Thursday 2nd Jan - 2.30-4pm (first visit, unfortunately brief)

Just a short walk from Oakgates to Walkerwood Reservoir and back;

1 treecreeper
1 coal tit
1 goldcrest
plenty of great tit and blue tit
1 buzzard (flying over small reservoir in lower brushes - 'the dam'?)
1 great spotted woodpecker (flying)
3 robin
2 wren
4 blackbird

Will definitely go back for an early morning walk...

Sunday 29th December 2013, 8.00 - 9.30am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the rifle ranges to Flaxfield, and back

c40 redwings at Flaxfield, including one group of 25 moving through the hedges. Some also picking through the fields.
20+ blackbirds
7 bullfinch, mainly females. Present in good numbers at present, both around Flaxfield and in the country park
2 chaffinch
5 goldfinch
3 greenfinch
7 jays
4 wrens
1 male kestrel over Wild Bank. Report of a kestrel found on Thursday with an injured wing, down in Cloggers Hollow
10+ robins
1 dunnock
1 meadow pipit
28 Canada Geese on Walkerwood Reservoir at 8.00am
blue tits and great tits
not as many woodpigeon today - groups of fours and fives flying around
30+ magpies perched in trees everywhere
30+ back-headed gulls west down Brushes Valley

Sunday 22nd December 2013, 8.15 - 9.45am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the ranges to Flaxfield, and back, in dry, bright conditions, following overnight rain and a downpour at 8am. Very wet and boggy underfoot.

A pleasant hour and a half, though, with more about than of late.

1 green woodpecker showing well on 3 occasions, flying down into the fields of Flaxfield Farm picking through the mud and molehills
2 large flocks of woodpigeons, one of c200 flying west over the Tame Valley at 8.15, and one of at least 350 birds, south-east over Brushes Valley at 9.45
9 fieldfares on the hawthorn and holly at Flaxfield, before flying off west
7 redwings with the fieldfare, but didn't fly off, continuing to move along the hedges
1 song thrush
10+ blackbirds
3 wrens
6+ robins
4 meadow pipits "tseeping" in the heather of Wild Bank
1 dunnock
1 bullfinch heard from Walkerwood Dam
1 kestrel over Wild Bank
6+ great tits
6+ blue tits

Walk along Walkerwood this afternoon , like a mill pond with very little wind , male & female Sparrowhawk chasing birds around a bush just off roadside , 2 Ravens and 1 Buzzard up above , pleasant walk in clear conditions .

-- Edited by Julian Barnes on Tuesday 17th of December 2013 02:45:23 PM

Saturday 14th December 2013, 7.45 - 9.15am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the ranges to Flaxfield, and back

1 tawny owl hooting from Cock Wood, approx 100 yards along from dam, at 7.45 (still dark)

Then almost nothing for the hour to Flaxfield and back!

1 blackbird
1 robin
great and blue tits heard only!
goldfinch over
1 red grouse on Wild Bank Moor
low numbers of jackdaw, magpies, and woodpigeon flying around

Then as I was loading the dogs into the car on the dam, a buzzard flew down over the reservoir and circled low over the country park for 5 minutes, before heading over towards Harridge
1 pair of bullfinch next to the dam

1 pied wagtail feeding outside the newsagent on Brushes Road as I stopped to pay the newspaper bill!

Never known it so quiet, in decent weather. Perhaps I need to go out later at this time of year.

Friday 22nd November 2013, 6.50am - very breezy over the reservoir.

Walkerwood Dam - Tawny Owl flew from country park, over the corner of the dam, and into the trees on the Harridge side of the reservoir, about 10 feet above my head. No hooting or calling today.

Tuesday 19th November 2013, 6.40 - 7.15am

Along Walkerwood Dam, before dawn.

At least 2, and probably 3, tawny owls hooting this morning before first light. One from the woods on the northern (Harridge) side of Walkerwood Reservoir (only 100 yards or so down from the contractors' hut and machinery), and at least one on the southern shore, in Cock Wood. I was fairly confident that there were 2 in this wood, one 100 yards or so along from the dam, and one up near Brushes Reservoir, which hooted once only. Just then the Canada Geese started honking, and drowned the possible third bird out. Then it started to get light, the owls went quiet, and the geese took over.

These are my first male hoots of the season, only having calls up to now, and I believe that the two hooting against each other gives me a code T for territory on the Excel recording form, as possible breeding behaviour?

Sunday 17th November 2013, 8.30 - 110.00am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the rifle ranges, to Flaxfield and back - very misty, but mild

As has been usual of late, most sightings at the southern end of Flaxfield.

1 little owl in its usual spot in the hawthorn at Flaxfield
1 male stonechat on the fences between Flaxfield Farm and the gorse of Wild Bank
12 redwing on holly and hawthorn at Flaxfield
6 fieldfares with the redwing
1 song thrush
10+ blackbirds
2m, 1f bullfinch in the hedges of Flaxfield
1 greenfinch
6+ goldfinch over
1f chaffinch
2 dunnocks
1 red grouse on Wild Bank Moor



10

Saturday 16th November 2013, 7.20 - 9.30am

Up from Walkerwood Dam, past the rifle ranges, to Flaxfield and back. Dry but dull morning.

1 f kestrel hunting over Wild Bank
1 green woodpecker flying around the tall hedges south of Flaxfield Farm
2 fieldfares in field at Flaxfield Farm
12+ blackbirds, mainly on hawthorn
redwing heard at Flaxfield, but not seen
2 bullfinch, one in the gorse at Wild Bank, one in the country park
1 f chaffinch
6 meadow pipit on Wild Bank Moor
10+ robins
1 wren
2m, 1f pheasant at Flaxfield
4 blue tits
1 dunnock

With regards to the contractors on Harridge, I have spoken to the contractors themselves, and Audrey at Cote Farm, on whose land some of the work is being carried out. It is, as suspected, pylon maintenance work. The work being carried out now is preparatory groundwork, that is making good the access routes to the pylons, before work on the pylons themselves can start. It involves improving the tracks and rough lanes (some are very rough!), and clearing obstructing vegetation (hence the chainsaws at dawn this week on the hawthorns).

As can be seen from any decent map af the area, the pylons themselves run in a line roughly from Cote Farm straight up to the dam of Higher Swineshaw Reservoir, where they cross Swineshaw Brook, and continue past Lees Hill before turning south east towards Tintwistle. I must stress that I have no idea how far the work on the pylons is to extend, and the above is simply a description of the route of the pylons.

The groundwork is expected to finished by January, when work on the pylons will begin, and the work itself is expected to last until June 2014.

From a birding point of view, most of the above route of the pylons is over rough heather moor, but there is one section to the north of Walkerwood Reservoir which runs through woodland, from where I regularly hear tawny owls calling. I have no idea whether any breeding goes on in that wood, because it is on the opposite side of the valley from my usual walk, and as far as I know, no-one else watches over there (or at least they don't post on this forum), so there are unlikely to be any breeding records. Having said that, I don't know that power companies carrying out maintenance work need to liase with the ecology unit in the same way that local councils are required to, when considering planning applications?

So Roger, if you're wandering under any pylons on Harridge in the new year, you may need "yer owd tin 'at" after all!

I know these last few paragraphs aren't bird sightings, but they were further information to yesterday's posts. If you want to move them, Ian, feel free to do so,

David

I came across a couple of groups this morning in the Turton area working on pylons. It looks like routine maintenance work may be going on across our area.

Friday 15th November 2013, 6.40am

Before first light - 1 tawny owl calling persistently from the corner of the country park next to Brushes Road and Walkerwood Dam.

1 raptor flying very high and fast south east from Harridge over towards Boar Flats and Tintwistle, but light was still poor and it was a long way up

A lot of contractors' vehicles on the side of Harridge, with orange lights flashing, so no buzzards in the fields of Cote Farm today!

Blackbirds out in force before and just after first light. By 7.15, it had been light for ten minutes and I saw 10+ flying around hawthorn bushes

Thursday 14th November, 8.30 - 10.10am

Walkerwood Dam, up past the rifle ranges, to Flaxfield, and back.

1 buzzard soaring over Harridge
1 sparrowhawk over Cock Wood and Wild Bank Moor
2 peregrines from Lees Hill direction, flying high, then sweeping down together over moor and valley, saw off the above sparrowhawk
1 kestrel over Wild Bank Moor, down from Cock Knarr. Drifted over towards Hobson Moor
1 solitary meadow pipit - but who could blame them, with all of the above lurking around
2 ravens over Flaxfield, heading east up the Tame Valley
1 pair of bullfinch into the country park, near Walkerwood Dam
4 blackbirds, mainly on holly
redwing heard at Flaxfield, but not seen
6+ robins
3 male pheasant around Flaxfield Farm
3 dunnock
jays in Cock Wood

Sunday 10th November 2013, 8.30 - 10.00am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the rifle ranges, to Flaxfield and back. Clear and icy.

1 pair of stonechat in the usual area of fencing between Flaxfield Farm and Wild Bank. After five minutes of dropping into the field, they flew off high up the moor into the gorse.
20+ blackbirds - very active on the berries this morning, mainly hawthorn.
6 redwings, flying around Flaxfield in ones and twos
10+ robins
c60 black-headed gulls in field between Mottram Old Road and Sidebottom Fold
6 jays
2 male pheasant sat on a wall at Flaxfield Farm
2 dunnocks
8 house sparrows
1 wren
only finches this morning were a few goldfinches over
c50 woodpigeons dropping into trees on Harridge

otherwise fairly quiet

Thursday 7th November 2013, 8.45 - 10.15am

From Walkerwood Dam, up past the ranges, to Flaxfield and back, a beautiful, clear, autumn morning.

1 buzzard over Harridge

Most of the action was around the hedges and fields of Flaxfield Farm:

1 little owl in a hawthorn tree at the southern end, its usual spot.
1 pair of reed bunting flying around the hedges and into the fields to feed
2 m bullfinch
6 blackbirds, mainly on holly today
1 redwing on holly
2 chaffinch
3 goldfinch
1 pied wagtail on the farmhouse roof
1 pair pheasant
10+ robins
6 jays
1 wren
2 dunnock
8 house sparrows
4+ great tits
2 blue tits

Saturday 2nd November 2013, 7.15 - 9.30am

Up past the riifle ranges, to the southern end of Flaxfield, and back. Dry, bright, and breezy.

Around Flaxfield:
1 redwing
6 song thrushes, flying around the bushes at the southern end
4 bullfinches
4 chaffinches

10+ meadow pipits around heather
1 male reed bunting calling and flying around the gorse low down Wild Bank Moor. Not seen on the moor before. In new, dull, autumn plumage.
20+ blackbirds, mainly on hawthorn, but some on holly, including one group of 6 defending a holly tree from a redwing and 2 song thrushes
20+ robins - singing everwhere
6 jays - very active, plus more making a racket in country park
2 ravens flying down Brushes Valley, SW
6+ great tits
6+ blue tits
4 goldfinches over
1 dunnock
1 wren

Thursday 31st October 2013, 8.30 - 10.00am

Up past the Ranges to Flaxfield, and back, on a dry, bright, autumn morning.

1 buzzard flying around the fence posts of the fields low down on Harridge
1 sparrowhawk over Harridge
1 green woodpecker flew from the manure heap at Flaxfield Farm over towards Heyrod
10+ meadow pipits around the heather
12+ blackbirds, mainly on hawthorn
2 song thrushes
2 fieldfares feeding on hawthorn next to Brushes Road
6 chaffinches
1 bullfinch heard, not seen
12+ robins
6+ great tits
2 blue tits
1 wren
several groups of 10+ woodpigeons flying southwards
I was also fairly sure I heard a chiffchaff call, but it's a little late in the year? Perhaps a blackbird doing impressions.

Thursday 24th October 2013, 6.45pm

Along Walkerwood Dam

2 very vocal tawny owls calling, one from area of Cock Wood, the other from the woods opposite, on the Harridge side of the reservoir

Saturday 19th October 2013, 8.15 - 10.00am

A mild, dry morning, but very quiet, notable only on a personal note for my first fieldfare of autumn in the area. A flock of c25 were moving around the hawthorns of Flaxfield Farm and the rear of Range House. No redwing today, though.

Other sightings, such as they were:

15 meadow pipits
8 blackbirds
10+ robins
1 wren
1 male red grouse on Wild Bank Moor
2 male pheasant squabbling at Flaxfield Farm
2 jays
2 goldfinch over
4 long-tailed tits
4 great tits
2 blue tits
1 willow warbler still singing in country park

-- Edited by David Walsh on Saturday 19th of October 2013 12:18:08 PM

Wednesday 16th October 2013, 6.45pm

Tawny owl calling from woods on south side of Walkerwood Reservoir, near dam

David, we have Green Woodpeckers in Heyrod most of the year so maybe they just hop across the valley? Ashley

Saturday 12th October 2013, 7.45 - 8.45am

To Flaxfield and back past the rifle ranges - starting in drizzle, before being forced off the moor by heavy rain and wind.

48 redwing moving through Flaxfield Farm, feeding on hawthorn and holly, before heading west, in three groups of 8, 15, and 25. Just seen another group of c25 heading north west over Huddersfield Road whilst writing up this post!
6 blackbirds
1 great tit
1 blue tit
6 robins
2 meadow pipits

Also one raptor being blown quickly south from Walkerwood direction towards Flaxfield, low over moor. It was smaller than a kestrel with a shorter tail, and wings bent in the breeze. The view wasn't great, as it flashed past on the wind in poor light, and by the time I fixed with my binoculars, it was past. It didn't beat its wings at all, but it was very windy, and the initial impression from the size was a merlin, but I couldn't be 100 per cent, and I have never seen any record of one in this area, so it goes down as a possible/ maybe.

-- Edited by David Walsh on Saturday 12th of October 2013 01:12:04 PM

David Walsh wrote:

---

First walk for the Winter Thrush Survey, through Brushes Road fringe of country park, down southern side of Walkerwood Reservoir to Cock Wood, then up past rifle ranges to Flaxfield.

It was looking like a write off as far as thrushes were concerned, with a count of 1 song thrush and 6 blackbirds, until a flock of c45 redwing flew over west from Lees Hill and dropped over Harridge Pike. Unfortunately the birds didn't fly over my chosen "square" for the survey, but over two adjacent ones. Can anyone tell me whether or not birds viewed on the walk, but in another OS square can be entered onto the survey?

---

A good question, David, and a tricky one as not all surveys have the same "rules" on this.

I presume you are going to enter your results online and have mapped your route on the survey website. If the birds were just flyovers and were not seen to land, I would put a marker at the point from which you saw them and enter the count number and record them as birds in flight. If the birds were seen to land, and the point at which they landed is off your map, I would not record them. When the survey results are analysed, flyover counts will be very useful but feeding behaviour will be much more important and will need to be related to habitat. Hope this makes sense!

Of course, whether or not these birds can be recorded as part of the Winter Thrush Survey, your sightings are still of value and can be submitted to the Greater Manchester Bird Recording Group in a variety of ways which are detailed elsewhere on this website.

Had hoped to do my first Thrush Survey today, just up the valley from you, but the weather's not looking ideal

Steve

Wednesday 9th October 2013 - Owls again - not much else to do on a walk after 6.30pm these days!

Late posting for last night:

Flaxfield area, south of Flaxfield Farm, 6.45 - 8.00pm

1 little owl calling at dusk from usual area of hawthorn, then flew across field and onto Wild Bank Moor.
1 tawny owl calling after dark in the distance to the north of Flaxfield, back towards Range House/Rifle Ranges direction.


This morning, 6.45am, first dogwalk along Walkerwood Dam just before daylight:

1 tawny owl calling from Harridge side of the valley towards Brushes Reservoir
85 Canada Geese on Walkerwood Reservoir

Sunday 6th Oct. 15.00 - 16.00 hrs.

With Lee Griffiths ..... an hour on Walkerwood dam-head.
In glorious sunshine, certainly brought the raptors out to play.

5 possibly 6 Buzzard were riding the thermals over Th'Harridge for virtually the full hour.
One of the Buzzard was harrassed by a pair of Raven for a while until a Peregrine put in an appearance chasing the Raven off.

Sparrowhawk.
Kestrel.


Roger.