Tues 27/4 08:00-11:00 dull showers west breeze Res Goosander 5m 15f Common sandpiper male song/display flight to (female quiet) Curlew 2 circled Lapwing 1 Mallard mf White wagtail m briefly on west dam shore Little ringed plover m dropped in mid morning Wheatear 2 Snipe m singing/chipping from fence post in juncos field Grasshopper warbler reeeling Linnet mf L Redpoll 5 west S Martin c 30
Cheers den valley back up to res Wheatear 2 pairs Willow warbler 5 singing males Grasshopper warbler singing from juncos filled old mill pond
My first Wheatear of the year during an afternoon visit. It spent a few minutes on the pump house roof below the eastern dam before disappearing. Also 3 Goosander, 16 Lapwing, 2 Curlew and a group of 5 Skylark.
Saturday morning walk - flat calm reservoir, cold, grey, still
Oh and very little to get the birder excited...
Highlight was a pair (m / f) Stonechat close to the inlet on the N side plus Single vocal Curlew in the field SE of the Dam Many Lapwing in the pig field E of the Dam a single Cormorant fishing About 40 black headed gulls loafing around on various parts of the res Plenty of Corvids...mainly Carrion Crow plus a couple of Rook A single skylark heard
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Garden Life List: 57 My UK only life list: 257 My Global Life List: 521 Global 2024 year list: 133 My UK 2024 year list: 121 My 2024 Garden List: 26
A circuit this morning produced the following highlights
3+ Skylark with even a little song Curlew calling in field to SE of the Dam Oystercatcher in the garden of the big house to N of Res then flushed and flew S Male Goosander over S 2 Raven gronking through S Flock of 60-70 Lapwing 4 Cormorant fishing A pair of Mallard on N.shore with 6 Canada Geese
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Garden Life List: 57 My UK only life list: 257 My Global Life List: 521 Global 2024 year list: 133 My UK 2024 year list: 121 My 2024 Garden List: 26
Big gull roost this evening, but almost exclusively the smaller species. Counts, c2100 Black-headed, 60 Common, 2 Herring and 2 Great Black-backed Gull. 16 Goosander at 16.10. No other birds on the water.
The regular adult Yellow-legged Gull was present briefly this morning before departing west at 0745 along with a small number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls..A Redshank was present somewhere around the reservoir in the mist and a single Wheatear also on the west wall .
3 Chiffchaff arrived overnight on the North shore spit and 2 Coot on the reservoir are both good birds for up here .
A juv female Peregrine was perched on the south wall and allowed unusually close views . A really bad time to realise your camera battery was flat and couldn't tell if it was ringed or not .
3 Tufted Duck on the water and good numbers of Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails still around the south bank.
A single Golden Plover flew over high calling heading west .
Had a reply re colour ringed Black-headed Gull J7J9 that was at the reservoir recently ..
It was ringed as a 3cy+ male at Smetsaddammen, Oslo in Norway in March 2012 and has been recorded many times during summer months in that area . It winters in UK in London around Hyde Park/Kensington area .
It was recorded on 9th July 2020 at the same spot in Oslo and took 17 days maximum to get to AMR, presumably en route to winter in London again.
2 Yellow-legged Gulls this morning. An adult was on the reservoir first thing as I arrived and departed south and the regular 2nd sum bird was on the sheep fields near Croston Close and later departed towards Turn. Later seen amongst the gulls by Scout Moor.
Wheatear, Grasshopper Warbler and a Stonechat all up along east wall area
A Hobby flushed all the Lapwing and Black-headed Gulls off the grass at Cross Gate and landed on the lawn briefly before flying off west early this morning.
A Great crested Grebe was also present this morning as was a Little Owl near the Pumphouse off Ashworth Road.
2nd Summer Yellow-legged Gull was on the south side spit with c30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls before departing onto sheepfields near Croston Close(Lancs). There has been a similar aged bird regularly around the Turn Village/Scout Moor area in Lancs but this appears to be a different bird when comparing photographs.
-- Edited by rob archer on Wednesday 5th of August 2020 10:49:48 AM
Ringed Plover in with the Lapwings this morning on the north side and many Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtails on the south side.
A large gull flew in yesterday morning with a group of Lesser Black-backed Gulls which I was unsure of and Ian later confirmed as a Yellow-legged Gull. What looked like the same bird was present again this morning.
4 Greylag Geese flew west over the reservoir heading towards Affetside first thing this morning .
Grasshopper Warbler, Willow Warbler and 3 Stonechat below Ashworth View House and 3 juv Wheatear along south wall .
Green Woodpecker was back in Two Owls Cottage area this morning .
14 Cormorant together on the south bank was a good number for here ..Curlew and an Oystercatcher also on south bank
A steady line of mainly adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls all heading west over the past 5 days or so.
Good numbers of Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtails around the reservoir in last few days which is no doubt the attraction for an early adult male Merlin with distinctive missing tail feathers that's been around for a few days now.
-- Edited by rob archer on Sunday 2nd of August 2020 09:46:09 AM
2cy Great Black-backed Gull flew in from high to the east but did not stay long.(Seen very few of this age here in July) 3 Common Gulls also passed through heading west.
One of the Black-headed Gulls passing through to the west was colour ringed (J7J9) from a project in Norway.
3 Greylag Geese also flew in from high to the east and soon departe west.
Mediterranean Gull in with Black-headed Gulls this afternoon on the north side and a Juv Peregrine spent 20 minutes causing havoc around the reservoir. before departing south.