Birding Group Visit to Staley Brushes 7th May 2013

Birding Group Visit to Staley Brushes 7th May 2013

This was our first visit to Staley Brushes with the birding group; previously we have either been on holiday or it has been raining so the venue was changed at the last minute. We had no such problem today as it was a lovely sunny and warm day – perfect for a walk up on to the moors. We had hoped for a range of birds but, we suspect due to the late Spring we have had, it seems that the birds are still displaying and not feeding nestlings. One of the species we hoped to see was Cuckoo which has been seen here before, presumably laying their eggs in the nests of the many Meadow Pipits we did see.

We parked up at the end of the first reservoir just where the road goes downhill to a farm and another road goes up over the moors. We then walked the path up to the edge of HigherSwineshaw Reservoir. As we walked up we could hear Chaffinches and Wilow Warblers and as we stopped at the reservoir we could see a Meadow Pipit and a Wheatear on the pasture on the right hand side. On the reservoir itself there was a single Black-headed Gull and a few Canada Geese but there were also, more interestingly, three lovely Common Sandpipers that gave us good views. in truth the birds were mainly Meadow Pipits and Wheatears and these were everywhere. We walked to the edge of the reservoir and then took the left hand path up across the moors. We heard a Curlew in the distance but did not see it until we werewalking back downhill and then we saw it flying low over the water and landing on a grassy bank among the Canada Geese. As we came back down we also saw three large black birds which two of our more expert group were convinced (from their sound) that they were Ravens – our first for the year !.

Bird Sightings : Staley Brushes

How we got there

• Head south on Chequers Rd toward Beech Rd   312 ft
• Turn left onto Beech Rd               0.2 mi
• Turn right onto Barlow Moor Rd/A5145                 1.2 mi
• Turn right onto A5103   0.6 mi
• Merge onto M60 via the ramp to Stockport/Sheffield/Leeds/M62/M67/Ring Rd (E & N)                10.8 mi
• At junction 23, take the A6140 exit to Ashton-u-Lyne     0.2 mi
• Turn left onto A6140      0.1 mi
• Take the 1st right onto Manchester Rd/A635     Continue to follow A635               Go through 1 roundabout 1.5 mi
• Slight left onto Scotland St/A670              463 ft
• Take the 1st right to stay on Scotland St/A670    262 ft
• Slight left onto Park Parade/A635            Continue to follow A635 1.2 mi
• Slight right onto Stamford St/A6018        Continue to follow A6018             0.4 mi
• Turn left onto Huddersfield Rd/B6175    0.7 mi
• Turn right onto Brushes Rd          0.8 mi
• Turn right to stay on Brushes Rd                0.4 mi
• Unknown road

View Larger Map

Staley Brushes Walking Route