Myself and Mike Passant had a great day on the 11th around the Wigan Borough - desperately trying to get 80 species seen/heard.
In all 83 bird species were seen/heard, but unfortunately, we could only count 79!
Misses: I saw 2 Jays at separate sites, but Mike missed them. Mike was pretty confident he saw a Goldcrest about 4 feet away from my face, but I missed it! We both saw a pair of probable Curlew, but did not get onto them quick enough to positively ID them. We also both saw a pair of Linnets near Highfield Moss, got excited and then realised we were in Cheshire!
Highlights: Turnstone, Mandarin, Treecreeper.
Cuckoo was heard as we were walking back to the car, we went back to try and promote it to a seen bird, but it fell silent. Only to start up again after we had turned away. It remained Heard Only. I got my first GM tick of the day at Pennington Flash where 2 Turnstone were on the spit along with 3 Dunlin and a smattering of Common Tern. Gulls were ridiculously hard to come by, they all seemed to be Lesser Black Backed or Black Headed. Mike managed to pick out a Juvenile Herring Gull on our second visit to Pennington, but they wre the only gull species of the day. Bird of prey were also thin on the ground (and in the air). Apart from a Peregrine that we took a detour to specifically see, we really struggled, picking up a Kestrel at Haigh Hall and we were sweating on Buzzard until late in the afternoon, when we saw one at Highfield Moss drifting in and out of GM airspace.
There were birds we could have seen, which included 12 Arctic Terns that flew through Pennington shortly after we had departed, Tawny Owl and Sparrowhawk at Haigh that we could not locate, Corn Bunting at Highfield Moss, Tree Sparrow at both Rindle Road and Hope Carr and Wheatear that didn't show anywhere.
Other Heard Only birds included the Penny Cetti's Warbler and a Sedge Warbler at Wigan Flashes.
The weather was really against us, and I think if we,d have had a calm day, with water levels at all sites considerably lower, we could perhaps have reached 90 birds.
What I really enjoyed about the whole experience is how acutely aware you become of bird songs and calls and how you really appreciate seeing common birds. Mike is a super bloke who taught me absolutely loads, especially bird songs.
Anybody toying with the idea of doing one of these days should bear this in mind: wellies really hurt your feet after 14 hours! I would have preferred, in hindsight, to have worn trainers and had wet feet, but nevermind, you live and learn!
Myself and Mike Passant are taking on a Big Wigan Borough Day on the 11th. If anyone else fancies it, the more the merrier. A car full would be a bonus... more eyes, ears and fuel money!
-- Edited by Rick Hall on Friday 2nd of May 2014 05:50:20 PM
I'm going to have a go on Saturday 10th. If anyone wants to join me, they are more than welcome. Extra pairs of eyes and ears can only enhance the experience. I drive, but I don't really know many sites outside of the Bolton area, so a plan would definitely be needed to cut down on wasted time in the car.
Perhaps people are a bit "birded out " after the efforts of recent years and with 100+ scores not quite the "4 minute mile " equivalents of a few years ago; - on top of which some of us are so old now we tend to struggle not to fall asleep about mid afternoon!
An alternative (to cut down on the driving element) might be to work your own patch for an intensive day, or to do say a "Big Borough Day." I've no doubt that would turn up some goodies.
__________________
Challenges are inevitable, but failure is optional.
me too.. although the captain would have a car if poss as I don't drive --- can bring beginners luck though - and somewhere out of my patch, the rarest thing out 'ere is Blue Tit :P
