16th October.

Exactly 10 Wigeon on one of the shallow pools late morning.

Also a loose flock of c70 Carrion Crow, c25 Jackdaw and c30 Starling. 4 Stock Dove, 3 Reed Bunting and 1 Tufted Duck were also seen on just a brief visit.

Cheers,

Bill.

4th October.

c30 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck and 1 Snipe and some Siskins flying over at 7.30 am.

Forgot to mention....16 Snipe, 1 Golden Plover and c20 Teal on 27/9.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Sunday 4th of October 2009 02:19:56 PM

22/09/2009 - No Rosy Pastor in amongst the starlings during a brief scan in the morning, but a good 12+ Skylarks and 8 Lapwings visible.

18th September.

Early morning visit.

An totally unexpected count of c85 Teal on the pond just off the roundabout nearest to the garden centre. I counted at least 80 on the ground and some had already disappeared in flight over the nearest hummock - so there were probably even more than this!

2 Snipe in the same spot and 1 female Tufted Duck on the pond at the other end of the business park.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Friday 18th of September 2009 01:16:50 PM

29th August.

4 adult Shelduck on one of the shallow ponds at 9.30 am but they had gone when I called in again at 11.30 whilst on the way home.

Not a lot else about really - a few Sand Martins and handful of Linnets, some Black-headed Gulls and 2 Common Gulls were with the Shelducks (but they had also gone by late morning!) and a large uncounted flock of Canada Geese.

No waders!! This site is getting really overgrown and may now have passed its best?

Cheers,

Bill.

Well done Bill! an amazing amount these days for Rochdale! By 'weeds' i assume you mean 'Wild Flowers' of which there have been some interesting ones at this site.

Dave

the ruddy shelduck is still around, it is on the park lake in queens park, heywood this morning.

Archie wrote:

---

Hi Bill
Where abouts on the business park do you get access to view the ducks and waders
Archie

---

Hi Archie,

Officially you are not supposed to wander off from the pavements bordering the roads which currently carry traffic through the business park. I have to say that I have seen other people wandering off here, there and everywhere.... although it goes without saying this is something that I personally have never done
Seriously though, if you approaching from the Kingsway/Gordon Riggs end, there is a pool that can just about viewed from the first roundabout. From the second roundabout there is a large expanse of flat land that can be viewed quite easily - this area has, in times of higher rainfall, become flooded and sometimes holds many smaller pools and at different times of the year may hold waders, gulls, geese or flocks of passerines. This is usually the best spot and has generally had the best sightings so far. At the other end of the park and just before you get to junction 21 of the motorway there is a large pool, where water levels can change very quickly, this can be accessed via Harbour Lane and Ashfield Lane which are off Elizabethan Way.

The site management team, quite rightly, have security in place because they have had some considerable problems with travellers, off-roaders (quad & scrambling bikes), theft and fly-tippers. The site for birds/wildlife is only going to be temporary and it has become much more overgrown in just a year and even if not developed soon may become less attractive to some types of birds fairly quickly. If you do birdwatch off the roundabouts, you do need to keep your wits about you if carrying optical gear, as some unsavoury characters do pass through the business park in cars and I have once or twice been quite worried when groups of youths in cars have stopped and asked what I am doing.

If you want to meet up there sometime to have a look at the site, just send me a pm.

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Monday 10th of August 2009 09:28:44 PM

Judith Smith wrote:

---

What's with these Red Arrows? They were right over my mother's garden in Summerseat going W yesterday - presume Rob saw the same ones about 3-ish over Burnt Edge. Are they touring GM or something?

---

and over our house in warrington at 3.40

Hi Bill
Where abouts on the business park do you get access to view the ducks and waders
Archie

9th August.

Several visits during the day. No sign of Green Sandpipers but got myself a bit over-excited and in a bit of a pickle over a small to medium sized wader. Many thanks to Simon Hitchen, Steve Atkins and Dave Ousey all for coming down to look for and to look at what was probably just a juvenile Dunlin??

Also some large flocks of some of the commoner species - conservative counts of c60 Linnet, c80 Goldfinch, c90 Lapwing. c70 hirundines late evening - were approx c50 Swallows and c20 House Martins.

c10 Common Gulls amongst the BH Gulls. 1 gorgeous looking Golden Plover with the Lapwings and also 5 Snipe.

Sparrowhawk and Kestrel fairly regularly putting the birds up! However, even these were no match for getting everything in the air as were the 2 parties (6 & 5) of Red Arrows which flew over in formation, heading SW in early afternoon and making the return journey in the evening. A cracking sight - just a shame they didn't have the smoke trails billowing out of the back of the planes!

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Monday 10th of August 2009 07:33:03 AM

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Monday 10th of August 2009 07:34:22 AM

25/5/09 11.00

4 Lapwing
6 House Martins gathering mud
2 Jackdaws
1 Oystercatcher.

Pete

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 25th of May 2009 01:27:35 PM

sorry for late post
had 8 dunlin on friday morning from 3rd r'about off motorway but only 2 in the evening.
Like steve, I was spoken to by the site manager in the morning (though he didn't say I looked respectable and I was wearing my work suit as well!!!) and asked not to stray pastbthe roundabouts. Looks as though they were planning on starting some kind of work here again soon.!!

The 4 Dunlin were on the pools off the last roundabout before Kingsway (if coming from the motorway). Just be aware that officially you are not supposed to go down this road even on foot. I was stopped by the estate manager and asked what I was doing. He said I looked respectable and it was ok to carry on viewing.
A Whimbrel dropped in at about 18:45 hrs (seen from 2nd roundabout from motorway) and was bathing and preening.

Steve

Present at 08:25 this morning (21st)

4 Sanderling
3 Dunlin

Viewable from the 3rd rounabout

Info thanks to Andy Isherwood

Thanks Ian for puting the initial posts on. This is the first chance I've had to get onto the computer since yesterday evening. Having spent nearly 6 hours stuck in a car yesterday travelling back from London, it was a relief to finally get back to Rochdale. Dropped my better half and mother-in-law off at Morrisons and headed for Kingsway, not expecting that I was about to have one of the best evening's yet there.
At 17:15 hrs I heard Whimbrel calling and struggled at first to locate them above the noise of the traffic. Finally picked up nine birds flying in a straight line just above the treetops along Stanney Brook. Got onto them with the scope and followed them as they gained height, heading north-east until lost to view against the hills. These birds may well have been down on the pools near the canal which are not visible from the middle roundabout.
At about 17:45 hrs I picked up the Little Stint feeding close to a Ringed Plover. The size difference was striking, the Stint being only about half the size of the RP. It was slowly moving about with a shuffling gait, jerking its head as it fed. I was then faced with a dilemma. Do I leave my better half and mother-in-law stranded at Morrisons and wait while the local birders arrive or set off and hope the bird hangs around? I chose the latter course of action
When I got back to Kingsway at 18:30 hrs thankfully the bird was still there as were Alan Nuttall, Bill Myerscough, and Dave Ousey, who confirmed the ID. Shortly afterwards Mark Rigby, Steve Collins and Dave Bebbington arrived. Everyone agreed that the bird was a Little Stint. We left at just after 7 p.m. as a large black cloud appeared, to be followed by thunder and torrential rain.
The Sanderling seen later by Simon may have been brought down by the rain. The bird we were watching was very sluggish and was certainly not running around at high speed.
I'll email a rarity form to you Ian over the weekend. Would the other people who were watching the Stint please also submit a rarity form to Ian.

Thanks

Steve

Theres a 5:30 in the morning?

Dave

Yes thanks Steve a great find.
It really would have hurt to miss 2 county ticks in consecutive days! All dried off now- couldn't drive off John leaving you looking for a dot on the mud flats in the rain!
Steve

And my thanks to Steve for getting out of his car for a second soaking to help me locate the bird which, as Sue says, was running all over the place and also making short flights - hard to keep up with.

Cheers, John

Nice find mr.atkins. Glad to see it stayed long enough for mr.collins to connect with it. A cracking little bird

May 15th.

A pair of Greylag Geese on the mudflats were a surprise - probably as genuinely "wild birds" as you are likely to get with this species?

2 Grey Partridge were also unexpected - rather worryingly the first time I have seen this species anywhere this year! I have yet to see any at Piethorne in 2009

50+ Swallows and a handful of Sand Martins foraging low over the water bodies in the wet weather conditions.

Also 1 Dunlin.

Cheers,

Bill.

All you two-headed hill dwellers, please read the new 'Breeding birds on this forum' post at the top of this forum.

Cheers

1 Dunlin, 1 Redshank and 0 Sociable Plover on Fenn's Pond this afternoon - Bill informs me that this is the official name for the half empty puddle at Stanney Brook

Ian McKerchar wrote:

---

After playing rugby against Littleborough today we drove past this site. I never realized where it was but the Kingsway signs on the fences gave it away! Despite it's apparent lack of water I was very impressed, obviously a car full of rugby lads were never going to stop for me ( they think I'm daft enough already being a birder!) but I can clearly see what the fuss is about. What a great little site, due a biggy so long as it doesn't dry out

---

Ian,

Biggy? - don't you mean biggies??! You mean you drove straight past and you somehow managed to miss that flock of 43 Sociable Lapwings that had been basking on the mud flats for much of the day! They had been waiting patiently for someone other than myself to spot them and to claim their rightful place in Manchester birding history. In an act of utmost generosity I had decided not to report them - praying that someone else, hopefully an eligible 2009 tournamenteer would come across them and claim the glory and the 10 gazillion points on offer.

You do realise that just so you could get a couple of pints down your neck and the chance to sing a few bawdy rugby songs you missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. No "sensible" birder would drive straight past! - I can only assume you had taken leave of your senses from the mild concussion that you had got from far too much rucking and mauling. Looks like I'll have to try and complete the rarity report form myself now!

Cheers,

Bill