through my scope, I dont know these twitchers!
-- Edited by Simon Warford on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 08:35:21 PM
Dinner lodges Quite a few tufties One GC Grebe-There was a pair on eggs 3 weeks ago on main lodge. These have gone or they could not be seen. Second year these have failed. Cormerant Hide Blue Great Tits Green finch Jay also pied wags and usuals
Not much about everything scared off by people in boats on the main lodge, using the tern raft as a resting point! told them to move and phoned a number on display boards.
I know boats used to be allowed but not seen a boat on for years I assumed it was now a lodge for wildlife only?