29th January a flock of Pink Footed Geese flying low over Haslingden about 12 night.....they appeared to be very low and heading North West-ish
A few trips made to Grane and Mitchells House but nothing of note seen.
15th February Grane
Holden Wood:- 3 Reed Bunting - male and female near Holden arms car park and 1 male singing around reservoir, 1 male Goldeneye, 3 Coot, 5 Oystercatcher on way back, 28 Lapwing, 6 Teal, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Wren, 1 Redwing heard but not seen, min 4 Blackbird, 2 Robin min, min 100 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 1 Herring Gull, min 10 Jackdaws, min 10 Starling, min 10 Cormorants, Bullfinch pair, min 2 Chaffinch, 1 Goldcrest singing, 1 Song Thrush
Ogden:- Stonechat pair, 1 Wren, Goldeneye pair,
Calf Hey:- Nuthatch, min 6 Chaffinch, min 2 Blackbird, min 10 Goldfinch, 2 Bullfinch,
Quarries:- min 2 Goldcrest singing, flock of Siskin heard but none seen, min 8 Stock Dove, 1 Green Woodpecker, 8 Black-headed Gull - immatures, 2 Wren, 1 male Crossbill in flight,
Had a walk around on 1st of February Brambling, Greenfinch, small numbers of Redwing, 4 Fieldfare, 1 possible Crossbill over Quarries
Have not been not-birding just a bit lazy to upload sightings.
Today around Grane and Quarries a migrant and scarcity fest.
5 total Great Black-backed Gulls
5 Great Crested Grebes - a pair each on Holden Wood and Ogden, a single on Calf Hey
The dizzy heights of 1 Coot at Holden Wood
2 Moorhen at Holden Wood
min 20 Lapwing
12 min Oystercatcher - a site record for me.
Curlew pair
9 Stonecats - 2 pairs at each end of Ogden, 2 around quarries and a single male singing in Deep Clough
7 Goldeneye at Quarries - unusual in ducks that females outnumbered the males - 2 of the latter
Pair Teal
min 16 Mallard spread around
Goosander pair - a 4 duck day at Grane....
First of the rarities was a calling Redshank at Ogden being disturbed by a fisherman.
With the rarity wheel turning fully....a pair of Greylag flew East..circling over Holden Wood....
At Jamestone Wheatears sadly did not show.
Search for Wheatear revealed another surprise though. A 3rd Greylag which flew off. Mass Greylag fest and a site record!!!
Feeders at Calf Hey - Siskin, Brambling present in small numbers alongside Chaffinch, Goldfinch, all the tits resident here, 3 Nuthatches
3 Mistle Thrush singing around Calf hey and Quarries
Greenfinch pair at Quarries and Bullfinch pair too.
3 Dunnock males around small car park near Holden Wood dam
a Green winged tagged Buzzard flew around ....been present for last 2 years?
Other birds seen Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Jay, Green Woodpecker, approx. 10 Herring Gull, min 8 Stock Doves, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Pied Wagtails, 2 Skylark min singing above Clough Head, Black-headed Gulls, a Jay, a Raven,
min 40 Woodpigeon moving West on 20/03/19 - high-ish. Were they migrants moving?
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 22nd of March 2019 09:48:25 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 23rd of March 2019 12:05:50 PM
Grey Partridge calling from the farm above Holden Wood Reservoir 28/04/2019
Great Crested Grebes nest building on 28/04/2019 ...water levels have dropped looks like that has stopped this week.
A Lapwing egg shell found out path around.....I would like to think a parent moved the empty shell away from the nest so the chick and any remaining eggs will not be found but reality is probably a Corvid plundering a nest!
Wheatears - 3 behind Jamestone's 29/03/2019 - my first of the year and first in March for a while!!
min 80 but probably in excess of 100 Pied Wagtails at Ewood Bridge Sewage Works on 31/03/2019. 1 Swallow or Martin seen but very distant and brief.
Number of trips around Grane over last week but nothing to report
7 Great Blacked Backed Gulls on 05/04/2019
0 sub-Saharan-summer migrants seen on 05/04/2019.
13 Cormorants on 05/04/2019
Linnet at least a pair at Jamestones on 05/04/2019 .....included a singing male
4 duck day on 05/04/2019 - Mallard, Goldeneye, Teal, Goosander
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 6th of April 2019 09:42:19 PM
April 14 - 5 Fieldfare at Snigholes
April 21 - 3 Common Sandpiper at Ashowrth Moor, 2 Wheatear, 12 Linnet
Visit to Grane 24/04/19
Highlights 1 Single Dunlin at Holden Wood
Grasshopper Warblers - 1 at Holden Wood and 1 at Calf hey
min 2 Common Sandpiper at Jamestone Quarry
1 Ringed Plover seen by Craggy
1 Blackcap - at Holden Wood
min 6 Curlew around
8 Wheatear
24/04/2019 - what was most likely an Osprey over Haslingden quite low - coming form Grane towards Rawtenstall - not seen clearly sadly
26/04/2019 - 2 Mediterranean Gulls at Holden Wood - picked up by call.
20 April - arrival of some of the Haslingden House Martins - a few pairs which are local nests appeared...
22 April - 1 beautiful Brimstone Butterfly at Holden Wood........wish I could get a photo of it.
28 April - 1 Wheatear in Lapwing fields of Holden Wood Res and 3 3 Great Black Backeds over Ogden - 2 adult and juv. Mallard with 13 ducklings seen.
3 May - Whitethroat back at Holden Wood Res car park , a Dunlin also back at Holden Wood....possibly 3 Grasshopper Warblers above Holden Wood...2 definitely seen Common Sandpiper returned - min 4 around the res's but late this year?
5 May - 1 Wheatear around dam wall of Holden Wood. Family part of Robins in Holden Wood Res Car park. 2 Swifts over Ogden dam wall.
5 May - 13 Stone Hill visit with Craggy hoping for Dotterel but no luck .....Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Curlew, Lapwing in small numbers.
8-10 May . Regular visits to Holden Wood this week. Last 3 days hoped for Black Tern but another void here. Although a Yellow Wagtail has been present since Wednesday - seen today and Wednesday and possibly heard Thursday. Mallard with 13 ducklings still going strong. On the 9th 100 plus Hirundines over Ogden - mainly Swallows and Sand Martins
Lapwings are not doing very well in traditional field. No Ring Ouzel seen this season and no sign of any Whinchat yet. Oystercatchers keep mating.
Stopped at Ashworth Moor Res yesterday and saw the 14 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, 2 Ringed Plover and a Sanderling found by Rob Archer earlier. Possible Yellow Wagtail there too.
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 10th of May 2019 05:48:27 PM
Forgot to add that I visited Mitchells House on Friday and of course no Terns of any sort sadly.
About 40 Starlings travelling between Holden Wood area and Helmshore - feeding flights looks like a good season for them A flock of approx. 50 seen Monday 13th but could not tell if any were young.
3rd May - forgot to add Tufted Duck pair at Calf hey - very productive day that for arrivals
13 May - 2 male Whitethroats singing in scrub near car park.
14 May -
Holden Wood:-
10-15 Lapwing with possible young in sedge type grass. 2 more egg shells found on path. Crow probably culprit. Crows hunting amphibians around bank. minimum of 4 Common Sandpiper. no Dunlin so must have dropped in after. approx. 10-15 adult Mallard mainly drakes. Female with now 12 ducklings getting bigger. Immature Great black Backed Gull.
Calf Hey:-
lots of Willow Warbler 1 Blackcap 1 Cuckoo - sounds like same bird since 2017 - distinct sore throaty call. 10-15 Mallard here min 2 Common Sandpiper.
Butterfly wise about 10 Orange Tips min at Holden Wood and minimum of 30 at Calf hey - mostly males. Some trying to feed on bluebells at the latter site.
2 Speckled Wood at Calf Hey
Smaller number of Green veined Whites at either sites than Orange Tips.
Small numbers of Peacock and Tortoiseshells.
-- Edited by sarfraz on Wednesday 15th of May 2019 12:25:14 PM
Sunday 12 May - Garden Warbler at Strongstry - quite a few Redpoll too.
Monday 13 May - first screaming Swifts over Haslingden - they have been back a few days but this was the date of the first scream I had heard.
Thursday 16 May
3 Canada Geese families - each with 13, 6 , 4 young
Mallard with 12 young
Blackcap singing at top end
2 Dunlin
1 chipping Snipe
Good butterfly day - small numbers of Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood - 1, Red Admiral - 1, Small Copper - 1, Wall - 2
Friday 17 May
120 plus adult Starlings feeding and flying off towards Helmshore from around Holden Wood - no double counts
Dunlin heard
Wader not seen but over Holden Wood ..sounded like the start of a Redshank repeated ..similar to a Greenshank but less emphatic...
3 Curlew over
1 Emperor Dragonfly....
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 17th of May 2019 05:02:00 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 17th of May 2019 05:12:44 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 17th of May 2019 05:14:31 PM
Wednesday 22 May- Cuckoo calling heard from house at 4.10am - 4.25pm - coming from hill side above - never heard one here before and never heard it again. Nice house tick. Not the bird heard at Musbury/Grane
Did my BBS Square at Stonefold on 24 May- windy and colder but here is the results :-
In village min 20 House Sparrows, min 20 Starlings and a fledged Blackbird and parents feeding recently fledged. Good parents!!
Daily visits made to Holden Woodalmost but nothing of note except:-
1 female Mallard with 4 young ducklings
female Mallard with 11 going strong
Canada Geese pair with 21 young - 2 different sizes I assume parents have dumped goslings on this pair. A pair with 4 new Goslings.
Family of Long Tailed Tits
3 Dunlin last week - site record for me
Lapwings - no young seen and usual field deserted.
Grasshopper Warbler reeling last few days just above res, below farm - in late afternoon and late morning.
3 singing Reed Buntings, a few Linnet around Holden Wood.
Swallow and Martin numbers lower than usual - not a whole lot around on most days. Some have been picking mud from the reservoir shoreline. Usually less than 15 Swallows and a few Sand Martins. Around 10 Swifts usually over the reservoir. Orange Tip butterflies have all but disappeared. Usually 5 Wall brown around.
Around Haslingden today about 20 Swifts and 10 House Martins ..some House Martin sites occupied but over the last few days seeing more Swifts than House Martins above town.
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 1st of June 2019 11:01:10 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 1st of June 2019 11:05:51 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 1st of June 2019 11:07:56 PM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 1st of June 2019 11:13:55 PM
Song Thrush seen and heard at St Peters Playing fields in Haslingden, also back of my house, at least 2 in Victoria Park over the last few days.
Thursday 27 June at Calf Hey- no real bird news as such but 2 Painted Lady butterflies and 3 Red Admirals. Painted Lady is a species oddly enough I have never seen in the UK but on this date I saw 3 in Preston and 2 at Calf Hey today
Friday 28 June at Grane
Mallard - min 6 around adults around
Tufted Duck - 1 drake on Jamestone's Quarry which was also there on the 21st. I guess female has nested here.
Cormorants 4 - usual number of what I see during the day - bailiff says 6 roost here at night
Kestrels 5 - - 1 at Holden Wood and family of 4 around Jamestone's Quarries
Buzzards - 2 at Ogden
Oystercatcher - min 4
Common Sandpiper - min 7 - pair at Holden Wood possibly nesting near the willow not far from bench that looks over the reservoir and 5 at Jamestone's
Lapwing - 6 - 1-2 possibly have nests in Lapwing field at Holden Wood
Curlew - pair above Clough head must have left, none seen or heard today
Black-headed Gulls - min 10
Great Black-Backed Gulls - 2 at Ogden
Woodpigeons - min 10
Stock Dove - min 4 pairs at Jamestones
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 seen at Jamestone's
Skylarks - 2 above Clough Head
Swallows - min 20
Sand Martins - 15 holes counted by Andy Young last week
Swifts - min 6
Meadow Pipits - min 10
Pied Wagtails - min 2
Robin - min 4 around
Wheatear - 0..again!!!
Song Thrush -5 - 3 singing birds around Calf Hey and 2 at Holden Wood
Willow Warbler - min 10 around
Grasshopper Warbler 2 - 1 at Holden Wood and 1 at Calf Hey - latter showing well.
Tit species very quiet and none seen
Magpies min 10 - fledged birds at Holden Wood and Quarries
Jay - min 1 at Quarries
Carrion Crows - min 20 - family party of about 4-5 at Holden Wood, 4-5 at Calf Hey
Jackdaws - min 6
Starlings - 0 - again not seen any
Chaffinches - min 6
Goldfinch - min 4
Linnets - 6 - 3 pairs around Quarries with 2 singing males
1 Siskin at Heap Clough
Reed Buntings - min 4 around
Wren 3
Dunnock 1 - at Holden Wood Res
Other wildlife news:-
Small Tortoiseshells -2 - 1 at 1olden Wood and 1 at Quarries
Painted Lady - 4 - 3 at Quarries and 1 at Holden Wood
Red Admiral - 5 - scattered around
Small Heath - 8 scattered around
No White butterflies seen
1 Small Copper
1 Cinnabar Moth at Holden Wood and 1 had entered my house on the 26th of June
4 female Broad-bodied Chasers at ditch in Deep Clough - photos will be attached so if the identification is wrong do tell.
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 29th of June 2019 12:32:27 AM
-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 29th of June 2019 12:43:27 AM
