Dave Riley was on No1 bed on Friday, catching 38 birds with 17 new, including single Brambling, Lesser Redpoll and Reed bunting, with 8 Greenfinches providing the bulk of the new birds. Amongst the retraps, the oldest was a Blue Tit, originally ringed as a juvenile on 26th June 2009 and caught six times since, all in the late autumn/winter months (November-March). Sightings on the bed include a Chiffchaff and 20 Teal on New Year’s Day with a Goldcrest on 4th.

Mike Miles, Kieran Foster and Jason Atkinson were on No3 bed on the Saturday, catching 22 birds with 10 new, including 1 Brambling, I Bullfinch and 3 Reed Buntings. Sightings on the bed included 2 Shelduck, 2 Pintail along with small numbers of Redwings and Bramblings.

Dave Riley was on No.1 bed on the Tuesday, catching 50 birds with just 10 new. Amongst the re-traps were a visiting Brambling from No.3 bed, the second this winter, a Reed Bunting originally ringed on 15/12/2007, a Willow Tit from 14/08/2008 and three Blue Tits from August 2009. Sightings on the bed included the first, very early, trilling Little Grebe of the year. Kieran Foster, Margaret Rawlins and Mike Miles were on No.3 bed on Saturday, and caught 15 birds, with the six new including their second Brambling of the year. Sightings included 3 Pintail and up to 18 Bramblings.

Just one session during the week, on No.3 Bed on Tuesday when Mike Miles caught four new birds including two Brambling. Sightings included 2 Goosanders at Bollin Point along with good numbers of other duck, 1 Green Woodpecker and one Chiffchaff. Good numbers of Brambling continue to use the feeding station on No.3 Bed.

A fine but very blustery day for my weekly walk round the reserve. The highlight was probably the flock of 20 Siskins feeding on birch trees at the eastern end of the reserve. A variety of wildfowl was present with good numbers of Pochard and Tufted Duck on the now unfrozen No.3 bed lagoons. Reserve-wide totals included 420 Teal, 295 Tufted Duck,46 Mallard,50 Gadwall,22 Mute Swans,17 Goldeneye,23 Canada Geese,46 Pochard,14 Coot,9 Shoveler, 6 Shelduck and 3 Great-crested Grebes. Also present were over 100 Lapwing on flooded fields to the south and 50 Jackdaws over Butchersfield Tip. The feeders at the John Morgan Hide attracted the usual variety with large numbers of Greenfinch and Chaffinch together with a Willow Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bramblings, Bullfinches and Jays.

Goldeneye taken at the Weir Pool on a bright & crisp morning.

Goldeneye taken at the Weir Pool on a bright & crisp morning.

Goldeneye taken at the Weir Pool on a bright & crisp morning.

Goldeneye taken at the Weir Pool on a bright & crisp morning.

Chaffinch, No.3 bed

Grey Squirrel under the Morgan Hide feeders on No.3 bed

Mute Swans over No.3 bed

Looking west over the Weir Pool in the snow

A sparkling morning, with fresh snow and blue skies, as Les Jones and I stayed mainly on No.3 bed before spending an hour or so watching the Weir Pool. Key sightings were 2 Little Egrets, which flew south over No.2 bed at 1210, 29 Bramblings on No.3 bed, 3 Water Rails on the same bed, including one under the Morgan Hide feeders and 11 Goldeneye on the Weir Pool. Total counts were:

Little Egret 2 Brambling 29 all on No.3 bed inc. 18 under the Morgan Hide feeders. Water Rail 3 Willow Tit 1 Redwing 11 Fieldfare 7 Mistle Thrush 18 Goldeneye 11 Teal 140 Tufted Duck 257 Shoveler 14 Shelduck 1 Reed Bunting 6 Mute Swan 11 Sparrowhawk 1 Kestrel 1 Common Buzzard 1 Gadwall 3 Canada Goose 48 Black-headed Gull 58 Common Gull 3 Pochard 5 Mallard 12 Jackdaw 18 Magpie 9 Jay 5 Carrion Crow 8 Goldfinch 3 Song Thrush 2 Cormorant 53 mainly over-flying Herring Gull 28 over-flying Lesser Black-backed Gull 100s over-flying Bullfinch 3 Chaffinch 75 Greenfinch 60 Great Spotted Woodpecker 4 Grey Heron 3 Long-tailed Tit 14 Coot 1 Moorhen 3 Starling 65 Woodpigeon 640 from No.2 bed roost at dawn Blackbird 27 Pheasant 3 Blue Tit 12 Great Tit 6 Robin 16 Pied Wagtail 1 Dunnock 8 Wren 4

Cheers David

Another cold day with occasional snow showers. Duck numbers were a little lower than last week but there were still plenty on the river and canal. Totals included 509 Tufted Duck and 122 Mallard. At the weir were 6 Goldeneye and a Wigeon. A Green Woodpecker was on No.1 bed.

RE: Woolston Eyes Reply Quote Edit Post

Met up this morning with Dave Steel, Dave Riley and Al Warford and covered No.3 bed, No.1 bed, No2 bed’s Weir Pool, Butchersfield Tip and Bollin Point. Two Goosanders flying east along the Canal at Bollin Point, 12 Goldeneye at the Weir, Chiffchaff and Green Woodpecker on No.1 bed and a count of 443 Tufted Duck were the highlights. Totals included:

Goosander 2 (Bollin Point) Chiffchaff 1 (No.1 bed) Green Woodpecker 1 (No.1 bed) Goldeneye 12 (Weir Pool) Peregrine 1 Wigeon 3 (Bollin Point) Willow Tit 3 Common Gull 5 Blackbird 33 Magpie 9 Redwing 85 Dunnock 17 Robin 22 Carrion Crow 20 Starling 350 (inc. 340 from No.3 bed roost at dawn) Sparrowhawk Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 Goldfinch 25 Chaffinch 45 Teal 95 Tufted Duck 443 Song Thrush 4 Buzzard 3 Bullfinch 6 Grey Heron 4 Blue Tit 14 Great Tit 11 Jay 9 Siskin 2 Fieldfare 7 Redpoll 2 Greenfinch 52 Pheasant 7 Gadwall 31 Mute Swan 13 Mallard 51 Stock Dove 7 Wren 3 Jackdaw 45 Pochard 17 Coot 3 Great Crested Grebe 1 Moorhen 4 Shoveler 3 Mistle Thrush 1 Cormorant 12 Feral Pigeon 11 Woodpigeon 132 Lapwing 49 Little Grebe 1 Canada Goose 22 Lesser Black-backed Gull - hundreds over-flying Black-headed Gull - hundreds over-flying

Cheers David

Large numbers of duck were present today on the river and the canal, no doubt as a result of the current cold weather. A reserve-wide count gave 597 Tufted Duck and 133 Mallard. 16 Goldeneye and a Wigeon were at the weir.

Teal - from Centre Hide

Chaffinch - from Centre Hide

Brambling - from Centre Hide

Great Spotted Woodpecker - from Centre Hide

Jay - Centre Hide

Willow Tit - from Centre Hide

On a spring-like morning, Dave Steel, Les Jones, Sue Haddock and I enjoyed some excellent birding on Nos.1, 2 and 3 beds. On the latter, the two Pintail were still in front of the Morgan Hide, along with 60 Teal, 1 Shelduck, 5 Shovelers, 23 Mallard, 6 Pochard, 2 Water Rails and under the feeders, 3 Bramblings. Over-flying birds included 8 Redwings, 16 Cormorants and 250 Black-headed Gulls, while 3 Redpolls were feeding in alders on the south bank. An interesting find, on a Song Thrush’s anvil, among all the common native snail shells was a large (5cm) snail shell, showing characteristics of the rare Roman Snail. On No.1 bed there were a few Buzzards soaring, while 460 Lapwings were constantly being flushed from the fields to the south of the Ship Canal. On No.2 bed, at the Weir, 13 Goldeneyes were among the Tufted Duck flock.

Cheers David

Productive morning walk around No 3 bed and the Weir Pool with lots of ticks for my 2013 year list!

Highlights were the pair of Pintail still showing very well in front of John Morgan hide, one male Brambling at the feeder there, and 6 male and 3 female Goldeneye at the Weir Pool.