We're Down!

Well, thats it. Two years after winning the FA cup my beloved Wigan Athletic FC are relegated to League 1 football. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I surprised? No. The run of games under the last manager was dreadful. I don't understand why the chairman didn't sack him sooner but he must have had his reasons. Giving the new manager just six games to turn it around was never going to work, and it didn't. Still, lots of games in the immediate locality next year! Fleetwood away should be a blast!

Mixed Weekend

So, a bit of a mixed bag this weekend. Spent Saturday morning up on the moors above Horwich. The more time I spend up on these moors the more I enjoy them. Although this visit was not exactly fruitful from a bird perspective.

View from Georges Lane looking south

I was parked up by 06.30 and out of the car and walking along Georges Lane within 5 minutes. There was plenty of activity from the common birds, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinches, Willow Warblers etc. Corvids were very noticeable as well. But, the passage I had hoped for was non existent . I didn't see a single bird flying over for the best part of an hour, and there was no sign of any Wheatears, Whinchats or the other passage migrants I was hoping for, so I decided to call it a day and move to a different part of the area. Just as I was walking back to the car I did have a single Redshank fly over north which was probably a tick for this site, and two Curlew back near the car was a nice sight. They're common enough birds but I love seeing them in their breeding habitat.

Burnt Edge and Holdens Farm with the mast in the distance

Burnt Edge, Walker Fold and Holdens Farm and Plantation together form one of my favourite areas of the moors. There is some great habitat, its relatively quiet and best of all there is a convenient bench above the valley that allows you to sit in comfort and scope the entire area, whilst still being well placed to spot any passage happening. Unfortunately not this time, and a single Wheatear at the back of Slack Hall farm was the only one in the area. After half an hour I decided to move on again and managed to find another Wheatear along the road back to the car park. Just after seeing this bird, the rain started and I decided to call it a day.

Sunday morning and just as I was getting ready to take No1 son to his football I got a text telling me about a Hoopoe in Royton near Oldham. Now, Ive seen Hoopoes before in this country and abroad. Last October I had one down to six feet. But this one was in Greater Manchester and would take me to 200 species in the county. I couldn't not do the football, but at 1pm I was Royton bound. On arrival there were maybe 15 birders in what can only be described at the most un-birdy place Ive ever been birding. Basically a street on a housing estate, albeit with very nice houses. The bird was feeding on a back lawn and was out of sight, but after about 2 hours on site it eventually showed and species 200 for GM was in the bag. I have to say the residents were extremely understanding and even came out with regular updates on what the bird was doing in the gardens. One guy let people in, but as soon as they looked over the fence the bird flushed. But, I don't care I saw it. Bad news - I forgot my camera.

Raptor Heaven

I spent a fantastic day on Friday at a place that I have visited a couple of times now. Unfortunately I don't want to say where it is because of the potential risk of people persecuting the birds I went to see.

Anyway, it was quite an early start to try to beat the traffic, and I was picking up a friend en-route to another friends house so we could car share and save a bit on the costs. As it happened we managed really good time and were on site a little after 08.00. Too early in some respects, particularly for raptors, but perfect timing for the eclipse! The cloud cover was mixed, but actually made it better for photography - when there was no cloud it was simply too bright to get a decent shot. However, as you can see below, once the right amount of cloud covered the sun we got some great shots (for me anyway). The pictures below are in time order, top to bottom, for the height of the eclipse.

It was quite eerie at the height of the eclipse, and birds definitely went quiet for a brief time. But it was great to be out in the countryside to experience it.

As for the birds, well, once again I had a great day here. Siskin were plentiful as were Chaffinches. The odd Goldcrest and Redpoll were heard and I did pick up on one or maybe two Crossbills. However the main target for the day were the raptors and we weren't disappointed. Buzzards were seen regularly all across the area. We also had a couple of Kestrels and Sparrowhawks. There was one small falcon that left us slightly confused. Its behaviour suggested Kestrel, but it didn't hover in the exact same way and it looked much smaller and shorter tailed. The distance that we were viewing at didn't help, but I'm counting it as a Merlin. However the star of the show was the Goshawk. We had two birds. Again one very distant but one that gave brilliant views as it flew from one side of the lake to the other. This bird is a great example of that well known saying that birders often use - 'you'll know one when you see one'. It is completely different from any Sparrowhawk. Deep chested, broad hipped, different feel altogether from its close relative.

Its a pity that I don't feel able to say, in public, where this location is. Its a great place to visit and I've seen Goshawk here every time I've been, along with a number of other raptor species. As I mentioned above, there are unfortunately too many people out there that would use the information for the wrong purpose.

Wirral High Tide

I've been spending a bit of time on the Wirral recently. Last Saturday I went to see the Laughing Gull at New Brighton Marine Lake. A new species for me and quite a distinctive one for a 'gull'. I even managed to pick it out with just the Bins from the other end of the lake which is pretty good for me given my dislike of Larids! I would even go as far as to say its actually quite an attractive gull, and it was a lifer so a double bonus. Unfortunately my camera batteries ran out and the photo from the phone wasn't even worth posting.

I also went to Burton Mere Wetlands, which is the 'new' RSPB reserve on the south western shore of the Wirral. Its quite an attractive place, but I can't think of anything you wouldn't see out on the estuary itself without the annoyance of large groups taking over the hides and generally being disruptive. I think I am just becoming less tolerant in my middle age. The thing is I wouldn't mind if these were kids or even families, but they're not. They tend to be the 'older' age groups and they really should know better as they seem to be quite experienced. At least you'd assume so given the amount they must spend on their optics and clothing.

Anyway. I was back again today at Meols for the high tide. It was much quieter - for birds and people!

The expected species were on show and the only 'unusual' thing was a Glaucous Gull that I noticed immediately on getting out of the car. Unfortunately it moved off pretty quickly and when another birder came along it had long gone.

Most birds were quite distant, and the haze wasn't great but it was possible to see quite a number of Common Scoter whizzing around. Waders were in short supply though, with just a few Knot, Dunlin, Curlew, Redshank and Oystercatchers. As you can see below, these were quite distant - these shots were on full 20x zoom.

So, I headed off to West Kirby to see if that was any better. Unfortunately it was really busy with walkers, windsurfers etc so birds were in even shorter supply. So what was supposed to be a full day ended up just a few hours instead, but still enjoyable.

Try Again

Well my attempts at a blog have once again been poor to say the least. In my defence shortly after my last post I went through some fairly significant changes at home. Life changing stuff, and everything is only just about now getting back to normal. 

I'm looking forward to doing plenty birding this year, and hopefully posting quite a few entries with some good birds. 

Grousing around!

I decided to head up to the Horwich Moors this Morning, or the South Pennine Moors to be precise, to try to see Red Grouse. Its one of the few resident species in Greater Manchester that I haven't seen, and I'm desperate to get to 200 on my GM list.

It started off a beautiful day, and the view across Bolton and Wigan from where I parked the car was excellent. My plan was to follow Mast road which, unsurprisingly, leads to the mast on Winter Hill. It was a pretty ordinary outing to be honest. Lots of Mipits, Skylarks aplenty, the odd Curlew, Kestrel and Raven but significantly NO RED GROUSE. Not sure what I have to do to add this species to my GM list!!

In fairness its not the 'best' habitat. Its still a lovely place, and normally in scenery like this I'd be in the Cumbrian Fells, but there's not as much heather as I'd like for Grouse and it doesn't surprise me that they are not as easy as in other moorland spots I've been to. Still it was a stunning morning, and the air was literally filled with the song of Skylarks and Meadow Pipit. I do think the latter is very underrated as a songster. Its a sound I associate as much with summer as that of Willow Warbler and Skylark.

I spent a bit of time chasing some Lepidoptera! An orangey butterfly was giving me a bit of a run-around, and its powerful, direct flight fooled me at first into believing it was a moth. I eventually pinned one down though and it was a Small Heath butterfly. Unfortunately every one was very easily spooked and I couldn't get within 5ft to get a photo. I also spent quite a bit of time chasing what turned out to be another 'heath'. A moth this time, the Common Heath.

The Common Heath was slightly less jumpy, but the breeze, the fact I was handholding the camera on the highest zoom and the fact I was at least four feet away meant I still struggled to get a decent shot. This one is about the best of 20 or so! I actually enjoyed the moth and butterflies more than the birds today. Think I need to get the moth trap out again!

Amazing what wildlife will tolerate!

The local patch was really quiet this morning as far as birdlife was concerned. But for the first time this year there was a real 'buzz' around the place as far as insects were concerned. There were numerous Speckled Wood butterflies on the wing, plus Small Tortoiseshells, andLarge and Small Whites. There were plenty moths as well, but without a net to catch them I find most of them impossible. Unfortunately I didn't see many bees, which is, I suppose, a common theme these days. On the positive side though I never cease to be amazed by the ways wildlife will adapt to exploit any opportunity. This unattractive looking stream (below) is actually little more than a field drain. Upstream it is ocherous, where the cattle get in its just silted up and almost stagnant. But today there was a stunning pair of Black-tailed Skimmers on it. First I've ever seen on this site!