Another morning on my patch with bright sunshine and turning quite warm.

There were 2 drake Pochards again on Big Pool and 2(1drk) Shoveler. As I expected the Whooper Swans had departed, a shame as two patchers saw them and two I know of didn't. There were no Pink-footed Geese again, the fields being utilised by Greylags and Canadas now.

A nice sighting were 2 Coal Tits in the Pine Belt.

Again pm on patch, overcast and cold again.

On Big Pool the 3(1drk) Shoveler were seen again. The big surprise was just 20 Pink-footed Geese in the maize fields! In total 87 Greylag Geese, 38 of which were in the harvested maize, and 18 Canada Geese, 6 in the maize, were seen.

Also in the harvested maize with the big numbers of Woodpigeons were at least 14 Stock Doves.

A longer afternoon visit today in cloudy, cold conditions.

On Big Pool 3(1drk) Shovelers flew across as I watched from Beach Peg. On the far side form me 9(4drk) Wigeon could be seen, there may have been more as I was some distance away. It was an amazing day for geese with a patch yeartick of a Barnacle Goose in with an amazing patch record 3,350 Pink-footed Geese in the harvested maize fields all along Sandy Lane and round to the car parking area on Novia Scotia Lane. On Big Pool 58 Canada Geese were seen and on the pool and in the maize a total of 182 Greylag Geese were recorded.

On the maize field what may also have been a patch record of 38 Rooks were seen amongst huge numbers of Jackdaws and Woodpigeons with a few Stock Doves in there too.

Another afternoon visit in sunny but cold conditions.

There were 2 female Shovelers on Big Pool today. The highlight was a flock of 1,500 Pink-footed Geese in the harvested maize, mainly by Novia Scotia Lane this time. On Big Pool just 83 Greylag Geese were present today. There were just 5(2ad) Mute Swans, all on Small Pool today, the family have driven off all the other visiting adults!

In the maize fields especially but all around patch too were huge counts of 1,400 Woodpigeons and 800 Jackdaws.

John Watson wrote:

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Bizarre that this archaic, pointless, revolting tradition of a "gibbet" is still done

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 I agree mate, the whole Pheasant thing is abhorrent too, rearing birds that have no survival skills to blast them out of the sky as sport 

Today's afternoon walk was in overcast conditions with a tiny smattering of light drizzle.

There were 3(1drk) Goldeneye on Big Pool. A slight reduction to 50 Pink-footed Geese down on the harvested maize stubble. On Big Pool 113 Greylag Geese were undoubtedly the flock from yesterday.

Another shortish afternoon on patch, dull but dry!

The headline news was the appearance of 80 Pink-footed Geese feeding in the recently harvested maize field east of the Pine Belt. These are the first down this autumn and hopefully numbers will increase like last year. In addition there were 111 Greylag Geese on Big Pool. Also on Big Pool 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen, but the 'resident' adult chased off the new adult soon after. A Kingfisher flashed across Big Pool.

On the Common Farm loop a gibbet with at least 25 dead Pheasants and 6 dead Mallards was on a fenceline of one of the private houses.

A productive short afternoon walk on patch, sunny but coolish.

There were 3drk Shovelers on Big Pool but these were very elusive in the willow spit area. A flock of 76 Greylag Geese were on Big Pool.

The main action for passerines was in the puddles on the main track by Finch Hedge initially and then in the adacent just-harvested maize field. Star birds were 4(1m) Bramblings, two bathing in the puddles and two in the maize stubble. Similarly 3(1m) Greenfinches were seen in the field and the puddles, this species being a patch rarity until this autumn so far, when numbers have been up. These finches were seen amongst around 120 Chaffinches, obviously attracted by spilt maize from the harvesting. The birds in the puddles first attracted my attention due to a tiny one bathing in there which turned out to be a Goldcrest. I have never seen a Goldcrest bathing in a puddle on a path so this was compelling viewing.

A brief sojourn on Patch this morning, cloudy but mild.

Just a single report, the first returning 3(2drk) Goldeneyes of this autumn, on Big Pool.

Down on the pools part of the patch this morning, sunny and mild.

A total of 6 Goosanders were on the pools, a full drake on Small Pool, and 2 eclipse drakes plus 3 females on Big Pool. There were 6 Wigeon too, a full drake and 3 females on Small Pool and an eclipse drake plus female on Big Pool. On Big Pool a group of 7(1drk) Teal were seen. A group of 20 Greylag Geese were on Big Pool. A Kingfisher was on Big Pool near Gorse Point.

 There were 2 Ravens near Common Farm actually taking food from a paddock. A nice group of 5 Stock Doves was near Common Farm.

A very brief morning patch walk, sunny but ice & frost!!

On Big Pool a total of 6 Mute Swans, the resident pair with three young who have now swapped pools and driven all but one of the other adults off! A skein of 48 Pink-footed Geese flew NNW at 9.36am just north of the Pine Belt. Two Cormorants flew low over Big Pool.

The first 3 Bullfinches for a while were in scrub on the north side of Big Pool.

Morning on Newchurch, sunny and warm.

A drake Pochard was new in on Big Pool, the star bird today. The 2 eclipse drake Wigeon were still on Small Pool. A small flight of 9 Greylag Geese flew low over Shemmy Moss. Two Common Snipe were on the muddy pool on Shemmy Moss. A Grey Heron came up off Gull Pool where it was on a landing stage.

A good morning on patch with lots of bird sightings of note. Overcast, drizzle but mild for October!

New in were 6(4f) Goosander on Big Pool with the two males being eclipse drake. Another good sighting was 5(3f) Wigeon, with again the two drakes being in eclipse. The two drakes were on Small Pool and the three females on Big Pool. Sadly these Goosander and Wigeon totals came a day late to make it onto yesterdays WeBS Count! A female Teal flew across Big Pool, another species not seen yesterday. Continuing the theme of new wildfowl there was a total of 191 Pink-footed Geese over in 4 skeins, all moving in a south to south-east direction. The strangest skein was a small group of eight that came low over Big Pool and flew silently through not uttering a single call! There were 11 Mute Swans left on the pools today, the six adults on Big Pool and the family of five on Small Pool. A particularly friendly female swan came so close that I could read her BTO ring (W53343), she had no darvic! Further digging revealed her to be one that had spent some time in captivity and rehab at Stapely Grange a while ago, thus explaining why she came out of the lake and walked up to me.

The first 5 Redwings of the autumn on patch flew over the east meadows and up over the Pine Belt. A Stock Dove flew over the field NE of the Pine Belt.

A morning on Newchurch, colder, but dry and at the end sunny.

There were 10 Mute Swans again, 5 adults on Big Pool and the family on Small Pool. A high count so far this autumn were 4 Cormorants, all but one on Big Pool.

A feeding flock in Gull Pool Wood contained a Chiffchaff as star bird along with 10 Long-tailed Tits and several Blue & Great Tits.

A morning walk on Newchurch in the pools area, sunny and mild.

A Tawny Owl Pellet was in the woodland by Big Pool Island Cut. A male Kestrel was hovering very low, only about 5m up over the main path.

EDIT: I returned & collected the Tawny Owl pellet and I am now dissecting it!

A morning on patch in warm, sunny weather.

There were now 10(7ad) Mute Swans on the main pools, 5 adults on Big Pool and 2 adults and 3 juveniles on Small Pool. This is a high count for this site.

There were 3 Treecreepers associating loosely with a large roving tit lock in Gull Pool Wood.

Morning on patch, sunny and warm.

There were 2 Wigeon new in on Small Pool. A big group of 90 Greylag Geese were on Big Pool. Noteworthy was a group of 7 Moorhens feeding on the harvested field next to Lymm Vale.

Morning on Patch, sunny and warm.

A Cormorant was again on Big Pool.

A Kestrel was on Sandy Lane, not common in this exact spot. A cracking passerine fall in the horse paddocks near the Sandy Lane/Novia Scotia Lane junction included 10 Meadow Pipits and 15 Pied Wagtails.

An afternoon on Patch again, sunny and warm.

The first returning Wigeon (fem) was on Big Pool.

A Chiffchaff was feeding along the main track.

Morning again, dry and bright.

A skein of 33 Pink-footed Geese flew over the north side of Big Pool westwards at 10.30am. On Big Pool 122 Greylag Geese and 160 Canada Geese dominated the wildfowl sightings.

A male Kestrel was over the fields north of the north arm of the Pine Belt.

Morning and afternoon on Patch, overcast but mild.

A female Shoveler flew in and landed on Big Pool, the first this autumn. There were 97 Greylag Geese feeding in the maize stubble NE of the Pine Belt. A total of 9 Mute Swans were made up of 4 adults on Big Pool and the family of five on Small Pool. A Cormorant flew over Shemmy Moss.

A patch scarcity, a juvenile Greenfinch was in Finch Hedge.

On Newchurch am, dry and mild.

There were 17 Greylag Geese on Big Pool as well as a Cormorant.

In Sheffield all day yesterday so had to delay my BTO WeBS Core Count by one day until today! Bright, mild, mainly dry but a very light shower at the end, 10.10am-12 noon.

There were 72(37drk) Tufted Ducks, 21(10drk) Gadwall and 38 Mallards today, all up on last month. A mass of 241 Canada Geese and 7 Greylag Geese were on the pools when I arrived but most flew off to feed whilst I was there, again both increases on the August count. The 7(4ad) Mute Swans present was the same as last month. There were counts of 191 Coot and 4 Moorhens, the former down slightly and the latter not significantly different to last month. A count of 11 Great Crested Grebes was slightly up. As for gulls, 16 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull were seen, which was a bit low. Finally 2 Sand Martins flew through Big Pool and 2 Swallows flew over Small Pool.

A total WeBS Count of 614 birds of 14 species was recorded, which means total birds was up substantially (mainly due to the geese!) but number of species was the same compared to August.

On patch am, warm and overcast.

Just one bird sighting  note, today 9 Mute Swans were on the two main pools, 4 adults on Big Pool and the family of 2 adults and 3 juveniles on Small Pool. This is probably the highest day count of the species all year.

On Newchurch am for my first Sept 2026 visit. Overcast and warm.

Very quiet with the only new sighting being a Little Grebe on Big Pool.