Quick stop for a listen from the car at the wonderfully tangled, overgrown and partially flooded portion of land to the east of the M60 adjacent to Ashton Cricket Club
Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Willow Warbler all heard singing also Reed Bunting, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Moorhen in the area.
On the 11th a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from the area of the mound near the corner of Rayner Lane and Moss Lane, lots of other warblers heard and seen on an early morning visit. 6+ Whitethroat 4 Willow Warbler 3 Chiffchaff 4 Blackcap Also 3 Swift over Kestrel 2 Bullfinch 2 Song Thrush 5+ Reed Bunting 2 Skylark singing and a well grown and independent juvenile Blackbird
1 Grasshopper Warbler reeling and visible in the middle of the mound, 5 Willow Warbler 1 Blackcap 3 Chiffchaff 2 Whitethroat 6+ Reed Bunting 5+ Skylark 3 Song Thrush Little Grebe 4 Teal Kestrel Buzzard
Sheldon Pool 5 Mute Swan, 3 of last years young still present. 3 Tufted Duck 1 Grey Heron washing a large frog it had caught prior to consuming
Around the mound Double figures of Skylark and Reed Bunting 20+ Carrion Crow 10+ Magpie 1 Kestrel 3 Little Grebe on back pools Mute Swan pair on back pools 3 Song Thrush singing A few Meadow Pipit heard
A Kingfisher was hunting from an overhanging branch on Sheldon Pool at around 10am. It was at the corner nearest the car park and tram stop. 3 Kestrel. 1 Stonechat. 4 drake Teal displaying to a lone female on the narrow back pool (Benny Lane Pool). Singles of Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen on Moss Lane Pool. 12+ Wren, all very vocal this morning. Flock of 6 Bullfinch. 10+ Meadow Pipit. 2 Redwing over.
Also forgot to mention a male Pheasant was seen in the middle of the mound on the 5th November.
Sheldon Pool Mute Swan pair still have all 8 cygnets, the Moss Lane Pool pair are still there with their remaining cygnet. Moss Lane Pool 1 kingfisher 4 Coot including 2 juveniles 1 juvenile Moorhen Above and around the Mound 2 Buzzard 3 Kestrel 1 Peregrine, adult circling over Littlemoss farm land, eventually drifted off north. 4 Reed Bunting 2 Jay 1 Chiffchaff 50+ Goldfinch Swallow, Sand and House Martin hawking all around the mound and taking water from Moss Lane Pool.
On my last visit on Thursday there were min 3 Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff and heard a couple of Willow Warblers attempting a bit of singing.
That's great news Rachael, had me worried there for a while. Some info on the "Moss Lane Pool" pair from Steve Christmas, the female was ringed as an adult at Moses Gate, Farnworth during November 2013. Metal ring ZY7141.
Sheldon Pool Mute Swan brood still at 8 but I didn't see the adult male. 2 broods of Mallard.
Not much bird activity on or around the mound 2 Willow Warbler, Blackcap singing, Sedge Warbler singing, Bullfinch heard, few Goldfinch 1 Reed Bunting c15 Swallow few House Martin 1 Swift 1 Sparrowhawk 3 Kestrel including 2 juveniles.
Moss Lane Pool Mute Swan pair still with their remaining cygnet. Coots have recently hatched 5 young
Bit of info from Steve Christmas regarding the male Mute Swan from the pair on the back pools, it was ringed as a cygnet on Sale Water Park in October 2015. Darvic 4BVL.
Sheldon Pool Pair of Mute Swans still with their 8 cygnets Grey Heron Coot Mallard
On the mound area
Pair of Mute Swans on back pool with one cygnet Grey Heron Moorhen 3 Sand Martin 4 House Martin 6+ Swallow 2+ Swift Whitethroat family Kestrel Also present Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, Blackcap
Sheldon Swans still have all 8 cygnets, another pair of Mute Swans nested on the back pools and they have now hatched 2 young. Coot with a small chick on the back pools as well as a couple of well grown juvenile Moorhen. Also around the mound A few Skylarks Couple of Whitethroat 3 Reed Bunting A Willow Warbler gave a short burst of song 2 House Martin 4 Swallow 2 Swift high over 1 Kestrel fly over Linnets 3 broods of calling Great Tit spread out around the perimeter and thought I heard a Meadow Pipit flight call.
A Canada Goose family living dangerously on Bank Holiday Sunday! Luckily, no trams were imminent, and the drivers on the relatively quiet dual carriageway were vigilant, and they were able to cross safely. They seemed to be heading for the grass verge by the car park at Office Depot or Screwfix... As if there wasn't plenty of grass at their own side of the road!
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 30th of May 2018 01:53:12 PM
2 Stonechat, fairly elusive in the middle of the mound, 5 Skylark, some fitful singing, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Kestrel, 2 of them slightly off site calling over towards the leisure park, Pair of Teal on the flooded horse field, Not seen any Snipe on here since 21st November, probably due to regular weekend disturbance by off road bikes and the ever increasing off lead dog walking activity.
4 Tufted Duck (2 pairs) and 5 Mute Swan on Sheldon Pool 6 Lapwing and Grey Heron on horse field Song Thrush singing in trees by Mockridge Garden Centre 5 Moorhen on Mockridge Pool
5 Mute Swan and 2 Tufted Duck on Sheldon Pool, At least 4 Teal in the rushes on Mockridge Pool, 8 Lapwing in flooded horse field, 2 Heron, 3 Stonechat, 2 Kestrel, Meadow Pipit and Skylark heard.
WEBS count, Sheldon Pool ]5 mute swans 18 canada geese 2 moorhen 1 tufted duck 4 mallard 4 coot 2 teal (pair)- good spot for the WEBS count, 1st ones I've recorded. Hiding in reeds at back of pond (tram side) 78 black headed gulls
5 Mute Swans all still on Sheldon Pool 1 Grey Heron 2 Kestrel 1 Sparrowhawk At least 17 Collared Dove, all at the western end of the site 2 Stonechat 10-15 Meadow Pipit spread out around the mound 1 Skylark Linnet heard overflying a couple of times 2 Reed Bunting 2 Mallard and 2 Coot on the back pools
The Mute Swan family is still on Sheldon Pool, all had a brief flight from one end to the other. Also 2 Mute Swans on Moss Lane pool, one darvic ringed 4CLA the other just metal ringed.
On or around the mound 1 Buzzard, again hovering over the mound then later presumably the same bird seen in a tree on Moss Lane. 2 Stonechat, male and fem. 3 Skylark 3 Common Snipe 5 or 6 Meadow Pipit 1 Chiffchaff Lots of Long-tailed Tits heard all around the edges of the mound. Linnet heard Overhead, a skein of Pink-footed Geese were heading north west at about 11am. Notably the last 2 birds in the flock were probably about 25% larger than the others but I couldn't make out any other differences at that distance.
1 Buzzard was hovering low over the mound for a while, hopefully a sign of decent rodent numbers, if so perhaps a chance of Short-eared Owl again if there is a sizeable influx. 2 Buzzards later soaring together. 1 Kestrel 1 Skylark c10 Meadow Pipit dotted around 1 Chiffchaff singing Small number of Swallow, some coming to drink from the back pool 1 Little Grebe 1 Grey Heron.
Mute Swan family still present on Sheldon Pool along with Grey Heron and two Coot
Mound area
40+ Swallow became one less after one was taken by a Sparrowhawk 10+ House Martin 1 Sand Martin 1 Swift drank briefly at back pool before flying off again 3 Coot including a small chick 2 Moorhen 1 Buzzard
2 adult and 3 juvenile Mute Swan and a juvenile Grey Heron on Sheldon Pool, On or around the mound 2 Kestrel, 1 Buzzard 20+ each of House Martin and Swallow c10 Sand Martin 2 Swift 2 Reed Bunting Mixed flock of mainly Willow Warbler perhaps 10+, with Whitethroat, Long-tailed Tit and Great Tit. On the back pool a Kingfisher was perched on one of the larger grey overflow pipes for a while Also on here 2 Little Grebe, 2 Coot and a Moorhen.
The Mute Swan pair with their three cygnets are still present on Sheldon Pool Also pair of Coot Moorhen Grey Heron 2 House Martins arrived to drink Willow Warbler singing in the area
On the mound
Common Whitethroat singing 3 Reed Bunting also singing
The pools at the back contained Grey Heron, 2 adult Coot and 3 younger birds of various sizes and a pair of Canada Geese with 2 goslings
Mute Swan: pair with 3 cygnets Moorhen: could only see one with a smallish chick Coot: just the one Heron: one House Sparrow: 3 males Willow Warbler: still singing
8 Willow Warbler 10+ Skylark 5+ Reed Bunting 1 Swallow 6 Goldfinch 2 Bullfinch Singles of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat heard singing, Also heard calling were a Meadow Pipit and a couple of Linnet A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling from the centre of the mound just after 7am. Seems to be quite an influx locally of this species at the moment, I have only heard 2 birds in Tameside in the last 10 years, this bird is the 4th in 5 days.
A Wheatear and 6 Linnet were seen during my last visit.