Amazing Swallow

Amazingly at -2 temperature's this morning the Swallow is still hawking insects or whatever it's finding to eat in these conditions. Also present a drake Shoveler , three female Teal and 11 drake Pochard . Due to the colder conditions Tufted Duck , Coot and Mallard numbers are all well up . Swallow still present at 15-20 this afternoon Patrick Earith.

Request for Missing Dragonfly Records

We are missing some Dragonfly records for Astbury Mere for this year 2017 , Four-spotted Chaser , Black-tailed Skimmer , Emperor Dragonfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly . If anybody can help please get in touch with myself or a park Ranger who will pass the information on.

Request for Missing Butterfly Records

We are missing records for five Butterfly species for this year 2017 , has anybody seen any of the following at Astbury Mere . Small Copper , Green Hairstreak , Painted Lady , Clouded Yellow and Dingy Skipper. If you have seen any of the following please get in touch with either myself or one of the park Rangers who will pass on the information.

Swallow November 28th

Remarkably the Swallow is still present hawking whatever insects it can find over a cold mere this morning. It's now present for its second day and as the weather is turning colder there is a good chance if it don't move south soon it will not make it. Also noted this morning was the overwintering Chiffchaff feeding on the over hanging willows along the edge of the mere in the north west corner. The Kingfisher was seen again by Steve and Gill Barber . As the numbers increase daily we now have twelve Pochard eleven drake's and a single female.

Grebe or Diver

This is the time of year when just a brief glimpse can play tricks was it a Grebe or was it a Diver . In summer plumage there is no mistake but adult and juvenile Great Crested Grebe's in winter plumage with no ear tufts from a distance to the untrained eye can be misleading . Divers are on the whole a lot bigger bulker bird with a thick neck and bill . Below I have tried to put together some images hopefully to help people that are not familiar with Divers.

Juvenile Great Crested Grebe.

Red Throated Diver. ( Note slightly upturned bill of Red throated)

Black Throated Diver.

Great Northern Diver.

Swallow November 27th

An unbelievable late record of a Swallow hawking insects over the water this morning , I did a double take to make sure but yes sure enough it was a Swallow . I phoned Mark and Jack who both came down to have a look , it's undoubtedly our latest record ever at the site. Nine drake Pochard have now took up residence and on 23rd of the month Jack had two drake Teal and a female Goldeneye, and on the 20th five Wigeon. The Kingfisher is still around seen on a few occasions during the last week also the elusive overwintering Chiffchaff. Both Grey and Pied Wagtails are present and several Goldcrest seen this morning.

November 18th

Pretty quite this morning just eighteen Canada Geese over heading west , six drake Pochard still . Good numbers of Bullfinch around eight birds possibly more , along with Goldcrest , Treecreeper , Goldfinch and plenty of Long-tailed Tits.

November 15th

Six drake Pochard this morning along with 100 Coot , 73 Tufted Duck , 33 Mallard , eight Great Crested Grebe's and a single Little Grebe . Four Canada Geese flew over heading north , also noted Jay , Goldcrest , Grey Wagtail , Bullfinch , Greenfinch , Goldfinch and good numbers of Long-tailed Tits. The single overwintering Chiffchaff has been seen on three occasions now feeding on the overhanging Willows around the mere. You will find all the sightings on the information board situated on the wall at the visitor's centre.

Pochard Decline

We currently have four drake Pochard which hopefully will be joined by a few more as the weeks go by and stay with us for the winter period. It was a different story not so many years ago with counts at Astbury Mere above fourty during the winter period not uncommon. Numbers continue to fall both locally and also right across North West Europe . The UK breeding total is around 500 pairs , but during the winter it is estimated that around 59,000 arrive here from the breeding grounds in the east . Their long movements are explicable because the shallow waters that they favour are likely to be the first to freeze . The numbers reaching the UK have however dropped considerably in recent years as the warming climate allows more lakes and rivers in eastern Europe and Russia to remain ice free , so Pochard do not need to move as far. There is a strong differential migration with females moving farther south , probably due to the aggression from the earlier migration of males. But where both sexes share the same site the females hold their own and do not loose out on feeding opportunities . Pochard are largely an inland species and not so long ago most of the larger meres in Cheshire held good numbers of this scarce breeding bird. Pochard are primarily vegetarian , diving for their food in shallow water with abundant plant life although they do take small invertebrates .

November 13th

Another cold and frosty start this morning crisp underfoot . Not a great deal to mention pretty quite really the Aythya (Pochard X Tufted) is still present also a single Little Grebe and three drake Pochard . Tufted Duck numbers are holding steady with a count of 73 along with 100 Coot , and we still have eight Great Crested Grebe's present . A Grey Heron was fishing along the fisherman's side and a single Raven called overhead. Eight Bullfinch noted on my walk around also a couple of calling Goldcrest.

Goldeneye

Our first drake Goldeneye for three years was on the mere yesterday afternoon , we usually get a couple of females overwinter but it's nice to see a drake back will it stay!

Mike Atkinson Photography

A big thank you to local bird photographer Mike Atkinson for letting me use some of his suberb images for our web site. Look on the links section to view some of Mike's work he also runs Bird Photography tutorials a must for any up and coming bird photographer.

Aythya Hybrid

A interesting Aythya duck arrived just over two weeks ago on 23rd October. At first it kept its distance and identification was a little tricky , but over time it has become more confiding and the features of Pochard X Tufted Duck can clearly be seen . Hybrids can always prove a challenge until true parentage becomes obvious. The male of this pairing can be confused with Scaup but are generally smaller and can have a peaked head appearance . The Pochard influence makes the mantle and flanks darker , greyer and more solid looking than Scaup , while head may show a brown tint at close range. Unlike Scaup bill shows large black tip and wing stripe shows grey colouration characteristic of Pochard. Just look at the middle image and see how much the head colour can change at different angles.

November 8th

Looks like we have an overwintering Chiffchaff as one was calling then seen feeding in over hanging willows on the waters edge , just to the left of the sailing club this morning. Also noted were three Cormorants , single Grey Heron ,and only handful of Redwing passing overhead . A couple drake Pochard still present and two Raven overhead. The Aythya hybrid duck Pochard X Tufted Duck was showing really well early morning .

November 7th

Our second ever Hawfinch this morning found by Jack just after 7-30 along the top wood , just seven days after our first one. Eleven Teal were new in overnight and the four Pochard are still present. The Aythya Hybrid (Pochard X Tufted) was showing very well this morning so I managed to run off some more image's just for reference purposes as the plumage is changing. Twenty seven Redwing flew over heading east along with three Fieldfare and a single Stock Dove. The resident Sparrowhawk was seen on couple of occasions , and Pied and Grey Wagtails were on the sailing Club shoreline. Jack had a Great Black Backed Gull just after first light this morning leave the mere , this is the first confirmed record for over three years.

Aythya Hybrid (Pochard x Tufted).

November 6th

Nice little selection early morning , Fly overs included 317 Wood Pigeon , 7 Fieldfare , 13 Redwing , 2 Stock Dove , single Raven, 2 Lapwing , 3 Rook and 3 female Goosander . Also noted Grey Heron feeding along the fisherman's shore , three drake and a female Pochard , Little Grebe , Grey and Pied Wagtails , six Bullfinch , two Jay , Goldcrest , Nuthatch and Kingfisher.

Sightings Board

Sightings board up and running located at the visitor's center by the main doors.

November 2nd

Great Spotted Woodpecker , Coal Tit , Goldcrest and Treecreeper all in visitor's center car park this morning , also Siskin over. M Stubbs. Drake Pochard and Little Grebe on the mere and Aythya Duck still present .

November 1st

Brambling calling again as it flew over this morning this is the third time in the last four days now , so possibly feeding either around the mere or very close by. Also a single Cormorant over. M Stubbs.