1 Little Grebe. Feeding on a small fish when I got to the lake. 1 Grey Heron 15 Canada Geese 50+ Mallards 1m Goosander 8 Moorhens 1 Grey Wagtail 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker Woodpigeons & Feral Pigeons A few Wrens, Robins, & Blackbirds. 12 Redwings & a Mistle Thrush. 2 flocks of Long-tailed Tits. 20+ at Chorley Street entrance & a smaller flock in the park. A few Great Tits & Blue Tits, 2 Nuthatches. Magpies, Jackdaws, & Carrion Crows. Hardly any finches seen in the wind & drizzle. Only saw 1 Greenfinch & 2 Goldfinches.
1 Little Grebe on the lake. First one for me in the park. 14 Canada Geese 70+ Mallards 8 Moorhens 15 Black-headed Gulls Apart from 5 Redwings & a Siskin just the usual park species :- Woodpigeons, Feral Pigeons, 1 Pied Wagtail, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, 1 Mistle Thrush, Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Nuthatches, Magpies, Carrion Crows, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches.
Good views of the eclipse. Before getting to the park I wondered how the eclipse would affect the woodland birds. Did not seem to make any difference, but there were not many birds about anyway. The noisier birds (e.g. Blackbirds, Mistle Thrushes, & Nuthatches) did not stop singing.
After leaving the park I headed for the town centre. As I passed the GPO a Peregrine flew past me heading either for the park or the gasometers down Spa Road. Definitely taking route one from the Parish Church along Deansgate.
26 Canada Geese 20+ Mallards 1m Goosander on the river and a female on the main pond 2 Moorhens on the river. None on the main lake or the fishing pond which is very unusual A Jay making strange noises as it was being harassed by a Mistle Thrush
Very windy and hardly anything calling in the woodland. A couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the ponds with the usual Canada Geese, Mallards, Moorhens, & Black-headed Gulls.
Just when it looked like nothing of interest was about a Peregrine flew in from Chorley New Road and flew very quickly over the ponds heading towards Gilnow.
No Peregrines seen in town today but this sighting and the one on Blackburn Road shows they are still busy on the edge of the town.
37 Canada Geese 100+ Mallards 1 Black-headed Gull 8 Moorhens 1 Sparrowhawk 40+ Feral Pigeons, but only one Woodpigeon Goldcrests seen in a couple of places Wrens, Robins, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Magpies, Carrion Crows, Greenfinches, & Goldfinches the only other birds present on a very quiet visit.
1 Grey Heron 1 Canada Goose c120 Mallards 10 Moorhens 45 Black-headed Gulls 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 30 Feral Pigeons 6 Woodpigeons 1 Pied Wagtail as I headed towards the park from the town centre 8 Wrens 2 Dunnocks 11 Robins 16 Blackbirds 2 Redwings 1 Mistle Thrush 2 flocks Of Long-tailed Tits with numerous Blue Tits & Great Tits 1 Nuthatch 12 Magpies 3 Jackdaws (on Chorley New Road with House Sparrows near the park entrance) 4 Carrion Crows 9 Chaffinches 2 Greenfinches 4 Goldfinches 2 Bullfinches
11.55am to 12.45pm. A lot of activity around the park with a bank holiday funfair. A lot better than the mess being created by the illegal travellers near the Chorley Street entrance though. Also very noisy by the river due to ongoing sculpturing using machinery on cut down tree trunks. I did manage a few interesting sightings in the quieter spots.
A very large female Sparrowhawk flew out of the trees by the fishing lodge as I watched my only butterfly of the day, a Small Tortoiseshell.
A pair of Blackcaps by the main lakes gave good views, made even better as they flitted through the Bluebells (my first Bluebells this year). Also in this area I saw 24 Canada Geese, 30+ Mallards (including some of the ducklings from last time), 4 Moorhens (3 also on the river), 20+ Black-headed Gulls, 1 Willow Warbler, & at least 2 Goldcrests.
11.40am to 12.30pm. Quite a bit of the park still closed off due to the Lottery funded improvements.
14 Canada Geese 40+ Mallards, including a female with 14 ducklings, a few of which had normal markings but most were bright yellow. 5 Moorhens 25 Black-headed Gulls 40+ Feral Pigeons 18 Woodpigeons 5 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (a pair near the fishing lodge, another pair by the main ponds, and one in a garden behind Park Road) 1 Pied Wagtail on the roof of Travis Perkins just outside the park 5 Wrens 2 Dunnocks 4 Robins 4 Blackbirds 1 Song Thrush 2 Blackcaps 2 Willow Warblers 1 Goldcrest A few Long-tailed Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, & Great Tits 2 Nuthatches 3 Magpies 5 Carrion Crows 2 Chaffinches 4 Greenfinches 10+ Goldfinches
44 Canada Geese 100+ Mallards 11 Moorhens + young on river a few weeks old 75 Black-headed Gulls 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls 40+ Feral Pigeons 14 Woodpigeons 3 Grey Wagtails (one near entrance at town end, one on main lodges, and one outside the park along the river near Gilnow Mill. This stretch can also be good for Dippers and Kingfishers, viewed from the back street, but none today. 2 Wrens 3 Robins 3 Blackbirds 1 Song Thrush 1 Goldcrest 2 flocks of Long-tailed Tits with Coal Tits, Blue Tits, & Great Tits 2 Nuthatches 1 Jay 8 Magpies 12 Jackdaws 1 Carrion Crow 5 Chaffinches
