Ringing Update Weeks 5th - 18th January. There was no ringing on the reserve during w/e 11-01-2015.

Dave Riley and Mike Baron were on No1 bed on Sunday 18th, catching 18 birds with the four new including a Sparrowhawk, 2 Greenfinches and a Chaffinch. One of the retraps was a ten year old Chaffinch, originally ringed in February 2005. The only sighting of note was 120 Skylarks flying north in one flock.

On No3 bed, the team caught 14 new birds including 3 Teal, 1 Moorhen and 2 Redwing.

Ringing Update week 19th - 25th January. The only ringing that took place on No1 bed during the week was on the Monday, when Mike Baron spent three hours there, catching 19 birds with the four new including single Jay, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Wren. Sightings during the session included a Grey Wagtail and seven Brambling.

Mike Miles, Kieran Foster, Margaret Rawlins and Chris Piner were on No3 bed on the Saturday morning when they caught 39 birds. With the duck trap operating, another four new teal were ringed while a single Redwing was the highlight amongst the other new birds. The only sighting of note during the session was a flock of 100 lapwings over the north-west pool.

Ringing Update week 1st - 4th January 2015. Dave Riley and John Blundell were on No1 bed on the Sunday, when they caught 34 birds with 10 new, including 3 Chaffinches and 7 Greenfinches. Amongst the retraps was a Robin originally ringed in 2008 and not retrapped since early Spring 2009. Sightings of note during the session included 1 Goldcrest.

Mike Miles and Margaret Rawlins were on No3 bed, also on the Sunday, they caught 51 birds with 14 new including 5 Redwings, sightings included 4 Wigeon and a Lesser Redpoll in song.

Another spectacular Starling display this evening. Birds started to arrive about 4.20 p.m. and were still circling when I left at 5.15. I estimated that there were well in excess of 100,000 birds present. Also in attendance were 2 Sparrowhawks.

No.3 bed Amazing Starling Roost.Birds began to arrive from 1630 onwards,most from the west and north west. Like most people I find it difficult to estimate the numbers but there was certainly a minimum of 60,000-80,000 probably more. Also seen: 22 Pochard (highest count so far this winter) 50+ Tufted Duck and 30 Mallard.

No.3 bed Amazing Starling Roost.Birds began to arrive from 1630 onwards,most from the west and north west. Like most people I find it difficult to estimate the numbers but there was certainly a minimum of 60,000-80,000 probably more. Also seen: 22 Pochard (highest count so far this winter) 50+ Tufted Duck and 30 Mallard.

Another excellent morning on No.3 bed, followed by an “off-roading” trip to review progress on No.4 bed with the contractor. One of our party, Paul Hazlehurst, arrived early and was in the Morgan Hide before first light (making up for over-sleeping the previous week!). He got his rewards when a Barn Owl tried to join him in the hide, twice landing on the ledge a couple of feet way from him and thinking about coming into the warmth of the hide. Other sightings included: 1 Kingfisher, loads of Teal, 4 Pochards, 10 Bullfinches,2 Fieldfare, 22 Redwings, 27 Magpies, 8 Stock Doves, 5 Snipe, 1 Redpoll, 1 Tawny Owl, 108 Lapwings, 6 Shelducks and 18 Shovelers. The trip onto No.4 bed proved eventful, when David Spencer’s car got bogged down and had to be towed out by the contractor (see photo!)

There were good numbers of wildfowl today and reserve-wide totals included 345 Tufted Duck, 113 Mallard, 26 Mute Swan, 34 Moorhen, 38 Gadwall, 11 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck, 5 Goldeneye, 5 Great-crested Grebe and 4 Little Grebe. Other sightings were 2 Water Rails on No.1 bed, 15 Golfinch on Butchersfield Tip, 20 Long-tailed Tit, 100 Chaffinch on No.3 bed and 24 Crows on No.4 bed. Photo; early morning looking south from Butchersfield.

A sunny winter’s afternoon on No.3 bed brought some excellent sightings. Highlights were a Barn Owl, quartering the North Meadow at 2.00 pm, a single Brambling under the Morgan Hide feeders and a Starling roost, with the usual raptors in attendance, which held roughly 18,000 birds. In addition, around 1,000 Teal were on the bed, along with a single Snipe, 2 Water Rails, 100 Chaffinches, 80 Greenfinches, 3 Willow Tits, 5 Reed Buntings, 8 Bullfinches and 1 Grey Wagtail, plus many commoner species.

Photo is of a Robin, taken on No.3 bed today.

Cheers David (with Greg Baker)

WeBS Count 18/01/2015

Little Grebe 5, G.C. Grebe 5, Cormorant 14,Grey Heron 2, Mute Swan 28, Canada Goose 2, Shelduck 7, Wigeon 3, Gadwall 41, Teal 1150, Mallard 177, Shoveler 5, Pochard 4, Tufted Duck 284, Moorhen 30, Coot 51, Lapwing 3, Snipe 1, Common Gull6 Lesser Black backed Gull 1 B. Martin,D.Hackett, D. Britch and D. Spencer

Went down this morning, to meet the contractor who’s currently revamping the wetland on No.4 bed. It’s looking really good and we’ll soon have a small elevated hide in place, for permit holders to use. Then on to No.3 bed for an hours birding. Sightings included: 650 Teal, 160 Pink-footed Geese flying over, 50 Gadwall, 80 Tufted Ducks, 5 Shelducks, 10 Redwings, 40 Chaffinches, 50 Greenfinches, 5 Shovelers, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Willow Tit, 5 Bullfinches and 5 Reed Buntings. A permit holder reported one Brambling, which we didn’t see. Cheers David (with Dave Steel?, Alan Warford? and David Spencer)

The cold weather has resulted in an influx of Tufted Duck with a reserve-wide total of 504, my highest of the winter so far. Of these, about 300 were at Bollin Point but later moved to the canal opposite Lymm Golf Course. Mallard totalled 154 and other sightings included 5 male Goldeneye at the weir and 20 Mute Swans across the reserve. About 100 Jackdaws flew west over No.4 bed. The contractors have now started work on the Loop of No.4 bed and will be there for about two weeks.

An excellent morning spent scanning from the Morgan Hide on No.3 bed, with the weather moving from heavy squalls to bright sunshine. A complete list of sightings was: Woodcock 1(flying across the front of the hide), Peregrine 1, Pinkfooted Goose 40, Willow Tit 1, Sparrowhawk 3, Buzzard 3, Greenfinch 100, Chaffinch 70, Bullfinch 8, Goldfinch 12, Moorhen 9, Teal 350, Wigeon 6, Pochard 7, Great Crested Grebe 2, Gadwall 19, Fieldfare 3, Redwing 3, Mistle Thrush 1, Blackbird 4, Song Thrush 1, Reed Bunting 8, Mallard 21, Shelduck 5, Pied Wagtail 3, Tufted Duck 25, Carrion Crow 5, Magpie 8, Jackdaw 201, Starling 100 (from roost), Canada Goose 11, Greylag Goose 2, Cormorant 9, Dunnock 3, Mute Swan 4, Grey Heron 1, Woodpigeon 300, Black-headed Gull 215, Lapwing 116, Pheasant 2, Shoveler 5, Lesser Black-backed Gull 4, Great Spotted Woodpecker 2, Long-tailed Tit 10, Jay 1, Blue Tit 7, Great Tit 6, Stock Dove 1, Robin 1, Herring Gull 1, Coot 4, Wren 3.

Cheers David (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Al Warford, Paul Hazlehurst, Brian Baird, Les Jones, Helen Allan and George Dunbar)

A fine and generally sunny day for my first walk round the reserve in 2015. Whilst there was nothing particularly unusual there was. as always, plenty of interest. On No.1 bed I flushed 2 Snipe from the eastern end and on Butchersfield Tip I counted 8 Bullfinches calling. About 300 Teal were on No.2 bed and 3 Goldeneye were on the river. On No.3 bed, eleven Pochard were my first of the year and 3 Lapwing were in front of the John Morgan Hide, as were 4 Shelduck. The feeders were busy with about 100 Greenfinch, at least 50 Chaffinch and a male Bullfinch. On No.4 bed a flock of 30 Jackdaw flew west and a Willow Tit was heard calling to the west of the loop. Early signs of spring included the first Snowdrops on No.3 bed; see photo.