On the mossland part of my Newchurch Patch this am, to see if the rain had changed anything! Overcast but mild.

The juvenile Water Rail was seen on its usual Shmmy Moss muddy pool after a long wait.

A Kestrel was on the dead tree on South Moss.

Morning on Newchurch, cloudy and mild, no sun at all!

Just one report, 14 Greylag Geese flew over Big Pool to the east.

On patch am again, very very hot and sunny.

Today at least 6(3drk) Gadwall were on Big Pool. Also here were 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A Little Grebe feeding near the 'mangroves' on Big Pool was unexpected.

A Treecreeper was in the north section of the Pine Belt, looking slightly fluffy it was probably one of this years young.

On Newchurch am, hot & sunny.

The juvenile Water Rail was seen again on it's muddy hollow, ex-pool, on Shemmy Moss. There are now 4ad Common Gulls on the Newchurch Pools, 3 on Big Pool and 1 on Small Pool.

There were 2 Stock Doves flying across Shemmy Moss.

Missed my post yesterday due to a fall and damaging my knee so badly I was at home all day to day resting up with painkillers 

So here's the couple of good sightings from Sat 8th Aug 2026:

Out pm in hot sunshine and just on Shemmy Moss.

The adult Hobby was sitting in a dead tree on the mosses as usual. It isn't there all the time and we can't predict the time that it will be, but it is seen probably once every three visits at the moment.

A patch lifer was a great reward for me and Carys popping out in the blazing sun. This was a Grasshopper Warbler which flew low over the heather for a short distance before diving into it. Despite going straight to the area that it dived in it wasn't seen again and I know it will have 'scampered' off on the ground! A reeling bird has been heard for the last two years so this makes it three years running that one has been here. Unfortunately damage to my auditory nerve from meningitis when I was 20 means that I haven't been able to hear them reeling since then, so I needed to see one, which now I have!!

Another morning on my patch, duller but still warm.

On Shemmy Moss just the juvenile Water Rail seen today, showing really well. The adult Common Gull was back on Big Pool along with the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

In Big Pool east meadows a large feeding flock of around 45 passerines included 35 Blue Tits, 4 Great Tits, 2 Long-tailed Tits and 4 Chiffchaffs, a lot of these birds being juveniles.

On newchurch am, hot & sunny.

Just one noteworthy bird sighting. There were 8(5ad) Mute Swans in total today, consisting of 3ads on Big Pool and the family of 5(2ad) on Small Pool as usual.

All day across all areas of patch today in hot conditions.

There were 7(4ad) Mute Swans on the pools today. Made up of the family of five on Small Pool, plus two adults on Big Pool. A long watch at the Shemmy Moss pool produced sightings of 3(1ad) Water Rail. It was good to see two downy young today. An adult Common Gull was again on Big Pool, possibly the one seen before this month.

Morning on Newchurch with very little to report, Sunny and hot with increasing cloud.

Just 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls over Big Pool. Interestingly they were made up of 3 adults and an immature bird and were calling constantly, identical to Wednesday's sighting over Big Pool.

Had a morning on patch and did a reasonable walk. Overcast but warm.

The highlight was 2(1ad) Water Rails on Shemmy Moss. The adult was watched feeding a tiny black fluffball of a chick at the edge of the rushes by one of the near dried-up pools. An Oystercatcher flew over Shemmy Moss calling.

Also on Shemmy was a male Kestrel, actively hunting.

A morning on patch, warm but mainly overcast!

A Grey Heron flew from Lymm Vale pool.

There were 2 juvenile Blackcaps north of Big Pool.

Yesterday I suddenly realised that today was BTO WeBS Core Count Day, so my plans changed so that I could do it on the correct day  Out this morning, warm and getting sunnier as the morning went on, very pleasant.

Ducks were represented by two species only, 59 Tufted Ducks and 53 Mallards (plus 3 ducklings), both counts up significantly on last month. There were 57 Canada Geese and 4 Greylag Geese, similar to the June totals. The extra adult on Big Pool made it 3 adult Mute Swans (plus 3y). There were 144 Coot across the two pools and just 1 Moorhen, on Small Pool. This Coot count was up 90 birds on June, a massive increase! A count of 6 Great Crested Grebes (plus 3y) was a few birds down this month. The first big surprise was a Cormorant which flushed from under bankside vegetation by Big Pool Lazy Man's Peg, not a usual July species.The next big surprise was a 2nd calendar year Common Gull which took off from Big Pool and flew north, a rarity in July for me, but every year there are relatively good numbers (3-figure counts) in July on the Dee and Mersey estuary counts, so one may have drifted in! Also seen were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (my 'resident' bird) and 7 Black-headed Gulls. A Grey Heron was on Big Pool north shore as it has been all week. The only other addition was a fly through Sand Martin. (oh and a feral Mallard that is resident and paired up!).

This gave a total of 340 birds of 15 species. This was circa double the individuals and four more species compared to the year lows of May and June.

On the mosses part of patch today mainly, in hot sun again.

A Water Rail was calling from thick sedge cover on Shemmy Moss.

A Hobby was watched at length and stayed for at least 1.5hrs, being still there when I left. It was perched up contact calling lots at first and making hunting forays. When flying it was mobbed by 4 Swallows. Seeing as it was calling I searched for a second bird, but no sign at all. A Green Woodpecker flew across Shemmy Moss, a rare bird than Hobby these days on patch! It was heard calling a few times, as it flew and then 15 minutes later. A Coal Tit and a Nuthatch were seen by Small Pool.

Hot and sunny, am and pm on patch! All around Big Pool.

I found a Patch Lifer today but a discussion with a Warrington Anglers Baliff meant that I wasn't allowed to broadcast it. They are clamping down massively on bank access and chopping trees down to block access even away from fishing pegs The bird in question was a juvenile Black-necked Grebe. Luckily this species breeds in Cheshire and can be seen at many local waters pre and post-breeding so not a difficult bird to see in the region. The grebe seemed to arrive with a large flock of Tufted Ducks which dropped in, and it stayed with them for the first hour but after that spent more time alone, but always out in the centre of the pool. Whilst trying to get photos of the grebe another patch rarity, a Curlew, flew over calling. A Grey Heron was also seen, fishing the edges of Big Pool. For the second consecutive day a Kingfisher flew across the pool.

Another sunny and hot day, started at 8am but still hot by then!

The only birds of note were an adult and juv Grey Wagtail on Beach Peg on Big Pool.

Morning and afternoon on patch in hot sunshine.

A young Moorhen on Shemmy Moss had caught a female Emperor, probably as she was ovipositing.

A Swift was over Shemmy Moss. A Song Thrush was watched at length smashing a snail on a stone, taking out the contents and then heading away with it, presumably to feed young.

On Newchurch am, overcast but warm.

There now seems to be 5(2ad) Mute Swans on Small Pool, so a cygnet is missing. Given that the young are now a considerable size this was a surprise!

On Shemmy Moss 2 Swallows and 2 Linnets flew over.

On patch pm, dull and warm and windy.

A juvenile Grey Wagtail was on one of the fishing pegs on Big Pool shoreline where fellow patcher Dave has seen male and female too. Looks like successful local breeding.

On patch am, on the mosses only, overcast but warm.

A Water Rail was calling from reeds on Shemmy Moss.

Nearby 2m Reed Buntings were chasing.

A morning in the sweltering heat again.

A surprise was a female Mandarin close to Beach Peg on Big Pool, but she was as surprised as me and swam off to the island and into cover. The semi-resident Lesser Black-backed Gull was back on Big Pool. A lone Sand Martin flew over Big Pool.

Proof of breeding was seen with 2 young Long-tailed Tits which flew across the main track. After seeing two Long-tailed Tit nests predated it was nice to see youngsters.

On patch am and pm, but too hot pm really. Hot & sunny all day.

The Spotted Flycatcher was seen again in Gull Pool Wood, viewed from the Whitegate Way. A Skylark was singing over the nursery fields by Abbot's Moss.

An afternoon on patch, warm and mainly sunny.

An Oystercatcher flew over Big Pool SW Glade calling. There were a Sand Martin and 3 Swifts over Big Pool.

WeBS Count Day again. Overcast am, sunny pm, warm.

A slight increase on last months low count. There were 68 Canada Geese and 4 Greylag Geese today. Also 7(3ad) Mute Swans, the family plus an adult extra on Big Pool.The only ducks were 21 Mallards plus 2 ducklings and 15 Tufted Ducks. A count of 55 Coot (plus 3y) was up on last month. Also 2 Moorhens and 5 young were seen. There were 10 Great Crested Grebes plus 1 young. Also seen were 5 Black-headed Gulls and 3 Sand Martins.

A Raven was in Gull Pool Wood. A family of 5(2ad+3y) Blackcaps were south of Small Pool.

A total of 187 birds of 11 species were seen, young omitted as per WeBS guidelines!

An afternoon on Patch, sunny & breezy.

The 6(2ad + 4y) Mute Swans were still on Small Pool.

A Whitethroat was singing from a gorse and bramble bank north of Big Pool, the first in this location this year.