very quiet so went for a look on top of the hill behind the Saddleworth Hotel but still no look? Main res goldeneye 1 m 2 f Not many gulls canada geese >40 fieldfare 10 Top res Goosander 10 f 3m
64 Great Black-backed gulls(which coincided with the large count at Pennington Flash and also large numbers of gulls present at Castleshaw-about 1500 assorted)
Flushed a Snipe from a good looking area, so it was on with the wellies in search of Jack's. After a good half hours stomping,I had flushed the only bird present but a new bird for my Castleshaw list
At 1600, I spotted a large raptor very high up in the blue sky,head on into the afternoon sun. It was being mobbed by corvids and flying in and out of the lower cloud. I grabbed my scope from the car but the bird flew into the cloud never to been seen again.
I am 90% sure it was a Red Kite-but could not clinch ID on the views I got.
Saturday 20.9.08 - complete circuit of both resrs (0900 - 1100):
3 separate family groups of Stonechat and one Whinchat. 120 Canadas + one Canada x Greylag (?) hybrid, 5 Tufties, 1 Cormorant, numerous Mallard, 1 Heron, hunting Kestrel, a few Black-headed Gulls. Gave up shaking a stick at Mipits when it became obvious there were too many! Dipper, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail on overflow channel of bottom resr. Dipper appeared colour-ringed but need to examine photos closely.
36 Mallard(6 young still!) 76 Canada Goose Great Crested Grebe Grey Heron 3 Robin 3 Mistle Thrush(flock of 20 recently) kestrel 6 Blackbird Few Swallow(10+)
Just before dark-18 duck flew in off the moors,thought I was in for a treat!
Teal (fem) 17 Mallard+still 7 chicks 10 Tufted Duck 3 Kestrel G C Grebe Grey Heron 98 Canada Goose 250+ Jackdaw roosting in trees between res' Juv Lesser Black Back 14 Mistle Thrush
At 1455hrs,I was counting Meadow Pipits in the field adjacent to the cottages when they all got up and flew off. Then I heard a commotion behind me (corvids going mad). I turned and saw a large brown raptor flying low along the hillside being mobbed by the local corvids. When I got it in my bins I nearly died of shock-an Osprey . It flew behind the plantation and carried on over the hills in a NNE direction towards Castleshaw Moor.
Part of our ringing team has been out this week in the early stages of our big Dipper chase. We had a three bird flypast on the River Sett at Hayfield; it was a real territorial battle involving last year's male. We checked a 'new' nest at New Mills but failed to catch the pair,
Taken from a posting on March 17th. Also noted on posting from March 18th :-
"Another good riparian species on that walk is Sand Martin; but the colonies come and go. Last year was not good in Reddish Vale for example, but two years ago we ringed 150+ "
There has also been hear-say, not by the above poster, of reduced numbers of Twite sightings in the Whiteholme/Light Hazzles area around the feeding stations this year.
Readers may wish to draw their own conclusions about behaviour and lunatic fringes as these are just observations by someone who may cover many miles around the county in persuit of sightings, which are reported to fellow birders and recorders, in the company of other observers but I certainly do not chase birds.
Well, it seems that I, along with many others on this forum are part of the "lunatic fringe" who do not keep to hides. Off the top of my head I can only count eleven hides in the whole of the county, with seven of these at Pennington alone !, and two more at permit only sites.....................Perhaps we should all start going to Martin Mere and Mere Sands Wood and let the County go unrecorded ???????????????
I've already stated the website and forums stance on the posting of breeding birds and will continue to moderate posts as usual, there will always be some birders that due to one reason or another let one slip from time to time and these will be dealt with by me but are you implying that we shouldn't even be looking out for sensitive species in the breeding season (what of roving reports for the Bird Atlas then?), most of the GM Annual Report is made up from sightings from these very people who also post on here. Whilst I agree that there will always be those fortunately very few birders who don't abide by the Birdwatchers code or seem to have any common sense there are very few sites in the county that actually have hides so yes, most of the sightings on this forum are from birders wandering around birding, finding those important species (including breeding ones) that otherwise would go unnoticed, unrecorded and perhaps unprotected because of it. As for lots of birders chasing very few birds, there's less really active birders out there than you might think and more than enough birds for us all to enjoy with plenty areas still to be fully explored without any need for 'chasing'.
There are several species which are not Sched 1 which I believe need extra protection in the breeding season by not publishing locations which are too specific. Judging by the massive number of postings relating to well watched sites in Manchester, it seems likely that not all of them were obtained from the safety of hides. Lots of birders seem to be chasing very few birds. Now if it's a Cattle Egret in Poynton not much damage can be done to a lost bird, but on the other hand it is not uncommon to meet birders (without permission to be there) trampling around looking for sensitive species. Remember that egg collectors are birders, and possibly very talented ones as well; it's a pity that they can't do something useful than being the majority of a lunatic fringe.
Not really sure what your post is intended to say Tony or where it is going (what's not really enough)? Who are this 'lunatic fringe', are we talking birders here?
Not really enough folks. Every year, at a site where I ring Pied Flycatchers, I hope that a pair nests in a box next to the car park. That way all lists can be ticked and disturbance kept to a minimum. The problem occurs when the number of birders exceeds the number of birds, and has nothing to do with Sched 1, Red or Amber listed. Sadly Sched 1s need protection from the lunatic fringe as well.
If you haven't read the 'Welcome to this forum, PLEASE READ' post at the top this forum then you really should have, but here is the relevant extract:
I welcome all bird sightings recorded in Greater Manchester to be posted on this forum but users should understand that I reserve the right to withold or remove locations of species in which specific site disclosure could be used by unscrupulous individuals who may visit websites such as this. The welfare and protection of species under threat in our county is absolutely paramount to me.
Users of the forum should consider very carefully posting ANY nesting species, ask yourself the question, what is to be gained by posting such information? If in doubt please conatct me for advise but I will edit posts that contain any sensitive breeding information without consultation with the user.
I'd like to reinforce what Steve said. Just to repeat what was said this time last year, I think: please don't put nest sites for any Schedule 1 species (that includes Merlin, Barn Owl, Black Redstart, Kingfisher, Black-necked Grebe) - the only exception being the well-watched town centre secure sites for Peregrines, and Little Ringed Plover, which are so common now I doubt they will stay on Schedule much longer. Also Long-eared Owls (due to repeated chick theft).
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Judith Smith
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Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
It's not a great idea to put sightings of rare breeders on this forum during the nesting period. There are still undesirables around who collect eggs or take raptor chicks from nests. This info is best sent to Judith Smith will not print such sensitive info in the county report.
Redwing 10+ Fieldfare 40+ Lesser black back & Black headed gulls 300+ mixed Canada geese 122 Greylag with white aroud beak Teal 4 Jay Cormorant 2 Pheasant greenfinch carrion crow starling lots of small groups around
Just spent one hour up there and i am sure i missed loads but spent most of my time trying to count the Redwing & Fieldfare.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 9th of July 2011 10:34:59 AM