The Lesser Whitethroat was still singing away on the East Lancs road and a Blackcap was singing in the next bush to it. On the pools there were 12 House Martin's and 2 Swallows feeding over it and a bonus bird I wasn't expecting when a COMMON SANDPIPER walked into view !!. The usual Gadwall, Mallard, Coot and Little Grebe were on the pool. By the farm there were another 4 Swallows and a single Tree Sparrow,plus plenty of House Sparrows.
Further over plenty of commons warblers, still more Reed Warblers singing, and now 12 Tufted Duck, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Little Grebe and Coot on another pool. Several Lapwing holding territory in a suitable area, and 4 Sand Martin over.At least 5 Buzzards up in the air,and a few Lesser Black Back ,Herring and Black Headed Gulls over.

Plenty of Reed Warblers they're in every patch of phragmites now,at least 3 new Sedge Warblers on my walk today,obviously just arrived in,in last couple days.As usual lots of singing Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers,Blackcaps and Whitethroats about,and a few Swallows and Sand Martins feeding over the pool which held the usual ducks,Mute Swan and Canada Geese.
Flyover Lesser Black Backs and Black Headed Gulls,a few Stock Doves over, a couple of Buzzards ,and a Oystercatcher flew past.
A new bird today was a RINGED PLOVER,in suitable breeding habitat,I'll be keeping my eye on that.

A quick walk this morning ,the Lesser Whitethroat was still rattling away on the East Lancs road, it must have turned the volume up a couple of decibels as I could hear it above the traffic noise from 100yds away.
A Mallard with 3 young on the pool,plus Little Grebe, Gadwall, and Lapwing on the island. A lot more Whitethroats about today,plenty of singing Blackcap, a single Chiffchaff and 3 Willow Warblers were all in song.On the small pool a pair of Moorhen with 3 small young,and at least 8 Swallows around the farm.

After a couple of tickless days it was nice to get a couple of new birds this morning.
Plenty of singing Goldfinch and Chaffinch, a singing LESSER WHITETHROAT in the thick Hawthorn hedge along the East Lancs road, which was just about audible above the traffic noise !!. A few Pied Wagtails in the fields,and 2 Tree Sparrows again. At least 10 Swallows on territory around the farm,nice to see so many back already,and plenty of House Sparrows around the farm as well. The pool still held 2 Gadwall,Coot,Mallards,a couple of Moorhen and whilst I was watching it 2 SHELDUCK dropped in,an unexpected but welcome addition to my lockdown list.

-- Edited by pete berry on Thursday 23rd of April 2020 12:55:20 PM

A fairly short route today as plenty of gardening to get on with. A couple of Mistle Thrush and Lapwing still in the sheep fields and a Yellowhammer on the perimeter hedgerow,and a new Whitethroat in same general area.
On the pools the Tufted Duck numbers had increased to 12,the 2 Gadwall were still knocking about, a Mute Swans and a couple of Little Grebe were the only other birds of interest on the water. Still a few singing Reed Warblers in the phragmites, and the usual Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and Blackcap everywhere. The only new bird today was a Oystercatcher flying around and calling.

Decided to head off in a different direction and head west instead of east today,first call was at a friend's feeding station, half an hour there produced 3 flocks of TREE SPARROWS coming in for food,a flock of 4,5 and 12 appeared in the time I was there.
Afterwards I walked along the side of some farmland where there were 4 Lapwing holding territory, and at least 100 Woodpigeons feeding on the recently seeded fields.Plenty of singing warblers in the hedgerows but no sign of the hoped for Lesser Whitethroat yet.
A large pool had 4 Coot,3 Moorhen,Mallard, Canada Geese and a single Little Ringed Plover and a TREECREEPER in a nearby copse of small trees. A GREY WAGTAIL on a small pond on my way back was the third new bird of the day.

A couple of Mistle Thrush ,a few Lapwing and 2 Pied Wagtails on the sheep fields.Still plenty of singing Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Blackcap in the hedgerows, and a few new Reed Warblers singing in the phragmites.
The pools held a pair of Gadwall,,4 Little Grebe,Tufted Duck ,Mallard and a pair of Canada Geese. Elsewhere a few Linnets,Reed Buntings Buzzard and the Little Ringed Plover still on territory.
The only new bird of the day was a HOUSE MARTIN which flew over back garden just after I got back.

Didn't manage to get out till mid afternoon which is usually the worst time to go birding as most of the birds aint singing. With this in mind I decided to just do a shortish walk and check out the pools, and was rewarded with another lockdown tick in the shape if a pair of GADWALL .Not much else really apart from a singing Reed Warbler in a new area of phragmites reed bed.

-- Edited by pete berry on Wednesday 15th of April 2020 05:28:25 PM

I walked a different route today,one of the first birds I saw was a SWALLOW over the sheep fields,a couple more Lapwing now taken up residence on the fields,hopefully get some breeding success if the Buzzards don't wipe the young out.
A fishing Comorant was on one of the pools,and on another one a pair of SHOVELER were present, together with 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Coot,Little Grebe,and a few Mallard. Over another pool 4 SAND MARTIN were feeding,and nearby the Little Ringed Plover had increased to at least 3 birds.on the way back a REDPOLL flew over my head calling,and 3 Snipe were seen.Most of the warblers weren't singing much due to the cold easterly winds, but 3 Reed Warblers were vocal at a different Reed bed to yesterday,and a Sparrowhawk gave great views as it drifted low overhead,and at least 10 Stock Doves were noteworthy.
That's another 4 new birds to add to my lockdown list.

Having stayed home for a couple days cabin fever was severely setting in,time to brave the crowds of people using the canal which I have to walk along at some point,and resembles Piccadilly circus at the moment.
Anyway it was well worth the effort with 3 new birds for my lock down list,and an enjoyable time reconnecting with my old patch.
Still several Lapwing on territory in the sheep fields and as I was scanning through them a nice male WHEATEAR popped up on top of some furrows in the field.6 Yellowhammers seen,including 2 singing males in a different area from previous sightings was hopefully a sign of potentially a good breeding year.Willow Warblers were in virtually every other bush and I gave up trying to count them they're were that many plenty of Chiffchaff as well,and at least 6 singing Blackcap today.
A singing REED WARBLER was my first of the year as was a singing GARDEN WARBLER,which sang (gargled)for at least 5 mins without stopping. Other birds of note were 2 singing Reed Bunting,3 Jays,and 4 Buzzards .

A good morning's birding with 5 new birds seen:-
Raven(mobbing a Buzzard)
Goosander (1st summer male)
Linnet, 2 small flocks flew past
Mute Swans (2)
And the one I'm most chuffed about a pair of Little Ringed Plover which appeared to be on territory
Also a singing Yellowhammer,Blackcap,at least 20 singing Willow Warblers and 12 singing Chiffchaff, couple of Pied Wagtails, etc.
Also lots of butterflies mainly Peacock but at least 2 Orange Tips (with one yesterday)

Afternoon walk 2.45- 4.00 from East Lancs to behind Astley Colliery and over the Bridgewater canal and back. Sightings of note;

2 Sparrowhawks circling south of canal over pool with reedbed.

1 Willow warbler in song alongside canal

2 Swallow together flew low towards East Lancs Road -Indian Restaurant!

2 Yellowhammer North of canal.

Several Chiffchaff

Forgot to mention in my earlier post that I also saw a leucistic Starling in a flock of approx 100 birds,the Starling had a sandy brown head and pale bill,similar colour to a juvenile Rosy Starling but was progressively paler towards it's rear end,with the tail being pure white.Gave me a few seconds of panic when I saw it initially head on,but soon as it turned sideways I realised what it was. Quite glad in a way it wasn't anything rare as obviously with current restrictions couldn't have shared it with anybody.

Just back from my health/sanity walk,again same route as yesterday. Total number of species seen today-36,including 4 new species which are in capitals
Blackbird,Goldfinch, House Sparrow,Starling,JAY(3),FERAL PIGEON,Wood Pigeon,Great Tit,Robin,Magpie,Blue Tit, Song Thrush, L.T. Tit,Wren,Chiffchaff, Buzzard (4),Bullfinch, Grey Heron,Lapwing, Tufted Duck(7),Coot,Little Grebe,Mallard,B.H.Gull,Carrion Crow,Jackdaws,TEAL,Skylark, SNIPE(8),Comorant,L.B.B.Gull,Stock Dove,Pheasant, Willow Tit, Chaffinch and CANADA GOOSE.
Never thought seeing a Canada GOOSE would give me so much joy!!!
Good birding and keep safe and sane.Reckon by weekend there should be a few new migrants in if the forecast is correct with southerly winds.

Decided to venture outdoors for a bit of exercise now that the garden work is nearly done. My walk from my house passes farmland, 3 fields of sheep grazing,plenty of hedgerows,with some damp willow scrub areas,several pools and some nice areas of phragmites reed beds,a canal and some nice overgrown bramble patches.
Today I managed to see 25 species in my hour or so walk,nothing out of the ordinary but nice to see Buzzard,Kestrel,6 singing Chiffchaff, a Lapwing on territory in sheep fields,8 Tufted Duck,4 Coot,Bullfinch etc.
Hopefully as spring migration progresses with the varied habitat I should record quite a few new species.

Approx 250 Fieldfare at top of village this am(largest flock I've seen locally this winter)

Barn Owl hunting over the horse fields behind the colliery just before dusk tonight.

A Wheatear in the horse field behind the colliery
Chiffchaffs in every bit of suitable habo
and a Brimstone butterfly through the garden today

Singing Chiffchaff in copse behind Boathouse pub this morning.

The Short eared Owl still present,but only showed briefly,and distantly a couple of times tonight,

Short-eared Owl still showing very well at 5:15pm yesterday in the fields behind the colliery.

Info thanks to Pete Berry

Yeah, great to meet Pete Berry, Mike Baron and Pete Hilton watching the Short-eared Owl tonight.

Also one Grey Heron and two Kestrels over and Skylarks dropping into the field. A lovely evening.

Short Eared Owl was out again tonight from 4.30 till dusk hunting the same general area