Macclesfield Forest

Some more shots from Macclesfield Forest. A nice mix of birds seen last weekend. Another Crossbill below here and a Siskin.

I found a pair of Mandarin ducks sat up in a tree. Not really where I thought I might find them, when I was looking for Redstart and Flycatchers. I think this site will only get better in the coming weeks with the hopeful return of these two species.

Female Crossbill

Look at that bill.(please excuse the branch in the way)

Siskin

A pair of Mandarin ducks in a tree. Not where I expected to find them.

Just when you think it might be something interesting, it's usually a Chaffinch.

Dippers on the Dane

The Dippers have been quite active along the river Dane recently with possibly 3 separate pairs along one stretch. Always nice to see, and certainly one of those birds that I would always stop to watch and be fascinated at their behaviour on and under the water. They more often than not fly low along the water much like a Kingfisher. When they are searching for food they can submerge themselves under water to pick up invertebrates such as caddisfly larvae. A very strange thing to see, a bird under water and enjoying it.

You can see here the Dipper with it's head under water, just above the mossy stone.

Ouzel do nicely

I love the bright early mornings. I was out for sunrise today in hope of finding Common Redstart or Pied Flycatcher. I had no joy on either front, but did end up with an impressive list all the same. It was back to Macclesfield and into the forest to start with. Crossbills once again were in good numbers. These were joined by Siskins, Lesser Redpolls and Woodpeckers of the Great variety.
I moved on to Wildboarclough where I watched 3 Dippers at different points and also caught sight of a Goldcrest.
Danebower quarry was the next scheduled stop and after a short wait the prized bird was seen, well two in fact. Ring Ouzels!! One of this pair took a dip in the river and had a good clean.
I ventured further towards the quarry and came across another pair. 4 in one morning!! I'd only ever seen one before in my whole life. Good times.
After this everything else seemed a little disappointing, but there was time for my first House Martin of the year and plenty of Red Grouse, Wheatears and Meadow Pipits. Oh, and Golden Plover formation flying over the moors.

Ring Ouzel at Danebower

 Excuses in early. This was digiscoped with the sun in front so it does look like a blackbird, but it's definitely a Ring Ouzel.



A family party of Crossbills. Female on the left, male in the middle and immature on the right.

 Another poor digiscoped shot, of Red Grouse this time. Look at those false eye lashes.

Summer Migrants

Our summer migrants are starting to return to our shores. The Chiffchaff's song, if I am being honest, annoys me quite a bit come May and June. But hearing it for the first time in Spring makes me glow with excitement. It's the realisation that everything will be as normal and we will soon be joined by the many other migrants that make their own long journeys. Blackcaps too are appearing in good numbers. Their scratchy song can be heard now. They don't make it too easy for you to see them though, as they sing usually among the branches, as opposed to perching nicely on top for you. Very nice looking birds.

Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Pennington Flash

Pennington Flash in Leigh has many different varieties of habitat, which is why it attracts so many different species of bird and is widely seen as the premier birding site in Greater Manchester. Just this week, an Osprey has been on site on more than one occasion.

My highlights today were seeing my first Sand Martins of the year and some good views of Snipe. A truly stunning little bird I never tire of seeing. You rarely leave the Flash disappointed. If all else fails there is always the Bunting Hide, where you are more or less guaranteed good views of Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Willow Tit and many more. I try to get round the whole site but always make a point of calling in to the Bunting as one of my last stops. Below are just a few Bullfinch shots from today.

A lovely pair

A handsome male

 An equaly good looking female (if not so colourful)

Dawn Chorus

Another trip to Mum and Dad's meant I got to do an early morning walk around Roding Valley Meadows in Loughton. A nice cold frosty start saw a lingering mist over the River Roding, but a good list of birds were seen nonetheless. A Little Egret was close to the Oakwood Estate along with two Ring-necked Parakeets and a Green Woodpecker. Closer to the Buckhurst Hill end were Reed Bunting, Blackcap and Chiffchaff, with a single Kingfisher darting along the river. (Yes Wayne they are there!)
Lots of birds were in full song and a few of my pictures here show just that.

Song Thrush

Great Tit

Wren

Early morning mist over the running track and River Roding

Wheatears and Weasles

Today with the weather so good I just wanted to be outside for as long as I could. I headed to Macclesfield again for a look at the Crossbills, but found myself spending more time watching a couple of different pairs of Dippers along the river Dane. Dippers always entertain me, and when I get the chance to watch them at close quarters it's even better.
Highlight of the day though was a single Swallow flying low across the slopes of the moors at Danebower. A nice sight to see to remind us that Summer is coming. Again, as at the weekend there were plenty of Wheatears and Meadow Pipits around. A couple of Red Grouse blew there cover and there were 3 Stonechat knocking around as well. A stoat freaked me out a little as it appeared from nowhere just a few feet away, to stare at me for what seemed like an age, while I froze. Would have been a great photo, but I couldn't get to it without spoiling my own view of it.

Northern Wheatear

 Meadow Pipit

Macclesfield Forest

By 6.30am on Saturday I was up at Standing Stone car park in Macclesfield Forest. I was on the hunt for Crossbills. A bird that I have tried and failed to track down on too many occasions. Today though, in bright Spring sunshine, my luck was in. Within minutes of arriving 3 flew to a tree in front of me, two males and a female. Others kept coming and going, but I managed to get a few half decent pics. They aren't great, but they are proof that I finally saw them.

I really have no idea how they pick anything up with a bill like that.

Little Owl

A couple of months ago I saw a Little Owl on my patch in Woodford. Not unusually, it saw me and flew off across the field to the other side. My viewing consisted of watching it in flight and getting smaller into the distance. What it did do though, was to alert me to the fact that they were in the area and I have been searching them out ever since. I had heard from several different people that they were certainly in the area that I was looking. Then just recently one was being viewed on an almost daily basis. I kept looking and got another flight sighting at dusk time. Certainly no good for a decent shot with the camera. Today, after another tip off, I got to find it in good sunshine, and this one was in a much more obliging mood.

Thought I'd play around with some black and white. Here, I've just left the face in colour. Same shot is in colour on the right.



Woodford (Back on the Patch)

I've been spending a fair bit of time recently back on my patch in Woodford. Along Church Lane each winter, a very large puddle, or flood (for want of a better word) occurs. This year has seen a very good array of wildfowl and waders. I finally got to catch up with a Redshank today that had been putting in morning appearances on and off over the last 2 weeks. It was soon joined by a Dunlin, but that didn't stay long at all. Others seen on my journey around Old Hall farm included Skylarks, Oystercatchers, Curlew, Kestrel, Linnets, Lapwings, Reed Buntings, Bullfinches plus plenty of Fieldfare. It should only be a week or two now until the Sand Martins return and the Northern Wheatears stop over for a few days. Roll on Spring, it's my favourite birding season.

A Lesser black-backed gull drops in at Church Lane.

One of the Oystercatchers.

A Reed Bunting hiding on top of a hedge on Old Hall Farm.(but I can see you..)

A mixed flock of Starlings, Fielfares and Redwings on a brighter evening this week.

The sun looked really large on the 14th. Here it is from Church Lane

Pennington Flash

A windy drizzly start to the morning, but it quickly turned out be quite decent. Starting at Horrocks hide there were an incredible 24 Snipe at the very end of the scrape. These were joined by 12 Oystercatchers and 2 Redshank. Goldeneye were still around and some very handsome looking Great Crested Grebes.
At the Teal Hide was a Green Sandpiper (my first of the year) 6 Shovelers and 3 Goosander.
The usual suspects were to be found at the Bunting Hide. These being Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Buntings and a lone Pheasant. A good mornings birding, but just needed a little more time to get around more of the site.

Goosander (female)

Another Bullfinch, but I find it hard to ignore them.

Chaffinch

Reed Bunting (female)



Another Robin, but this picture shows that Spring is on the way with buds bursting on this tree.

Sparrowhawks

Last weekend at Fishers Green in the Lea Valley, a Sparrowhawk silently glided past my Dad and I. No sooner had I picked up what it was that was going past me that it was gone and out of sight. Unfortunately, most of my Sparrowhawk sightings follow this same trend of spotting them and then they're gone. Just after Christmas though, I was lucky enough to get up close and personal with one, from a hide owned by Charlie Owen. It gave me the best views I've had of a Sparrowhawk and some good shots too. Here are a few of them.

 There's something very encapsulating about those piercing yellow eyes. Scary.