Great to be birding in GM this year when time allowed. A massive thank you to all the finders and Ian for the site.
Personally it was the Mealy Redpoll at Elton, as it just looked stunning, as well as being the first one I'd seen. Close second probably Hooded Crow and Long Eared Owl..
There's really only one contender in my opinion and that was the Hawfinch at Urmston.A bird that is usually very hard to see anywhere in the country,and one I've hoped to get on my Gt.M/c list for along time.The fact that it perched up and gave amazing views as well, and was not just a fly past only adds to the pleasure of seeing this bird.
I'd say it's been a pretty good year for GM birds, although not a definitive list below, For me I'd have to say the Temminck's Stint was the stand out bird of 2018, with the Rose-coloured Starling a close second, the Velvet Scoter a very close third, And respect to the finders and Ian for getting the news out there. I should say the Pallid Swift at Heaton Park would of featured highly on my list had it still been on site the morning after the night before, You win some you loose some.
Mealy Redpoll - Elton, Jan Hooded Crow - Ashton in Makerfield, Feb Glaucous Gull - Hollingworth lake, Feb Osprey - Boothstown garden tick, May Temminck's Stint - Pennington Flash, May Great Egret - Pennington Flash, Oct Rose-Coloured Starling, Timperley, Oct Velvet Scoter, High Rid Res, Nov
In my humble opinion it's been a superb year for birding in Greater Manchester
Mealy Redpoll at Elton Reservoir, Glaucous Gull, Hooded Crow, Rosy Starling and Velvet Scoter were all quality twitches
https://youtu.be/mThI2CZ6-f8
Glaucous Gull, Hollingworth Lake
https://youtu.be/loDUjd9IZfc
Having spent most of my life living in Timperley, I never in a million years thought that I would be twitching Rosy Starling there!
https://youtu.be/-zEQKHyqMRo
The summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gulls on Lowercroft Reservoirs were stunning birds
Finding Short-eared Owl at Elton Reservoir was fantastic, as was seeing Little Egret on the new Castle Irwell Urban Wetlands Nature Reserve
https://youtu.be/tGc1wTSF2T0
Ducks generally feature in any review of the year in Greater Manchester, Greater Scaup Elton Reservoir, the drake Common Scoter that practically over-summered on Hollingworth Lake and Pochards are always a pleasure to see for birders who know their heritage!
We take them for granted, but seeing Mandarins in big numbers at Etherow Country Park counts as a highlight in my notebook, especially when you look at the massive twitch that just one drake in Central Park, New York has sparked!
I enjoyed watching the Ruddy Shelducks at Orrell Water Park (even though they were obviously birds from a collection) and the Spot-billed Duck at Alexandra Park Lake also provided a touch of the exotic!
As John says Red-breasted Merganser was one of the birds of the year
https://youtu.be/5mye2dNVjyo
https://youtu.be/QsnBlamg6Lg
The singing Wood Warbler in Brookdale Park was a brilliant advert for urban birding in the Manchester area
https://youtu.be/LQC-5V2k-Ao
My personal highlights are
- The Caspian Gull on Cowlishaw Moss, Cocker Mill Lane, literally on my doorstep, thanks to Gary Crowder
- Finding Osprey at New Year's Bridge Reservoir, Oldham https://youtu.be/ENbS6qz_MdM
- Seeing Little Egret, Pink-footed Goose and Whooper Swans on Castleshaw Lower Reservoir
- Finding the red-head Smew on Castleshaw Upper Reservoir, all these birds are a great reminder of the birding potential of the Oldham borough
Massive respect to all the grassroots birders - the local patchers and field birders!!
Photos:
Red-head Smew, Castleshaw Upper Reservoir Wood Warbler, Brookdale Park Mandarin, Etherow Country Park Western Spot-billed Duck, Alexandra Park Lake
Lapland bunting at Audenshaw for me. A new county bird, and one I'd never seen as well anywhere (not even Scandinavia!). Runner-up goes to something based more on the setting really: seeing three little egrets flying together over Woodley, with the Manchester skyline as a backdrop, was just such an exotic scene in the wrong place.
A few candidates... - The Glauc at Hollingworth Lake, smart! - Mealy Redpoll at Elton, worth a shout, and also... - Velvet Scoter at High Rid Res. All good candidates and my full respect goes to the finders.
BUT...in all honesty, best bird has got to be one of the scarce Gulls. Simply because Ive got right into Gulling and finding a good Gull, for me is rewarding.
- Iceland Gulls. Always good to see and Ive found a couple of nice juvs this year at Redgate, and the Atherton 3rd winter bird found by Pete Berry is another cracker, all candidates! - Caspian Gull X106 that I managed to find last week is a returning county bird, and obviously a candidate, but even better than that in some respects was the 1st w (2cy) Caspian Gull that I found at Redgate in March. I was chuffed with that one.
But Yellow-legged Gulls have just edged these out, and despite finding a smart adult at Sale WP in November, the winner for me is undoubtedly, the Smithfield 2 that I found in July 2017, and unbelievably remained on or close to the site until mid-January 2018. They were even joined by a 3rd individual for a few weeks but the fact I learned so much from those 2 Gulls in-particular, its comes as no surprise that they take the honours!
I must also say a big thankyou for all the help I get firstly from Ian (whom I bombard with photos of just Herring Gulls and hoping they are something else) and secondly to everyone on the forum for making it a hive of valuable information, especially the Gull posts.
2018 has been a good year for my County (200 club) List, with 8 ticks added.
The Hooded Crow and the Velvet Scoter were star birds, but the Mealy Redpoll at Elton, and the Glaucous Gull at Hollingworth are fondly remembered.
With some help from John Tymon, I finally tracked down a 'bona fide' Yellow-legged Gull at Penny. This site also provided me with Temminck's Stint and Jack Snipe.
For me, the star bird was the Bewick's Swan that appeared at Rumworth in March, alongside 6 Whooper Swans.
-- Edited by Keith Mills on Friday 28th of December 2018 10:43:27 AM
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Rumworth List 2019, species to date: 63 Latest: Sand Martin, Reed Bunting, Redshank, Pink-footed Goose, Curlew.
Hmmm. Rose-coloured Starling and Hooded Crow were both new birds for GM but neither really hit the spot. However, on the Stockport Borough birding front, Firecrest and drake Red-breasted Merganser has a great deal more sparkle and would be my personal pick as 2018 highlights. I enjoyed the merganser so much I am repeating a photo here . Merry Christmas everyone.
Yes, it is that time of year again. Do we have a standout bird of the year?
The Rose-coloured Starling perhaps figures high on the list, though it surely would have been a more obvious front runner had it been in adult plumage; it was considerate enough to stick around a while, (though not long enough for me personally to catch up with it). To be truthful GM has not been graced with a deluge of rarities in this year but species such as Temmincks Stint and Velvet Scoter have been much appreciated, especially the latter which may well stick around into 2019?
Happy Birding Everyone in 2019!
Mike P.
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Challenges are inevitable, but failure is optional.
. Merry Christmas everyone.