Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all that read our blog, hope you have a bird filled 2017. We end this year with 76 species recorded at the mere but these are only my sightings along with records from Jack Swann and John Spottiswood . How many more sightings have gone unrecognised or unrecorded it only takes a few minutes of your time to e mail sightings to ....... astburywildlife@yahoo.co.uk.

Late News

Late News........a Ring-necked Parakeet was seen at dusk on the 14th and again early the next morning.

30th Dec

While most of the surrounding towns and villages are covered in mist and fog Astbury was bathed in early morning sunshine . A couple of Redwing were feeding on berries in the car park , while out on the water was a pair of Wigeon. I think this is our only record this year and the male looked stunning in the early sunshine. They stayed in the middle which made photography difficult , but I managed some record shots.The three Little Grebe's are still present along with a single drake Pochard . A couple of Siskin were seen drinking from the side of the lake as two Jays were squabbling nearby.

Pair Wigeon.

Pair Wigeon .

Wigeon are scarce visitors to this site and are always nice to see with only a handful of records over the past ten years , and this being the only one this year. If you have any sightings please e mail them in to .......astburywildlife@yahoo.co.uk

Tuesday 27th

A frosty start saw eight Siskin and four Lesser Redpoll feeding in alder's this morning , and good numbers of Coot and Tufted Duck along with two drake Pochard and the three Little Grebe,s on the mere.

Lesser Redpoll.

Little Grebe

Little Grebe sightings are scarce at the site with only a handful over he past few years usually single records around this time of the year , a count of five was an exception on 8th December 2010. Three Little Grebe's have been present now for the best part of December and are usually to far out to even attempt a photograph but today for the first time I managed a few record shots .

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads the blog we hope you have a bird filled new year. Believe it or not there was another fun run around the mere this morning but this time we managed a complete walk around . Only three drake Pochard noted but we did managed to find the three Little Grebe that have been present throughout December. Several Lesser Black Backed Gulls were loafing around on the water along with six juvenile Herring Gulls and around one hundred Black headed Gulls.A couple of Goldcrest were watched at close quarters along with a single male Bullfinch. Don't forget if you have any sightings or image's please send them to astburywildlife@yahoo.co.uk

Fun Run

The Christmas fun run was on this morning so really not the best time to visit . There were good numbers of Coot and Tufted Ducks and a party of five Pochard. It was impossible to do a circuit with the hundred plus runners .

Sightings

If you have any sightings to report from the site please email me on astburywildlife@yahoo.co.uk

Little Grebe

Three Little Grebe on 13th December.

November

During November John Spottiswood recorded 100 Tufted Duck, 118 Coot , four Pochard , nine Great Crested Grebe , two Little Grebe and a single Chiffchaff .

Pintail

Early November Jack Swann located a drake Pintail on the mere . Pintail are very scarce at this site and it was Jack,s first ever record . The last record I can find for Pintail at the site were six individuals on the 21st Feb 1996 and included 4 x females and 2x drake's. If anybody has any further information on Pintail records please drop me an e mail to astburywildlife@yahoo.co.uk