Osprey perched in dead tree somewhere on lower bank between six and seven pm this evening but viewed from arnfield reservoir. Flew in from the direction of the reservoir and occasionally preened.

Osprey this morning perched eating a fish near Widowscroft Farm (caught earlier at nearby Arnfield Resv). Still present mid morning(apparently has been in the area c2 weeks). Also a Tree Pipit over east and Raven.

Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Wheatears and 2 Ravens near Moorside Farm off Hobson Moor Rd early pm.

this morning

middlebank..

7 ring ouzels
14 wheatears
75 meadow pipits
6 curlews

hollingworth hall farm..

23 fieldfares
1 redwing
3 pied wagtails
2 nuthatches
20 goldfinches
4 greenfinches

info thanks to phil kelly. wish i had gone with you now never seen a ring ouzel

Sunday 08 April 2012 Weather: Windy with light showers and drizzle.

Mottram Cutting to Millbrook

Ring Ouzel still present on Lees Hill and Curlew noted also in adjacent field.
Good number of Fieldfare 30 approx with 3 Redwings , 2 Mistle Thrush and ground feeding (5) Goldfinch in fields Hollingworth Hall.
Treecreeper at Middle Bank

Higher Swineshaw Reservoir and environs.

Stonechats single female Wheatear, 3 male Mallards on upper reservior and 6 Canada Geese on lower.

Up to 7 Ring Ouzel on Middle Bank area this afternoon.

Mark Rigby and myself were able to positively identify 3 males and 2 females, but I'm fairly certain sure there were other birds present earlier.

Also seen

1 Wheatear
100 Meadow Pipit through
300+ Fieldfare in ploughed field on Hobson Moor Road, also present in field were 2 Mistle Thrush, Meadow Pipits and Linnets
Good numbers of Curlew

Robert Adderley wrote:

---

Osprey late afternoon initially seen on the Derbyshire side and last seen over Lees Hill heading towards Brushes.

Also up to 7 Ring Ouzels by Middle Bank on Monday (2nd) but not seen today.

Info thanks to Bill Underwood.

---

Thursday 5th April 11.00am

At least one goldcrest,in song and coal tit in plantation at beginning of road.Further down chaffinches,goldfinches and a greenfinch and other tits

Monday 26th March. 08.15 - 09.30 hrs.

Full circuit of Lees Hill ..... ante-clockwise ..... walked across from Higher Swineshaw.
Conditions were brilliant but very quiet.

Plenty of Meadow Pipits.

Bit of a suprise were a pair of Oystercatchers which took off from a small boggy patch on the Tintwistle side of the hill.

Seemed odd watching these two in the middle of the moor while listening to a Greater Spotted Woodpecker drumming (down in Middlebank) and Curlew bubbling away higher up.

Roger.

interesting day,

brambling in the plantation near the farm

2 kestrel were the only birds of prey sighted all day, though i did hear a buzzard mew 4 times.

and 3 birds heading towards swineshaw direction along the ridgeline of the hill by the quarry and the only thing i can think they could have been were snow buntings.

smaller than a thrush bright white with brown markings, calling to each other as they flew past.

1215 till 1700 with ian peters
probable rough legged buzzard over lees hill at aprox 1300, clear white upper tail on this buzzard, ian picked up the pale underwing with dark carpal patch which i didnt see, there is an escaped harris hawk in the area so needed to rule out the underwing pattern which is more uniform on harris hawk, anyway will be back tomorrow for another try
1 stonechat, 2 common buzzards and red grouse.

hi doc, didnt look for the bramblings to be honest, didnt notice them as i walked past the area, they have been around for a while from what i was told so no reason why anyone shouldnt connect with them if they wait around a bit.none of us yesterday could understand that we didnt see any raptors considering how many we saw on sunday but i havnt given up hope yet of seeing the rough legged as long as it sticks around.

Nice to meet you too Brian. The Arnfield birder was Paul Greenall (sp.?) finder of the Western Bonelli's. Shame it turned into one of the most unproductive day's birding I've ever had

Treecreeper Swallows Wood GM Side

1030 till 1615
no sign of rough legged buzzard today
in fact the only raptor i saw strangely was an escaped harris hawk!
curlew,red grouse and raven the only birds of note
weather not great so no reason to think it isnt still around considering we didnt see a wild raptor all day
nice to meet tim wilcox today, also chated to a birder who watches the area regulary, he says he will join the forum and post any updates.

Just a quick "thanks" to Karen, John and Mark for your PM's, and to others on this thread for your advice.

The ideal scenario would be a stakeout on the top of Lees Hill around late morning in decent weather and good visibility, and just as I'm eating a beef and pickle butty, a RLB drifts close by, then soars overhead for several minutes while I age and photograph it.-- - Dream on!!

I'll keep an eye on the weather this week; also, much depends on what else may be available, especially on the Wigan side of GM which could prove an overall irresistible temptation to get me down there for a quick two day blast.

Cheers,
Mike

Roger,
we initially parked in the layby but there is room for 2 cars further down the 'No Through Road' before it is legally private. We followed Brian's lead & parked there, there is no legal reason why not & we even met the householders & chatted to them & they had no problem. But I DO agree room for 2 cars is risking it & there is MUCH more room at the layby - albeit a it longer walk - at the mo I am waiting for a cartilage op & have a very painful knee so the less walking the better!!
Cheers


-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 20th of February 2012 01:34:38 PM

Nice to meet Brian, Ian & Karen.

Tim, the Rough-legged Buzzard only broke the tree line by a few feet both times it showed, we could see where you were & all agreed it would have been impossible to see it from such a low elevation. We were pretty high up but were striving for a higher elevation to try to see over & behind the pine plantation it was favouring. Brian was concerned that had we got higher we would have lost the brook which was the GM border and therefore made it hard to judge which county any birds were in.

I also picked up 1 female Sparrowhawk, making it a real red letter raptor day in the sunshine - has the Hen Harrier been reported previously? Mark (the guy I was with) & I reckon that the Rough-legged could have shown a few times more but the few seconds it was visible at a time meant that it you didnt happen to be looking at where it broke the treeline then it would go un-noticed. There were also at least 200 Fieldfares on the pasture along 'Cow Lane', all in Greater Manchester as well as the flock of 30+Bramblings in the beech wood.

Cheers
Paul

Mike
Our party drove up Hobson Moor Road as far as vehicular access is allowed & parked just before the house which has a sign saying 'footpath only beyond this point'. We then walked straight up the track following signs for Arnfield Moor to just past the small plantation which is the one Brian told us it had roosted in on the previous occasion. This gave a pretty panoramic view over Arnfield Moor looking at the pine tree belt/plantation which the Rough-legged was behind. I had missed Pete's post but that concurs with our sightings exactly. The precise time of sightings was not noted but was late morning, between 11am and noon.

From our postion there was no pattern other than the bird broke the tree line about 3 times in all and for a few seconds at a time, all within Derbyshire, but no real direction to the flight - just up and then dropped, often mobbed by corvids. Common Buzzard were seen in widespread locations including near the same Pine Belt and over the fields between us and Arnfield Resr, flying past in both directions.

Hope that this helps - albeit weather, overnight roost etc probably affects the pattern of sightings significantly. All that can be said is that it is a tricky bird :)

Good Luck

Paul

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 19th of February 2012 09:19:52 PM

Watched the Rough Legged Buzzard for about 10 mins late morning,I was well inside Derbyshire border,about 1 mile due north of Arnfield reservoir,the bird flew over my head from the east and slowly drifted west/northwest towards Manchester boundary and disapeared over a ridge roughly in the direction of Brushes,a mile or more away from me.Also a couple of Common Buzzards in the area,a few red Grouse and Raven.
Having now had a chance to check the o.s.map,the bird did fly into Gt. M/c north of Lees Hill,towards Swineshaw Moor

-- Edited by pete berry on Sunday 19th of February 2012 02:37:37 PM

Seen again today at 2:15pm, though just over in Derbyshire.

Info thanks to Rob Adderley

Any news if the bird roosted in the area tonight or if anyone has looked for it this evening ?

Cheers, Simon

Rough-legged Buzzard at Middlebank, Hollingworth, Hyde this morning. Sat in trees beyond conifer plantation at 08:15 and in flight, all within GM.

Info thanks to Iain Johnson

The bird was seen to go to roost here (from over the border in Derbyshire) last night at 5pm.

Late afternoon
Brambling several along the lane feeding with chaffinch plus two over middle bank
Fieldfare at least a dozen feeding on berries at the top of cow lane with c20 seen going to roost
Treecreeper pair
Nuthatch heard only
Blue,great and coal tits
Blackbird
Wren heard only
Magpie
Robin
Wood pigeon
Carrion crow
Meadow pipit
Jackdaw

Female wheatear on lees hill during the week with two curlew and two kestrel

7:15 to 8pm - at least four stock dove off hobson moor road, with 25+ lapwing. karen found a golden plover later in the evening.