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t a few of the monthly ukbs reports arrived just too late to make it into the print issue here they are greater manchester november highlights a pied billed grebe was at hollingworth lake 6th 21st a slavonian grebe lingered at audenshaw reservoirs 1st 21st eight whooper swans flew over burnt edge and two were at audenshaw reservoirs both 1st 14 flew over whitefield 10th three flew over horwich 13th and two were on hoillingworth lake 16th waxwings were present in large numbers with maximum counts at winter hill 250 wigan 230 horwich centre 125 bolton 81 stockport 70 swinton 65 horwich moors 37 hale 30 oldham broadway 30 salford 30 moston 28 timperley 20 and rochdale 20 elton reservoir a scaup was present 1st 20th seven bar tailed godwits flew over 6th a single long eared owl was present from 1st with two later in the month 19th 30th two whopper swans were recorded 14th eight waxwings was the maximum count 25th with a single also present 20th 22nd mersey valley a drake mandarin was on shell pool 14th as well as a pair of goldeneyes peregrine 3rd and raven 20th were both seen over shell nr over 350 pink footed geese flew over the carrington moss area a water rail was still at shell nr other sites a lapland bunting flew over winter hill 7th with a maximum of nine crossbills also over 19th a short eared owl flew over whitefield as did nearly 2 500 pink footed geese both 10th a ring ouzel was at rumworth lodge 13th with another over horwich 13th audenshaw reservoir held a yellow legged gull 10th 27th while another was at castleshaw reservoir 10th two black redstarts were still in the horwich winter hill area and another was at piethorne reservoir 16th a bittern was in the wigan flashes at hawkley reedbed 30th dr paul brewster 01606 590 491 south lincolnshire november rspb frampton marsh three bewick s swans 12th were more unexpected than the more numerous records of whooper swans a black brant was seen in company of the regular flock of 2 500 dark bellied brent geese on several occasions good counts of duck on the scrapes included 700 teal 6th and 650 wigeon 13th two scaup were on the reedbed for much of the month a little stint remained to 7th and up to 53 ruff were also seen a water pipit made a brief appearance 1st as did frampton s first ever bearded tits three on 15th but lapland buntings were a little more obliging with up to eight seen the highest count of twite on the saltmarsh was 90 17th rspb freiston shore october s american golden plover remained with up to 8 000 golden plovers to 1st on the sea 75 common scoter and two velvet scoters were seen 7th when a first winter glaucous gull was watched following a shrimp trawler two goosander were also present on the lagoon strong onshore winds 9th produced grey phalarope sooty shearwater two manx shearwaters 141 common scoters little gull and a red necked grebe which was also seen 14th 21st two long tailed ducks were seen 10th 14th and a black brant 21st whisby nature park november is usually a quiet month but this one proved to be somewhat different on the whisby side some peak counts included 15 snipe 12 tree sparrows 50 plus lesser redpolls and 65 plus siskins other good birds included a waxwing 11th two jack snipe 13th peregrines 18th 23rd the first woodcock of the winter 25th a male mandarin 26th 28th a water rail 27th up to three goosander 26th 30th and a wintering green sandpiper 30th on the n hykeham side regular gull watching was rewarded with adult caspian gulls 25th 29th up to six yellow legged gulls all month and an adult med gull 29th a drake scaup 15th 23rd was another good local find gibraltar point nnr there were two taiga bean geese 29th and five white fronted geese 21st there 32 barnacle geese 29th 30th four velvet scoter 28th a great northern diver 26th an iceland gull 28th a bearded tit 20th and three 21st shore larks were present from 4th when there were 12 with 15 13th and 11 28th a pallas s warbler was present 17th maximum number of waxwings reported was 31 5th up to 35 snow buntings were present during the month and 16 lapland buntings a rough legged buzzard was seen 30th and one was nearby at wainfleet 2nd 5th three pomarine skuas were at skegness 9th a black redstart at gibraltar point 12th and another at skegness 13th other sites a ring necked duck was present at bardney pits 1st 28th and a black necked grebe was there 21st a grey phalarope was at boston golf course 7th a great grey shrike was at raf woodhall 7th and a raven at bicker fen 21st at marston sewage farm there were four bearded tits 6th and five 15th and a cetti s warbler 10th 15th waxwings were widely reported highest numbers being 12 at spalding 7th 14 plus at lincoln from 14th 26 at sloothby 24th and 16 at sutterton there were 20 lapland buntings reported at gedney drove end steve keightley county recorder assisted by colin jennings john badley grahame hopwood ayrshire november highlights there was an unconfirmed report of an american herring gull at troon harbour 5th a first winter black redstart at turnberry point 24th 30th a little auk off saltcoats 26th and a water pipit at seamill 29th 30th were notable general the waxwing invasion continued as birds dispersed widely largest flocks were 400 at irvine 9th 300 at prestwick 10th and 200 at saltcoats 15th up to 3 great northern divers were between turnberry and dipple throughout up to three leach s petrels were at troon and stevenston 3rd 5th by the end of the month there were five pale bellied brent geese at maidens the largest herd of whooper swans was 75 at springside knockentiber 2nd two hen harriers were near cumnock 9th and at auchinleck there were two jack snipe on the same day single merlins were at irvine 10th and greenan 13th a great skua was off troon and stevenston point 12th and off saltcoats 13th where there was also a pomarine skua 11th and another along with a storm petrel 13th a female long tailed duck remained in maidens harbour 13th 30th a slavonian grebe was at southannan sands 14th when six grey plovers were at nearby hunterston another slavonian grebe was at saltcoats 26th an unusually high count of 39 black guillemots was seen between portencross and hunterston 14th a green sandpiper was along the cessnock water at barleith 15th and four female ruff at saltoats on the same day two snow buntings appeared at prestwick beach 16th a single was at turnberry point 26th 27th and five were at prestwick 30th a ring necked parakeet was in skelmorlie 13th alloway 24th and saltcoats 28th the adult iceland gull remained on the river ayr throughout a large movement of woodpigeon was noted at the beginning of the month small groups of bramblings were widespread and large finch and lark flocks were noted particularly at the coast crossbills were noted in most forests and groups of up to 10 woodcock were also reported nuthatches at bird feeders in alloway suggest a consolidation in that area mixed flocks of greylag and pink footed geese were widespread but small michael howes posted by mike weedon at 3 06 pm 1 comments labels ukbs thursday july 8 2010 ukbs greater manchester because of an early deadline for the august issue one or two ukbs reports may not have made the cut off here then is the greater manchester round up with the birds seen in june greater manchester highlights a red kite flew over woodford aerodrome 4th the male black redstart was still in manchester city centre all month a marsh harrier was at bryn marsh wigan 12th 13th a quail was flushed from an offerton garden 17th mersey valley a drake wigeon lingered at shell pool late month 23rd 30th elton reservoir star bird was a brief little tern with the common terns 6th ten gadwall 3rd was a noteworthy count a dipper was regularly seen nearby from bury bridge other sites a drake garganey was at horrock s flash wigan 1st with 31 black tailed godwits there later in the month 17th dr paul brewster 01606 590 491 peter alker pennington flash 01942 605 253 chris nield peter baron posted by mike weedon at 3 43 pm 2 comments labels birds greater manchester ukbs friday june 25 2010 deceased kingfisher assistant editor mike weedon writes i found this male kingfisher dead at the top of the stairway up to our offices this morning i am not sure how it died but there were no obvious wounds and the neck was very floppy i suspect that it may have flown up from the carp pond and hit one of the shiny windows these photos were taken by darren harbar of practical photography magazine posted by mike weedon at 4 54 pm 4 comments monday june 21 2010 derbyshire ukbs for may 2010 owing to a technical glitch in our july 2010 issue rod key s derbyshire report for uk bird sightings went awol in fact it morphed into a duplicate of the herefordshire report here then for those of you who missed it pretty much everyone is the derbyshire report for the birds seen in may 2010 apologies all round derbyshire highlights a great reed warbler a county first was at straw s bridge pond ilkeston from 12th a red rumped swallow was at ogston reservoir 29th 30th nine cetti s warblers were in the trent valley a spoonbill was at willington canal pit 29th a montagu s harrier was on the north derbyshire moors to 19th seven dotterel were at abney moor 11th with two 16th 18th two more flew over big moor 19th five cranes were at ogston reservoir 3rd a possible black kite was at higher tor hathersage moor 17th aston on trent gravel pits a marsh harrier flew west 1st there were three sanderling 29th with a few dunlin and ringed plovers carr vale eight marsh harriers flew through the bar tailed godwit remained to 4th a whimbrel was seen 5th and 10th with a little egret and greenshank 19th a wood warbler 3rd was a rare record here carsington water the great northern diver remained to 8th as did the scaup to 1st an osprey sat on a buoy eating a fish 26th there were two sanderling 12th with one 26th a turnstone 8th 10th eight whimbrels 5th with 15 8th a greenshank 10th and three black tailed godwits 5th a mediterranean gull was seen 1st with a black tern 28th arctic terns peaked at four 8th foremark reservoir there were seven common scoters 31st a black redstart was seen 8th a wood warbler was at carvers rocks 31st middleton moor there were three sanderling four dunlin and 19 ringed plovers 29th with one sanderling 30th seventeen greenland wheatears were seen 3rd ogston reservoir there were red kites 1st and 23rd ospreys 8th and 15th and a marsh harrier 19th sixteen whimbrels were seen 7th with one 10th a sanderling 22nd and turnstone 15th a sandwich tern arrived 19th with a little tern 26th and 52 arctic terns 7th willington gravel pits garganeys were seen 9th 12th and 22nd 31st with four wigeon and a teal noted three marsh harriers were logged there was a grey plover 10th three sanderling 6th with one 22nd up to 13 black tailed godwits a greenshank 6th and a wood sandpiper 19th 21st a mediterranean gull 1st little gull 31st sandwich tern 2nd black tern 22nd and up to 17 arctic terns were seen other sites red kites were at seven sites including three over the a38 near ripley 23rd marsh harriers were at ambaston gravel pits 3rd barbrook pools 23rd and erewash meadows 27th an osprey flew over clowne 7th two quails were at etwall sewage farm 26th six greenshanks were at barbrook pools 8th wood sandpipers were at ambaston gravel pits 3rd and pleasley colliery 21st 22nd four sandwich terns were at barrow gravel pits 3rd with a black tern at straw s bridge pond ilkeston 15th two hawfinches were at cromford canal 2nd long eaton gravel pits logged two shelducks two egyptian geese and an arctic tern 5th rod key r_key sky com posted by mike weedon at 3 22 pm 0 comments tuesday april 6 2010 easter birding easter s always a favourite time of year for me because of course it falls during the spring migration period a little earlier this year than some and certainly a little colder but still a great chance to get out there and try to catch up with a few migrants in fact though my two birding highlights of the long weekend didn t involve new arrivals at all the first came on saturday in the unlikely surroundings of welford road leicester tigers rugby ground now over the years i ve got some reasonably good ticks while watching sport with the best probably being an osprey drifting over the cricket club where i play but in many years of watching at welford road or more often at the nearby walkers stadium and filbert street before that i ve learned not to expect much more than feral pigeons and black headed gulls going overhead but as i stood there around 20 minutes before the kick off with 22 000 people packed in for the game against old rivals bath my eye was caught by a bird flying diagonally across the stadium just above the level of the tallest stand the sun caught it and i could see that it was a woodcock one of the last birds i d expect to see in the middle of leicester i excitedly pointed it out to everyone around me not suprisingly most looked at me as if i d lost my marbles yesterday as i returned home from looking for wheatears ring ouzels and black redstarts at beacon hill only the former were to be found a large bird drifted across the road in front of me at a height of around 100ft for a second i took it for a gull then realised that it was a curlew followed by another in the time it took to park safely they d landed in a large field where i ve often seen them at this time of year so much so in fact that i think of it as the easer monday curlew field they were a bit nervous but for 45 minutes or so i watched them feeding and occasionally doing their wonderful display flight and song the latter a bubbling trilling thing of beauty that is probably my favourite ever birdsong whether they breed locally is unclear they certainly did within living memory but the curlews that i see in this particular vicinity are always around six weeks later than the first i see going through the local gravel pits for me their appearance is always proof that spring has well and truly arrived posted by mike weedon at 10 28 am 0 comments labels birds sport tuesday march 23 2010 birding getaways later this year in bird watching you ll be able to read ukbs stalwart and scottish birding enthusiast gordon hamlett s excellent account of an rspb birding weekend at the cavens hotel kirkbean dumfries and galloway in the meantime though you can find out more about the hotel situated on the bird rich solway firth and the birdwatching breaks it offers here it has rspb weekends scheduled on april 23rd 25th and november 5th 7th when you can join rspb experts for a trip packed with the best of solway birds including flocks of geese breeding waders dabbling and diving ducks spectacular seabirds spring songsters migrants and birds of prey visiting some of the best bird watching sites along the north solway coast you can expect to see around 100 different species the all inclusive weekends include drinks reception with expert ranger led daily excursions ...