quiet a few Gulls going over ..maybe about 200.....more Herring Gulls this time......also 5 Great Black Backed Gulls....some Herring and Great Blacks coming down onto the water many soaring over Ogden and landing there
2 teal singles - male and female in different areas
2 Moorhens
3 Coot
5 Great crested Grebe
min 20 Lapwing
1 Curlew
2 Oystercatcher
min 10 Meadow Pipits
3 Wrens
1 song thrush on song near dam wall
1 Grey Wagtail
2-3 Pied wagtail
min 30 Starling
Min 10 woodpigeon
1 Woodcock on the old tram track - had one here same time roughly, last year. Must drop into roost here on passage.
Musden Head Moor
min 30 Goldfinch in Musbury
min 50 Meadow Pipits mostly in grups of 6 - 10 moving north-ish
2-3 Skylark in song
1 Lapwing
On way back 1 Snipe disturbed near rusty fence - first I have seen around the res for a while.
Drake Tufted Duck appeared on res
min 20 Jackdaws in field alongside lane to the dam wall
1 grey wagtail singing at dam wall
3 swallows
1 house martin - must be the earliest I have had by weeks
4 reed bunting
no goldeneye
Ogden:-
1 linnet
stonechat pair
Calf Hey
1 Marsh Harrier - flew right over me on middle path - great addition to Grane list for me!
2 jay and 1 sparrowhawk on path just before car park when I was with Craggy
1 curlew
Troy quarry
1 little grebe
Canada goose on tower island in middle
1 great black backed gull over
3 buzzard
1 linnet
1 female wheatear
1 mistle thrush
Nice to know it was a Marsh Harrier most likely the same bird I saw over Newcherch Village before I met up with you at Calf Hey, then later when I left you at Troy I saw it again down Irwell Vale
3 female goldeneye and 1 male grebe pair displaying Grey wagtail pair 1 female sparrowhawk 1 buzzard I walked to top side of woods 2-3 siskin 2-3 greenfinch 5 willow warbler in song About 4 Goldcrest in song song thrush at top end Mistle thrush in song Flock of minimum 6 sand martins hunting over moor and woods
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 23rd of April 2016 04:35:50 PM
min 10 Sand Martins feeding low over the reservoir 1 common sandpiper 0 Grebes - they have all gone or were hidden very well 3 small ducks flew up and settled further away - most likely Teal.
2 wheatear - male and female in the Lapwing fields - last time I had multiple sightings of Wheatear here was in Spring 2013
no real changes elsewhere.
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 29th of April 2016 05:29:45 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 29th of April 2016 05:30:22 PM
Mallard with 8 ducklings at HWR
The Mallard with 1 duckling from a week ago is still here but little one is now much bigger more or less Teal sized?
2 fem Wheatears - one at Musbury and one at Musden Height - both migrants
2 Curlew both in Musbury
1 Lapwing seen over Musden Head moor
2 Stonechat males in Musbury.....could be a 3rd bird in the horse shoe bit - so possibly 3 pairs in Musbury?
2 Chiffchaff - one in car park at Calf hey and one in the woods
pair of Great Crested Grebes 4-5 Coot 15 Mallard 1 female still with 1 young which is at least half her size and one with 7 small young still pair of Stonechat near rusty fence, male singing from wire
Ogden:-
2 common sandpiper 1 great crested grebe 3 grey wagtails.....1 pair and a singing male at holden wood end 4 pied wagtails
Calf hey
stonechat pair on slope of calf hey - 1 pair at holden wood, 1 calf hey and at least 2 in musbury this week 1 pair grey wagtail 6-7 Mallard 1 female Mallard with 5 young
singing song thrush, chaffinch, wren (which seem to be down), min 6 willow warbler one chiffchaff
1 great spotted woodpecker and 2 green woodpecker yaffling 1 oystercatcher
on the tops - still a stench of burning....large area burnt, many birds lost nests but many now feeding in burnt areas .. 4 curlew 1 kestrel hunting no skylark and meadow pipit singing on tops today
-- Edited by sarfraz on Sunday 15th of May 2016 11:01:01 PM
Mallard with 9 young - Mallard manage hatch eggs but Coots so far has not? Mallard with 7 young still got 7.......must have been from last week 2 young of Lapwing visible ..hope the other 2 were just hiding
Ogden:-
pair of Stonechat near ruins between Calf Hey and Holden Wood Res
Calf Hey:-
2 pairs of Stonechat - 1 pair with 3-4 fledged young and 1 without. so 6 territories? 4 Oystercatcher Mallard with 5 young still
1 Blackcap and 1 Chaffchiff singing in the woods,
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 20th of May 2016 10:23:57 PM
The 4 Lapwing chicks might have fledged - not even the adults were seen in their little portion of the field. There were 2 more large Lapwing chicks in the distance. How birds get young off from this field I have not a clue but well done to them.
At the gate to Ogden reservoir on Grane Road I thought I saw a female European Redstart briefly. It was around the big tree and the back of Duke of Wellington. I did not get a very good look but thought I saw a flicker of red tail on Wednesday morning.
20 - 6 - 16 - highlight at Calf Hey was a singing Tree Pipit
Holden Wood 22 - 6 -16 at 5.30pm - family party of 7 blue tits at top end
lapwing screaming at me........had young hidden somewhere
2 terns passed over.....1 common term adult and the other one is possibly a juvenile or tail closed ..heading west up Grane but not at Calf Hey later
Redshank called twice but not seen.
Calf Hey 22-6-16 - no terns
1 great crested grebe, 4-5 mallard still In breeding plumage mating with a female on the reservoir making a lot of noise and people looked a bit worried lol
no sign of tree pipit
3 song thrush singing
nuthatch
stonechat in felled plantation
4 fledged stonechat in felled plantation just after conifers as you walk down
green and great spotted woodpecker
1 greenfinch
1 great crested grebe
no coot seen
1 moorhen heard
a few mallard no young seen at all
approx. 70 b h gulls moving west.......1/3 were this years young
1 lesser black backed gull on the water , many passed over
meadow pipit still displaying
flock of long tailed tits in bushes heard none seen
a few lapwings and mallards
1 blackcap singing near dam wall
