Visit this evening - windy

Teal 6
Lapwing 9
Ringed Plover 8
Little Ringed Plover 9+
Dunlin 1
White Wagtail 11+
Pied Wagtail 5

Paul Timmis wrote:

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Hi
Can you tell me where it is exactly.
I am looking at goggle map,all i can see is dry land,which looks interesting,but with the many birds spotted there being wetland birds,i'm not sure if that is it.
Doe's the A6193 run across the area i am looking for?

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Google maps are always going to be out of date - particularly for a site like this.

However - approx 4 years ago Bill M wrote:

Officially you are not supposed to wander off from the pavements bordering the roads which currently carry traffic through the business park. I have to say that I have seen other people wandering off here, there and everywhere.... although it goes without saying this is something that I personally have never done
Seriously though, if you approaching from the Kingsway/Gordon Riggs end, there is a pool that can just about viewed from the first roundabout. From the second roundabout there is a large expanse of flat land that can be viewed quite easily - this area has, in times of higher rainfall, become flooded and sometimes holds many smaller pools and at different times of the year may hold waders, gulls, geese or flocks of passerines. This is usually the best spot and has generally had the best sightings so far. At the other end of the park and just before you get to junction 21 of the motorway there is a large pool, where water levels can change very quickly, this can be accessed via Harbour Lane and Ashfield Lane which are off Elizabethan Way.

Hi
Can you tell me where it is exactly.
I am looking at goggle map,all i can see is dry land,which looks interesting,but with the many birds spotted there being wetland birds,i'm not sure if that is it.
Doe's the A6193 run across the area i am looking for?

Originally posted by Dave Philips today:

Tuesday 16th am.

Two Yellow wagtails still around. Been a bit of a bogey bird for me so a very welcome and beautiful sight. Also White wagtails and Pied in good numbers. Redshank (2) . Little Ring and Ring Plovers also and Meadow Pipits. A few Swallows and Teal present as was my first Wheatear of the year. What a little gem of a site this is if only it could be preserved.
Cheers Dave Phillips.

Whilst enjoying the yellow wagtails (cheers Simon) at circa 15:50, I also saw my first local swallow of the spring.

Regards, C J-B

Early afternoon visit

Dunlin 3
Redshank 2
Little Ringed Plover 9
White Wagtail 1
Pied Wagtail 11
Swallow 2

Late post for yesterday:-

A male White Wagtail mid afternoon

And nearly as rare - Chris Jepson-Brown - good to see you again Chris

Visit this evening produced

Gadwall pair
Teal 27
Little Ringed Plover 4
Pied Wagtail 14

Pools some 80% Frozen
1 Ringed plover
1 Redshank
7. Teal
16 Lapwing
4 Singing Skylark
2 LBB gull
150 Black headed Gull
1 male Kestrel
Cheers Alan

3 Mute Swan
1 Dunlin
1 Redshank
2 Ringed Plover
flock of c.30 Wigeon circled and then headed off north-east around 08:00 - probably the Hollingworth Lake birds as the rowing club get started about 07:30

21st February - 16:20

30 Lapwing
14 Wigeon

Russ

8th February.

3 male Reed Buntings back in a small area of suitable breeding habitat this morning. One sang briefly and then it had a bit of a disagreement with another male. No sign of any females today - I think this might be one of those species where the males try and establish and then hold a territory before the girls arrive back in town!

Not a lot else other than a flock of c60 Jackdaw. Have spent a while looking for Water Rail on Fenn's Pond this winter but without any luck to date - one was here Oct/Nov 2010.

Cheers,

Bill.

1 Raven flew east calling
30 Teal
2 Bullfinches

15th October - am.

A mixed flock of 40+ finches near Stanney Brook Park. Most were Greenfinch although Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch were also present and I thought I could hear the nasal call of a Brambling but unfortunately one wasn't seen. The Greenfinch flock was feeding on the small rounded red hips of a wild rose species (possibly Rosa multiflora?) which has been planted en masse alongside one of the footpaths between the mudflats and Stanney Brook Park.

On Saturday (13/10) on pastoral farmland near the Metrolink stop (more on that in the next paragraph) a Sparrowhawk disturbed a mixed feeding flock of c70 Meadow Pipit and c20 Pied Wagtail. A male Pheasant was also in this area.

Just a quick bit of further info on the Metrolink for any non local birders - the business park will shortly have improved access via public transport when the Kingsway Business Park Metrolink stop opens, I understand sometime during the last few months of 2012. So when the next lost phalarope or storm driven Nearctic passerine turns up at Kingsway (I've put in an order with the powers that be , for both to be delivered sometime over the next twelve months ), then access will be available to more birders than before. Mind you the stop is on an old railway loop line and the journey time might not be quite quick enough for some birders who like a twitch...when any few extra minutes could be absolutely vital. The Metrolink stop is on the northern edge of the large extent of land currently being developed as the business park. Just a small word of caution for those not yet familiar with the site and intending on travelling some distance on the Metrolink and expecting to find the Manchester equivalent of Minsmere! Certainly the site has turned up some exciting birds over the last few years and there are still a number of interesting areas and habitats left at present for birds and wildlife, on what was once formerly farmland. It is however primarily, as the name suggests, a developing and working business park and sadly not the top-notch nature reserve that we would all love to have on our doorstep.

Cheers,

Bill.

11th October - brief visit, early pm.

1 Redshank down which then flew north.

Unfortunately no sign of the small flock of Lesser Redpoll that John mentioned yesterday, of which we enjoyed good close up views of them as they fed on willowherb seeds aside a footpath running through the business park.

Other selected sightings from today - 1 Redwing feeding on hawthorn berries, 1 Sparrowhawk, 15 Common Gull, a flock of 6 Greenfinch and there were 5 Moorhen too.

There were c580 Black-headed Gulls here on 7th October.

Cheers,

Bill.

1 Garganey,23 Teal,60+ Snipe,2 Buzzard.
Cheers Alan

My thanks to Bill Myerscough, who I bumped into out there today. My shopping trip now includes a Gargeney. I would never have got past all those snipe!

5th October - 10.20 to 11.10 am.

On first arrival I was disappointed to look up and see all the gulls flying off - this can sometimes mean that a Peregrine Falcon is about and lo and behold an immature bird was perched on the edge of the large warehouse overlooking the mudflats. To my surprise 38 Teal remained; relatively exposed and out on the open water. I had a few brief views of the falcon's legs whilst it perched there but could not see any obvious rings. After a good few minutes there it attracted the attention of 3 passing Herring Gulls which perhaps surprisingly took to vigorously dive bombing it for over 5 minutes, before the falcon got fed up with the harassment and in the departing chase it twice flew very low over the top of the spring of Teal. The ducks scattered on both occasions but perhaps wisely none were "sprung" - presumably if they had become airborne, one would have been a much easier target for the falcon?

As per Simon's post yesterday - a noticeable southerly passage of birds. 130+ Meadow Pipit in the time there, including 75+ in a 10 minute or so period around 10.45 am. Also 3 Swallow, 1 House Martin, 3 Skylark and Linnet and Lesser Redpoll heard too.

The Lapwing flock could be seen in the distance, having some time today keeping their feet dry on the roof of a unit at nearby Kingsway Retail Park. No sign of any Snipe this morning, although Alan had an excellent count of 54 here as recently as 30th September.

No sign of the Garganey here this morning. A little more background on Alan's excellent Garganey find. This would appear to be only the 7th record for Rochdale MBC, with none apparently before 13th May 1982 and is the first record since 24th September 2006. If the Kingsway bird and the Clegg Hall Pools bird are one and the same then it would also be the longest ever staying Rochdale Garganey, with most earlier records just "one-dayers", apart from a female that resided at Clegg Hall Pools for 5 days in July 1997. Pre-2000 records were taken from Peter Hill's excellent publication - "Birds of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough - A Millennium View". Post-2000 records provided courtesy of and thanks to Steve Atkins and that all important GM bird records database!

Whilst on the subject of records...not yet got round to submitting details of your all important bird sightings to the Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group? Click on "Bird Recording and County Rarities" on the homepage of Ian's website and then the link on how to submit your bird sightings. There's lots of useful information there on how you can put your sightings to good use and remember help is always at hand too.

Cheers,

Bill.

Garganey still present at 1730hrs

Also
House Martin
3 Snipe
45 Teal
150+ Black-headed Gull
Meadow Pipit
75+ Lapwing

23rd September.

c85 Mallard and c120 Canada Geese here first thing this morning - the majority departed before 7.30am. Also 17 Teal (22 here on both 14/9 and 17/9). A small movement of Meadow Pipits heading south - largest groups were of 6 and 9 birds.

A pair of Swallows were still regularly visiting a nest site as late as 17/9, although they appear to have gone today. Also on this date a Peregrine Falcon.

Cheers,

Bill.

Mark Rigby wrote:

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1200


No Garganey Bill!

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Many thanks for keeping an eye out Mark! The habitat at Kingsway has seemed ideal for a few weeks now for a Garganey. Hopefully there is still time........if it doesn't dry out too much!

Nature Notes in The Times today (5/9) featured Garganey and states that "An unusual number of Garganey have been reported on lakes or floodwater in the last few weeks". It also suggests that "they may be more numerous this year because the heavy rain helped provide watery nesting sites". I must admit I had thought that the there may also be a chance of getting some non-UK birds on passage but sadly according to this article "Continental Garganey rarely pass through Britain on migration". With this last remark I read a bit further elsewhere and it was interesting to look in the Collins Field Guide to note that whilst Teal breeds over much of Scandinavia and Iceland that Garganey is largely absent from these same areas, possibly decreasing the likelihood of birds from there on passage? The "Migration Atlas" noted that "populations breeding further east in Europe and some from northern Russia east of the Urals, tend to migrate southwest to southern France and Italy, on their way to Africa", thus seemingly avoiding the UK? Still looking on the positive side, a quick browse through some recent county reports for GM shows that the latest bird quite often is reported in the last third of September but with the latest ever noted on 2nd November 1993. So a little bit of time left yet then.

I'm sure if one does turns up then Alan would be pleased about it too........it would save him having to listen on to my repeated wittering on about Garganey every time we bump into each other at Kingsway!!

I think Alan's excellent Hobby sighting on 4/9 was another new species for Kingsway. I've just done a fairly quick rough and ready tally of species recorded here since summer 2008 and from my limited knowledge this brings the total number of species recorded to a minimum of 113, which isn't at all bad for a site with no real expanse of mature woodland or any deep water habitat either.

Cheers,


Bill.

1200

39 Snipe although plenty more could be in amongst the junctus
85 Lapwing
27 Starling
Mallard
3 Swallow

No Garganey Bill!

Sun 2/9 19:10 - 19:40

c. 300 B hd Gulls
5 Common Gulls
1 L Bb Gull (juv)
c. 80 Lapwing
6 Snipe

Kestrel F
P Wagtail juv

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 2nd of September 2012 09:26:59 PM

27th August.

9.10 - 9.45 am.

For late August still a decent number of Swifts counted here this morning. The largest single tally was of 6 but smaller numbers were noted spread out over this small time period, which may or may not have been the same birds?

Plus 13 Common Gull, 1 Meadow Pipit and 1 Skylark.

Cheers,

Bill.