Another quiet week with Dave Riley ringing on No1 bed on the Monday when he caught 24 birds with the seven new comprising 2 Chaffinches, 2 Blue tits and 3 Greenfinches, sightings included 56 Pink-footed Geese and 1 Siskin.

The No3 bed team were out on the Saturday catching 11 birds with the six new including 2 each of Blue Tit, Greenfinch and Reed Bunting. Sightings included 3 Buzzards, 1 Siskin and an impressive 4,000 Starlings coming out of roost.

Dave Riley was ringing on No1 bed on the Monday when he caught 27 birds with 7 new including 3 Greenfinches and 4 Lesser Redpolls. Amongst the retraps were 5 birds originally ringed during 2010, 2 Blue Tits, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blackbird and 1 Robin, sightings during the morning included 190 Pink-footed Geese, seen flying east in two Skeins, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Skylark flying north.

Mike Miles was on No3 bed on the Thursday morning when he caught 20 birds with the nine new including the first Willow Tit of the year, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 3 Bullfinches. Sightings during the session included a Brambling below the Morgan hide feeders and a wintering Little Grebe.

Other sightings during the week included 1 Woodcock, 8 Little Grebe, 5 Great crested Grebe,20 Cormorant, 5 Grey Heron, 27 Mute Swan, 56 Canada Goose, 29 Shelduck, 41 Gadwall, 800 Teal, 100 Mallard, 52 Shoveler, 6 Pochard, Tufted Duck, 3 Goldeneye, 19 Moorhen, 19 Coot, 2 Lapwing, 70 Black-headed Gull, 14 Common Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Dave Riley was ringing on No1 bed on the Friday morning when he caught 17 birds, the eight new included 2 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits and 4 Greenfinches. The only sighting of note was the Firecrest found the previous week.

The No3 bed team were out on a rain affected Saturday morning when 22 birds were caught, the eight new including 4 Great Tits, 2 Blackbirds, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Greenfinch.

Additional sightings include a Chiffchaff on No1 bed along with an overflying Golden Plover, a Grey Wagtail and up to 20 Shelduck on No3 bed.

Dave Riley was ringing on No1 bed on the Thursday and Sunday, with Helen Williams and Roger Short for both days while John Blundell joined them on the Sunday. 22 birds were caught on the first day with 6 new, on the Sunday, 23 were caught, 5 new including a Redwing. Sightings included 300+ Pink-footed Geese going east in 5 skeins, 400 Woodpigeons flying south and a Chiffchaff, sightings on the Sunday included 2 Ravens and 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, all going east.

The No3 bed team were out on the Saturday morning ringing 6 new birds including 2 Lesser Redpolls and a Redwing.

Other sightings during the week included a Marsh Harrier on No3 bed while the Chiffchaff had been joined by a Goldcrest and a Firecrest on No1 bed with a Woodcock also there.

Met with the contractor this morning on No.4 bed - it’s starting to look really good! Birds around the area included: 21 Snipe, 150 Teal, 120 Redwings, 2 Willow Tits, 11 Pheasants and a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming away. Then on to No.3 bed where a bedraggled female Marsh Harrier flushed 650 Teal and 11 Snipe. The Morgan Hide feeders were hyper-active in the pouring rain, with 2 Bramblings, 2 Willow Tits, 11 Bullfinches, 90 Greenfinches, 60 Chaffinches, 6 Blackbirds, 8 Moorhens, 3 Pheasants, 5 Goldfinches feeding actively and 9 Redpolls perched nearby.

Cheers David

On No1 bed this afternoon to top up the feeders. The cleared areas are looking really good, there were 7 Snipe and a Green Woodpecker there

A Crossbill flew north over No4 bed this afternoon at about 13.30

Dave Riley

A pleasant morning, covering No.3 bed and as far east as Bollin Point. No sign of either the recent Firecrest or Marsh Harrier but still plenty of birds around, including: 2 Woodcocks, 1 Yellowhammer, 5 Snipe, 1 Siskin,1 Goldeneye, 8 Lesser Redpolls, 7 Bullfinches , 12 Pochard, 2 Redwings, 15 Shelduck, 15 long-tailed Tits, 120 Greenfinches, 5 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 7 Reed Buntings, 5 Song Thrushes, 200 Tufted Ducks, 26 Blackbirds, 7 Buzzards, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and 170 Black-headed Gulls.

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

A blustery day with occasional heavy showers including hail! On No.3 bed were 31 Pochard, by far the highest count of the winter so far. Also present were a pair of Wigeon and 22 Shelduck. Tufted Duck totalled 276 for the whole reserve with most on the river to the north of No.2 bed and the Weir basin. 2 Goldeneye were also on the river. On No.3 bed were seven Bullfinch and six were on no.2 bed.

Another great day at the reserve we first encountered two little grebe not far from the bridge. Walking to the morgan hide we saw lots of bullfinches male and female, long tail tits plenty of greenfinches and chaffinch.From the hide we saw the usual teal shelduck shovelers a few canada geese and tufted ducks . and a lone snipe.Running up and down the edge of the water a pied wagtail also coots and moorhens present.The feeders where very active with the finches as well as several male and female bullfinches willow tit and two reed bunting feeding on the floor under the feeders.We had the pleasure of chatting to brian who updated us on what was going on.I will point out when we first entered the morgan hide was the amount of rubbish that had been left lying around sweet wrappers etc; we gave it a good brush out look forward to our next visit Roger and Gill Riley

During a meeting with the contractor who is working on the Loop of No.4 bed this morning, he reported a Woodcock which sits out on the track every morning and evening! 25 Snipe were flushed from the Loop while we were walking round.

Cheers David

56 Pink-footed Geese flying east over No1 bed this morning, also 1 Siskin flying south

18.01.14 Just across the footbridge I found this plant in flower. I think it is Hogweed. My books tell me that it is usually in flower in late summer but ca flower all year. Its flowering in January reminds us that we have so far had a mild winter.

Wildfowl Count (WeBS) Little grebe 8,Great crested Grebe 5,Cormorant 20,Grey heron 5,Mute swan 27, Canada Goose 56,Shelduck 29,Gadwall 41,Teal 800,Mallard 100,Shoveler 52, Pochard 6,Tufted Duck 480,Goldeneye 2,Moorhen 19,Coot 19,Lapwing 2,Woodcock 1, Black-headed Gull 70,Common Gull 14,Lesser Black-backed Gull 2.In addition several skeins of Pink footed Geese passed over total 153 birds.

Another relatively mild day for mid-January and there were further signs that spring is on the way. Four Song Thrushes were singing along the canal track and snowdrops are in bloom on No.3 bed. Six Great-crested and 4 Little Grebes were present on the river and canal. Large numbers of Teal could be heard calling on No.2 bed where pumping operations over the past week have flooded the western half of the bed. On No.3 bed were 23 Shelduck and 31 Shoveler whilst 3 Goldeneye were at the weir basin. Tufted Duck totalled 269 whilst Mallard numbers remained very low for the time of year with only 41 present. Photo; Snowdrops on No.3 bed

Ringing on No1 bed this morning, 179 Pink-footed Geese flew east, 1 Goldcrest also present Dave Riley

A brief visit to No1 bed this morning produced a Chiffchaff and an overflying Golden Plover Dave Riley

After the recent storms the morning was very pleasant, mild and sunny. About a hundred Black-headed Gulls were at Latchford Locks, together with 2 Common Gulls, a Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Pied Wagtail. A Mistle Thrush was on the canal track and a Peregrine was perched on the viaduct. Bollin Point was very quiet but a fine Grey Wagtail was showing well on Butchersfield. The flooded fields to the south held about 250 Black-headed Gulls. 400 teal were on No.2 bed together with two Buzzards. The feeders on No.3 bed attracted the usual variety of small birds including about 100 Greenfinch, Long-tailed Tits, Willow Tit and Bullfinch and 4 Moorhens were feeding on the ground. A low flying helicopter put up about 600 Teal which means that about 1000 were present on the Reserve. Also of interest was a total of 20 Shelduck and a male Goldeneye at the basin. I concluded with a walk round No.4 bed where the contractors are still busy. I counted 23 Robins, many in song, which gave a Reserve-wide total of 56. A sign of spring was a Song Thrush in song on the north bank of No.4 bed.

2 Ravens over No1 bed this morning, also small numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings, no sign of the Firecrest though Dave Riley (with Helen Williams, Roger Short and John Blundell

Correction

Another photo of the Harrier does show some pale colour on the leading edge of the wing so I was wrong and it is a female.

Another photo of the Marsh Harrier.04-January-2014.

4.1.14 Met Dave Bowman and party as I was going in. Alerted me to the Marsh Harrier. Excited because I have never seen one at the Eyes. Attributable to my lack of patience. This time I was lucky and did not have to wait long. Though reported as a female the lack of pale leading edge of wings suggests a juvenile.

An excellent morning for both weather and species variety. Highlights were: Firecrest, Chiffchaff, Marsh Harrier and Grey Partridge. The morning started well on No.3 bed with 600 Starlings flushed from their roost and 500 Teal out of cover, early on, by the regular female Marsh Harrier. The Harrier was then active for a couple of hours before perching in a bush in front of the Morgan Hide. One Willow Tit and c.100 Greenfinches were on the feeders there, with the odd Redwing and Song Thrush around the Meadow areas and 2 Great Black-backed Gulls flying over. At the eastern end of the Reserve a Firecrest was with a Chiffchaff and Goldcrest by the south-east pool and 2 Grey Partridges were near Bollin Point. While trying to re-find the Firecrest we flushed a Woodcock and heard 2 Water Rails calling. Other records of note were; 2 Grey Wagtails, 2 Fieldfare, 56 Shoveler, 2 Snipe, 1 Redpoll and 19 Bullfinches.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, Les Jones and Paul Hazlehurst)

2 Bramblings were under the Morgan Hide feeders this afternoon along with c.100 Greenfinches, with the odd Redpoll and Siskin in the Shelter Belt. 20 Redwings and 9 Fieldfares were in the centre of the bed but there was no sign of the regular Marsh Harrier.

Photo of a Long-tailed Tit

Cheers David

Ringing on No1 bed today with Helen Williams and Roger Short, sightings included 300+ Pink-footed Geese flying east, 400+ Woodpigeons flying south, 4 Stock Doves, 20 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare and 1 Chiffchaff

Dave Riley