Black-tailed Skimmer

The female Black-tailed Skimmer still present today along with Broad-bodied Chaser and several Azure Damselfly and two Large Red Damselfly. Also a pair Shoveler on the mere . All photos below courtesy of Brian Hicks.

Pair of Large Red Damselfly.

Azure Damselfly.

Female Black-tailed Skimmer.

Apologies

Apologies I was doing work on the blog and locked it out of reading by mistake.

Today Mark had the four young Grebe's still present amazing really considering the amount of pike present.  Plenty of Southern Marsh Orchids in flower , a single  Oystercatche flew over and the Reed Warbler is still singing well . Also noted Collared Dove , twelve Swift and four House Martin's which is a poor showing really but they don't seem for some unknown reason to be back in numbers throughout the UK like previous years. Jack had another Hobby over on 22nd , and a female Black-tailed Skimmer yesterday which are scarce at this site. Butterflies reported just latley include Brimstone , Peacock , Orange-tip , Small  Copper , Comma, Small Tortoiseshell , Small and Large Whites  , and Green-veined White , I think that brings us upto date again apologies for pressing the wrong button and blocking everyone.

As you can see we are still on 98 species so if anyone sees a Tern either Black or Common shout loud as neither of these have been reported so far this year.

May 21st

A few Butterflies, two species of Damselfly and six Southern Marsh Orchids just coming out in flower.
Large White x 3
Small White x 1
Green-viened White x 2
Orange-tip x 8
Speckled Wood x 5
Brimstone x 1
Peacock x 1
Small Copper x 1
Large Red Damselfly x 3
Azure Blue Damselfly x 7

Small Copper taken with a phone by Tracey Stubbs.

Speckled Wood on the path.

Orange-tip female.

Red Mason Bee male.

Large Red Damselfly stunning close up.

Southern Marsh Orchid.

Southern Marsh Orchid.

Local Interest

Local Interest at a house in Mosseley Congleton four pairs of Swift's are back on site with two nests already occupied.

Local Interest

Wood Warbler singing on the main track upto the Cloud for the past few days also Spotted Flycatcher there. (MS,JS).

May 17th

Nothing different from yesterday really Singing Reed and Garden Warbler's and a Reed Bunting. Also our first Small Copper butterfly of the year.(M&T Stubbs).

May 16th

Cold and wet this morning where has the sun gone with temperature's in mid 20s yesterday cloudy and cooler today. Just a note the party we took around on Sundays bird walk the nest of Long-tailed Tits fledged the very next day , with nine youngster's all lined up along the gorse. This morning only birds worth noting were Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler it's all gone very quite. Mark just texted to say while he was having a break he saw two Greylag Geese fly over and a Reed Bunting singing away. These next few months are when I don't tend to go down to much as the public decend on the mere and all wildlife disappears . But having said that some good birds can turn up end of May there's always a chance of a Tern passing through or a Common Scoter being blown off course , or another Scaup paying us a visit. I now turn my attention to Butterflies , Dragonflies and Moths for the next few months , so stay with the blog it will not get updated as regular , but I will put on as and when. August onwards will be the next main bird news when we start to get reverse migration .

Guided Bird Walk

A big thank you to everyone that turned up at 7-00 this morning for our second guided bird walk. Again arranged by Matt the park ranger and along with Mark and myself we enjoyed your company and the banter. Undoubtedly the star attraction was the Great Crested Grebe with her four youngster's on her back being fed by dad . And the amazing site of a Long-tailed Tits nest close by the track with the adults feeding young with there heads hanging out the nest. Thanks to Mark for bringing his telescope and allowing very close views of both the Grebe's and Long-tails. A few birds were missing today that we normally connect with but everybody went away happy and that's what counts. We also noted three Small White Butterflies and a single Speckled Wood. We will arrange another one for the winter hopefully to connect with some of the meres wintering wildfowl. Full list below from this morning's walk.
1 Grey Heron
2 Cormorant
3 G C Grebe
4 Tufted Duck
5 Mallard
6 Coot
7 Moorhen
8 Mute Swan
9 Lesser Black Backed Gull
10 Black Headed Gull
11 Song Thrush
12 Blackbird
13 Mistle Thrush
14 House Sparrow
15 Blue Tit
16 Great Tit
17 Long-tailed Tit
18 Coal Tit
19 Starling
20 Chiffchaff
21 Blackcap
22 Swallow
23 Sand Martin
24 House Sparrow
25 Carrion Crow
26 Jackdaw
27 Woodpigeon
28 Feral Pigeon
29 Collared Dove
30 Swift
31 Treecreeper
32 Chaffinch
33 Goldfinch
34 Bullfinch
35 Pied Wagtail
36 Grey Wagtail
37 Robin
38 Wren
39 Dunnock

May 9th

Reed Warbler singing away early morning but apparently not late afternoon when Mark and Tracey were present . They had 50 Sand Martin , 21 Swift , and a single Swallow . Little Grebe's still present and the first Coot with chicks also spike from our Orchids are just starting to appear.

Orchid spike.photo courtesy of T Stubbs.

Coot chicks photo courtesy of D Collis.

May 8th

Finally this evening our first Reed Warbler back on territory singing away , two weeks later than last year's date.

May 5th

Three Shelduck over very early this morning along with a single Lesser Redpoll which is a good record for May. Also noted Garden Warbler , Blackcap (lots) , Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff. Sparrowhawk and Lapwing were the only birds of note moving over and still two Little Grebe's on the mere. The Grebe has now hatched her second chick off a little later than expected.

New kid on the Mere

May 3rd

Hobby over a couple of times this morning photo below number 97 for the year . The Lesser Whitethroat still rattling well in front of visitor's centre car park edge of the mere along hedgerow. Also early morning Garden Warbler in the scrub by dog beach corner . Six House Martin , two Swift , 50+ Sand Martin , 20+ Swallow's , Kestrel , two Little Grebe's , Sparrowhawk and looks like still only one Grebe chick . We are still waiting our first Reed Warbler to arrive it's now nine days later than last year's record.

Hobby.

Lesser Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) is one of the most commonest Sylvia warblers across much of agricultural Cheshire. The easiest way of picking them up is by the song that can only be discribed as a loud rattle completely different from any other British Warbler. This is one of the few species that migrates south east in autumn wintering south of the Sahara in eastern Africa , mostly at low altitudes in Ethiopia , Sudan and Chad . Breeding is very difficult to prove at Astbury with only one singing male heard most years , as the females don't sing it is even more difficult to prove we have a pair. End of April early May is when Lesser Whitethroat's are very vocal giving us the best chance of seeing them.

May 2nd

Lesser Whitethroat rattling away this morning , also Garden Warbler (1) , Blackcap (14), Chiffchaff (7) and Willow Warbler (3).The Great Crested Grebe chick was visible this morning sitting on mums back . Over the water around 200 Sand Martin's and about 40 Swallow's but House Martin's are having a poor start with just five noted. Also Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Grey Heron and Cormorant seen.

Lesser Whitethroat.

First Grebe chick .

April Months Total

We finished the month of April with 75 species compared with 68 the same time last year . We had some scarce species which boosted the total with Hawfinch and Brambling staying well into April , and the appearance of our first Arctic Tern . Along with three Common Sandpiper's and three fly over Shelduck all of which made the difference. Just another note of interest this time last year we had seen 80 species , compared with the 96 we are on at present . That magical 100 is getting ever closer. Some birdwatchers you talk to think that 100 species is an easy target to reach , it is at most other reserves or reservoirs . But not here at Astbury we have had to work hard and put in a lot of hours to get what we have got so far . If you think your up for the challenge come give it a try , and count your list for the year and see what you can get it's all a bit of fun and it gets you out in the fresh air.

Grebe Chick

The pair of Great Crested Grebe's have had the first chick hatch this afternoon.

May 1st

Two new birds for the year this morning but only one seen. A Pied Flycatcher which is a first record for the site , was heard to call several times but couldn't be located. As Mark was at work and Jack is in Spain I asked the very experienced Andy Goodwin if he would help search with me. I finally left after nearly two hours searching , Andy stayed on longer and heard it call again not far from where I first had it. Meanwhile Andy found our first Lesser Whitethroat rattling away along the hedgerow just down from the car park. When I returned a short while later you could here it as soon as you got out the car. Seen several times but just would no keep still for the camera. Also noted over one hundred Sand Martin and Swallow's hawking over the mere ,three Swift , single Sparrowhawk , Buzzard , Nuthatch , Bullfinch , Coal Tit , Jay , Little Grebe and the usual Willow Warblers , Chiffchaff and around 15 Blackcap. Also a couple of Tawny Mining Bee's. Many thanks Andy for coming over at short notice.

Sand Martin.

Swallow.

Swift.