Seeing Double

You wait a birding lifetime for a Rosy Starling to come along and then two come in the space of a week! This bird wasn't in Greater Manchester however, but just outside in St. Helens.  First thoughts were that it might be the same bird as the one in Timperley last week, because that one apparently disappeared the day after I saw it.

But this bird was a different matter altogether though because, as can be seen from the photographs, it came very close and wasn't bothered by people.  When I see birds like this I immediately think of two things: either it's a tame, escaped bird or it's not well.  But perhaps being a 1st winter bird it's just not seen people before.

It turns out that the bird was being fed by an old lady in her back yard where it been seen for a least a couple of weeks.  We saw it mainly on the wall at the back of 'Frydays' Fish and Chip shop, although it did fly up to a chimney and across the road to a rooftop on a couple of occasions.

And the bonus bird was this House Sparrow which made a nice composition sitting on this maple tree.

UPDATE: Unfortunately this story doesn't have a happy ending as a couple of days after I had seen, the bird was reported to have been killed by a Sparrowhawk.

Chorlton Water Park

For a couple of years I worked in Chorlton and I used to come to the Water Park to eat my lunch on most days.  With only a 30 minute break, I'd usually just sit on the car overlooking the feeders because that's all I had time to do, but I often saw a Jay, a Nuthatch, Reed Buntings, Ring-necked Parakeets and a good population of House Sparrows here as well as the usual Tits, Robins, Blackbirds and Chaffinches.

I've often thought of coming back with my camera as the Jay was particularly tame and the Parakeets pretty much guaranteed, with this area of South Manchester being a bit of a hotspot for them.  At this time of year there is also a good chance of seeing Siskin and Redpoll, with Goosander, Goldeneye and Pochards all fairly common. But recently there had been a drake Scaup present and so I decided it was time to go.








This post is combination of two visits I made in mid January and early February.

Leighton Moss and Hest Bank

I took advantage of the sunshine and went up to Leighton Moss today.  I had a number of target birds to see and managed to see most of them, including:

• A Glossy Ibis in the field next to the one facing the chimney (not seen first thing in the morning but went back late afternoon and got it.)
• A Bittern which did quite a long flypast at the Public Hide
• A Redhead Smew showing quite well at Lillian's Hide
• A Little Egret at Griesdale Hide
• Marsh Tits, Nuthatch and Treecreeper in the woods to the right of Lillian's Hide (I've only seen them on the feeders previously)
• Two very tame Robins posing for photos
• Several Fieldfare in the woods on the way to the causeway
• I had distant views of two Otters playing in the pool to the left of Lillian's Hide.
• Lots of Greylag Geese about, especially in the field near the level crossing where there must have been 200 in the late afternoon
• Three Oystercatchers in another nearby field
• There were not so many of the usuals around except at the Public Hide - 2 Mute Swans, 1 Pintail, 1 Cormorant in the usual place, lots of Tufted Ducks and Coots, some Mallards and Moorhens - there's probably something I've missed

         The only thing I didn't get to see today were the Bearded Tits.  I didn't visit the Lower Hide or the Eric Morecambe and Allen Hides today.   

On the way home I paid a short visit to Hest Bank where I saw:

• Curlew
• Oystercatchers
• Many Redshank
• Sanderling
• A Grey Heron
• Lots of Lapwing
• Shelduck
• A Black-headed Gull treading mud and catching shrimp
• A large group of House Sparrows chattering away in the tree-tops

A good day out to what is becoming one of my favourite regions for birding. Some pictures to follow...

Latest Pictures

I'm still quite new to serious birding. If I've misnamed or incorrectly identified any of the birds in this blog, please let me know in the comments at the bottom of the appropriate post - thanks.

A Starling in my back garden

A Willow Tit at Pennington Flash

A Chaffinch singing down Rindle Road

A female Blackbird with a meal for her young

A Sparrow at the bottom of my garden

A Dunnock at Pennington Flash

A Mute Swan on its nest in the canal near Moses Gate

Great Tit at Pennington Flash

Young Blackbird training for the World Cup

Dunnock on a Neighbour's Roof