Unsworth Moss, Rhodes, Simister- 100 Pink footed geese flying SE, lots of long tailed tits, goldfinches, pied wagtail, kestrel , starlings, House Sparrow and a number of Redwing.
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 19th of October 2014 03:57:01 PM
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Sunday 19th of October 2014 10:04:26 PM
Large bare (maize) field adjacent Simon Lane / M62: c 200 Lapwings and a few others scattered around the sheep grazings. c 10 Pied Wagtails with Grey Wagtail x 1 Curlew x 2 high overhead going north east.
Buzzard x 2 closeby, plucking prey later near Simister. Wood Pigeon c 100 in total.
A walk along Simon Lane at Bowlee towards Unsworth Moss late afternoon to check over the maize stubble fields. Large numbers of mixed corvids in the very wet stubble fields near the motorway bridge. There are still two large fields of as yet unharvested maize just on the northern side of the M62 at Unsworth Moss which I hoped might possibly have been an attraction for a Starling roost but not had arrived by the time I left.
There was a small flock of 12 - 15 sparrows, incredibly difficult to see despite a considerable wait, in the clipped hawthorn hedge and the adjacent stubble field just a short distance south-east of Sandfield Farm on Simon Lane. All the vocalisations I heard were of Tree Sparrow and not of House Sparrow and the only three birds seen very briefly together were all Tree Sparrows. If all indeed should be Tree Sparrows, then this would be a very good flock count for this area.
I saw this from the bus so had no idea how long it stuck around for. I have a feeling it might have crossed over from Heaton Park but then it was not too high in flight. It was not being mobbed but then I wonder was it carrying anything? The way it was flying low suggested it may have been but then once I had identified it I could not make out if anything was in its talons.
I always used to have a look at the golf course from the bus when I travelled to uni and would see Lapwings, Moorhen, Mallard, Grey Heron and possibly Coot. Kestrels were also quite regular here. There does not appear to be much now, although I do use the bus much less now.
-- Edited by Sarfraz Hayat on Friday 12th of April 2013 11:57:52 PM
Pike fold golf course area 18 coot on small area open water Snipe flushed from stream 3 buzzard 2 kestrel 2 peregrine Single fieldfare 2500+ black-headed gulls leaving roost towards tip 140 starling in one flock north east
Had a walk along Simon Lane, Bowlee towards Unsworth Moss this morning having a look over the maize stubble fields in this general area, which usually holds good numbers of commoner birds at this time of year. Some of the walk was in Rochdale MBC but most of the sightings were from the Unsworth Moss area (Bury MBC) so for convenience sake all have been posted on this thread!
On and around the stubble fields - c60 Chaffinch, with what were probably another c25 in Bowlee village, c180 Jackdaw, 9 Stock Dove, c40 Carrion Crow, c25 Rook, c80 Black-headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, 2 Fieldfare, 3 Buzzard, c12 Blackbird, c20 Magpie, c50 Starling, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Greenfinch.
Highlight was two Skylarks over fields near Egypt Farm, 1 sang briefly in display flight. Seems very early? - spring is (almost) here! They later moved off in the direction of Bowlee, where some Skylarks were seen foraging in maize stubble fields.
A flock of 23 Collared Doves (surely they can't be the same ones as Simon spotted here on 10/7/10!) were at Simister, with many other pairs seen in the general area as well. It was really nice to walk through Simister village and see and hear House Sparrows in almost every hedge and around every roof space. Shows that they can still thrive in the right habitat. And it would appear that what is good habitat for House Sparrows, would seem to be good for Collared Doves too?
Had a walk around Simister this afternoon - not that much about but did have the following:-
Woodcock - Single flushed from hedgerow on old hall lane up from the footbridge over M60 Treecreeper - Single at entrance to Heywood farm Fieldfare - 20 in fields by Egypt farm Redwing - 14 Heywood farm & 20 in copse behing high school Stock Dove - 3 Egypt Lane, 2 Stubble field behind the high school Jackdaw - 150 in fields off the end of Simister Lane
Have seen Swift entering the roof space of the house in SD80H and (off the top of my head) SD80C. I think it could be a big colony as always about 100 birds flying about.
It sounds like you had a good day Simon. Well done for confirming Skylark in SD80N Birch. I carried out the TTVs on this tetrad and Bill Myerscough has made quite a few visits to the area. Neither of us managed to confirm Skylark.
Skylarks were carrying food at Watergrove (SD91E) and on Blackstone Edge (SD91T) today. It's interesting that they are still feeding young in both the uplands and lowlands on what is quite a late date. Birds in England says "up to four breeding attempts may be made during the season, allowing the species to compensate for high levels of nest predation."
If you get the chance to check out the Swift colony that would be great. A difficult species to confirm. However, if you see birds disappearing into the roof space of a building you can record this as ON. There's clearly little chance of actually seeing this species sitting on a nest, unless you're lucky enough to have them nesting in your attic!
Steve
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The Watergrove Skyline (January 2010) - before desecration.
Had a good look round the Simister area today to help with the SD80 challenge and get a few more breeding records for the Atlas. ( The area that I walked around covered SD80 H, I & N)
A very healthy House Sparrow population around Simister village - easy over a hundred birds - there was 40 alone at the end of the village where the cattery is.
Skylarks were confirmed breeding in SD80 N and I total of 9 birds, 1 young seen and another bird collecting food plus 5 singing birds.
Oystercather had also bred with 5 birds seen in a crop field, the young bird chasing parents for food. Also 39 Lapwing, 2 Stock Dove and 6 Juv Pied Wagtail.
Good numbers of Swallows around the farms at least 5 farms in the area had fledged young sat on wires. Egypt farm had the most with 40 birds and 2 Sand Martin with them.
Pike fold Golf Gourse had breeding Linnet, Reed Bunt, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Canada Goose (21 young) and Coot (4 young). 5 juv Grey Heron were sat in a field with an adult, also buzzard and a group of 23 Collared Dove.
There also appears to be a Swift colony in the estate near to Heaton Park res and House Martins were seen in this area too!
If all indeed should be Tree Sparrows, then this would be a very good flock count for this area. 