Middlewich to Billinge along T&M Canal,

Singing/calling Warblers:

Chiffchaff 20

Blackcap 5

Willow Warbler 4

Reed Warbler 5

Sedge Warbler 1

Cetti's Warbler 2

Other birds including:

Wheatear 1 (patch tick).

Mistle Thrush

Fieldfare, 1 late spring bird.

Lapwing, several displaying.

Grey Wagtail

Swallow

House Martin

Kestrel

Goldcrest

2 Mallard broods

3 sitting Canada Goose nests.

 

Bittern in residence at Big Billinge Lake, Whatcroft since 06/12.

On the way home from the pub this evening we heard a Redshank calling as it flew along the River Weaver just south of our village, Moulton, Northwich.

Canal walk Middlewich to Billinge at 06:00 AM:

A pair of Shoveler were flushed from the Canal by Croxton Flash. Also on my last walk (not posted) there were 3 new broods of Mallards, which have again disappeared and likely due to further Mink predation. Also no sign of the Great Crested Grebes with 3 young on Whatcroft Wides. Hopefully they were hiding in the reeds and not also fallen foul of the local Mink?

Warbler counts this morning included:

Reed Warbler 17

Sedge Warbler 9

Willow Warbler 2

Lesser Whitethroat 2

Common Whitethroat 3

Cetti's Warbler 4

Early morning canal walk, Middlewich to Billinge, with highlights being:

3 Great Crested Grebes, inc pair with 4 young on Whatcroft Wides.

20+ Reed Warblers

4 Sedge Warblers

4 Cetti's Warbler

7 Willow Warblers singing

3 Lesser Whitethroats (2 singing)

1 Common Whitethroat

1 Kingfisher

2 Bullfinch

 

Same walk as last time, with highlights being:

89 Fieldfares counted, feeding in the fields between Croxton Flash and Brambles Cutting. The actual number could have been well over 100 birds!

First Reed Warbler of the spring on Croxton Flash.

3 Calling Cettis Warblers and 2 Willow Warblers.

The Mallard brood is now down from 7 to 2 ducklings, probably due to the local Mink.

Two and a quarter hours from 8am, farmland areas north east of Barnton, following the lanes to the north of Comberbach, then in to Comberbatch and back via Marbury Road. Sunny and clear, 10-13*c, light winds.

The first returning Yellowhammer was back on territory, north of Claycroft Farm and a total of seven Skylark were seen in the adjacent fields. Best of the rest included Linnet, Reed Bunting, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in Kennel Wood, three Buzzard, Long-tailed Tit, six Chiffchaff and a flock of up to twenty Redwing. 37 species seen, which is a good total for this patch.

A late report for Weds 15th Sept:

A fem/imm Wheatear was in the bottom paddock at my wife's horse fields late afternoon. This is at Foxwist Green not far from my Newchurch Common patch but outside the patch boundaries and not visible from my patch!!

 

I could have posted this report under either Northwich or Frodsham, as it was a 12 mile circular walk between the two. Parked at Acton Bridge and walked down Cliff Lane heading towards the River Weaver, where 2 singing Lesser Whitethroats were heard. On reaching Cliff Brook we cut through the small caravan park and then headed along the River Weaver in the direction of Frodsham. Plenty of common birds were encounterd with the pick being Green Woodpecker, Cettis Warbler, Garden Warbler and my first Common Swifts of the spring. In addition a passage male Common Redstart was also calling from a hedgerow and briefly showed well.

 

-- Edited by Neil Blood on Saturday 1st of May 2021 08:02:57 PM

Usual route and usual birds encountered. One year list addition, which was Yellow Wagtail and 6 Lapwings now sitting in adjacent fields off Manor Lane. Also Swallow and House Martin numbers up, including 20+ Swallows over Shipbrook Flash. 

Usual route with a 06:00 AM start from the Middlewich end of the Canal.

As expected more warblers coming in now, with counts of 4 Sedge and 10 Reed Warblers between Croxton Flash and Whatcroft Wides. Also 2 Cetti's, 3 Willow Warblers, 1 Common Whitethroat and my first singing Lesser Whitethroat of the spring.

6 Bullfinch and 6 Reed Buntings also encountered.

At 3 of the 4 Great Crested Grebe sites, only single birds now on show, which suggests birds now sitting on eggs.

This morning's 5 mile canal walk from Middlewich to Billinge:

The Willow Warblers have finally arrived, I heard one from my driveway yesterday afternoon and 3 were heard singing on the walk this morning. Also 31 Singing/calling Chiffchaffs and 8 Blackcaps. 4 or possibly 5 Cetti's Warblers singing. 30+ Sand Martins at Whatcroft Wides, along with a few Swallows and a single House Martin.

Still 8 Great Crested Grebes (4 pairs) in residence along the canal and local fishing lakes, 2 Teal, 1 Shelduck, 3 Mallard broods and 9 Lapwings around Manor Lane. Also 2 flyover calling Oystercatchers.

 

-- Edited by Neil Blood on Friday 16th of April 2021 10:11:13 AM

Had a Red Kite yesterday afternoon whilst checking the farmland areas, north east of Barnton. The bird was just north of Manor Farm (about 200 yards outside our Marbury Patch recording area) in Anderton, heading east towards Comberbatch. Quite scarce in these parts, we only see a couple each year and they are always fly bys.

Also around were a single Swallow, three Sand Martin moving through north, four Lapwing and two Linnet. A pair of Grey Partridge were seen a few days ago by a Barnton birder but they are certainly hard to pin down.

Same walk as last time, also taking in Shipbrook Flash.

8 G C Grebes (4 pairs).

20 Tufted Duck

2 Teal

Singing Water Rail, (Whatcroft Wides).

1 Kingfisher

2 Singing Skylarks 

21 Singing Chiffchaffs

4 Singing Blackcap

2 Singing Cettis Warbler (poss new territory on Billinge, meaning 4 territories on the local patch?)

-- Edited by Neil Blood on Sunday 28th of March 2021 06:34:37 PM

Out for an hour and a half this morning in the farmland area north east of Barnton. Cool, dull and fine, 9*c. Highlights being :-

Yellowhammer (1)
Skylark (4)
Linnet (35)
Chiffchaff (1)
Buzzard (1)
Fieldfare (80)
Redwing (1)
Mistle Thrush (2)
Nuthatch (1)

The Linnet were in the paddocks behind Manor Farm whilst the Fieldfare were in two flocks, heading through northwards.

Samglennie wrote:

---

Just wondering if anyone has seen the recent White stork that has been flying over lancashire and cheshire. It was last reported in a field opposite the blue cap pub in sandiway.

---

 The sighting was for 1pm on Wednesday 3rd March. An observer took photos but news was late coming out. Several independant observers, including myself, were on site first thing on Thursday morning but no sign at all. I was on my way to my local patch nearby and so checked all accessible fields but still nothing! With its wandering tendancies the most likely scenario is that it is no longer in the area.

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Friday 5th of March 2021 02:50:35 PM

Did a five and a quarter mile walk yesterday in farmland areas north east of Barnton, on to the outskirts of Antrobus before then heading to Comberbach. I carried on to Anderton where I had parked. Nothing too exciting, of note :-

Stock Dove (1)
Oystercatcher (1)
Buzzard (3)
Tawny Owl (1)
Jay (1)
Mistle Thrush (1)
Pied Wagtail (3)
Yellowhammer (1)

The Tawny Owl was calling from trees by Senna Green Farm. Only one Yellowhammer but they are just returning to territory. No Skylark yet. Slowly building up the species list for this area which is essentially an expansion of the area I check for Yellowhammer. Up to 47 and the potential for a few more yet.

Had a walk in a totally new area for me, knowing that a patch regular was going to be on there meant that I had local knowledge for the walk

This was the area around Lostock Green by the A556 Northwich bypass just a couple of miles from my house, but somewhere that I had never walked before. Mainly farmland it was criss-crossed by access tracks for local industry as well as farms, so not totally rural! Also birch and pine woodland areas and flooded fields and old settling lagoons. I was told it was interesting without ever producing 'headline' birds that would attract outside birders to visit/twitch the area.

The highlinghts of the walk were as follows, I'm not sure where I was as we followed roads back and forth and doubled back several times so I can't give locations!! A single Green Sandpiper was on an old lagoon, always a nice bird to see. At least 8 Tree Sparrows were seen, scattered across the area, again a great bird to add to the day list. Another farmland passerine that seemed abundant was Yellowhammer with at least 8 of these seen too. A male and female Stonechat were seen about halfway round our circuit, I was told that they are pretty regular here, but not on my own patch so  another nice record for the daylist. Several Goldfinches were also on the farm tracks. Continuing the farmland birds theme we had 5 Skylarks across the area and 180 Linnets in a massive mobile flock, spectacular indeed. Another highlight was 8 Ravens, all in the one area, interacting with acrobatic flying and cronking just above our heads. A single Redwing and 1 Song Thrush were seen and a lone Cormorant flew over. A Goldcrest was in the woodlands close to where we watched the Ravens, a real little & large experience! A few Long-tailed Tits and Coal Tits were also noted. A Kestrel and 3 Buzzards represented birds of prey for the day, I was hoping that a Peregine from the nearby TATA works would make a visit but sadly not today.

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 25th of February 2021 07:59:21 PM

Seen as I was travelling back to Northwich along the A559 just south of the M6 j.19 opposite the A5033 Knutsford turn - 3 adult Whooper Swans flying west at midday.

Well done Neil for all your recent efforts. I do hope the person(s) involved in the bank side destruction get their just deserves. It doesn't make sense to me as you can't farm it with large machinery used nowadays right to the waters edge and you can't burn willow anyway as it burns terribly. Just vandalism of the environment for no apparent gain in my eyes.

Tonights walk along the T&M Canal, from Billinge to Middlewich.

Star bird was a Spotted Flycatcher, which I would have missed, but for the fact it was calling. Given the timing and the fact that its second one Ive seen recently, then hopefully this means they are breeding along here?

Great Crested Grebe incubating on Billinge big lake, plus pair with 2 well grown young on Whatcroft Wides. Various warblers singing including Cettis, Willow and Lesser Whitethroat. Also 15 singing Reed Buntings along the canal and 2 calling Water Rails on Croxton Flash.

The Mute Swan pair have finally abandoned the eggs, which they have been incubating since early April!

-- Edited by Neil Blood on Monday 15th of June 2020 07:50:26 PM

At midday an oystercatcher flew overhead Davenham village centre.

Usual warblers along the canal from Middlewich, although much quieter singing wise.

Re the Lapwings on Manor Lane, another different picture tonight. 1 pair guarding 2 well grown young and 3 birds sitting on nests. Yellowhammer again singing nearby. Also one field held 32 Stock Doves and 2 Drake Mandarin.

-- Edited by Neil Blood on Wednesday 13th of May 2020 10:02:18 PM

I know that I shouldn't have tempted fate, with my reply to Mark earlier, as on tonight's walk, I found a very showy Spotted Flycatcher between Croxton Flash and Bramble Cuttings on the Canal. The pair of G C Grebes on Croxton Flash, now appear to be nest building again?

Regarding the Lapwings on Manor Lane, there now only appears to be two birds sitting in the now planted field? Its amazing in that a Rook drifts low over the field and they are not interested; however as soon as a Carrion Crow does the same, they are on it in a flash! A male Yellowhammer was also singing along the same lane.

Elsewhere it was very quiet apart from a few Swift and Sand Martins over Shipbrook Flash, along with a new brood of Mute Swans. On the River Dane below Shipbrook Bridge, there were 2 Mallard broods and a Canada Goose brood.