19/04/2017 Elton Reservoir, Bury

Garganey: Elton Res is a place I rarely visit, the last time I was back in May 2014 when there was a showy Black Tern on the res.

The Manchester Bury & Bolton Reservoir, commonly called Elton Reservoir, is located near the A58 Bolton Road in Greater Manchester, about 3 km south west of the town of Bury and is a well watched by birders.

This time I was heading over straight from work in order to photograph the drake Garganey that has been showing superbly for the past couple of days.

However when I turn up the bird had become quite flighty, when I arrived the bird was on the canal getting before flying back over to the flooded field, due to a passing dog walker.

Despite the bird being flighty and with some field craft I was able to get close enough without unsettling it and got some nice images, albeit not as good as some images I have seen of the bird.

Still its not everyday you get close to a Garganey, typically they stay distant at p;laces such as Carr Lane Pools and Leighton Moss where I have seen them before.

Little Ringed Plover: While I sat and watched the bird on the edge of the flooded field I also saw a LRP drop in. This bird didn't stay long and after a quick feed flew off.

Little Gull: The Gargenay wasn't actually on Elton res but a small flooded field in the same area. Best accessed from Bury Road in Radcliffe then down on Within's Lane and walk up past Cocklestorm Paints. Here there is a canal towpath, and there are small floods on both sides of the canal.

Once I had my fill of the Garganey I moved on to Elton Res itself where I caught up with the Little Gull that has been on the res for a while now.

This was an adult bird with striking black under wings and white upper parts and tail.

The bird was showing incredibly well at the North end and was happily feeding on insects from the top of the water.

After watching the gull for about and hour I soon gave in to hunger and moved on. I followed the public right of way over the sheep fields and back towards Bury Road.

Wheatear: It was here I stopped a male Northern Whaetaer foraging around the sheep, a nice bird to pick up and end the day with.

07/04/2017 Houghton Green Pool

Little Ringed Plover: From Pennington Flash I decided to check Houghton Green Pool out, hoping the first Yellow Wagtail or LRP.
I struck lucky with the LRP as there were two individuls forrgaing around the edge of the pool one of which came right up to me before flying off to the other end.

My luck didn’t hold however as I was unable to locate any yellow ways, and I got some funny looks from a pair of dog walkers who were pointing at me as I lay down on the muddy banks of the pool, taking pictures of the plover.

07/04/2017 Pennington Flash

Lapwing: A pleasant day spent birding locally starting off with the morning at penny, were I was hoping to see the Drake Garganey that has been on site for a couple of days.

But alas It had I missed it by an hour or so as the bird out of sight from the spit near Horrocks Hide.

Little Ringed Plover: Still there was plenty to see, including two Common Sandpiper, three Little Ringed Plover, two Shelduck and I also had my first Swallow of the year.

Horrocks was typically busy with birders all gabbing away so much so that I was actually surprised that a LRP came all the way down from the top end of the spit right under the hide despite the decibel levels.

Redshank: Struggling to out do the guys in the hide a Cetti's Warbler was singing from the right hand side of Horrocks.

These two were getting rather frsicky!

23/04/2014 Houghton Green Flash

Yellow Wagtail: A quick stop off at Houghton before a meeting at Wigg Island and I'm glad I did, as I stumbled across this little ray of sunshine!

Little Ringed Plover: I counted 4 LRP scurrying around the edge of the flash like wind up toys.

The flash itself was very quiet, I was hoping to find a tern or two but alas I had to settle with a handful of BH Gulls a Cormorant a single Redshank and GC Grebes.

Common Sandpiper: I was pleased to have picked up two common sands feeding on the edge of the far bank, however without trying to disturb them I just couldn't manage to get close enough for a decent shot!

07/08/2013 Titchwell Marsh RSPB

Ruff: Our next stop on our second day in Norfolk was to the very excellent Titchwell RSPB nature reserve.

The ting with Norfolk is that the birding is ace! From the number of waders to the species it draws and Titchwell was no exception.

Lapwing: One of the first birds we saw was a female Marsh Harrier cursing over the vast reed beds. The scrapes were full of waders, Ruff, Lapwing, Black wits, Green Sands, Wood Sands, Spotted and Redshank but the highlight for me was very close views of a Little Stint.

Little Ringed Plover: (juvenile) I bagged another new tick with two female Red Crested Pochard which I believe breed at Titchwell.


This LR Plover was happily feeding right in front of the hide.

Sparrowhawk: All of a sudden all the waders lifted off the scrape as out of the corner of my eye came a female Sparrowhawk clutching what looked like a Starling.

Spoonbill: We decided to make a move and head back to the car for the long journey back up north when we stopped on the causeway looking over the scrape and spotted this elegant Spoonbill passing over.

Little Gull: We also spotted a single Little Gull sleeping on the scrape, this picture shows the difference in size between the Little Gull near the waters edge and the Black Headed Gull at the to of the picture.





We had a great trip birding and twitching around Norfolk where I bagged six new lifers which were Night Heron, Nightjar, Roller, Red Crested Pochard, Little Stint and believe it or not Common Scoter - on a brief sea watch but I'm hoping for better views one day as they were miles away. I will definitely  be back for more excellent Norfolk birding soon.

10/04/2013 Red Rocks

Wheatear: This male was spotted at Red Rocks, I went to see if I could catch up with the Ring Ouzel which had been reported yesterday from here and Leasowe.

Little Ringed Plover: Unfortunately I didn't catch up with the bird and there were no more reported today, but there was this LR Plover in the horse paddocks, I guess I will have to wait for another day for the Ouzel.