Last 2 days nothing of great note apart from 7 singing Sedge Warbler ,pools almost birdless apart from 2 Great Crested Grebe ,a few Tufted Duck Little Grebe. Floods in fields rapidly drying up ,so expect the farmer to plough them soon ,as he was spraying the fields today so forget any insect life on those from now on . Pretty dour really for the time of year .
A bit of of wader fest in silver Lane terms as normally waders are few and far between, the motorway service
Station build not started fully yet, but imminent, means a decent area ,Is at the moment fallow, and disturbance low ,apart from pro dog walkers straying on there.
Also flooded field is preventing the other farmer from ploughing the Eastern Arable at the moment.
Previous days Cuckoo seems to have moved on , no sign today
Whimbrel- 3 flying NE at 12.00
Ringed Plover - 1 pair(pic of one below, rare on site)
Oystercatcher- 1 Pair
Redshank - 1
Lapwing - 2 pairs with young, and 2 pairs on eggs.
Yellow Wagtail - 1 disturbed by entrance pool flew south
Yellowhammer- 12 feeding on mss area
Corn Bunting - 2
Skylark - at least 6 pairs feeding young , more nesting but on the site again that will soon be lost to a Solar Panel farm :(
Sedge Warbler - 3 singing
Marsh Harrier - 1 female through NE
Wary note for anyone on west side of summit ,There is a Tree pipit lookalike with short hind Claws that's a meadow pipit.
Plus the usuals
:)
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 27th of April 2024 07:31:12 AM
The minimal ice free areas on the west pool managed to support a few species this morning & apart from a skein of Pink footed Geese - 70, flying west there was
Wigeon - 54,
Mallard - 23,
Black headed Gull - 30
Herring Gull - 1
Elsewhere:
Fieldfare - 100+
Goldfinch - 10, numbers way down on previous years
A lovely crisp (cold!) morning stroll with main pools partially frozen over. Along the east side drilling with associated bits & bobs has started on proposed MSA field.
Todays stroll was mainly about checking, cleaning & repairing bird boxes (with more to do another day) which I have been installing around the area in recent times. Despite the weather & getting soaked later, some birds were also braving the conditions.
This is probably the best thread for this sighting.
Unbelievably whilst driving to Liverpool on both mornings I managed to spot a Green Sandpiper bobbing on the edge of a pool at the side of the M62 westbound, not too far from the Birchwood slip road. I could see it bobbing clear as day, bear in mind Im in a limited speed vehicle which helped.