December 30th

Sixteen Grey Wagtails left the reedbeed roost this morning , two Tawny Owls calling , 12 x Lesser Redpoll and Kingfisher. Goosander and Cormorant flew over , also Buzzard , four Little Grebe's and twelve Pochard . (MS)

Image by Tracey Stubbs.

Buzzard by Tracey Stubbs.

Buzzard by Tracey Stubbs.

December 28th

Two female Goldeneye this morning along with 18 x Pochard (12 x drakes) and two Little Grebe . Also Lesser Redpoll and Mistle Thrush. (MS).

December 26th

Not much doing this morning a female Goldeneye , drake Teal , 75 X Tufted Duck , three drake Pochard and female Kestrel (MS).

December 20th

Three Gadwall on the mere mid morning two drakes and a female , also four Wigeon reported from yesterday.

December 19th

The Ringtail Hen Harrier seen again this morning @ around 11-00 by Jack Swan just south of Congleton around Bent Lane farm and fields .

December 18th

Two Chiffchaff together this morning , also female Goldeneye still , Kestrel and 15 Teal circled the mere but did not land. (MS).

Hen Harrier

A report of a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering fields to the south of Congleton yesterday afternoon, no further information.

December 17th

Twelve Pochard today ten drakes , also two Gooseander, female Goldeneye, two Raven, Chiffchaff, five Siskin , Little Grebe, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk (MS).

December 14th

Chiffchaff again today along with Lesser Redpoll , Grey Wagtail , Little Grebe , Siskin , Nuthatch , Treecreeper and Sparrowhawk. Also 21 Pochard a couple of days ago . (MS)

December 13th

Only the second ever record of Woodcock a well under looked for species at the mere , was seen flying over at dusk by a Ranger on the evening of the 11th. The last record was a single bird flushed by a dog during winter 2011, the 105th species for the site this year.

December 12th

A large skien of Pinkfeet over @10-30 around 150 birds, Tracey Stubbs.

December 10th

Two drake Shoveler , female Goldeneye , three Teal and Chiffchaff again by gorsey corner.

December 9th

Thirteen Pink-Footed Geese over at 8-35 this morning along with eleven Cormorants and five drake Goosanders. The overwintering Chiffchaff was seen again , also a single Siskin with fifteen Goldfinch by the visitors centre. Also noted six Bullfinch , five Goldcrest , two Treecreeper and twelve Pochard (MS).

December 7th

Chiffchaff again late afternoon also Grey Wagtail's coming into roost Along with Jay , 150+ Tufted Duck , three Little Grebe , 8 drake Pochard , Buzzard , Tree creeper , Goldcrest and three Shoveler yesterday. MS.

December 6th

Thirteen Raven drifting north west over Airbags Congleton retail park at 8-00 this morning RB.

December 4th

Sixty one Mallard , six Grey Wagtail, Little Grebe , Kingfisher , Sixteen Pochard and a single Tawny Owl calling again by visitors centre. (MS)

December 3rd

Around 45 Geese over high and distant at 15-40 possibly Pink-feet ?.A single Tawny Owl calling in daylight , Jay over and five Grey Wagtails roosted in reed bed (MS).

December 1st

To start the new month off two Raven over also female Goldeneye, female Teal , twelve Pochard (10 × drakes) , Grey Wagtail , 122 × Tufted Duck , 107 x Coot , Siskin , G S Woodpecker, Bullfinch , Greenfinch , Chaffinch , Goldcrest and single Cormorant over (MS).

November 30th

Three Little Grebes today at Astbury. (AG).

November 28th

Fourteen Pochard and a single female Goldeneye . (AG)

69 species recorded this month so far compared to 64 last year.

November 25th

Sunday 25th a Little Egret flew over only the second record at the site. Monday 26th two female Goldeneye , thirteen Pochard (11 drakes) , twelve Teal and five Cormorant . Also Little Grebe , Kingfisher , Grey Wagtail and two Siskin.

Sunset by Tracey Stubbs.

November 23rd

Ten Pochard , single drake Teal , Buzzard , Little Grebe , three Grey Wagtail and Raven.

November 21st

Around 150 Lapwing circled the mere late afternoon for several minutes flying low over the water but didn't land. That's is the highest count of Lapwing at the mere .Also 59 Canada Geese , Cormorant , Grey Wagtail , three Pied Wagtail and five Goldcrest . MS

November 19th

A single Hawfinch was seen twice this morning in the same area as eight frequented earlier in the year , also a female Brambling. Three Teal ,six drake Pochard and four Little Grebe's , three Siskin , Lesser Redpoll , Grey Wagtail , Raven , two Cormorant and Kingfisher.

November 18th

Mark and Jack had a Dunlin late afternoon on sailing club beach of which Jack managed some photos. Also present eleven Pochard (9 drakes) , female Shoveler , three Goosander flew over , Grey Wagtail , Sparrowhawk and Redwing. Ian Westwood also saw Kingfisher and Buzzard earlier in the day.

Buzzard photo by Ian Westwood.

November 17th

Two Tawny Owls calling at first light , also nine Wigeon , eight Pochard (6 x drakes) , three Shoveler (1 x drake) , single drake Teal , single Little Grebe and Reed Bunting . (MS)

100 UP

Mark as achieved his personal 100 species for the year by seeing two Whooper Swans circle the mere then fly off towards the town centre direction at 15-45. It's a fantastic achievement to get the 100 up at Astbury. All the many hours Mark has put in over the year as finally paid off for him , missing just four of the other recorded species throughout the year , well done fella the drinks are on me.

November 14th

Sunset this evening photo by Tracey Stubbs

Fourty one Lapwing over this evening also Cormorant , Sparrowhawk , Grey Wagtail and three Goldcrest (MS&TS).

November 13th

Two pair of Pochard this evening also Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Also  2 x Pipistrelle Bats (MS).

Note
The two Great White Egrets are still showing well just up the road at Redesmere  viewed from car park, also five Goosander  and female Goldeneye .

G W Egret photo from Redesmere.

November 12th

Two female Goldeneye new in this morning , also still present Little Grebe and a single drake Pochard. Just up the road at Redesmere two Great White Egrets are showing really well from the car park. Well worth a visit and well overdue here at Astbury.

November 7th

A record count of 159 Tufted Ducks late afternoon also two Raven over and Grey Wagtail . And two Pipistrelle Bats.(MS).

November 4th

Mark had 53 species today beating his own personal record. Highlights were Goosander , Siskin , Lesser Redpoll , Brambling , Chiffchaff , Sparrowhawk , Little Grebe , Pochard , Nuthatch , Treecreeper , Raven and Kingfisher. (MS).

October 31st

One hundred and two Tufted Duck this evening along with two Little Grebe's , a single drake Pochard and two Grey Wagtail. Five drake Shoveler flew over but didn't land. And twenty LBB Gulls on the water along with a single Herring Gull (MS). We finished the month with 66 species , five up on last year.

October 30th

A female Goldeneye the first returning bird this autumn , along with four drake Pochard winters comeing . Two Little Grebe's and five Common Gulls . Grey Wagtail and. 59 Lesser Black Backed Gulls and around 300 Black Headed. (MS).

October 29th

Eleven Wigeon first thing this morning along with two Shoveler and seven Cormorant over. Mark had the two Common Gulls again they seem to be hanging around. And possibly a adult Yellow-legged Gull but was not fully identified. A real shame as it would have been our first record for the mere. Fieldfare's are still moving over early mornings with a few small flocks again today.

October 28th

Female Shoveler and Teal early morning along with two Wigeon and a first winter Common Gull. Also Kingfisher , Sparrowhawk , Grey Wagtail , 35 Rook , 12 Redwing , Siskin , 2 Raven ,2 Cormorant and Great Spotted Woodpecker. 46 species recorded. (MS).

October 27th

Mark had 72 Pink Footed Geese fly over heading south east at 9-00 this morning and found a very late Common Sandpiper on the mere late afternoon , which I managed a couple of photos in fading light. Also throughout the day , Great Spotted Woodpecker , 68 Tufted Duck , two flocks of Fieldfare's 50/13 , two Buzzard's , Treecreeper , a single drake Pochard ,Jay , Redwing , Meadow Pipit , Grey Wagtail , and around 300 Wood Pigeons moving south. Late afternoon Andy had four Shoveler drop in and two Common Gulls a 1st winter and a adult.

October 25th

Last couple of days produced twelve Redwing , Jay , Treecreeper , Lesser Redpoll , three Skylark , Black Swan , Bullfinch and Goldcrest ( MS).

October 23rd

We now have four Pochard back on the mere one female and three drakes. And on the 19th there were ten Wigeon. Redwings and Fieldfare's are now starting to arrive with birds passing over daily, especially just after first light. Around 100 Lesser Black Backed Gulls came in late afternoon. Also Buzzard and Sparrowhawk over.

October 22nd

Female Pochard this morning along with Tawny Owl , Grey Wagtail , Buzzard , Sparrowhawk and Skylark over. Mark and Tracey added Siskin this afternoon flying over .The Black Swan arrived again early morning but was soon chased off by the resident Mute Swans.

October 10th

A single female Teal this morning along with Buzzard , Nuthatch , Great Spotted Woodpecker and Grey Wagtail. This afternoon Speckled Wood , Small Copper and Small White. This morning's Buzzard showed really well hanging effortlessly just above the tree line on a light breeze.

October 7th

A pair of Gadwall asleep in the middle of the mere this afternoon.

October 5th

A call from Mark at 16-40 saying he had a first winter Mediterranean Gull in with around 250 Black headed Gulls on the water. I missed it by two minutes due to works traffic , a journey that usually takes me four minutes in the car took fifteen. All the gulls flew up off the water just before my arrival , when they all settled again the bird could not be re-located .It's first record in four years and takes Marks personal total for the year to 99, nice one fella.

October 1st

Grey Wagtail , Kingfisher , Coal Tit , Goldcrest , Buzzard , Treecreeper , Nuthatch , Bullfinch , Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker best of the bunch this morning. The Grey Wagtail showed well allowing some reasonable images.

September 29th

Ten Wigeon flew around the Mere but did not land along with four Teal and a Shoveler .Also noted were two Tawny Owls calling before daybreak , and 17 Pied Wagtails came from a roost site . Along with three Grey Wagtail , seven Rook and six Raven.

September 23rd

Yesterday Mark had six Raven over also a decent count of 164 Meadow Pipits . Along with 11 Swallow's , 27 House Martin's , two Siskin , five Pied and one Grey Wagtail , Kingfisher and two Chiffchaff. A total of 45 Species in two hours. Today two Goosander were on the mere first thing along with Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail. Skylarks and Collared Dove were also noted making this morning's goal one more than yesterday's with 46. Comma and Large White Butterflies a single Common Darter and Brown Hawker. A skien of around 35 Pinkfeet flew north/west at 12-30 , Siskin , Sparrowhawk and two Raven now added to list (50).

1 Mute Swan
2 Pink Footed Geese
3  Canada Geese
4 Mallard
5 Tufted Duck
6 Goosander
7 Cormorant
8 Grey Heron
9 G C Grebe
10 Buzzard
11 Sparrowhawk
12 Moorhen
13 Coot
14 B H Gull
15 L B B Gull
16 Wood Pigeon
17 Feral Pigeon
18 Collared Dove
19 Magpie
20 Jay
21 Jackdaw
22 Rook
23 Carrion Crow
24 Raven
25 Goldcrest
26 Blue Tit
27 Great Tit
28 Coal Tit
29 Long-tailed Tit
30 Swallow
31 House Martin
32 Kingfisher
33 Pied Wagtail
34 Grey Wagtail
35 Meadow Pipit
36 Skylark
37 Chiffchaff
38 Blackcap
39 Wren
40 Starling
41 Blackbird
42 Song Thrush
43 Robin
44 Dunnock
45 House Sparrow
46 Chaffinch
47 Greenfinch
48 Bullfinch
49 Goldfinch
50 Siskin

Mark Stubbs.

September 20th

Ten Cormorants over this morning along with twelve Meadow Pipits and a Grey Heron. Also noted Collared Dove , Nuthatch , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Grey Wagtail, Buzzard and a single singing Chiffchaff.

September 19th

Three Snipe flew over at 15-45 this afternoon unusual record for the site. Also three Greylags over yesterday another scarce bird for Astbury. Today three Cormorant , Nuthatch calling by gorsey corner , a couple of Chiffchaff still in song along with Coal Tit , Jay and Goldcrest. M & T Stubbs.

September 15th

Eight Raven over all together the biggest flock seen over the Mere possibly came from roost site nearby. Also single Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail , two Sparrowhawk and two Buzzard. M Stubbs

September 14th

Five Meadow Pipits over along with two Swallow's , four Pied Wagtails , two Grey Wagtail , four Chiffchaff , Goldcrest , Treecreeper , Sparrowhawk , Jay , Grey Heron , Raven and fifteen Canada Geese. M Stubbs.

Coot

Coot numbers on the Mere always start to increase around this time of the year. With numbers reaching around one hundred and fifty species through the winter period. We have 71 on the Mere at present that's about normal for the month of September. Birds start to disperse during the spring months leaving us with around six pairs which attempt to breed . Birds are seldom seen in flight they mostly migrate at night , so little is known about the origins of our wintering Coot.

September 11th

A female Pochard in amongst the Tuffties , 71 Coot and eight Great Crested Grebe's . Also Sparrowhawk ,3x Buzzard's , a couple of House Martin , seven Swallow's , Chiffchaff , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Collared Dove , a flock of seven Bullfinch and Treecreeper. Singles of Large and Small White Butterflies along with a Small Copper and Speckled Wood. A single Southern Hawker dragonfly still on the wing. MS.

September 10th

Not a great deal to mention , a flash of blue 100mts out dashing from right to left was the resident Kingfisher .

And it was nice to get a scarce bird at Astbury on camera when the male Great Spotted Woodpecker gave itself up briefly as he flew and perched next to me on top of the pine trees .

Also noted Chiffchaff , Bullfinch , Rook , Jay , Grey Wagtail , Coal Tit and two Buzzard's. Walked around for hour late afternoon with mark managed Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Swallow's x 3 , Cormorant , Grey Wagtail and fourteen Goldfinch.

September 9th

Kingfisher early morning along with , 7x Swallow's , Coal Tit , Jay , Grey Heron , Goldcrest , 3x Sparrowhawk , Bullfinch and Chiffchaff.M Stubbs.

Monthly Species Totals

                              Monthly Species Totals
                            2017                             2018
January.              59 .                                 60

February.            59.                                  64

March .                56.                                  81

April.                     61.                                 76

May.                      56.                                 64

June.                     55 .                                 57

July.                       54 .                                 58

August .                56.                                  65

September.          59 .                                 52 ( so far).

September 8th

A Black Tern flew in at 7-30 this morning and flew off at 8-35 after being harassed by the local gulls. It is only the sixth record in last eighteen years. Also Reed Warbler , Little Grebe , Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Chiffchaff , Treecreeper , Goldcrest and a single Stock Dove on the ground amongst Wood Pigeons. M Stubbs.

September 6th

Great Spotted Woodpecker mid morning a scarce sighting at the mere. M Stubbs.

September 4th

Went down to the mere around 2 o'clock to see if this morning's rain had brought anything new in. To my surprise the first birds I but my bins on were two drake Common Scoter sitting pretty much in the centre. They drifted closer and closer allowing a few reasonable images albeit in poor light. This is the 19th record of Common Scoter since 1996 at Astbury.

Sept 3rd

Spent a couple of hours early morning before the rain set in . Nuthatch at back of sailing club quiet scarce at this site also , Kingfisher , Buzzard x 3 , Swallow's x 10 , Grey Heron , Chiffchaff calling , Bullfinch and Cormorant.

Common Scoter

Well what can I say another call at 6-20 this morning from Mark , this time he had found a drake Common Scoter . On my arrival it was distant and very nervous taking flight a few times. It was very overcast so photography was near on impossible , I got a couple distant flight shots. I arrived at 6-40 and by 6-55 it flew off high in a North Westerly direction. Before I left for work I managed 65 Coot , Raven , Grey Wagtail , Cormorant , 8 Swallow's , Buzzard , 5 Chiffchaff , Grey Heron , 6 Great Crested Grebe's and a Jay . We usually get one or two sightings a year of Scoter , this is the first one so far.

A very distant dark shot of a drake Common Scoter leaving the mere this morning before sunrise . Not ideal conditions for photographing an all black duck in the gloom.

It is a Common Scoter honest.

Little Egret

Our first Little Egret at Astbury has been well overdue , with other lakes , reservoirs and mere's all around us getting them on a regular basis. I suppose we can only put it down to the size of our mere and the disturbance it gets through water sports etc. We know have low water levels due to the three months previous with very little rain and that has obviously contributed , giving a very attractive shoreline for wading birds at Astbury. If this continues we have high hopes that it could attract another first for us. As this was our first Egret I hope you will excuse me for putting a few more images on.

September 1st

In a one hour walk around this morning myself and Mark managed 40 species . The highlights were the first Kingfisher back this autumn also a Hobby over . Along with six Meadow Pipits , single Buzzard , single female Teal which is two months earlier than last year's record. Around 55 House Martin's passing through along with a dozen Swallow's. Others noted Goldcrest , Rook , Grey Wagtail and a couple of calling Chiffchaff. Hedgehog scats were found by the sailing club proof that they are around. Also not mentioned the other day we had two separate Vapourer Moths. August finished with a count of 65 species nine up on August last year.

Little Egret a site First

I was at work when I got a call from Mark saying he had just found our first Little Egret for Astbury a site first. Marks on a roll with the sighting of two Greenshank last Sunday morning , that in itself was only the second ever record. Surprisingly there have been no sightings of Little Egret at all either flying over or on the deck at Astbury, but they have been recorded at a small pool on a few occasions which is less than a mile away. But we will take this one as being the first .The Egret was found at 9-40 and was still present at 10-50 when I left feeding on the small spit just off the sailing club car park. It flew around once but came back to the same spot . The bird arrived between 8-30 and 9-30 as Mark visited earlier in the morning and left at 8-30 with no sign of its presence. Apparently the Little Egret flew off high over Visitors Centre just before midday. Also this morning small numbers of Meadow Pipits passed overhead , along with a single Buzzard and Sparrowhawk.I managed a few shots of the Egret just for the record books.

August 30th

Mark had a walk around early this morning not a great deal going on . Cormorant , Grey Heron , Blackcap , Bullfinch , Goldcrest and Chiffchaff. Also House Martin's and Swallows still hanging on.

August 28th

Quiet again this morning just a couple of Buzzards , Swallow's and House Martin's are still hanging on . Couple of female Blackcap noted along with good numbers of Goldfinch and Bullfinch , both these finch's seemed to have had a good breeding season. Fisherman tell me that the Tawny Owls were in good voice last night.

August 27th

Very quiet this morning just three Buzzards , a flock of 26 Goldfinch , single Kestrel and Raven over. Twenty-five Tufted Duck and 26 Black Headed Gulls on small sand bar along with a couple of Lesser Black Backs.

Photo by Tracey Stubbs

Greenshank

Absolutely fantastic record this morning of two Greenshank on the sailing club shore found by Mark Stubbs. The two birds were first picked up by Mark at 5-43 after he heard them calling, they flew off high North over visitors centre at 6-23. This is only the second ever record for the site , the first being found by Andy Goodwin on 26/09/02. Other birds of note a single Tawny Owl calling and in last couple weeks a Hobby and two juvenile Shelduck . A single Swift present late afternoon.

Archive photo of Greenshank taken a few years ago.

August 14th

Another quiet visit this morning , twenty seven House Martin's , single Grey Heron , eight Tufted Duck , eight Great Crested Grebe's and plenty of juvenile Bullfinches around. Sparrowhawk put up a small Goldfinch flock and Mark had three Swift again yesterday.

August 12th

A wet morning at the Mere , Reed Warbler , Cormorant , five Swift , four Chiffchaff , juvenile's of Bullfinch and Goldcrest , also Blackcap and Willow Warbler. (MS)

August 11th

Mark had fourty species on his walk this morning nothing special but not a bad total , with a couple of easy ones missed. Best of the bunch , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Nuthatch , Chiffchaff , Coal Tit , fourteen Greenfinch , Willow Warbler , Blackcap , House Martin's , Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.

100 UP

It's took a long time coming but finally early this morning Mark managed to get us up to the 100 species for the year. When four Common Terns dropped in at 5-35 this morning and flew out again at 6-05. All marks hard work has paid off putting in many hours birding to get us to this total , nice fella.

Strange sighting

Be careful if you go down to the woods today.

Mark Stubbs doing what he does best .

August 2nd

Struggling this morning to find much of interest the best being Reed Warbler , Buzzard , several House Martin's and Great Spotted Woodpecker.No sign of yesterday's two Common Sandpipers . Duck numbers basically the same as day before. Local fisherman told me he saw a pike take a young Coot last night.

August 1st.

Two Common Sandpipers early morning along the fisherman's shore which at present with the water levels very low , looks remarkable attractive for waders. 46 Coot , 43 Mallard , 8 Tufted Duck , 10 Great Crested Grebe's and 6 House Martin's. The area of rough grass just to the left of the visitors center held around 14 Common Blue and 2 Small Copper butterflies early morning. Six Swift and a single Reed Warbler this afternoon (MS).

Common Blue female.

Common Blue and Friend.

Male Common Blue and friend.

July 31st

Not a great deal to mention bird wise , eight Tufted Ducks , ten Great Crested Grebe's , Jay , Buzzard , and good numbers of Bullfinch. I managed to capture some Common Blue and Small Copper butterflies , as they battled with the early morning breeze.

Small Copper.

Common Blue male.

Common Blue male.

Common Blue female.

Common Blue female.

July 30th

On July 25th a count of thirty four Common Blue butterflies were noted amongst the long grass just to left of visitors center car park. Today five Swift still hanging on they should be heading south any time now. Five Tufted Duck noted numbers should increase now as the breeding seasons coming to an end , and Tuffties disperse from other waters. Good numbers of Bullfinch around looks like they had a good season.

July Highlights

July highlights are as follows , Common Sandpiper 14th , Oystercatcher 15th , juvenile Common Gull 27th and Raven 28th. Confirmed breeding Bullfinch , Greenfinch , Goldcrest , Long-tailed Tit and G C Grebe. Others worth a mention are Great Spotted Woodpecker , Tree Creeper , Nuthatch , Grey Wagtail , Kestrel , Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Collared Dove , Reed Warbler , Blackcap , Chiffchaff , Swift , House Martin , Swallow , Sand Martin, Grey Heron and Cormorant. Butterflies included Large , Small and Green-veined White's , Small Copper , Common Blue , Comma , Ringlet , Meadow Brown , Small Skipper , Peacock , Speckled Wood , Gatekeeper , Red Admiral , Holly Blue , Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady. Dragonflies included Brown Hawker , Southern Hawker and Migrant Hawker. Nearby of interest Kingfisher river Dane town centre also Dipper , Goosander and Grey Wagtail . On the Cloud Crossbill , Lesser Redpoll , Tree Pipit , Spotted Flycatcher , Meadow Pipit and Raven . Radnor Park industrial estate on 12th a White Stork on a factory roof early morning . All reports courtesy of Mark and Tracey Stubbs.

Ringlet.