Oct 31st

A juvenile Peregrine made three attempts at trying to take a Coot off the water at 7-30 this morning but failed miserably . We now have two female Pochard but no sign of yesterday's female Wigeon and Goldeneye . The Aythya type duck is still present and two Grey Wagtails were feeding by the sailing club. We should have our bird information board up this week just had my keys from Matt the ranger , also there will be more information on Duck counts , and monthly sightings etc inside the visitor's center.

Hawfinch site first

BOOM......Hawfinch flying over south at 7-30 . Whilst doing another Vis mig this morning a single Hawfinch flew south this is the first record for this species at the site . With hundreds daily reported on the birdlines moving through the country it was only a matter of time. Watched between 7-00 and 8-30 this morning it soon became obvious that there was not the numbers moving like yesterday . Total for one half hours was 434 Wood Pigeon , 31 Redwing , 11 Fieldfare , 16 Meadow Pipits , 4 Pied Wagtails , 2 Siskin , and a single Brambling . Also noted were a female Sparrowhawk , 5 Rook , 2 Grey Wagtail , 13 Goldfinch and a Grey Heron . A female Goldeneye flew in at 8-10 and was photographed also on the water was a female Wigeon and female Pochard .

Goldeneye (female).

Vis Mig this morning

Two and half hours at first light with Mark Stubbs produced 1200 plus Wood Pigeon , 87 Redwing , 23 Fieldfare , 92 Starling , 500 plus B H Gulls , 43 Lapwing , 36 L B B Gulls , 3 Siskin , 1 Brambling , 4 Meadow Pipits , 5 Rook , Sparrowhawk , 2 Tawny Owl , Kingfisher , 3 Grey Wagtail , 8 Pied Wagtails , Grey Heron , female Pochard and a drake Shoveler .......................................... To put the above into a bit more detail Mark arrived about fourty minutes before me while it was still dark and heard the two Tawny Owls calling and Pipistrelle Bats flying around. Just before I arrived he had Redwing calling overhead and then a Brambling. I arrived just as it was getting light and it was obvious that Wood Pigeons were moving in good numbers with small flocks of tens and twenties going over , we ended up with around 1200 birds. Redwing and Fieldfare started to appear with again small numbers of anywhere from four to ten birds at a time. Two Siskin flew over together then later another single appeared . Two counts of Lapwing with eight and then thirty five these are still scarce birds at the site with only a single being recorded this year. Four Meadow Pipits passed over again not regular at this site. And the Brambling record is only the second in last seventeen years. Small numbers of Starlings were also moving in total we had ninety two. Around 500 Black-headed Gulls also flew from there roosting site along with 36 Lesser Black Backed Gulls. All this took place during first two hours of daylight by 9-00 it had almost stopped.

October 26th

Tufted Duck numbers are still increasing possibly due to sailing club not sailing at present due to the amount of green algae on the water. A count of 86 this morning which is thirty plus more than last week . The Aythya hybrid duck is still present and we now have two Little Grebe's back hopefully they will winter here . There are eight Great Crested Grebe's that includes the three juveniles , also a good number of Black-headed Gulls this morning . Meadow Pipits and Skylark's flew over but not in any good numbers , also a single Raven , Buzzard and Sparrowhawk . Also noted this morning Kingfisher, Jay , Goldcrest , Bullfinch , Greenfinch , Chaffinch , Goldfinch and a party of twelve Long-tailed Tits.

Hybrid Link

Check out this link for Tufted x Pochard hybrids.................... birdhybrids.blogspot.co.uk

October 25th

Aythya Duck still present of which I took another set of images this time with better light. Also Kingfisher and Little Grebe along with a male Sparrowhawk and a single Grey Wagtail . Four Skylark and couple of Meadow Pipits passed over heading south along with a single Raven and two Cormorants . Four Goldcrest were amongst a large Long-tailed Tit flock which had at least 16 individuals .Still not had the first Redwings of the autumn yet with loads of berry laiden trees in the car park Iam sure it won't be long. Some images to follow later.

(male Sparrowhawk).

Aythya Hybrid .

Aythya Hybrid .

Aythya Hybrid

Second bite at the cherry today just had to see if I could get better images the light was against me but the bird was a lot closer, my thoughts now are Tufted / Pochard hybrid but I would love to be proved wrong. Identification of Tufted × Pochard hybrid male generally smaller than Scaup , with slightly peaked head appearance . Pochard influence makes mantle and flanks darker , greyer and more solid looking than Scaup's while head may show brown tint at close range . Unlike Scaup bill shows large black tip , wing bar often shows grey coloration . Whatever it is it's certainly interesting.

Interesting Aythya Duck

Scanning through the Tufted Ducks this morning I came across a Aythya duck that stopped me in my tracks , my fist thought was immature drake Greater Scaup but something wasn't right it seems to small , then immature drake Lesser Scaup went through my mind , having seen and found a couple over the years but then again they were slightly easier they were all adult drakes , but the head shape and bill don't look right. It certainly is interesting and could just be one of those Aythya Hybrids that never get solved possibly a Tufted / Pochard cross maybe. A few phone calls were made and it wasn't long before Andy , Mark and Jack turned up there after we had a lengthy discussion. Also noted today were Little Grebe , Kingfisher ,and passing overhead two Raven , 12 Skylark (scarce at the mere), single Meadow Pipit , Pied and Grey Wagtail .Images below are the best I could manage from the distance it was, it never came close at all. If it stays and moults out it might show its true identity, if anyone has any thoughts at all please get in touch .

Late Swallow's

Jack had six late Swallow's over the mere yesterday also a single Little Grebe.

Pochard Back

The first returning Pochard of the autumn have arrived back with a pair on the mere this morning . Also a Peregrine was seen attempting to catch Wood Pigeons on a couple of occasions but gave it up as a bad job and moved off east. Two Cormorant flew over heading south and a pair of Grey Wagtails were feeding along sailing club shore line. Also noted a single Jay , two Bullfinch and a count of 97 Coot so numbers still rising.

Peregrine .

Pochard (female).

Pochard (female).

Back to reality

After two weeks in Norfolk of Harrier's , Crane's and Owls etc it's now back to the the mere and reality. No sign of yesterday's female Goldeneye that Andy saw but duck numbers are increasing with 42× Mallard , 57×Tufted Duck and 63×Coot . Still a couple of pairs of Great Crested Grebe's with three juveniles and a single Canada Goose . 105× Wood Pigeon flew over in a single flock heading south but no sign as yet of any Redwings. Also noted were a couple of Jays and Rooks a single Bullfinch and a Grey Wagtail feeding along the shoreline . Like I said earlier back to reality with a bang !

Goldeneye

The first Goldeneye of the autumn was found today by A Goodwin , also a single singing Chiffchaff.

Wildfowl

Twenty three Wigeon and a female type Pintail at the mere this afternoon , M Stubbs. Both these species are scarce at this site and the Pintail record being only the second in last ten years.

Dragons Added

I have just been passed some old Dragonfly records from the Cheshire county recorder and we can add Blue-tailed Damselfly and Black-tailed Skimmer to the site list. I am still in Norfolk for another week , so hopefully update site on my return. Some good news from Matt the ranger we are being allowed a sightings information board which the trust is kindly paying for . And it will be fixed on the wall of the visitor's centre and hopefully myself and a couple of birding colleagues will be able to keep it updated on a regular basis. Many thanks to David Kitching for the Dragonfly information , and a big thank you to the Trustees of Astbury for agreeing and funding our wildlife information board.