This morning's moors totals from Andy Makin and Andy Pinches:
1 Redstart and 2 Spotted Flycatchers in the dell off Georges Lane 1 Merlin sat for 5 minutes on the wall on Wildersmoor before flying off SE 7 Wheatear along Mast Road 2 Chiffchaff in Wilderswood
1 Whinchat in the pony fields along Mast Rd 3 Spotted Flycatcher in the big hedge at Higher Meadows 1 Tree Pipit south 10 Wheatear 141 Swallow and 90 House Martin south
Rather quiet on the moors this morning, but highlights were:
1 Spotted Flycatcher in the Dell off Georges Lane 5 Tree Pipit over south, with a group of 4 and a single 1 Whinchat in the pony field off Mast Road 12 Wheatear 4 Whitethroat 6 Chiffchaff
A walk Coal Pit Lane - Holdens - Mast - Holdens - Sugar Loaf Plantation - Brownstones Quarry - Coal Pit Lane 9.00 - 12.30
Holdens:-
Small flock around trees below farm included 4 Redpoll. 1 or 2 Willow Warblers, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Long Tailed Tits, 1 or 2 Dunnocks, several Meadow Pipits, Goldfinch, Linnets and at least 40 Swallows in the area.
Mast:-
Very quiet with only 2 Pied Wagtails, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Crow and 1 Kestrel seen.
Sugar Loaf Plantation:-
Mixed flock of 4 Tit species included 1 or 2 Willow Warblers and 2 Spotted Flycatchers.
Brownstones Quarry:-
1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 or 2 Willow Warblers, small flock of Goldfinch, 15/20 Swallows in the area.
Today's highlights thanks to Andy Makin and other observers:
12+ Spotted Flycatcher spread over the whole area 2 Tree Pipits south over Georges Lane and 1 down at Brownstones Quarry 2 Redstart with a male Lomax Wife's Plantation and a female Holdens Farm 1 Whinchat at Holdens Farm 10 Wheatear 7+ Willow Warbler 2 Chiffchaff
Female Marsh Harrier NE over Sugar Loaf Hill briefly landing about 11am 3 Spotted Flycatcher with singles at Wilderswood, Walker Fold and Higher Meadows 1 Tree Pipit E 8 Chiffchaff 14 Wheatear
Whimbrel 1 over south 71 Wheatear 2 WhinchaT 6 Spotted Flycatcher, including 1 in the cable compounds on Winter Hill 5 Redstart around mast buildings on Winter Hill Grasshopper and Sedge Warbler around the mast building 49 Chiffchaff 21 Willow Warbler 1 Garden Warbler
Only 4 Wheatears 2 Tree Pipit; 1 over east and one down at Wilderswood 11 Spotted Flycatcher, 9 Chiffchaff 10 Willow Warbler 1 juvenile Green Woodpecker in the big hedge at Higher Meadows 7 Siskin over Single Willow Tit in Wilderswood clearing
Today's totals spread over the moors with combined counts between Andy Makin and myself:
173 Wheatear spread over the area, mainly on the top of Winter Hill (in GM) once the thick cloud had lifted early morning 9 Whinchat 15 Spotted Flycatcher 12 Tree Pipit 13 Willow Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 2 Merlin 1 Swift over south
11-12 this morning, parked at Burnt Edge Lane to look for Whinchat, 5 Stonechat in field immediately, then walked to Holden's Plantation and back with Meadow Pipits the only birds seen. On arriving back at car the Stonechats had gone but a single Whinchat was in the field. Cheers Ian
Single Ruff on Lancashire side viewed from Georges Lane at 17:30 with a flock of 70 Lapwing and 200 starling. The flocks were low down on the slope. Other birds seen included Black Headed Gulls, Carrion Crows and Woodpigeon, Wren and Robin heard.
On the GMC side of the border were two male Stonechat feasting on the masses of flying ants quite close to Georges Lane. There were two very large swarms close to the tree tops in the grounds of the Kennels with numbers that must have been in the hundreds. I can see why the Green Woodpecker must like this area!
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Burnt Edge/Walker Fold 17:30 - 19:00. 2 Tree Pipit. 2 Spotted Flycatcher. 1 Whinchat. John Bradshaw had 1 Pied Flycatcher in the same area this morning.
Additional sightings this morning courtesy of Andy Makin:
2 Whinchat on Burnt Edge Single Ruff in the sheep fields along Georges Lane just over the border in Lancashire; flew off with 20 Lapwing and dropped down towards Rivington Reservoir Single Golden Plover NW over Higher Meadows 4 additional Tree Pipits all SE over Georges Lane; taking the days tally to 12 29 Wheatear Single Spotted Flycatcher at Higher Meadows; taking the days tally to 6
Not a lot more to add to that in a walk from Coal Pit Lane > Walker Fold > Burnt Edge > Mast Road > George's Lane > Three Lads > Holdens Farm > Coal Pit Lane Sunday 14th 9.15 to 12.30.
A good morning today up on the moors with the following highlights from first light to midday:
3 Pied Flycatchers (one Wilderswood clearing and two at the bottom on Burnt Edge) 5 Spotted Flycatcher (three at the bottom of Burnt Edge, two in Brownstones Quarry) 8 Tree Pipit (three singles south over Higher Meadows pre-9am, three very showy in the trees at the bottom of Burnt Edge and another two at Holdens Farm) 52 Willow Warbler, many clearly on the move early am 1 Garden Warbler at Walker Fold
A Whinchat which landed briefly on fence Higher Meadows before flying of high south towards Horwich. 3 Spotted Flycatcher in willows below Burnt Edge by Sugar Loaf Plantation. 26 Wheatear. 57 Willow Warbler scattered. 1 Siskin over wilderswood.
Layby off Matchmoor Lane - Burnt Edge - Holdens Farm - Gilligants Farm - Winter Hill - Mast Road - Holdens Plantation - back over Burnt Edge - and return
Stonechat x 5 (including 2 juveniles) Wheatear x 1 Meadow Pipit x 10 Kestrel x 4 Swallow x 7 House Martin x 5 Carrion Crow x 8 Magpie x 10 Woodpigeon x 1
Good numbers of Swift moving south then later SEW with a total of 1318, the majority from 06:45 to 08:30. Quite a bit of movement in first two hours of light in very low cloud with 5 Black-tailed Godwit N, 2 Oystercatcher and 7 Lapwing N, 1 Dunlin over calling, 3 juvenile Common Tern high N. Also 2 Wheatear along Mast Road.
Two Stonechats by the metal barrier on Mast Road and a further male and 6 juveniles on Burnt Edge 4 Wheatears in the Mast Road pony fields 134 Swift south between 11:05 and 11:30 1 Curlew south
Good numbers of Swifts with 473 moving south from Edge Lane and Burnt Edge between 10:45 and 12:15, with over half in last 30 minutes before heavy rain moved in. Small numbers of hirundines south included 40 House Martin and 130 Swallow. 2 Wheatear were in the Mast Road pony fields. 4 Crossbill flew directly south over Edge Lane. 8 Curlew flew NW together over the tops of Winter Hill.
30 juvenile Swallows landed on Mast Road around 10am today, 10 Swift went SE and 6 Wheatear included one which continued SE over the moor. Best of all a juvenile Black Redstart landed on the border wall along Georges Lane just after 10am, then flew up on to the border tower where it rested for 5 minutes before it worked its way to top before flying of towards the mast buildings.
The moors this morning included 3 Wheatear in the pony field along Mast Road, 12 Willow Warbler in the bracken along Burnt Edge with a male Stonechat here and along Georges Lane.
Layby off Matchmoor Lane - Burnt Edge - Holdens Farm - Gilligants Farm - Colliers Row - Walker Fold Wood - return via Burnt Edge
Linnet x 3 Yellowhammer x 1 Curlew x 2 Skylark x 3 Meadow Pipit x 7 Reed Bunting x 1 Willow Warbler x 5 Lapwing x 4 Mistle Thrush x 2 Pied Wagtail x 2 Swallow x 10 Swift x 2 Goldfinch x 10 Great Tit x 1 Blue Tit x 2 Chaffinch x 3 Carrion Crow x 10 Magpie x 5 Woodpigeon x 7 Pheasant x 3 (all male) Canada Geese x 2 Black-Headed Gull x 8
Grasshopper Warbler,Willow Warbler,Chiffchaff,Whitethroat,Reed Bunting,Kestrel,Raven,Buzzard and Blackcap all seen and heard on Bike ride around Horwich Moors today.
Saturday, 14th May 2016. 12:30 - 16:00 hrs. Sunny with little nip in air. Quiet birdwise with perfect walking conditions.
Matchmoor Lane layby - Burnt Edge - Holdens Farm - Gilligants Farm - Winter Hill - Mast Road - back via Holdens Plantation
Curlew x 6 Raven x 2 Skylark x 5 Meadow Pipit x 3 Reed Bunting x 2 Willow Warbler x 1 Whitethroat x 2 Swallow x 10 Swift x 2 (seen on drive up near Beaumont Lane) Great Tit x 1 Chaffinch x 3 Carrion Crow x 10 Magpie x 3 Woodpigeon x 7 Pheasant x 3 (all male) Black-Headed Gull x 8
Had a few hours this morning but it was really quiet. 06:00 - 09:00 Top end of Smithills near Adam Hill, Georges Lane and Matchmoor Lane. No Wheatears and hardly any sign of movement. A few Redpolls seemed to be the only things moving. 3 Willow Warblers were singing along Georges Lane, and a Pied Wagtail along Matchmoor Lane were sadly the most interesting things I saw in three hours of the quietest birding I've had up here.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
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2 Coal tit
2 Great tit
1 Goldcrest
1 Curlew
20 Meadow Pipit
1 Carrion Crow
2 Song Thrush
2 Jackdaw
2 Robin
2 Blackbird
2 Willow Warbler
Still no sign of the elusive Ring Ouzel after many visits looking for it!