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.

A brief morning on patch, warmish and overcast.

A Swift flew very low over the north side of Big Pool. A Blue Tit with 4 young was also north of Big Pool.

A morning walk to dodge the showers at first but then sunny later!

The 6(2ad) Mute Swan family was still complete.  In the Lymm Vale fields a total of 29 Canada Geese included 5 adults and a creche of 24 well-grown young. A Little Grebe was on Gull Pool, it's breeding location. A Grey Heron was stood in the middle of the field next to Lymm Vale. There were 4 Sand Martins over Big Pool and a total of 3 Swifts were seen today, 2 high over Big Pool and 1 over Shemmy Moss.

A Blue Tit was feeding 2 young by Big Pool. A Treecreeper flew along the edge of Gull Pool Wood viewed from the Whitegate Way.

A morning walk, hot & sunny.

A surprise today with 8(4ad) Mute Swans on the pools! There were the usual 2ad+4y on Small Pool and an adult pair on Big Pool. There were 8 (2ad,6y) Moorhens on a pool on Shemmy Moss. An Oystercatcher flew over Shemmy Moss.

A Kestrel was hunting on Shemmy Moss. A male Blackcap was seen carrying food back to the nest west of Small Pool.

On patch am and pm, hot and sunny but a nice breeze at times.

Good news is that there are still 6(2ad, 4y) Mute Swans. A Cormorant flew over Big Pool. There were 2 Sand Martins passing through but still not had a Swift on patch this year!

A recently fledged Great Tit was near Big Pool and a Robin was carrying food back to the nest.

Another morning in the intense heat, blazing sun and no shade!!

A Grey Heron was seen around Big Pool.

On the main track west past the two pools a juvenile Pied Wagtail and a juvenile Dunnock were feeding.

Morning and afternoon and all there was birdwise to show for it was an Oystercatcher flying over Big Pool!

A shortish visit am, warm but very little sunshine.

The Mute Swans still number 6, 2 adults and 4 cygnets!

The best sighting was 2 Common Sandpipers flitting over Big Pool near what is known as Secret Peg.

WeBS Count Day. Morning on patch and was lucky as it stayed dry & bright and quite warm.

A much lower count, the lowest this year by far. There were still 25(19drk) Tufted Ducks on the pools plus 8(7drk) Mallards. No other duck species were seen. There were 21 Canada Geese and a single Greylag Goose. The 2ad Mute Swans still had their 4 cygnets. The highest count of any species was 33 Coot, including 5 occupied nests and 3 chicks. Also 2 Moorhens were seen. A good total of 9 Great Crested Grebes was seen, and in addition there was 1 well-grown chick. Just 4 Black-headed Gulls and a flyover Lesser Black-backed Gull were recorded.

Just 107 birds of 11 species were seen.

Morning on patch, rain & sun!!

There were 7(2ad) Mute Swans on Small Pool. So they have now lost a third cygnet, this isn't going well. I presume that since I last saw them they have done a track crossing to lose the cynet.

A morning on patch, overcast but warm.

A drake Teal was on a pool on Shemmy Moss where Teal breed. A Water Rail was calling on Shemmy Moss.A Cormorant flew over Shemmy Moss towards Nunsmere. The highlight today was Patch Bird #100 for 2026 in the shape of a 2w Med Gull with around 25 Black-headed Gulls on recently ploughed fields just S.of the Whitegate Way, S.of Small Pool, adjacent to Lymm Vale.

A female Kestrel was hunting Shemmy Moss. A pair of Stock Doves flew over the mosslands. Post-breeding flocks of 32(26ad) Starlings were around the same fields as the gulls, as well as a lone Pied Wagtail. On the small bog called Cranberry Moss by Shemmy Moss a pair of Blue Tits were watched visiting a nest in a dead tree stump.

A morning on patch, sunnier and warmer than expected!!

Just 2ad + 7y Mute Swans today, on Small Pool, so they have lost a cygnet already!! A pair of Oystercatchers were in the Abbotsmoss Nursery fields and one was 'excavating' a scrape and sitting down, looking like a possible nest site!

Over the mosses once the heat increased were 3 Hobbys, a Kestrel and 3 Buzzards.

On the patch pm today, sunny intervals and hot again.

A pair of Hobby were watched over Shemmy Moss catching St.Mark's Flies and eating them on the wing. The way they interacted made me sure that it was a male and female pair involved.

Am and pm on Newchurch Patch, sunny and hot all day!

There were 2 broods of Canada Geese, the first this year. A group of 2ads + 5y Canada Geese were on Big Pool and 2 ads + 3y Canada Geese were on Shemmy Moss. An Oystercatcher flew over the north arm of the Pine Belt calling.

A Hobby was over Shemmy Moss at 3pm but departed soon after.

A late morning and early afternoon on patch, very sunny but a cool breeze taking the edge off the heat!

A pair of Mallards on Shemmy Moss had 1 well-grown duckling, no doubt the female that had had 5 ducklings earlier this month.

The male Cuckoo was calling and then showed extremely well on Shemmy Moss. A male Reed Bunting was also on the moss. Amazingly there were 15 Garden Warblers on the mosses and 6 Garden Warblers on Newchurch Common, all singing and at least 3 showing extremely well. A Blackbird Egg was in Big Pool east meadows looking like it had been carried there and eaten by a predator.

Very short afternoon on patch. Sunny and hot.

A stunning Red Kite floated in as a distant dot at first off to the SE, and then passed over Big Pool ENE at 1.55pm. Earlier fellow patcher Dave had a female Marsh Harrier over Shemmy Moss. Two Garden Warblers showed fabulously well on Big Pool east meadows today.

Another afternoon on patch. warm sunshine but cooler in the breeze at times.

The best and only significant sighting was 2(1drk) Mandarins (a pair!) showing very well, albeit briefly on Gull Pool.

A Song Thrush eggshell in Big Pool east meadows looked like a normally hatched one rather than a predated egg.

Another cracking day on patch, sunny & warm, just morning starting on Shemmy and covering q.a lot of patch.

A pair of Greylag Geese were flying around over their breeding area of Shemmy Moss. A lone Cormorant was on Nunsmere.

The first Cuckoo of the year was calling from north of Shemmy Moss, a male, great to hear one again. Also the first 2 Whitethroats were singing at two traditional spots on Shemmy Moss, one showing very well. A Mistle Thrush was the only bird in the newly ploughed ex-leek field. There were 4 Linnets, 2 pairs, on Shemmy Moss.

On patch am and pm but quiet for birds. Sunny intervals and warm.

The big surprise was a female Goldeneye on Big Pool, the last record being April 1st. She is probably a new passage bird rather than one of the previous group. A Mallard's nest with 7 eggs was by Gull Pool. A Cormorant flew over Shemmy Moss towards Nunsmere.

There were 2(1m) Yellowhammers, a pair together, were in the field north of Big Pool north meadow.