Yes, the Ruff were a great local find by Simon and Alan. Well done. Lovely to watch such elegant birds close to home!
Did a quick tally yesterday and with Ruff this brings the total number of wader species alone recorded at this site in the last few years to 18! That's not too bad for a building site!
Interestingly Ashworth Moor Res seems to have been the hotspot for this species in Rochdale (not many times it can claim such a title!), the last record there was 2 on 10/7/2006 (Me and Pete S), prior to that the last sighting up there was 1996 and the highest flock in Rochdale was also at AMR - 8 on 31/8/1992 (Interestingly Peter Hill mentions that from 1963 - 1992 it was almost annual after the breeding season on major reservoirs in Rochdale - how things change!).
I called in whilst passing on the M62 today - cracking birds (well done Alan!).
When Alan and I found them yesterday we were trying to think when we had last seen one in Rochdale - we thought it may have been 20 years ago. Having checked my records my last one was at Hollingworth Lake on 11th August 1987 - 25 years is a long time to wait so enjoy them while you can. Rochdale birding sure is hard work!
Perhaps not too surprisingly this site has "evolved" somewhat since its glory days and now houses one industrial unit so enormous that it can probably be seen from outer space
But has the unit got a Lapwing and Golden Plover roof, Bill?
Steve
Not entirely sure Steve, as I don't think it has ever been seen, as it is usually shrouded in inpenetrable cloud or mist with the building being so enormous. Makes the nearby Pennines look like mere molehills.
Perhaps not too surprisingly this site has "evolved" somewhat since its glory days and now houses one industrial unit so enormous that it can probably be seen from outer space
But has the unit got a Lapwing and Golden Plover roof, Bill?
Perhaps not too surprisingly this site has "evolved" somewhat since its glory days and now houses one industrial unit so enormous that it can probably be seen from outer space
Still a visit this morning was rewarded with a really good count of c60 Snipe.
Also c22 Teal, 3 Fieldfare, c10 Meadow Pipit, 20+ Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Reed Bunting, 3 Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, a few Robins and Wrens, 1 Moorhen and a Mistle Thrush was singing from somewhere nearby.
A good showing this morning of Fieldfares, Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and Blackbirds all actively trying to feed whiile protecting their diminishing food supply. A dozen Lapwings all stood around on an iced up pool but no other signs of any other waterfowl or waders.
Passed that way this morning. No show for the Water Rail but most of the pool(s) fringes are now free of ice and there were quite a few people about. (Although I'll admit to a Moorhen getting me quite excited until it revealled itself fully!) 6 Teal on one pool and 4 on another. 13 Redwing seen in that little park (maybe called Stanny Brook Park) which flew off over Milnrow but there were more up around the ruined farm. 5 Lapwing flew over and 1 Kestrel.
Many thanks for the Water Rail information,Bill.Can count myself lucky to have seen the bird before what seemed like an army of "dog walkers" passed by and flushed the rail into the dense undergrowth.
Just returned from a weeks holiday in coastal Northumberland and a real feast of birds - came back full of enthusiasm and thought I would venture out early to Piethorne hoping to catch sight of a stray Eider or even a Brent Goose! Called in at Kingsway on the way over to Piethorne and along with a flock of c16 Teal, adult and immature Moorhens and 2 Snipe on one of the ponds was a Water Rail! It showed really well for a couple of minutes and was seen a little later this morning by Dave Ousey.
Also c15 Redwing over, 1 Jay over, 1 Lesser Redpoll over, 1 Sparrowhawk over and 1 Bullfinch calling.
More on my Northumberland sightings in the out of county section later.
A Whinchat this evening flitting on and off the fence posts, showing its white tail flashes, in the field at the bottom of John Milne Avenue. Could be a new species for the site.
Rochdale's former wader hot-spot is now a construction site. Most of the pools have now gone replaced by the steel framework of a large building.
Still we had 2 great years. It looks like Rochdale's birders will have to go back to searching upland reservoirs for their waders.
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The Watergrove Skyline (January 2010) - before desecration.
1 house martin 8 ringed plover 2 wheatear 2 lbb gulls 1 pied wagtail usual corvids, skylark, mipits and lapwing. 1 singing whitethroat before the last roundabout motorway end
5 Black-tailed Godwits this afternoon in stonking summer plumage - appeared to be icelandic race birds - they were on the pool at the back of the main mudflats accessed from the roundabout nearest to Gordon Riggs garden centre.
Once again a large feeding flock of Skylarks on rough grassland near the second roundabout - probably c60 birds again. Also 140+ Starling, 3+ Linnet, 7+ Pied Wagtail and I was able to watch the nice sighting of a single Golden Plover bathing in one of the shallow ponds on the mud flats.
Its a great urban site and its a shame that it will all be developed one day as am sure it would get a great number of species, well more than it has already!
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 16th of March 2010 10:16:35 PM
A lovely and unexpected spectacle this morning of birds on passage. A loose but vocal flock of Skylarks came in from an easterly direction and after a brief bit of noisily swirling about they all plummeted down on the mudflats here and became almost invisible! It was hard to count birds accurately as it all happened fairly quickly but 60 Skylarks would be a fairly conservative estimate.
Matt - a belated response to your last post. If you have a look at my post on this thread from 10/08/09 this will explain whereabouts to look. You can also use a series of footpaths that lead across the site but these are regularly subject to closure as developments take place on the business park.
I only stopped at the roundabout opposite the brick building with the green roof. Is there anywhere else specific to look or is all the birding from the road?
Quick visit mid-morning - largely iced-over and with a light dusting of snow.
3 Teal, 3 Moorhen, 15 Mallard on the only unfrozen water.
A Meadow Pipit flew over and a small flock of c15 Goldfinch moved through. 18 Carrion Crow were scavenging on the mudflats/rubbly areas, as were 3 Skylarks. 2 of the Skylarks had a brief dispute and 1 got chased away by the other. This date for Skylark is even earlier than last year when birds were reported on 20/02/09. Still the early bird gets the pick of the best territories...........or more likely at the moment severe frostbite!
Early pm - a first visit to this site for a good while - not a lot about though.
1 Kingfisher on one of the overflow ponds.
2 Common Gulls amongst about c120 Black-headed Gulls, 11 Lapwings. 4 Fieldfare and 1 Mistle Thrush were foraging on some freshly turned over ground and 1 Kestrel hunting. A Cormorant flew over.
Cheers,
Bill.
-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Saturday 23rd of January 2010 04:30:08 PM
Mid-morning - c260 gulls loafing on the mud flats - c55 Common, 2 LBB and the remainder Black-headed. Also at least 3 Skylarks and c5 Linnet.
Afternoon - had a good wander around and came across a few hidden pools that I didn't know existed - flushed 11 Snipe in the process. This site must be a possibility for Jack Snipe this winter? Also c110 Starlings, 4+ Reed Buntings, 2 Grey Herons, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Redwing amongst the double figure count of Blackbirds feeding on hawthorn berries, 13 Pied Wagtails together - wonder if they might be roosting in one of the trees near to one of the industrial units? A small flock of c15 Goldfinch.
Just off Kingsway Business Park (Ellen Road Steam House Chimney). A Peregrine was seen roosting near the top of the chimney.
A Peregrine was regularly seen roosting here last Winter (October - Jan). This coincided with sightings at Kingsway Business Park a short distance away. This is the first time since January that it has returned (if it is the same one?)