Oct 16 2012
It seems that every time that the birding group schedules Wigan Flashes the weather conspires to be so bad that it is changed to Pennington Flash at the last minute, primarily because at least there is shelter there. This time was no exception. The weather wasn’t any better there but at least there was cover on what was a cold blustery and rainy day without much going for it except that it blew the cobwebs out of our heads.
Oct 10 2012
After our rather disappointing visit to Sandbach Flashes we decided, after a spot of lunch at the Bells of Peover, to drop in on the hide at Rostherne Mere. We had previously been there most recently during the Open Day when we joined the Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society (CAWOS) and also got an eighteen month’s subscription to use the hide at Rostherne Mere. When we arrived there were, as we expected, a few local birders installed in one of the two sections of the hide. They looked like they were permanent fixtures and I think we expected this sort of thing. However, instead of steely looks, as we reached the door of the hide a chap who was smoking his pipe outside the hide made us feel very welcome and for starters straight away pointed out to us a lifer for us – a pair of Common Scoter near the far side of the mere.
Oct 10 2012
We missed the first birding group date of the month which was at Sandbach Flashes due to a dental appointment but we did go there the following day by way of keeping up with what the birding group is doing. We started off by parking on the left side of the road overlooking Pump House Flash and the higher ground behind it. There were were around 250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 100 Wigeon, 1 Mute Swan, ten Mallard, a few Cormorants, Moorhen. Lapwing and Coot. In the surrounding trees we saw a Sng Thrush and Chaffinch, Wood Pigeon and Magpies.
Sep 30 2012
The start of September saw an improvement in the weather and by the end of the first week we had seen a few sunny days. On 7th we had a Great Spotted Woodpecker on our nut feeder in the garden which is a rarity. It had a rather stripy red head so was probably part way through its moult. By the middle of the month the weather was wet again. Plenty of Goldfinches and a few Great and Blue Tits. Still no Blackbird, though. On 20th September we had a Sparrowhawk perch briefly on top of the bird feeders but it didn’t hang around.
The birding group resumed their days out this month starting on the 11th at Pennington Flash where we had fantastic views of a Kingfisher and also ticked Greenshank and a Knot as well as all the usual Pennington suspects. On the 17th we went to Burton Mere Wetlands where we had good sightings of Curlew Sandpiper and Bar-headed Goose. We were on holiday between 23rd of September and 3rd October so we missed the visits to Etherow Park and Neumann’s Flash
Sep 17 2012
The Second date of the new birding term for our group was to Burton Mere Wetlands. In the main hide we could see a large number of Greylag and Canada Geese. There were high numbers of Lapwing around thirty Black-tailed Godwits. A single Little Grebe was there and a small flock of Shovellers. Mallards were plentiful and from the side window of the hide we could see four Buzzards in the sky and a single Marsh Harrier. There was also a Black Swan but the best sighting was undoubtedly a Bar-headed Goose that was keen to give everyone good views.
Sep 15 2012
We attended an open day at Rostherne Mere nature reserve organised by Natural England. and CAWOS (The Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society). This was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Boyd Observatory. We had been to Rostherne Mere before but the hide is reserved for members of CAWOS who operate it. We had the opportunity to go inside the hide which had tea making facilities and a toilet and enough room for about 13 to 14 people viewing. The hide is in an elevated position and it looks over the Mere which, at 30 metres, is the deepest of the Cheshire meres and does not freeze over due to this great depth and its general surface area which is considerable. Whilst we were in the hide we saw a Buzzard perched on a branch overhanging the water and a Kestrel also perched on a branch but spent most of the time we were watching preening.
Sep 11 2012
This was the first day of the new term for the birding group and there was quite a good attendance. The weather was very changeable and when we first arrived it started to rain and stayed that way on and off for the rest of the morning. Although there had been some good weather over the previous week, the several weeks of rain before that had taken its toll on the site and the water levels were generally very high and the path that runs down towards the canal was waterlogged and impassable. As a result we only visited some of the hides but, even then, there were some good sightings.
Aug 31 2012
August started with some really sunny weather which was pleasant but it being August the birds are hiding away moulting. The numbers of Goldfinches have increased considerably with the addition of this years cohort. By the middle of the month some of them were starting to moult into their adult plumage with some reddish orange starting to appear on their heads. Sometimes there are around fourteen on the feeders at one time. The odd juvenile Greenfinch is also to be seen. The Blackbirds that were so in evidence a few weeks ago seem to have completely disappeared. In the air above by the middle of the month there were just one or two Swifts left and by the end of the month, none. No Robin was seen until the very end of the month when a juvenile sporting a pale red breast started to come to the bird table.Dunnocks can be heard easier than seen; even the House Sparrows seem to be laying low.
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Aug 18 2012
A look at the weather forecast for Burscough suggested a fine day and with the weather being so changeable this month we thought we should drive out to Martin Mere WWT for the day. I was encouraged but recent reports on their web site that there had been a number of Kingfishers seen from the Ron Barker Hide. We had seen Kingfishers there before but not this year – so far ! Would we get lucky? Read on.
Aug 06 2012
For our second day on the east coast we took a drive out to the lighthouse at Flamborough Head and had a walk around the bay there which was very interesting and we could hear a number of small birds among the grass and wild flowers and plants at the cliffs enge bur they were were hidden and hard to see. There were lots of Swallows flying low along the grass. We decided that the day was nice enough to go over to Bridlington to see if we could get a boat trip on the “Yorkshire Belle” to Bempton Cliffs so we could see the colony from the sea looking towards the cliffs. We parked up (no mean fear there) and headed off to the pier where we hoped to get a boat trip. There was a trip out to Bempton Cliffs but it was a three hour trip starting at 3pm and we couldn’t wait that long. We did however manage to get a trip more or less straight away that went out to Flamborough Head and back so we thought that was better than nothing.