There's a female Goldeneye in the basin next to the satellite dishes, next to itv.
It could be Gary, the resident drake Goldeneye in eclipse, that is his favourite location, but it would be great if there was a female Goldeneye on The Quays to keep him company
That makes sense, I thought it must be female cause of the completely black head, as don't see many eclipse males this time of year this far south. Plus I didn't have my bins. . Can't think of anymore excuses
There's a female Goldeneye in the basin next to the satellite dishes, next to itv.
It could be Gary, the resident drake Goldeneye in eclipse, that is his favourite location, but it would be great if there was a female Goldeneye on The Quays to keep him company
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Fifty minutes or so after work at the north end of Pomona (where I rarely look) hoping for the lesser whitethroat mentioned below; no joy there, but there was a pair of stock dove, which I've certainly never had round here before. Other birds around:
3 whitethroat Fledgling great tits c5 goldfinch 1 greenfinch 10+ house sparrow, including a couple still showing gape. 6+ sand martin 1 house martin 5 mute swan c20 black-headed gull c25 lesser black-backed gull 1 cormorant over 1 kestrel
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Friday 15th of June 2018 09:51:09 PM
3 singing male common whitethroats + one or two females carrying food
1 singing lesser whitethroat + another, both keeping well under cover
4 singing goldfinches
Singles of singing greenfinch, blackcap dunnock and blackbird
Small family group of long-tailed tits next to Cornbrook Station
10+ sand martins
2+ house martins
20+ lesser black-backed gulls, 5 or 6 herring gulls, 10+ black-headed gulls (that loafing roost on the big white roof on the Salford side will be worth a good look in a month or so when the post-breeding movement kicks in)
Just the one cormorant
-- Edited by Steven Heywood on Tuesday 12th of June 2018 06:48:09 PM
-- Edited by Steven Heywood on Tuesday 12th of June 2018 06:48:45 PM
Walk around Pomona this morning from 11:00-12:00 entering via Cornbrook. Take the first bend to the right once crossed over the bridge that leads over the Castlefield/Salford Quays canal path.
Lesser Whitethroat x 2 showing well Common Whitethroat x3 Willow Warbler x2 House Sparrow x4 Goldfinch x5 Blackbird Lesser Black Backed Gull x20 Black Headed Gull x6 Swift x3 House Martin x10 on ground drinking in the newly acquired puddles from last nights rainfall. Sand Martin 8+ Kestrel (Male) flying overhead.
Pomona (what's left of it), for a couple of hours plus, late morning to early afternoon:
1 willow warbler 1 chiffchaff 2 or 3 blackcap heard singing 4 whitethroat 2 house sparrow Goldfinch and greenfinch 1+ bullfinch heard c10 sand martin 2 swift 3 moorhen (pair mating) 4 coot, one pair with a nest containing six extremely young chicks 7 mute swan, one with blue darvic 4BXY c10 black-headed gull Lesser black-backed gulls over 4+ cormorant 1 kestrel
This morning (7.50-10.20) around MSC at weaste:
Lesser whitethroat singing next to ship canal opposite sewage works from 8.00-10am. It was alongside rail tracks next to cement factory
Also of note:
4 Whitethroats
4 Blackcaps
2 Willow warblers
5 Oystercatchers
5 Lapwings displaying
1 Chiffchaff
1 male Bullfinch
Kingfisher
21 Swifts
A walk from National Tyres to Pomona 2 - 4 pm. No acess under the arches at Woden st. bridge or any of the new aapartments. Acess found at little bridge by the scrapyard, through a section of fence.
Willow Warbler - 1 (singing away 20m from workmen erecting a large yellow gateway and fencing across the tarmac road, which I was told is only temporary for a film shoot .... phew !!). Bullfinch - 1. Blackcap - 1. Goldfinch - 10. House Sparrow - c10. Swallow - 5. Sand Martin - 10 (none seen at,or near the traditional nesting site ). Long-tail tit - 6. Cormorant - 2 on MSC.
I have made a couple of trips recently and informed GMEU of the veg clearance taking place there, will hopefully find out more soon.
It is a tragedy if the whole site would be lost to development, I agree. That is why we must submit all the records we have as soon as possible, then more chance of saving some from development.
Pomona this afternoon from 1pm. As people have said, almost the all of Pomona has been been cleared. The Southern part has been left without any vegetation just topsoil with some large deep holes now filling with water, providing a good Wader habitat (if it gets left for a while) . Unfortunately this won't be the case as it's already fenced off. The Northern section (where the grey pipes are and where Wheatear / Whinchat turn up on passage ) has been Flailed to ground level up to and including part of the House Sparrow colony. Unfortunately for me ,the Fire Brigade where doing a very visible training exercise with lots of machines , pipes and flashing lights over almost the entire length of the site.
Stonechat - 1m. Kestrel - 1. Dunnock - 4. House sparrow - 20 seen but lots more heard.
A morning visit to pomona to discover that even more of the area is almost completely flattened apart from a few scrubby areas, however I managed.... 3 jack snipe At least 6 common snipe 3 meadow pipits 2 skylarks
Walked down to Pomona south end during dusk this evening and noticed veg clearance. Any idea what is going on? Will contact GMEU and ask.
5 Goosanders on dock
2 singing Song thrushes
1 singing Robin
1 peregrine falcon, possibly the female, perched up at media city this morning. Shannon, I noticed all the habitat destroyed at the southern end opposite Pomona tram stop whilst going past on the tram, not looking good you still managed a woodcock which is a great bird for there.
Late post for Sun 14.01.18 Mode wheel lock to Trafford road bridge. Cormorant 22. Black-headed gull c 200. Lesser Black-back gull c35. Mute swan 2.
Pomona Little grebe 1. Goosander 2 ( m+f). Mute swan 8. Cormorant 7. Bullfinch 2. Fieldfare 8. House sparrow c30.
Today Wednesday 17.01.18 I went down early afternoon to drop off some bird seed and barley ( 5kg which has been put under the tree feeders at Burleigh Rd. ) for the House sparrows and any remaining Fieldfare which numbered at least 8 maybe 10. I didn't hang about,mainly because I cycled down wearing shoes and the weather was decidedly "iffy".
Male & female peregrine falcons showing well around media city this morning. 1 buzzard circling over trafford park 3 grey wagtail 20 herring gulls amongst the usual lesser black backed, black headed & common gulls on Trafford wharf. Mistle thrush singing.
3 peregrine falcons over trafford wharf this afternoon, making a bit of a racket, looked to be a male (probably the resident) chasing off another male whilst the female landed on a nearby appartment & left him to it. The peregrine being chased then headed off towards the city centre. The female was then on view for a while. Drake goldeneye 1 grey heron, just sitting looking at me at around 15 feet away & was not bothered. 4 grey wagtails
i spent a couple of hours this morning watching the pair of resident peregrine falcons, the female perched up for a while before disappearing, the male not around until shortly after. he started making a lot of noise & then a feral pigeon was going over being chased by the female, he then joined in the chase & were both trying to get the pigeon, they both got close to it but for all the time I could see the chase they did not catch the pigeon, needless to say both birds came back towards me & then perched back up on the nearby buildings. great to watch
a couple of photos attached, the male is the one scratching.
Weaste ETW and Msc. Etw. Pied wagtail 39. Alba wagtail 1. Starling c100.
Msc . Lapwing 25. Grey Heron 1. Swallow 1 only.
The Etw. had some filter beds with lots of weed growth in them and the view of the some of the site was obscured by large shrub and tree growth between the fence and the road barrier. It was also unusual not to see any hirundines over the beds.