Sandwich Tern at Budworth Mere this morning found by GB. The bird wasnt present late afternoon when I visited although a single Common Tern was both flying around and resting on the Kid Brook Spit fence line.

Just under 3 hours from 7.55am, usual walk, mereside path, Big Wood, open fields and back by same route. Weather sunny, breezy, 15-16*c. Of note :-

Pochard (1)
Tufted Duck (23)
Little Grebe (2)
Great Crested Grebe (22)
Stock Dove (2)
Oystercatcher (3)
Lapwing (91)
Green Sandpiper (1)
Common Tern (3)
Buzzard (1)
Hobby (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (2)
Reed Warbler (1)
Blackcap (4)
Garden Warbler (1)
Mistle Thrush (2)
Goldcrest (8)

45 Species Seen

Morning Visit

Kid Brook area : 2 Oystercatchers and 6 Lapwings.

Budworth Mere : 10 Great Crested Grebes, and 6 Gadwall.

Just a single Grey Heron could be seen in the heronry by sailing club.

A single Common Whitethroat posed on brambles near the Marbury Road entrance.

Yellow Wagtail in first field, viewed from the Fishermans Path.

No Little Gull for us today, unfortunately.

Good numbers of Chiffchaff around the park and environs, 100 + Sand Martins over the mere and at least 3 Wheatear in Higher Marston farm fields.

 

Midday visit (Highlights)

Kid Brook area :

42 Curlews, 18 Lapwings, 2 adult Great Black Backed Gulls and 5 Oystercatchers (Including a mating pair).

Elsewhere on Budworth Mere :3 Kingfishers and 2 male Pochards.

Three and a half hours from 8.30am in fine weather, light cloud, minimal winds, 8-9*c. Same walk as last time out, 54 species seen, of note :-

Greylag Goose (15)
Canada Goose (50)
Shelduck (2)
Teal (2)
Tufted Duck (17)
Goosander (2)
Great Crested Grebe (15)
Stock Dove (1)
Water Rail (2)
Oystercatcher (8)
Lapwing (31)
Curlew (43)
Mediterranean Gull (2)
Common Gull (23)
Sparrowhawk (1)
Kingfisher (1)
Raven (2)
Goldcrest (6)
Nuthatch (3)
Treecreeper (2)
Redwing (24)
Fieldfare (4)

Three and a quarter hours from 9am, in sunny and fine weather, light winds, 7*c but feeling colder. Usual walk up into Big Wood and around the open fields, before returning to the Bittern Hide. Fifty species seen, of note :-

Pink-footed Goose (1)
Canada Goose (67)
Greylag Goose (31)
Grey Heron (5)
Pochard (1m)
Tufted Duck (26)
Goldeneye (2)
Goosander (2)
Shelduck (2)
Curlew (2)
Lapwing (c.150)
Oystercatcher (7)
Water Rail (1)
Kingfisher (1)
Redwing (8)
Mistle Thrush (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (3)
Nuthatch (5)
Goldcrest (4)

Hi Greg,

Regarding the 15 Oystercatchers seen around Kid Brook last Wednesday.

A group of 5 Oystercatchers were settled on the mud by Kid Brook, whilst an angler waded in the

mere quite nearby. At the time all the other birds that were around Kid Brook flushed, except for the

Oystercatchers, although they did eventually move on. The angler was approached by a couple of guys in an

inflatable dinghy, and he then appeared to move off. Soon afterwards numerous birds started to settle around

Kid Brook again, although the 5 Oystercatchers did not. After around 30 minutes or so a flock of 10 Oystercatchers

flew in from the Budworth direction, and they settled on the spit. I cannot be sure that the original 5 were not mixed

in with the flock of 10, although it certainly appeared that they were both separate flocks.

12.30-15.30

On the mere were 2m Goldeneyes, 10 Cormorants, 19 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Kingfishers (Seen simultaneously),

14 Tufted Ducks and 2 Shelducks. All the Goosanders now appear to have moved on.

An angler in waders was fishing just offshore from Kid Brook, but after he left 2 groups of Oystercatchers (5+10)

arrived plus 16 Lapwings. 29 Curlews were on the adjoining meadow. A solitary Grey Heron perched in the heronry.

At least 16 Siskins plus a single Goldfinch were on mere side alders, no sign of any Redpolls though.

2 Song Thrushes were in song in the park.

A pair of Nuthatches were in Big Wood, and 2 Treecreepers were amongst a flock of mixed Long-Tailed, Blue and Great Tits.

4f Bullfinches were seen near the car park. No raptors were seen throughout.

12.30-15.00

Budworth Mere: 1m+1f Wigeon, 18 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Kingfisher, 19 Tufted Ducks, 2m Goldeneyes,

5f+3m Goosanders, 8 Cormorants and 5 Grey Herons.

81 Curlews and 5 Lapwings were on the meadow around Kid Brook.

A single Treecreeper and a couple of Song Thrushes were noted on Dairyhouse Meadow.

2 owl boxes, 1 on Dairyhouse Meadow the other on the overgrown Haydn Pool appear to have been claimed by Stock Doves.

An initial three and a half hours from 8.05 in sunny and clear weather, 3-6*c before returning later after a walk to the Flashes. Species seen 48, highlights :-

Pink-footed Gose (35 over heading north west)
Mute Swan (14
Teal (1)
Tufted Duck (23)
Goldeneye (1)
Goosander (13)
Great Crested Grebe (26)
Stock Dove (8)
Water Rail (2)
Lapwing (59)
Curlew (4)
Woodcock (1)
Sparrowhawk (1)
Kingfisher (2)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (2)
Long-tailed Tit (8)
Nuthatch (6)
Redwing (46)
Bullfinch (2)

Three and a half hours from 8.45am in milder weather, light winds, sunny spells and 5-7*c. Mereside Path - Slipway - Big Wood - Open Fields - Mereside Path - Bittern Hide. Species seen 46, of note :-

Eurasian Teal (2)
Tufted Duck (30)
Goosander (11)
Great Crested Grebe (8)
Stock Dove (2)
Water Rail (2)
Lapwing (46)
Curlew (4)
Snipe (1)
Bittern (1)
Sparrowhawk (1)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (1)
Long-tailed Tit (15)
Nuthatch (7)
Redwing (31)
Grey Wagtail (2)
Meadow Pipit (18)
Bullfinch (2)
Siskin (4)

The Bittern, back for a couple of weeks now, put in a couple of flight views within Coward Reedbed, around midday. I note from BirdGuides that a further sighting was reported early afternoon.

Midday visit

No sign of the Bittern today, although it had showed really well yesterday apparently.

Only a tennis court sized area around Kid Brook remained unfrozen, and the waterfowl were concentrated there,

including 2m+2f Goosanders, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe plus 1m Goldeneye.

21 Curlews, 10 Lapwings and 1 Little Egret were on the meadow alongside Kid Brook, where 4 Egyptian Geese

grazed amongst a huge flock of feral Canadas and Greylags.

2 Buzzards were seen in parkland near the new hide, as was a single Grey Wagtail.

Beechmast below a large beech tree near the new hide attracted a flock least 10 Great Tits.

Mark Jarrett wrote:

---

Reported on Twitter, that a birder had 2 Hawfinch yesterday, in the trees surrounding the open area.

Well keep an eye open for the Bittern, Lez, as your possible sighting will be the first of the autumn/winter period.

---

 Hi Mark, it was a very nice local lady from the 'Friends of Marbury Park Group' that pointed out the possible Bittern sighting & myself plus the other Cheshire birder spent a good half hour scanning from different angles the area in question without being totally convinced. A lot of reed movements were observed but could have been from the many roosting starlings.

-- Edited by Lez Fairclough on Saturday 3rd of December 2022 01:19:10 AM

13:30 to 16:30

Dipped on the Hawfinch which was briefly seen around 3pm by a Cheshire birder after we decided to go different directions to broaden the search & was unable to re-locate together later.

We did however experience an amazing sight of over 2,000 Starling coming in to roost in Coward Reed bed, where we thought we caught a brief glimpse of a Bittern moving its neck slowly in the reeds but the failing light, distance & camouflage meant we couldn't be certain.

Also seen :- Greenfinch;  Goldfinch;  Chaffinch;  Siskin;  Coal Tit;  Nuthatch;  Treecreeper;  Mistle Thrush and plenty Redwing in the treetops.

On Budworth Mere :- Little Egret;  Grey Heron skulking around Coward Reed bed;  Kingfisher;  Buzzard (heard only);  & around 100 Greylag Geese with at least 1 Egyptian Goose in tow coming in to roost. 

-- Edited by Lez Fairclough on Wednesday 30th of November 2022 09:30:02 PM

Cuckoo singing this morning (08.40) between Uplands and Lesley's Leap.

Also Garden Warbler singing and showing really well Dairy House Meadow

Male and female Whinchat seen briefly Dairy House Meadows mid morning, also Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler en route to Uplands. 

Two Mediterranean Gull in the ploughed field yesterday morning, a Little Ringed Plover by one of the pools in the next field and a pair of Mandarin in the final field. Two Little Ringed Plover also around Kid Brook Spit. A male Sparrowhawk had earlier flown low over the ploughed field with a squealing House Sparrow in its talons.

Quick visit this afternoon after the rain. Mereside Path to the Woodland Hide, then back the same way. Forty seven species seen, highlights being :-

- Shelduck (2)
- Shoveler (1)
- Gadwall (3)
- Tufted Duck (22)
- Great Crested Grebe (10)
- Stock Dove (2)
- Oystercatcher (2)
- Common Sandpiper (1)
- Green Sandpiper (1)
- Sand Martin (c.20)
- House Martin (1)
- Willow Warbler (2)
- Chiffchaff (15)
- Blackcap (2)
- Brambling (min 2)

Great to see the Brambling on the Mereside Path. A very scarce Winter visitor on patch here, usually only seen in singles or ones and twos. A female and a handsome male in breeding plumage. Flitting quickly and very high up, I have a feeling there could have been four birds.

Fifty two species from the Fishermans Path this morning from 7.45 in sunny and cold weather. Highlights being :-

- Mandarin Duck, two pairs circuiting the mere and Big Wood, before departing south.
- Mediterranean Gull, two birds off Kid Brook Spit, in with the Black-headed Gulls.
- Little Ringed Plover, two on Kid Brook Spit.
- Kingfisher
- Water Rail, one in eastern reedbed.
- Swallow, two over the mere.
- Sand Martin, two over the mere.
- Skylark, one in the middle field by the Fishermans Path.

I met a birder on the Fishermans Path, who had earlier had a mixed finch flock in the willows, within which were two Brambling, a very scarce bird on patch with usually only the odd single sighting each Winter. Unable to relocate them but they were later reported on our WhatsApp group, from the Slipway/mereside path area.

Mediterranean Gull and drake Pintail on Budworth Mere, late morning today.

Afternoon visit

Kid Brook : 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Redshank and 3 Oystercatchers.

A 2nd winter Great Black Back Gull was on the mere.

No Mediterranean or even Common Gulls were to be found though, despite the large numbers of Black Headed.

A flock of around 30 Sand Martins were above the mere close to the yacht club, a couple of Swallows were

reported to be amongst them too.

A search through Big Wood for woodpeckers only produced the sighting of a Jackdaw furnishing a cavity, a

male Blackcap was seen nearby though.

Forty species seen yesterday morning in the Higher Marston farmland, which is the area immediately to the south east of the eastern end of Budworth Mere. The highlight on the floods and pools was a pair of Shoveler (Willow Pool) and a Snipe from the same location. Three Skylark were up and singing from the potato field and the crop field adjacent to it. Approx eighteen Linnet were noted on the top field nearest to the housing estate. Otherwise, just the usual suspects.

A short walk down to Budworth Mere revealed two pairs of Mediterranean Gull, in full breeding plumage together with two Little Ringed Plover on Kid Brook Spit. A Green Sandpiper was feeding nearby on the North Shore.