A late post from Monday afternoon at 17.15. six ring necked parakeets flew over Woodbank Park heading westwards, its not the first time they have been seen this summer.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 5th of September 2018 07:23:19 PM
Just a short walk from the jungle that is Stockport town centre and you can record (as I did this morning) - willow warbler, blackcap, chiffchaff, peregrine falcon (plucking and eating a kill), kingfisher, dipper, goosander (pair), grey wagtail and many common woodland birds. Everything is not always so demoralising I suppose.
Woodbank park has some of the muddiest paths known to man, so a visit when it is frozen was not to be missed. Not bad really, with the following less common birds recorded (from memory):
Jay, Great spotted woodpecker, mistle thrush (1 in song, two others in 'battle'), sev song thrushes, treecreeper, siskins (less than 10), bullfinch, redwings (hard to count on ground in thick scrub), grey heron (2), buzzard (2), goosander (1 pr & 1 fem), nuthatches (2+), cormorant. In winter, this is definitely a better bet for woodland birds than Etherow C.P., but less good for water birds. The only down side was that the peregrines were not at home. I hope this was not a bad sign of their current status here?
Always make one check here each spring just in case it has regained its old magic, but it was not to be. The only thing which made me stop and watch for any length of time was a female goosander with three ducklings. It was quite cute to see them riding on her back when she wanted to make a quicker getaway than they would otherwise allow.
-- Edited by Andy Bissitt on Sunday 8th of May 2016 09:16:36 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 8th of May 2016 09:25:35 PM
Competed in a Cross Country running race at Woodbank Park, Stockport today. Didn't really have time to go intentionally go looking for birds but during my time there I saw the following:
5+ Magpies 5+ Carrion Crows Jackdaws overhead Goldcrest (my first of 2015) Usual Blue & Great Tits Robins Blackbirds Starlings overhead
On the small pond closest to the athletics track:
No less than 78 Mallards (which was a lot since the pond was only about 15m wide) Only a single Moorhen No Black-Headed Gulls on my first look but they kept dropping in during my time there and there were 24 there when I left
8 more Mallards on the smaller pond bringing the total to 86 which I thought was quite impressive considering the size of the area they were occupying.
Saw the river briefly, but didn't get time to get less than 100m away from it. It looked like a good area though. Nuthatches and Treecreepers were almost certainly present but no confirmed sightings. Heard them calling several times but didn't have time to stop and look
All in all not a bad day (apart from all of the mud and cold that one has to inevitably endure during a cross country race!)
Peregrine harassing a lone Buzzard high over Woodbank Park yesterday lunchtime. Also in park, 2 Mistle Thrush , a noisy party of 6 Jays and several Magpies. Along the river were: Six pairs of Mandarins , 2 pair of Grey Wagtails and 3 male and 3 female Goosanders, plus a few Mallards and Moorhens. 4 Buzzards were circling high over Bredbury. Smaller birds seemed to be at a premium , with only the odd Blue Tit , Great Tit and Robin about . Cheers Chris
This afternoon... Male mandarin ,on duck pond near greenhouses, Female sparrowhawk over, 3 mistle thrush, 2 song thrush, Finally, a collared dove,"laying into", a magpie! The poor magpie didn't know what had hit it!!!
Very pleasant stroll -with missus ,through parks yesterday,between 11-30 and 2pm.Weather almost Spring -like! Birds seen : 4 greenfinch, 8 long-tailed tits, numerous blue and great tits,4 nuthatch,(in proposed new car park area !) ,1 GSW behind museum ,robins, mistle thrush,2 song thrush,6 redwings, jay, treecreeper plus wood pigeons , collared doves and several magpies !! plus skein of approx 180 geese over ,NNW @11-45... Quick look at river :4 cormorant in tree,two pair of mallard and a fleeting glimpse of a dipper..... p.s. planted 8' rowan sapling in garden on Friday !!! Watch this space LOL .
-- Edited by Chris Greene on Sunday 7th of February 2010 09:17:54 AM
