Three and a half hours this morning from 8.55 in sunny and clear weather, minimal winds, 0-3*c. Usual walk from the Bittern Hide, along the Mereside Path, in to Big Wood, around the Open Fields and then back by the same route. Of note :-
Greylag Goose (65) Canada Goose (350) Wigeon (1) Tufted Duck (13) Goldeneye (6) Goosander (16) Little Grebe (3) Great Crested Grebe (28) Water Rail (1) Curlew (49) Great Egret (1) Grey Heron (17) Buzzard (1) Kingfisher (2) Great Spotted Woodpecker (2) Raven (1) Cettis Warbler (1) Nuthatch (8) Redwing (6)
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.
We finally have Little Gulls at Budworth Mere with 15 dropping in mid morning and noting comments on our WhatsApp Group, numbers increased later on to 32.
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 :-
Thanks John. 10 have been present recently and 15 would be exceptional but as you say no way of telling definitively whether they were same flocks. Cheers
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 1pm today in cool weather, although fine and sunny. Bittern Hide - Mereside Path - Woodland Hide - Return to Bittern Hide, where the bulk of my time was spent. The Bittern, seen yesterday, didnt show, although around 5k Starling dropped into Coward Reedbed to roost. Species seen 39, highlights being :-
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 :-
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.
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
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
The single Hawfinch, found by Kev Bruen on Sunday, is still around today. Very elusive but generally frequenting the tall trees surrounding the open area, above the steps which lead up from the Bittern Hide. Same area as the twenty odd birds frequented five years ago.
A walk along the Fishermans Path, late morning, yielded a pair of Mandarin in the middle field with both Whitethroat and Yellowhammer in the general area of the Magic Hedge.
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.
The ploughed field by the Fishermans Path has finally seen some wagtail action with both a male and female Yellow Wagtail today at different times. Also a minimum of five Whites over the last couple of days.
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.
Just been talking to a birding friend who tells me he watched an Osprey over Neumann's Flash last Thursday (Mar 31st). I've asked him to let Greg Baker know for the Marbury annual report.
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.
Couple of hours this morning turned up some really nice spots!
1 nuthatch
3 song thrush
2 male blackcap
1 Jay
1 grey heron
1 treecreeper
Lots of tufted duck and great crested grebe
Over four hours this morning from 7.10, same route as on 15th March but also taking in the fields to the north west of the mere. A mix of sun and cloud, 7-13*c, light winds. 55 species again, more or less the same as previously, adding Little Egret and Redshank on Kid Brook Spit and three Blackcap around the woodlands. Also a minimum of 24 Chiffchaff. Green Sandpiper noted on the Fishermans Path pool (taken from our WhatsApp group).
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.