Mon 15/3 Wander around before dusk again hoping for an early Wheatear but to no avail
Snipe, 3 flushed from U shaped pool Curlew 11 in grassy fields over pool possibly another 2 flew off bund Lapwing 3 pairs displaying and defending territory against corvids Fieldfare 30+ in paddock with c 40 Starlings
2 Curlew (male and female ? Due to size difference) bubbling calls landed in grass fields between U shaped pond and Manchester road - harbingers of Spring
7/5 early exercise walk on a beautiful spring morning Highlights Grasshopper Warbler singing(male) plus at least 1 other silent bird (female?) western edge of bund Sedge Warbler 9 singing (males) Lesser Whitethroat (male) singing from trees in Three Arrows car park Stock Dove 1 Whitethroat 9 singing (males) several with females seen
Highlights Lesser whitethroat chuckling from hawthorn hedge (first of year) Whitethroat 2 males singing Raven 2 cranking over towards top Linnet several pairs heard and seen
Late morning exercise social distancing stroll in warm spring sunshine tho cold NE breeze
Highlight at least 2 tree sparrows in hedgerow my first in heywood for decades!!!
6 singing willow warblers with 2 non singers seen one being chas3d (female?) 3 buzzards 2 high soaring E Male kestrel 7+ skylarks singing Many single meadow pipits Linnets heard over
Also had a walk along Doctor Fold Lane later in the morning. What looked to be another 2 Buzzards were in this area - making a total of 5 for the morning!
Also - c30 Meadow Pipit, c20 Fieldfare, c25 Starling, only c10 House Sparrow , 1 Kestrel and 1 Mistle Thrush singing somewhere nearby.
1 Mistle Thrush singing, at least 11 Collared Dove, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Little Owl, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 9 Fieldfare, 30+ Blackbird logged - the last 4 species all feeding on hawthorn berries.
Plus c45 Woodpigeon, 110+ House Sparrow including a single flock of c80, c35 Lapwing foraging on a recently mown field, 2 Reed Bunting, a single Red-legged Partridge was a bit of an unexpected find and 2 Bullfinch were seen.
A flock of 27 Collared Doves together was noteworthy - plus in the same area c80 House Sparrows... attracting the inevitable attentions of a Sparrowhawk! In fact, I was told by the local farmer that if I had visited just a few days earlier there would have been 28 Collared Doves!
Also, c110 Swallows - c60 of which appeared to be sunbathing on a sloping roof.
1 Stock Dove, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Skylark and a flock of exactly 25 Long-tailed Tits.
The breeding season isn't over yet! - a family party of Goldfinch included some begging juveniles and a Moorhens nest was found with 5 eggs in it.
Spent quite a few hours this morning in the area. I went specifically to try and prove breeding for both Whitethroat and Reed Bunting, as I have visited this area more than quite a few times this summer and know where some of their territories are. Anyway after much time spent standing around was pleased to be able to confirm both, with sightings of family parties. There were absolutely masses of commoner birds in the area this morning - c70 Starling, c60 House Sparrow, c25 Goldfinch, c300 Woodpigeon and c15 Linnet. This flock of Linnet contained audibly begging young. c230 Lapwing and 2 Oystercatcher were in the air over Birch Industrial Estate, presumably having been disturbed off the rooftops there by something? A Sedge Warbler was heard singing briefly for short spells and then seen near to where the Reed Bunting and Whitethroat families were present. Young Collared Doves and Dunnocks were also present. 4 Stock Doves seen briefly together might possibly have been a family party.
A nice colony of House Martins, with young at the nest entrance holes were not too far away from the farmland where all these other birds were present.
There is a bit more info on Reed Buntings in the atlas section of the forum for those interested. How's that for a totally shameless plug of my own handiwork!
Keep atlasing,
Bill.
-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Friday 23rd of July 2010 05:16:17 PM
At the time of our last atlas project, this species was at a relatively low ebb with an estimate of just 150 pairs in our recording area - surely a considerably higher figure today? Keep atlasing!
Bill.
Dead right Bill!
In fact I included in the last local atlas newsletter (available free of charge on this website!) Steve Atkins' map of Whitethroat records from the last two breeding seasons to compare with the map in the last local atlas. The increase in distribution is amazing, even though, as you say, they were at a low ebb back then, due to drought in their wintering areas.
Although our new maps are showing an increase in records, there are still too many smaller dots (possible and probable breeding) and not enough large (confirmed breeding) spots.
A very enjoyable morning wandering about this area. Spent some considerable time chatting to the local farming residents and their friends and learning a lot about the area and its birds. Many thanks to Margaret for showing me all of her Swallows nests and pointing out the Little Owls.....which I probably would have missed! Also thanks to John for telling me all about the local birds. Farmland birds appear to be doing quite well here, with good numbers of Skylarks and I also heard a Grey Partridge calling, several fields have Lapwings with small young in. Have spent a bit of time lately in the general area and Lapwings with young are in this particular and several of the adjacent tetrads for breeding atlas purposes. At the end of the 2009 breeding season - i.e. half way through the breeding atlas projects - Lapwing had only been confirmed as breeders in only 62 tetrads in our recording area - a mere 30% of the total at the time of the last national survey/BBGM! A bit of time spent scanning the fields when you hear and see a pair of agitated Lapwings will hopefully be rewarded with the sighting of their quite beautiful chicks. Now is probably the best time to look as well, before the vegetation cover gets too high.
Large flock of c250 Starlings - a very high percentage of juveniles and also a flock of c25 non-breeding Lapwings. Goldfinch with young, Blue Tit with young, Goldcrest singing, at least 2 pairs of Linnets and 2 Stock Doves. 3+ singing male Reed Buntings and a pair seen together. Some of the males were seen in territorial disputes.
A male Whitethroat was nest building in nettles, interspersed between bouts of singing. I understand the male builds a few rudimentary nests, which if and when a female is attracted, she then picks the best one and completes the job and they will then all live happily ever after! This particular male might be a bit late in getting a mate though , as no female was seen with him and I have already seen singles or pairs of Whitethroats carrying food at the (not so rural!) locations of Agecroft on 2/6, Higher Boarshaw on 5/6 and this afternoon (7/6) at New Moston. Fortunately 2 other pairs of Whitethroats were seen in the same general area today. At the time of our last atlas project, this species was at a relatively low ebb with an estimate of just 150 pairs in our recording area - surely a considerably higher figure today? Once a territory is located they are a relatively easy species to confirm as breeders when they are carrying insect food, as their "churring" alarm calls betrays their anxiety that you are near their nest site!
Chiffchaff singing end of Doctor Fold Lane. Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Chaffinch in good numbers. Skylarks pleasingly conspicuous. House Sparrows at the dwellings. Lapwings - c 6 pairs Linnets - c 4 Whitethroat x 1 Oystercatcher feeding on the old maize field,and presumably nesting on the industrial unit rooftops again which is within SD 80P. Buzzard x 1 Sparrowhawk x 1 and ..... Blackbird, Robin, Reed Bunting, Mallard, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Jackdaw , Wren, Blue & Great Tit.
, 1 Kestrel and 1 Mistle Thrush singing somewhere nearby.
at least 11 Collared Dove, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Little Owl,
3 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 9 Fieldfare, 30+ Blackbird logged - the last 4 species all feeding on hawthorn berries.
and 2 Bullfinch were seen. 
on a sloping roof.
- a family party of Goldfinch included some begging juveniles and a Moorhens nest was found with 5 eggs in it. 
How's that for a totally shameless plug of my own handiwork! 
and they will then all live happily ever after!
This particular male might be a bit late in getting a mate though 
, as no female was seen with him and I have already seen singles or pairs of Whitethroats carrying food at the (not so rural!