Dave Riley was ringing on No1 bed twice during the week, on the Thursday, with Surrey based ringer Sam Bailey, and on the Sunday with Devon based ringers Helen Williams and Roger Short. A total of 88 birds were caught over the two sessions, with 23 new including 1 Redwing and 5 Chaffinches. Amongst the retraps was a Robin, originally ringed as a juvenile in 2008, retrapped three times during early 2009 and not caught in the four years since. Sightings on the bed included 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Raven (26th), 70 Pink-footed Geese, 400 Woodpigeons and 30 Linnets coming out of roost.

Kieran Foster, Mike Miles, Jason Atkinson, Mike Baron and Chris Piner were on No3 bed on the Saturday, they caught 38 birds with the 15 new including Redwing and a Goldcrest, sightings there included a Tawny Owl, a flyover Siskin and 100 Chaffinches on the sacrificial crop.

Other sightings included 1 Marsh Harrier, 20 Shelduck and a Green Sandpiper.

The schedule shows the totals for the two weeks 15 & 22/12/2013.

There was no ringing on No1 bed during the two weeks, while the No3 bed team were out on three occasions, the first was 14th when they caught 53 birds, the 30 new including 9 Redwings and 3 Blackbirds. Sightings on the day included a Tawny Owl calling at dawn, 1 Buzzard and a flock of 200 Greenfinches. Mike Miles was out on 17th, again catching 53 birds, 23 new including 2 Redwings and a Lesser Redpoll. On the Saturday he was joined by Kieran Foster, Jason Atkinson, Mike Baron and Chris Piner, 26 birds were caught during the morning, amongst the 13 new were a further 5 Redwings and 4 Blackbirds.

Other sightings during the period included 540 Tufted Duck, 8 Siskin, 25 Snipe, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Green Sandpiper and a Green Woodpecker.

Dave Riley was on No1 bed on Saturday when he caught 28 birds with 11 new, the highlight being the first Redwing of the year for the bed. Amongst the retraps was a Great Tit originally ringed on 30th August 2009. Sightings during the session included a Water rail, 72 Redwings, 171 Fieldfare and 4 Lapwings.

The team on No3 bed were out on the same day, when they caught 49 birds with the 16 new including 6 Redwings.

David Bowman and Co. carried out a Migration Watch from the eastern end of the reserve on the Saturday. Full reports of this years Migration Watches are listed in the ‘Bird Survey’ folder in ‘Wildlife Survey’ tab in the main headings. A summary report of the four sessions is also listed there.

Dave Riley had a late(ish) start on No1 bed on the Saturday morning, catching 22 birds with eight new, including the fifth Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year for the bed and a Lesser Redpoll. Amongst the retraps was a Robin originally ringed as an adult in May 2010 and another from August of that year. Sightings on the bed included 53 Pink-footed Geese flying east, 2 Jack Snipe and a Peregrine.

Also ringing on the Saturday morning were Kieran Foster, Margaret Rawlins, Chris Piner and Mike Miles, they caught 67 birds (35 new and 32 retraps). There were a lot of Blackbirds and Redwings moving round the bed and we caught 5 of the former and 11 of the latter, 11 Rewings being our record catch in a single morning. Other highlights were 3 Lesser Redpolls and our first Magpie since 30th June 2012.

A rather wet and blustery day for my last visit of the year although it did brighten up in the afternoon. Highlights included 61 Canada Geese, 38 Shoveler and 20 Shelduck, most of these on No.3 bed. A Green Sandpiper made a brief appearance in front of the John Morgan Hide and the Fieldfare flock on Butchersfield Tip totalled 150. A Happy New Year to all!

Didn’t see the Marsh Harrier on No.3 bed this afternoon but small roosts of Starling (c.520) and Pied Wagtail (25) at dusk were interesting. Additionally, 15 Shelduck and 130 Tufted Duck were in front of the Morgan Hide, a single Water Rail was calling and a couple of Sparrowhawks raided the feeders scattering the tits and finches. Best sighting was of Duncan McNaughton, one-time Woolston Warden and now doing his rangering further west down the Mersey Valley.

Photo of a Mute Swan in front of the Morgan Hide, wearing a green Darvic ring, which should enable us to track its origins.

Cheers David (with David Spencer and Duncan McNaughton)

On No.3 bed saw the female Marsh Harrier after many days of watching.The bird arrived from the east at 13.45 hrs with 4 Buzzards circling above it.Flushed over 700 Teal and a total of 35 Snipe in two flocks.Nine Shelducks and 187 Tufted Duck.On the Morgan hide feeders 110 Greenfinches,25 Chaffinches,1 Brambling and 4 Reed Buntings noted as well as a single Willow Tit.The Harrier settled on the ground at the water’s edge opposite the Morgan hide and was still there nearly an hour later.

Photo of female Bullfinch from the Morgan Hide this morning

Greenfinch from the Morgan Hide this morning.

A beautiful morning on No.3 bed, with a female Marsh Harrier showing well early on. A few Siskins and Redpolls were in the alders by the Tower Hide, while the Morgan Hide feeders were jumping with birds, with the following feeding on or under the feeders: 2 Bramblings, 2 Willow Tits, 80 Greenfinches, 25 Chaffinches, 8 Bullfinches, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 8 Moorhens, 3 Pheasants, 5 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes, 5 Reed Buntings, 2 Magpies, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Robins, 3 Dunnocks, plus loads of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.

Photo of sunrise this morning from the Morgan Hide

Cheers David

Ringing on No1 bed this morning with visitor Sam Bailey, a Water Rail was calling from the eastern reed bed, a Green Woodpecker was heard several times during the morning and a Raven flew south, while unseasonable Meadow Pipit and Skylark flew over, both heading north.

Dave Riley

24.12.13 Walked round No 4 today in bright sunshine and strong wind. Our contractor, Steve was busy at work and I had a chat with him. He told me that yesterday had had seen a Grey heron fly into the power line and be incinerated in a flash. Not much came to the ground. Not many birds seen but a Buzzard appeared to land on a nest. Douglas Buchanan

2 Marsh Harriers currently present on No.3 bed - reported by Paul Hazlehurst.

Cheers David

Met up with Dave Spencer at first light for a relaxed morning on No.3 bed. Four Song Thrushes were on the track as I drove down and c.340 Starlings came out of the No.3 bed roost early on. Otherwise, 300 Teal, 7 Shelduck, 30 Shoveler, 25 Redwing, 3 Redpolls, 120 Greenfinches, 1 Willow Tit, 30 Chaffinches, 2 Sparrowhawks and 2 Buzzards were the most notable sightings.

Cheers David

Met with the contractor to review proress on No.4 bed - it’s starting to take shape, with all the scrub removed from the islands and already a lot more muddy edge showing. Despite the heavy machinery, 60 Teal and 12 Snipe were feeding nearby. On No.3 bed, 1 Peregrine, 240 Teal, 8 Snipe, 6 Shelduck, 16 Shovelers, 120 Greenfinches, 80 Chaffinches and 7 Reed Buntings were the highlights.

Cheers David

After yesterday’s storms it was a lovely winter’s morning, although rain set in during the afternoon. An early bonus was a skein of Pink-footed Geese flying south-east over the canal at 9a.m. The flock of Tufted Duck that had been at Bollin Point for the past few weeks had disappeared and a reserve total of 232 was lower than in recent weeks. 8 Siskin were on Butchersfield Tip and there were 4 Great-crested Grebes on the canal near the viaduct (reserve total 6). No.2 bed held about 400 Teal but about 300 flew off onto No.3 bed. On No.3 bed were about 600 Teal flushed from cover by the attentions of a fine Marsh Harrier which was showing well. Also present were over 50 Shoveler, 7 Shelduck and 9 Snipe, of which 2 were flushed from the north meadow area. Three male Goldeneye were at the weir. On No.4 bed the contractors were working on the loop so there was little to see there.

Hi everybody a grand afternoon at the reserve nice and sunny.The work carried out looks fantastic obviously in the coming months it will attract lots of wildlife.We saw lots of tufted ducks shovelers and teal and a few moorhens dotted about.The feeders were quite active there was the male and female woodpecker on the left feeders and another male on righthand feeders.We saw the willow tit very briefly when we arrived but did not notice it again.We saw a male bullfinch it started to feed on the ground under the feeder then flew around to the other feeders which was better as there ws more light and got some nice pics of it in the tree awell as on the feeders.Lots of greenfinches and a family of long tail tits made a brief appearance in the tree by the feeders.A jay arrived and scattered the lot.The light began to fade and it was gettting quite chilly so called it a day look forward to our next visit Gill and Roger Riley

A pleasant day after a dull and murky start. Tufted Duck numbers continue to increase and a total of 536 included 340 at Bollin Point. About 100 Fieldfare were still on Butchersfield Tip and up to 50 Redwing on No.3 bed. More unusual were 4 Little Grebes at Latchford Locks. Photo; new scrape from south bank of No.3 bed.

Met with the contractor this morning, to review the completed work on No.3 bed, which now looks really good for waders. He’s now starting similar work on No.4 bed, which will include a wader scrape, too. Birds on No.3 bed included 1 Brambling (seen by Dave Spencer), 25 Snipe, at least 140 Greenfinche, 50 Shovelers and 60 Redwings.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Kenny McNiffe, Colin Jones and Stuart Daroch)

A relaxed morning’s Visible Migration Watch, from the top of Butchersfield Tip. Enough birds were moving to keep us interested, during what is usually the quietest of the monthly sessions. Counts of interest included; 2 Woodcocks, 321 Fieldfares, 237 Redwings, 59 Stock Doves, 8 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, 450 Tufted Duck plus single figure counts of Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Meadow Pipit. As we were leaving, 4 Goldeneyes were with an additional 65 Tufted Duck at Woolston Weir, making the excellent total of 515 Tufted Duck.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer and Brian Baird)

A very pleasant day with lots of sunshine. A skein of Pink-footed Geese (about 170) flew north west over the canal at 9 a.m. There were good numbers of Tufted Duck at Bollin Point - nearly 300- and a reserve total of 474 was the highest this winter so far. 8 Goldeneye were at the weir and there were 4 Shelduck on No.3 bed. There seemed to be lots of Teal in cover and I estimate that about 350 were present across the reserve. I had a very brief view of what I thought was a Merlin near the viaduct but could not make a positive identification.

Autumnal Reflections from the footbridge.

Greenfinch (Cardueis Chloris) from the John Morgan Hide

The Magpie was originally on the raft with the geese but I didn’t notice how it ended up in the water. The last I saw of it it was paddling it’s way to the far side of the pool.

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)from the footbridge.

I just liked the warm lighting on the tree.

Robin (Erithacus rubecula) from John Morgan Hide