I was informed by a United Utilities employee in 2009 that the company had adopted a policy of no supplementary feeding on their land which included putting down niger seed for Twite and probably still does. Seed used to be put down on the concrete slope above the drain where it flows into the south end of Warland Resr.
At the start of the Twite Recovery Project in late 2008 the project steering group comprising The RSPB, Natural England, Peak District National Park Authority and the South Pennine Twite Study Group, reviewed the role of supplementary feeding and drew up a protocol which recommended that niger should only be put down during periods when bottlenecks in natural food supplies occur. These periods were identified as early April to mid May and from the beginning of July to mid August.
However, the practice from 1998 to 2008 had been to provide seed all year round, especially during the winter. By suspending feeding during the winter the aim was to encourage the Twite to head to the east coast where large numbers used to winter in the 1970s. An RSPB video even stated that if you see a Twite on the moors in winter it almost certainly isn't a Twite. Clearly the moorland finch had its own ideas about where it liked to spend the winter as there are approx. 275 records in the GMBRG database from November to February. January used to be the 2nd highest month in the year for record submission perhaps due partly to year listers making their annual trip to Rochdale April was always the peak month reflecting perhaps the return of birds that had spent the winter on the coast.
If you are familiar with the "tchweet" flight call, then a walk along the Pennine Way from the White House pub (next to the A58) to Warland Resr anytime between April and Oct will probably produce a few birds. They are now dispersed over much a wider area and in the absence of a feeding station you are unlikely to see more than single figures. My highest count in the past 3 years was of 7 birds in April 2010 which is probably the best month to look for them.
Steve
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The Watergrove Skyline (January 2010) - before desecration.
Hi Ben and Ian, It does seem a shame the feeding station has gone. I used to go up and see at least 50 Twite using it. Has there been some objection from United Utilities that the station has been withdrawn. I'm sure uses of this forum would be willing to man the station for such a rare and important species.
Hi Ian. Thanks for the reply. That's a shame, but i'll try and get up there anyway. As a season ticket holder at Spotland I'm used to travelling to Rochdale for lost causes.
There is no feeding station up there any more and so Twite records from the site are virtually nil; though I'm sure they probably still occur but extremely sporadically at best. Always worth a visit up there regardless though!
I wonder if anyone has any recent information about this site high up on the moorland above Rochdale, and previously a good site for Twite. Up to 2009 there were quite a lot of entries on the forum related to this site and a twite feeding station at Light Hazzles Reservoir. There seem to have been no entries on the forum since then so wonder if the twite still frequent this area, or is just that birders no longer frequent the area? I know the best way to find out is to go and look but it would be good to know how successful this is likely to be. Thanks Ben
April was always the peak month reflecting perhaps the return of birds that had spent the winter on the coast.