Another morning patch walk, dull, flat and dry, but pretty birdless!

Just 11 Wigeon were counted on Big Pool as well as 16 Greylag Geese. Amazingly 2 Great Crested Grebes on here were doing the head shaking courtship dance, and like the woodpecker chasing, reported by me on 14th December, this seemed very early. To quote the great J.S.Huxley in British Birds in his article on breeding in Great Crested Grebes "No courtship proper (mutual head-shaking ceremony) occurred before February 28th". In the wet ex-potato field there were 102 Lapwings today and an intriguing small brown wader asleep amongst them an partially obscured. I yomped back to the car and got my scope but the flock had moved along the field and I couldn't see the brown wader at first. A thorough search revealed it, now even more hidden, and it was a Snipe, common enough on my patch but not in this location.

The only other birds noted were a Raven and a Jay, both in Gull Pool Woods and neither uncommon here!

Another cracking walk on my patch with sun to start and drizzle to finish. A flat day at first ending with nice highlights again.

The pools were our first port of call and were quiet with no wildfowl of note. A flock of 30 Lapwings flew over the Pine Belt towards the flooded field, but those fields too were quite.

A Buzzard caused a commotion as it flew low alongside Gull Pool Wood over the former Leek field. The first sign of any number of birds were c.20 Redwings feeding in Gull Pool Wood, many on a holly bush with berries. There was also a flock of 55 Linnets flying around over the former Leek field where the usual 2 Mistle Thrushes were feeding. The big highlight though was a very large loose feeding flock of passerines in Gull Pool Wood that seemed to stretch all along the north side of Gull Pool. The most abundant numbers were 30 Long-tailed Tits, 10 Blue Tits and 6 Great Tits, with even more noteworthy counts of 6 Goldcrests, 6 Treecreepers and 4 Nuthatches. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was away from the feeding flock but in the flock 2 male and 1 female woodpeckers (!!) were indulging in vigorous chasing behaviour, totally unexpected this far outside breeding season, but with the screwy weather due to climate change should we be surprised at breeding behaviour in the middle of winter?! This passerine flock made the walk well worth it and was suitable chill-time relief for my wife who was out birding with me for the first time since losing her mum and us both being at the funeral last Tuesday.

Back on patch this afternoon after a family funeral yesterday. Dry, cold, and calm.

On Big Pool 2 drake Shoveler were drifting along near the Willow spit, Teal were heard and around 8 Wigeon were seen, but no doubt there were more here. A group of 33 Greylag Geese were seen on the pool and then later in the fields nearby. A flock of 45 Lapwings wheeled around over the Pine Belt, watched distantly from the west end of Big Pool.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker was near Small Pool whilst a female woodpecker was by Big Pool Island Cut (*). A flock of 6 Redwings flew over Big Pool east meadows and alighted in the small woodland where they could be heard contact calling to each other. A nice feeding flock of 8 Siskins were in the alders by Big Pool Island Cut still.

The day after Storm Darragh, not too much damage at Newchurch, one big tree down on Shemmy Moss, otherwise just ivy covered branches, some a fair size though Mild clear and calm until late afternoon when the wind picked up again to a breeze!!

On Big Pool a drake Goosander and a female Pochard were new in, a total of 21 Wigeon were counted across the two pools. A group of 18 Pink-footed Geese dropped onto the harvested potato field east of the Pine Belt late morning. A Woodcock was on Shemmy Moss and 120 Lapwings were on a field behind Common Farm.

A male Sparrowhawk flashed across near Big Pool and a few Buzzards were seen. A Raven flew over near Lymm Vale. A late-winter high of 10 Stock Doves were in fields at Common Farm and 10 Collared Doves were also here.  Again at Common Farm winter thrushes fed in the fields and included estimates of 80 Redwings, 10 Fieldfares and 10 Blackbirds. A wintering Chiffchaff was in the hedges behind the Common Farm fields. Also at Common Farm were a Grey Wagtail and 4 Pied Wagtails, all around the muck heaps. Late afternoon 30 Linnets flew around on Shemmy Moss. Elsewhere 8 Long-tailed Tits and 4 Goldfinches fed in a loose flock south of Big Pool.

A misty morning, well foggy even, couldn't even see halfway across Big Pool!

There were 12 Wigeon and 1+ Teal (latter heard only) on Big Pool. In the harvested potato field a rough count gave 9 Greylag Geese and 32 Canada Geese. On Small Pool 3 Little Grebes still fed together in the weedy edges. A Grey Heron was on Beach Peg, Big Pool but flew off into the mist. There were 2 Kingfishers today one on Small Pool and one on Shemmy Moss.

Another morning visit in sunshine but bitterly cold, hoar frost on vegetation.

In the harvested potato field east of the Pine Belt 8 Pink-footed Geese had returned. On an unfrozen Big pool were good numbers of wildfowl including 34 Wigeon, 42 Gadwall, a drake Shoveler and Teal heard only. Also a high count of 6 Cormorants on the willow spit and still 2 Little Grebes on Small Pool. A Herring Gull was also on Small Pool, a scarcity down on the water rather than flying over. Just 6 Lapwings were in the field east of the Pine Belt.

A small group of 6 Redwings were near the parking area. A number of passerines were feeding at the south end of the Pine Belt, in close proximity but not in one flock, these included 2 Treecreepers, a male Bullfinch, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits and 6 Blue Tits. A Pied Wagtail was in the field east of the Pine Belt.

A morning visit, much milder and no snow, overcast, light drizzle at first.

Best wildfowl were 10 Pink-footed Geese on the harvested potato field east of the Pine Belt, with also12 Lapwings in here. The pools were quiet with more fishermen at weekends causing more disturbance. A group of 3 Little Grebes together on Small Pool was nice. Also on Small Pool a Kingfisher perched up.

Also in the field east of the Pine Belt were 2 Pied Wagtails. By Big Pool Island Cut a feeding flock of passerines contained 20 Long-tailed Tits, a Coal Tit, 4 Goldcrests, a Lesser Redpoll, 6 Siskins, a Goldfinch, 4 Blue Tits and 2 Great Tits.

A short morning visit after an absence due to a family bereavement. Weather was not great, thick mist but not freezing cold.

On Big Pool the highlight was a drake Pochard just visible through the murk. A total of 20 Gadwall was estimated on the two main pools. A Little Grebe was on Small Pool. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was down on Big Pool.

A total of 65 Redwings was made up of 60 in Gull Pool Wood and 5 by Big Pool. A loose winter feeding group moving through the scrub by Small Pool contained a Goldcrest, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tits and Blue Tits.

A return to have a more complete walk than yesterday, still very dull and murky with poor visibility still, one consolation was no wind and it was mild!

A cracking day on the pools with two really scarce species here dropping in briefly today. The first that I picked up were 3(1drake) Pintail, in west bay from the main spit. These were quite wary and kept close order together, and I discovered later it was my second sighting of Pintail this year here, for a species that is not always annual! The previous sighting was on January 16th and coincidentally was a drake with two females too. Moving round to 'Tony's Peg' I scanned the rest of Big Pool and was amazed to see 2 Shelducks on the far side.This was only my third sighting of Shelduck in nine years here so even rarer ducks than the Pintails. On returning later with digiscoping equipment only the Pintail remained and then they flew off as more fishermen appeared with bait boats off the spit where the Pintail favoured. Also seen on Big Pool were 12 Wigeon, with at least 16 Gadwall on the two main pools. As I arrived I heard geese and within the next 15mins two skeins totalling 200 Pink-footed Geese passed over heading south. one of 155 at 9.15am and one of 45 at 9.30am. There were 5 Cormorants still present and a more accurate count of 25 Lapwings due to them taking to the air as one flock.

A Stock Dove was noted in the field east of the Pine Belt and 6 Starlings flew over west of Big Pool.

The discovery of the ducks curtailed my walk again as I had to go back to my car to get digiscoping kit and then go round to various vantage points searching for the ducks after they had gone missing! Record shots of the Pintail were all that I managed!

Very quick nip onto patch to check Big Pool. The Black Tern was reported as present yesterday but I had really bad stomach cramps and had to stay in. Today however there was no sign at all. The Kingfisher showed really well on Big Pool twice and a flock of 4 Bullfinches flew over quite high, an unusual sight.

A  morning visit to Newchurch Common with dank overcast weather not looking great but ........ a fab day

The headline bird was a patch lifer a juvenile Black Tern on Big Pool found around 11.30am by fellow patcher Dave. It was a lifer for him and as a less experienced birder he didn't really have any idea what he had seen, only that it was not anything he'd encountered before. He phoned me and I hot-footed it to 'spit peg' with the news that he'd lost his mystery bird and hadn't seen it for a few minutes. I scanned and then pretty high in the sky picked up an obvious marsh tern. I checked features such as saddle and rump colour and wing pattern and knew that it was a juvenile Black Tern. I rang Dave to tell him and then joined him to enjoy watching a Patch Lifer for me and a Lifer for him. We moved around the pool but with no buoys or posts the bird was airborn all the time, mostly high up above the pool and seen to be catching flies, I had seen lots of caddisflies earlier so these may have been its quarry! I did the best I could with record phone pictures and then left to hopefully return with better photo equipment later but about 15mins after leaving Dave texted to say it had flown off high around 1.15pm. I did still return in the afternoon but there was no sign of it, the tern had moved through.

Other than the tern the bird news was pretty average with around 6 Gadwall on Small Pool and a Cormorant was on Big Pool. At least 100 Lapwings were in potato fields being harvested east of the Pine Belt along with over 160 Black-headed Gulls.

A nice winter feeding flock was found by Small Pool which included Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and best of all a female Siskin. Nearby a Great Spotted Woodpecker was in the bankside trees calling.

A brief walk on patch am, mild and overcast.

There was a join up today with all 9(3drk) Goosanders on Small Pool. On Big Pool a group of 6 Wigeon were seen. A new record count of 240 Greylag Geese on Big Pool, including a leucistic bird. The Greylags easily outnumbered the Canada Geese today.

A quiet morning on my patch again, sunny and warm!

A Grey Heron flew up from Lymm Vale.

At Common Farm 2 Collared Doves were in a dead tree and 2 Pied Wagtails on a barn roof. A Goldcrest was in the Pine Belt.

A morning walk on patch, mild and overcast with sunny intervals.

On Big Pool 3 Goosander included 2 eclipse drakes and a female. There were also 8 Wigeon in a distant flock and at least 8 Gadwall. A huge number of geese were on the pool and surprisingly these were made up of 140 Greylag Geese and 140 Canada Geese. This could be an all time high Greylag count.

There were 12 Redwings on rowans in Gull Pool Wood with 2 Nutchatches in the same area.

Cold and sunny, frost on the ground and all morning on Shemmy Moss.

Overhead a skein of 105 Pink-footed Geese flew west at 10.45am and 2 Cormorants flew through.

A constant backdrop was the sound of cronking and 2 Ravens eventually flew low over me circling each other and calling affirming their pair-bond.

A female Stonechat was a welcome sight out on Shemmy Moss and a Goldcrest was on the edge of the moss in pines.

Late News for YESTERDAY 4th October 2024 am:

On Big Pool a slight increase in wildfowl with 4(2drk) Wigeon, 2(1drk) Shoveler and 7(5drk) Gadwall as well as good numbers of Tufted Ducks.  Three skeins totalling 320 Pink-footed Geese flew over, all heading east and all over the mosslands area. Also over Shemmy Moss were 60 Canada Geese and a single Greylag Goose. I accidentally flushed 9 Snipe from Shemmy Moss in one group.

A total of 9 Jays were seen, most collecting acorns. A Raven cronked over Abbot's Moss with 2 Stock Doves over too.

A morning walk, sunny and warm when sheltered but a cold wind when not!

On Big Pool the headine birds were a pair of Wigeon, the first of this autumn/ winter.

There were 2 Sparrowhawks thermalling distantly over Abbot's Moss and a Buzzard flew through.

An absolutely cracking afternoon on Patch, sunny and still.

On the pools there were 3(1drk) Shoveler and 4(2drk) Gadwall on Big Pool. Also on Big Pool were 2(1ad, 1juv) Little Grebes and 4(2ad, 2juv) Great Crested Grebes. Amongst 24 Black-headed Gulls were 4 Common Gulls.

As I skirted the northern edge of Big Pool I checked the arable fields to the north as usual and that's where all the action was. First I spotted a male Stonechat on the telegraph wires. Previously this species had only been seen on the mosslands so this was a huge surprise. I quickly headed round the hedge to get better views and entered the field with permission previously granted by the farmers brother, otherwise it is strictly private. In here I discovered a female Greenfinch in a flock of 15 House Sparrows feeding in the brambles along the edge running from Newchurch Common to Daleford Lane. Greenfinch is a patch rarity so this was an excellent find. Also in this hedge was a Meadow Pipit, a patch scarcity! Even better was a patch first but lack of access means I had to keep this quiet until I can see if I can see it from a public footpath later. Watch this space!

A morning and afternoon visit today, fine and bright.

Just a few noteworthy sightings. First a female Teal was on Gull Pool and we unknowingly got within aroun5m of her and she never flushed just swam around in and out of the reeds at the edge of the pool in front of us. This could only signify that she had young there so we backed off in double quick time to leave her undisturbed. On Big Pool a count of 160 Canada Geese was a significant increase.

A flock of at least 6 Long-tailed Tits in Gull Pool Wood also contained a Chiffchaff.

On Shemmy Moss am, warm but overcast.

Just 2 young Blackcaps to report, but nice proof of breeding on this part of patch!

An afternoon walk on Newchurch Common, warm with sunny intervals.

There were 2 drake Gadwall on Big Pool plus 8 Mute Swans.

A Green Woodpecker called near the paddock by the entrance barrier on Novia Scotia Lane.

Shortish walks am and pm on Patch, all on Shemmy Moss today.

A Kestrel was in the dead tree which falcons favour and a Buzzard was overhead. There were 20 Stock Doves in a cut field in the Abbot's Moss Nurseries with Wood Pigeons and a single Feral Pigeon. Also on these fields were 2(m+f) Yellowhammers.

A sort afternoon walk on Shemmy Moss, fine and dry and warm.

On arrival an adult Hobby was feeding over Shemmy Moss, it then headed over to Gull Pool where it circled for a while before heading off east following the Whitegate Way.

Hot and sunny pm.

A surprise was 5(3drk) Gadwall on Big Pool. Also here were 7 Mute Swans and a Grey Heron again.