A huge gathering of House Martins was flying over the cattle pasture and Southern edge of the Bongs. There were a few Swallows here too,
but they appeared to be seasonal residents rather than moving with the martins. I cannot recall seeing a flock of this size containing solely House Martins before,
there was certainly no Sand Martins or Swifts around.
A Buzzard flew amongst them and it appeared for a moment that it was going to try and catch a martin, but it soon gave up.
In the surrounding hedges was a family of 3 Common Whitethroats plus a group of 4 Linnets, whilst 10 Goldfinches were on thistles.
-- Edited by John Williams on Monday 21st of August 2017 05:43:58 PM
-- Edited by John Williams on Monday 21st of August 2017 05:46:07 PM
3 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Tufted Ducks, 2 Blackcaps and 2 Willow Warblers.
A pair of Nuthatches were frantically trying to chase a Grey Squirrel away from their tree hole.
There appeared to have been a fall of warblers along the East bank, which the Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were part of, but there were many more Chiffchaffs, some in song.
A pair of Great Crested Grebes with 2 adult sized young. 1 adult fed a youngster a teaspoon sized fish, which looked like a Gudgeon.
1 Cormorant,40 Black Headed Gulls and 1 Grey Heron. Surprisingly there were no Tufted Ducks on the mere, but there were plenty of Mallard.
The Bongs and adjacent fields.
4 Goldcrests were moving around with a large flock of mixed tits, also with them were 2 Nuthatches and a Treecreeper.
Also here were, 2 Buzzards, 3 Fieldfares and 10 Redwings. I followed the path beyond the Bongs towards Primrose Hill and the A50.
At one point the path becomes very muddy, where cattle have been feeding, this spot seems to be a magnet for wagtails.
5 Grey and 4 Pied Wagtails were drawn to this spot. 4 Ravens performed a tremendous aerial display above the woodlands, until a huge Buzzard appeared, which they then mobbed,
together with 10+ Jackdaws that had previously been mobbing the big corvids. The Buzzard made a quick exit.
There is a small pool with muddy banks close to the footpath here, although there were no birds there today, it looks to be a good spot for passing waders.
I had a nice walk around. Great Crested Grebe pair with the three young already have a new set of eggs. One was feeding the old three but when it got to close to the other on thenest it snapped at it and pecked it until it swam away. 6 nuthatches 2 drake tufted ducks 1 mute swan 3 coot (1 more heard and 1 on a nest) 2 moorhen 1 grey wagtail And as I was leaving I saw a cormarant fly in and came really close to shore. Where I got some nice shots of it.
Called in briefly this evening to check on the Crossbills. They weren't present in the Larches where they have been seen for the past three days, maybe because of the presence of three Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the trees. Also 2 Buzzards flying over the clearing for a short time may have had a disturbing effect. When the Crossbills did appear they were in a group of 12 - 14 birds calling as they flew around the clearing a couple of times.
not been here for a long time so thought I would spend most of the day searching around from 10-4pm.
on the dam...
pair of great crested grebes with 3 juvenilles, at one point one adult caught a small roach and fed it to one juvenile but as the juvenile began to eat it the adult started to attack the back of its neck mallards, 3 black headed gulls, 4 canada geese & 1 cormorant. same as john has been reporting there are no coots on the dam, where have they gone ? 3 chiffchaffs 2 blackcaps 4 stock doves 2 great spotted woodpeckers 2 goldcrests 7 nuthatches 4 treecreepers at least 4 buzzards plus the usuals. a nice surprise of at least 5 crossbills feeding on the larches at the bongs
70 Black Headed Gulls, 3 Cormorants, 1 Grey Heron, a pair of Great Crested Grebes, 2 Song Thrushes and a Treecreeper.
Lots of Mallard but no Coot or Tufted Ducks.
Lymm Bongs
2 singing Song Thrushes, 2 Goldcrests, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Buzzards, 1 female Sparrowhawk, 4 Goldfinches, 1 Treecreeper and 1 over flying Cormorant.
Flushed off an adjacent field of stubble were 70 Redwings, 4 Fieldfares and large numbers of Chaffinches, possibly by the over flying large female Spar, the passerines sought shelter in the woodland.
A female Mallard was peeping out from a tree hole, she looked very anxious, so I kept my distance, lets hope everyone else does.
Unlike my visit last month, the larches near the footbridge over the stream contained no Siskins, but 3 Mistle Thrushes were chasing each other around the tree tops.
Oddly there were no Nuthatches around, normally I'd expect to find lots here. Plenty of Jackdaws around the church though.
160 Black Headed Gulls, 4 Cormorants, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Grey Heron plus the usual Mallard etc.
Surprisingly no Coot. 2 Song Thrushes amongst the usual woodland birds.
The Bongs
A mixed flock of 6 Lesser Redpolls and 4 Goldfinches, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Mistle Thrush plus the usual woodland birds.
2 Buzzards and 1 Raven flying over and in the tall larches near the wooden bridge, 8 Siskins.
An adjoining field of stubble held large numbers of Redwings and Chaffinches.
4 Wrens were flitting mouse like through the low tangled brambles by the stream, these guys seem quite a lot scarcer than they used to be.
There are some nice mature Alders along the stream, LSW as been reported in the past, alas not by me, and today as usual only produced their bigger cousins.
Late post for yesterday,01/05/12.... 13:00-14:00.... Stroll around dam ... 7 Chiffchaff, 3 singing willow warblers , Whitethroat, 2m Blackcap, Pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, generally showing well, calling ,drumming etc.,situated approximately two thirds down the length of the lake , on the right-hand side , ( when viewed from the road.) 20+ male mallards, Pair mute swans , Pair great crested grebes Strangely , no Hirundines seen ! Cheers Chris
(Can't find another thread specifically for Lymm Dam but felt it worthy of a mention here)
Spent a very pleasant hour wandering around the Dam last night and enjoyed some very close and interesting views of several species. The paths around the Dam follow the sides of of the slopes and at some point afford elevated views of the treetops at your eye level. There is also an old bridge crossing the water at the end which allows you to look down on the tree tops.
At the start of our walk we had to take evasive action to get out the way of a pair of male Chaffinches who were so busy fighting they nearly flew into us first one way and then came back the other.
Never seen so many Nuthatches - seemed to be in every tree we looked at!
Black-headed gull Great Crested Grebe x2 Mallard Canada Goose Nuthatch Blue Tit Great Tit Long-Tailed Tit Wren Robin Buzzard (over twice, quite low) Wood Pigeon Carrion Crow Chaffinch
