I am sorry to have to announce the loss of yet another area that was an oasis for birds in the middle of the concrete desert.

I was lured to Bredbury tip about half a dozen years back by reports of jack snipe, and although I never saw any I thought it was a great little place to check out in winter. This was mainly because it was a 'wellies only' site, meaning I never met another person (or dog) on there. It was thus a silent, undisturbed area of rank grassland and scrub with very boggy areas and pools. It was therefore much appreciated by birds that require some solitude, leading to recent records of woodcock, stonechats and grasshopper warblers. Reed buntings were ever present, and winter brought meadow pipits and common snipe. The four I saw there today on the as yet undeveloped area (signs that this will follow here too were evident) were thus probably the last record of this (or virtually any bird) for this site.

I feel sad for myself because it was a convenient local patch to visit in winter when daylight hours don't allow for much travel. I obviously feel sad for the wildlife of the area which will suffer. Most of all, I feel sad for future birdwatchers (especially around Stockport) who will look back at our records in the future and think 'why was that place not saved for me to enjoy my hobby?'.