Our route took us from the Witton Bridge car park up to Haydn's pool, along to Budworth Mere then over to Neumann's Flash on our way back to the cars. Dunnocks, Great and Blue Tits were all in song as we approached Butterfinch Bridge, no Cetti's Warbler this year but a Water Rail called briefly from deep inside the reedbed upstream from the bridge.

Haydn's Pool was disappointing; it's currently overgrown with little water to be seen, but we did tick off Stock Dove and Peregrine on the day list - the latter perched on a railing on the old ICI building, not in it's usual position on the chimney - you can't hide from the Hon. Chairman's Swarovski!

Elevenses were taken at the viewing screen overlooking Budworth Mere. More to see here, the most obvious species on view were the Goosanders - no less than 29 birds, four full adult males but mostly "red heads" one of which was fishing in the shallows, just below the screen, where Richard obtained the image shown above. A second Water Rail was heard from here whilst out on the mere good numbers of Great Crested Grebes two of which were displaying.

Over towards the sandspit were the gulls, Mainly Black-headed with a few Herring a handful of Lesser Black-backed and a single Great Black-backed. Other wildfowl included Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe with a couple of Canada Geese and a lone Goldeneye. A Kingfisher flew low over the mere as we made our way along the waterside path and into the woodland.

Approaching Neumann's we came across a small flock of finches predominately Green and Gold but alongside them a couple of Lesser Redpolls. More Wildfowl on Neumann's with Wigeon and Teal present in good numbers; across on the far side of the flash a flock of c. 200 Lapwings (but no Golden Plovers this time). Richard, Geoff and Sheila diverted to Pod's hide before returning to the cars and from there had a Snipe and great views of a Water Rail which was so close that Richard was able to capture this shot with his phone camera. In the foreground you'll see red roses left in memory of Pete "Pod" Antrobus and in who's memory the hide was erected. A poignant image and a reminder that for many people Christmas and New Year can be a very difficult time.

Some up and coming dates for your diary.

Sunday 6th January.... Our KOS January field trip to Connah's Quay. 08:30am at the Tatton Street car park or 09:20 at the entrance to the reserve. Hopefully the Twite flock has built up again this winter.

Sunday 13th January... Wildfowl watch with the Tatton Rangers. 11:00am to 1pm at the Allen hide.

Friday 25th January... KOS indoor meeting - "North Norfolk Here I Come" with Jim Almond

Saturday 26th January - Big Garden Birdwatch with the Friends of Knutsford Moor. 9am to 10am on the Moor.

Sunday 27th January - Big Garden Birdwatch with the Friends of Knutsford Heath 11am to noon on the Heath.

Greetings all. A lovely evening last Friday rounded off our 2018 meeting programme with festive spirits fuelled by a delicious food offering. This event is also our sole fund raising effort of the year; here is how we did on that front.

I've not received many sightings of interest since the last update. Bob Groom was at Rostherne on 11th December and had a flock of c.100 Pinkfeet flying over. In Mobberley along Pavement Lane two Little Owls have taken over the oak tree nest site used two years ago by a pair of Barn Owls. Blue, Great and Coal Tits have been in song for the past couple of weeks and were joined over the weekend by the local Dunnocks. Not long now to the shortest day and in the garden the daffodil leaves are beginning to emerge - Spring can't be that far away - or am I being a tad too optimistic? In his weather column in today's Times Paul Simons, who correctly predicted the arrival of the "Beast from the East" at the end of February, seems confident that were going to suffer something similar in the near future, possibly as soon as late December although more likely in mid to late January. It could run through to February with hard frosts, ice and snow - you've been warned!

I've updated the trips and meetings page with three additional outdoor events. On December 28th we'll be having our Christmas walk around the Northwich Woodlands - Neumann's / Haydn's / Budworth Mere etc. meeting at the usual Witton Bridge car park at 09:45 for a 10am start.
We'll again be joining forces with two Knutsford organisations for the Big Garden Birdwatch. Friends of Knutsford Moor at 9:00am on 26th January and Friends of Knutsford Heath at 11:00am the following day.

The Wirral is proving very popular at the moment with KOS members, including Bob and Glynn who enjoyed a productive day on Tuesday (4/12)..........Glynn and I went over to Burton Mere this morning and clocked 6 species of raptor, only Merlin was missing. A ring-tail Hen Harrier was around the whole time we were there, mostly perched but several times hunting the scrape and the reedbed. A handsome male Sparrowhawk caught the sun as it sat on the ground and on low foliage across the water. A female Marsh Harrier flew over and back, a dashing Peregrine twice put everything up, including the geese. A Kestrel appeared, looking surprisingly pale at first. Two Buzzards hung around, feeding on invertebrates at times. I counted 62 Whooper Swans. There were also a couple of Black Swans and a few Mute Swans. A Little Egret ignored the raptors and stayed put. There were the usual Black-Tailed Godwits, Redshanks and Snipe plus a few Ruff and Dunlins. A Kingfisher flashed past and Greenfinches visited the feeders. We moved on to Parkgate, no owl appeared unfortunately, but we had further views of Marsh Harriers and another ringtail Hen Harrier. There were a couple of Great White Egrets, many Curlews, Pink-Footed Geese and a Stonechat. Although we had travelled through banks of fog en route, the Estuary was bathed in hazy sunshine and so visibility was quite reasonable.........

Closer to home Hugh Pulsford tell me he ringed four Cetti's Warblers on Knutsford Moor in late September / early October so hopefully we'll have them breeding next Spring - we've waited long enough now!
In Tatton itself Alan Booth sent me some interesting counts from a visit this morning (9/12) ........ 18 Mandarin (12m/6f), 2 male pintail, 6 Goldeneye(1m/5f), 2 Teal plus usuals on mere 9 to 9:30 am ....Thanks Alan.

Don't forget that this Friday we have our annual KOS Christmas party, doors will be open from 7pm this year. It's just £ 7 per person and, having had a sneak preview, the buffet promises to be the best yet! Derek has sent a global email to all members so everyone knows what to bring along - please make an effort to attend. This is our only fund raising event of the year - subscriptions and admission fees to the indoor meetings don't cover costs - the top class speakers we currently enjoy don't come cheap!!!

The Starling roost in the Coward reedbed at Marbury Park's Budworth Mere continues, long-time visitor to this website Wendy Stratford paid a couple of visits last week and reports that the birds performed in the appropriate manner! Bob Groom was there at dusk on Sunday (25th) and was lucky enough to see the wintering Bittern as well as the Starlings. " Marbury/Budworth Mere - Starlings came down in waves from 3.55 to 4.15 PM, rather than a mass murmuration. Sparrowhawks were in attendance and at least one Starling fell victim to them. Just after 4.20 PM, when only 2 of us were left watching, the Bittern flew from left to right over the reedbed and then started to make its 'night-nest', pulling reed fronds together over it. Despite the gloom it was quite conspicuous in flight as it is a very pale bird. "

Keith Offord's talk about Harriers last Friday was much appreciated by a disappointingly small audience, Keith is an articulate speaker with a relaxed style making the most complex of subjects easy to understand. Perhaps inspired by Keith's excellent talk potential new member Karina Stanley travelled over to the Wirral on Sunday where she was successful in her search for Hen Harriers and had good views of both male and female/immature birds.
Keith will be back in town on Friday 7th December at the CAWOS monthly meeting with his presentation "Costa Rica - Paradise of the Neotropics" "An extraordinary array of birds and other wildlife is found in Costa Rica. Forests drip with tanagers and warblers and echo to the exotic utterances of Montezuma Oropendolas while whole new families of birds can be discovered such as foliage-gleaners, antbirds and woodcreepers. Perhaps the most memorable are the iridescent hummingbirds which whiz around like large insects, pausing only to feed from nectar-producing flowers. High in the trees, fabulously coloured trogons might be spotted along with the aptly named Resplendent Quetzal. This talk explores the wildlife of a number of the key habitats from cloud forests to coastal plains".

The day after this CAWOS meeting it's our KOS December field trip over to Pennington Flash (Saturday 8th December - leaving Lilac Avenue at 9:00am)- Willow Tits and Goosanders guaranteed! Another local group visited the flash yesterday [click here] a good total but we should do better than that!

Dog Wood was quiet although we did come across a flock of Goldfinches feeding in the path side Alder Trees and a small flock of Redwings flew into the topmost branches of an Oak tree. Some activity on the south end of Tatton Mere with Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, a couple of Little Grebes and small scattered groups of Pochard.
A Grey Wagtail called briefly as we headed up the track from Dog Wood and further along, in the copse just past the outdoor centre, a Green Woodpecker made a brief appearance before moving on towards Hanging Bank wood.
The feeders outside the Allen hide were well stocked and attracting Great Spotted Woodpeckers (2), Coal, Blue and Great Tits, a second Grey Wagtail perched for a few seconds in front of us whilst across the other side of Melchett Mere a flock of Common Snipe rose briefly from the reeds, I estimated about 20 birds although they're very furtive when on the ground and we could only find eight through the 'scopes. Three Wigeon, three Teal and a Mute Swan were added to the day list before we left the shelter of the hide and headed into the wind alongside the mere towards the park's Knutsford entrance. Just a Lesser Black-backed Gull was new on the mere but a flock of about 20 Tufted Duck had arrived and a quick scan revealed around 25 Pochard and 8 Goldeneye. A Siskin feeding in the tree tops with a flock of Goldfinches on Knutsford Moor was our final species of the morning bringing us up to a final total of 40; not bad for the time of year but we'll do better than that if we get some decent Winter weather!.
Bob and Glynn travelled over to the Wirral where they had some good birds. Bob kindly sent me a quick resume - We had great views of 3 harriers at Parkgate, male and ringtail Hen Harriers and a female Marsh Harrier, also Kestrel (no owl, peregrine or bittern, unfortunately) plus usual Great White and Little Egrets , plenty of Pinkfeet etc. Burton was rather quiet, Buzzard the only raptor. 70 Whooper Swans, usual Black-Tailed godwits, 6 Dunlins, single Green Sandpiper and regular ducks.- Thanks Bob.

A reminder that on Friday (23rd) we have our November indoor get together when we'll be welcoming back Keith Offord who'll be telling us all about the "Skydancers".
Sixteen species of harrier are found throughout the world, and are spread as far apart as Australia and South America. They are, arguably one on the most elegant groups of raptors and, typically, they sail low over open country on wings held in a shallow V shape as they search out their prey. They are also known for their spectacular display flights early in the breeding season. This talk explores this fascinating group of birds with particular emphasis on our own Hen Harrier which I have studied and monitored on the uplands of Wales since 1974.

Western Parotia....Red Bird of Paradise....Wilson's Bird of Paradise....Vogelkop Bower bird

On then to Marbury where the car parking is no longer free and a warning here - they've installed new state of the art ticket machines that are as user friendly as a cornered rat. Luckily we had Geoff Blamire with us and with his logical approach to this sort of problem soon translated the hieroglyphics etched into the front of the machine and persuaded it to grant us 3 hours for £ 1.50!
We ate our lunchtime sandwiches sat at the tables under the purpose built shelter before moving down to the main viewing screen. A good selection of species from here with a very busy feeding station in front of us and on the mere plenty of water birds. 55+ Great Crested Grebes was a good count and floating amongst them a female Goosander gave excellent views as it approached the phragmites reedbed. Herring and Common Gulls were added to the day list as well as Sparrowhawk, a big female circling the mere causing consternation amongst the potential prey below. Two flocks of Geese were feeding on the grassland at the opposite side of the mere, one containing about 40 Greylags and a bigger one consisting only of Canada's, alongside them a flock of 60+ Curlews fed peacefully on that undisturbed area of the park.

This coming Saturday's KOS November field trip should be less of a challenge for our intrepid adventurers as we head west for a double-header; Moore Nature Reserve in the morning WA46XE. Then over to Marbury Mere CW9 6AT where lunch will be taken. I think the catering van is still operating on a Saturday and as I recall the bacon butties are well worth queuing for!
9am at Lilac Avenue or 9:30am at the Moore Nature Reserve car park - Jacquie Ledward is Saturday's trip leader.

Despite these "failures" we amassed a creditable list of 58 species on the reserve with a further three being added later by a small splinter group who moved on to Parkgate (I hope you kept out of the Parkgate Chippie chaps)! As usual we began in the visitor centre where some of us enjoyed a cup of the excellent RSPB filter coffee ( £ 1.80) as we scanned the main pool and the adjacent reedbeds. There was plenty of activity - Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Curlew, Ruff, Redshank and Snipe were all on view whilst further out in the distance single Whooper Swans and Cattle Egret, a Great White Egret gave great views as it lumbered past in the direction of the Dee Estuary. Canada Geese and Greylags were both around in good numbers and flocks of Pinkfeet came and went throughout the morning.

IMF (the hide at Inner Marsh Farm) provided new species with a flock of 18 Golden Plover mixed in with 15 Dunlin, this was where the Curlew Sandpiper had been located but we couldn't make it out - one of the locals said he could see it in his 'scope but was a bit vague with his directions so we never got onto it.
Heading back from IMF we were delighted to hear an explosion of song from a Cetti's Warbler, well-hidden in the dense undergrowth. Bob and Glynn had a separate bird close to the Marsh Covert hide. I hope this species continue to prosper up here in the north-west as they're susceptible to cold weather; when we were in Suffolk this Spring we only had one Cetti's Warbler in song and wardens at Minsmere told us that the population of 80 birds had been wiped out by the beast from the east!

Tomorrow evening (Friday 26th) it's our October indoor meeting when Jeff Clarke will be talking about "The Humboldt".

A short distance from the spacious car park is the main pool, a shallow area of water which held a good selection of birds - Shoveler, Teal, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, and a handsome Whooper Swan gliding effortlessly along. On the muddy margins good numbers of Lapwings and well-hidden Common Snipe that took to the air from time to time, no sign though of the Jack Snipe that had been seen earlier in the morning.

As we moved on towards the screen overlooking reedbed #1 Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were constantly on the move overhead but the most obvious species were the Pink-footed Geese that arrived in huge, noisy skeins from the north to feed on the fields the other side of the River Alt; lots of guesses as to the number present but suffice it to say that there were many thousands!

A Stonechat posed nicely for us before a big female Sparrowhawk hunting low over the ground scattered everything in sight including all the waders on the Main Pool, there were more Snipe than we thought - probably in excess of 50 birds.

Further round the reserve a Buzzard gave good views through the 'scopes as it rested on the ground whilst a tractor passing close to the Pinkfeet forced them into the air along with a female Marsh harrier. Passing along the raised grassy banking at the far end of the reserve we put up a covey of about a dozen Grey Partridge that took to the air simultaneously in tight formation as we approached - a species I've not seen locally for many years; they used to be so common in the fields of Mobberley in the 60's and 70's.

The two small pools on our left as we walked back towards the car park held more Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwits and two Ruff - an excavator was parked close by,it's being used to make more wet areas with scrapes and breeding islands. Finally as they enjoyed lunch sat on a bench overlooking reedbed #1 and to round off a most rewarding visit Bob, Jacquie and Sue had a Peregrine and fleeting views of a Bittern bringing the day list to 47. Our thanks go to Bob and Sue for suggesting a visit to Lunt Meadows and to Sue for acting as trip leader - we'll no doubt be returning in the near future.

It appears "The Lad" is heading for home after only 35 days in a tent on the Shetlands - no staying power these youngsters nowadays - typical snowflake!
Hi Tone Two more nights and then ferry home. 35 nights in a tent on Shetland in Sept-October and no breakages this time ;-). Back from Fetlar today...great place! A whole island pretty much to yourself as far as birding goes...hard to believe Unst came to seem overcrowded at times. Consensus is this autumn has been exceptional - not in a good way - far fewer birds than normal. Striking how few common migrants there were - Flycatchers, Warblers generally - only saw 4 Yellow-Broweds! Some of the tour groups had a very lean time for their £ 1500 weeks birding. A good selection overall though: YBWs 4, Rosefinch 5, Buff-breasted Sand 1, American Golden Plover 1,Subalpine Warbler 1, Citrine Wagtail 1, Barred Warbler 2, Snow Bunting 7, Great Northern Diver 4, Red-throated Diver 1, Dotterel 1, Pechora Pipit 1, Blyth's Reed Warbler 1, Great Grey Shrike 1, Arctic Skua 2, Bonxie 25+, Long-eared Owl and pretty much the last bird on Fetlar: Got 2 days of birding before the ferry back to Aberdeen. Need 3 new birds to reach my target. Enjoy Lunt..... Baz

"The Lad" is still up in the Shetlands, and is currently on Fetlar in search of a Snowy Owl.

Hi there Tone,
Hope all going well with Autumn birding. ...I'm reminded of a certain pool in Scotland ....currently on Fetlar...Great spot for tent inside a ruin/sheep shelter...Only other occupant the mouldering bones of dead sheep in corner??
Rain pattering on tent...c200 Golden Plover wheeling and calling overhead..couple of Turnstone in there somewhere. Loch Funzie behind me. Tomorrow will try the Stakkerberg and see if the Snowy is still about. ..No sign last couple of days though seen catching a rabbit before gales set in and no one's been looking so fingers crossed. . Good luck with the birding..............Baz

A final reminder that our next field trip will take place this Saturday (20th October) when we'll be visiting a new venue - Lunt Meadows on Merseyside ( L29 7WL) - 45 mins from Knutsford - 9am at Lilac Avenue.

On his return from experiencing the raptor passage in the Tarifa region of southern Spain Bob Groom's first port of call was "his" Hobby site just outside Knutsford, but he had no luck and it's presumed they've moved south for the Winter after what appears to have been a successful breeding season. Only 7 Winter months to wait before they're back with us Bob!

Last Friday's (26th September) first indoor get together of the season was well-attended, I counted 30 members and visitors who'd gathered to watch Michael Leach's presentation "The Complete Owl". Michael's been a wildlife cameraman with the BBC and has authored a number of books; he gave a very informative and polished presentation, although,in my opinion, his images left something to be desired.

Judging by the label on the feeder (left), seen in the Poundstretcher store in Northwich it appears that Pied Flycatchers have evolved into seed eaters without anyone noticing!

Don't forget our next field trip will take place on Saturday 20th October when we'll be visiting a new venue - Lunt Meadows on Merseyside - 45 mins from Knutsford - 9am at Lilac Avenue.

Barrie "The Lad" Armitt is on his travels again and, true to form, has chosen a challenging environment - he's camping in the Northern Islands of Scotland. Barrie is a product of our long defunct KOS junior section and, for those who've never met him, his recent emails will illustrate the type of character you're dealing with!!

Hi Tone Yep. Back on Unst ...Sat in hostel ...Rain hammering down...double staked the tent in preparation for tonight. Good bird today...Buff-Breasted Sand...total lack of passerines other than Goldcrest . .Think they know what's on the way and have scarpered. Bits and bobs last couple of days: Pied Fly, Rosefinch, Wood Warbler, YBW, usual Phylloscs. Consensus is it's quiet..until the American turned up today ?? Regards Baz

Hi Tone No NE sadly...stuck with NW-W ...No real movement...Most passerines here look to have been here a while. Some good birds though: American Golden Plover and Buff breasted Sand feeding together; Citrine Wag.. couple of Barred Warbler; Spotshank - rare here- 5+ Common Rosefinch; Wood warbler still here; Whinchat, handful of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff; couple of Pied Fly. Something is lurking out there?? Changed tents last night to check the new bomb proof edition ahead of wild camp on Fetlar...managed to pitch it so the fabric played a demonic "tune" half the night in the wind...Having an easy morning as consequence. Take it easy...... Baz

There's a good Shetland facebook page here plus a second here and a third (non-facebook) here

This Friday (26th) it's the first of our new season of indoor meetings when Michael Leach will be talking about "The Complete Owl" - Based on Michael's best-selling book of the same name. This talk reveals our resident British owls in folklore and fact; it looks at barn owls and tawny owls, little owls and cat owls and the specialised techniques that help them hunt. It dispels misleading myths and reveals the realities of an owl's life. The talk is illustrated with dramatic high-speed photographs of owls in flight

Derek has kindly sent me a short summary of the day including a list of species seen.

Driving along the A55 and about 5miles short of Llanfairfechan we had a tremendous downpour and a person in our car (unnamed) said "take me home Derek", but arriving at Llanfairfechan it had nearly stopped, although it was quite cold; yet on way back from far hide Sheila took two layers off so you could see how warm it had become!
The Mute Swans were on the boating lake at Llanfairfechan two adults and 5 young; if you remember the nest fenced off in a corner of lake when we were there in May. The Bonxie was just a black blob mobbing a Sandwich Tern in the far distance, Sheila got the 60X mag. on it and we identified it by a process of elimination! I thought I saw a diver flying but not 100% sure because it was quite distant and there were loads of great Crested Grebes out towards Puffin Island.
The RSPB had a stall on promenade at Llanfairfechan I gave the man in charge a KOS card, he confirmed to us that there had been 20+ Puffin on Puffin Island this year now all rats had been eradicated.
We had superb views of the Ravens, one on the wall on footpath at Llanfairfechan the other grabbing a piece of dead Rabbit in field alongside the path.
The Water rail also gave us excellent views at the double hide at Conwy, you know which one I mean, where the high chairs are and we drop off to sleep (well some of us)!!

Frank our Hon. Treasurer enjoyed the day as well......Overall I think it was a very successful day. Obviously the weather helped. I definitely think it was a good idea to visit North Wales at this time of the year. Stretched out on the sea front at Llanfairfechan eating lunch at the end of our walk felt positively blissful..... No doubt helped by the fact he took his receipt book along and returned home with another £ 40 in subs - only 3 to go apparently - you know who you are!!

It looks as though we're in for some interesting weather, the temperature this afternoon (17th) is 22C and still rising as the remains of an Atlantic storm approaches us from the west, pulling up some warm conditions from the south. The south westerly wind is increasing by the hour and is predicted to reach gale force tomorrow and Wednesday so, no doubt, the internet will be full of interesting sightings from the coast with multiple sightings of Leach's Petrel on the Wirral. It may be a good idea to check more locally for storm blown vagrants. In September 2003 a Manx Shearwater was found on Tatton Mere and even earlier back in the '70's a Little Shearwater at Rostherne - it was dead when I saw it in a box at the warden's house although some people claimed it was "certainly alive" when they viewed it later and I believe it went on many Rostherne / Cheshire / Life lists!!!

Neumann's Flash has been in good form and, as Bob Groom's email illustrates, some nice birds have been turning up recently.... Called this morning. Blustery wind a bit unpleasant down at Pod's Hide but the birds were good. No spotted redshank or godwits but good views of the Wood Sandpiper, also 4 Curlews, to the right, while to the left (and left of the Lapwings) were 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Dunlins and the Little Stint. There were at least 30 Pied Wagtails and half-a-dozen House Martins, swooping very low over the water.. A Kestrel the only raptor (strangely no buzzard seen). I Was lucky enough to catch the Whinchat on the fence at Ashton's Flash, before it disappeared into the vegetation.

This Saturday (15th September) we have our field trip over to North Wales, we'll be leaving Lilac Avenue at 08:30am and meeting up around 10:00am at Llanfairfechan. The plan is to walk from the car park down to the Morfa Madryn reserve in the morning and then move on to the RSPB's Conwy Reserve in the afternoon.

On the Tuesday we enjoyed much better weather and witnessed one other visit by the male during the two hours we spent there - par for the course according to BWP. After the second the male was watched for some time as it climbed over the area. Higher and higher, until it was visible only through binoculars, pausing from time to time to take flying insects.

Darren Morris has kindly sent me a copy of Tatton's excellent Autumn 2018 wildlife newsletter -click here- there's an opportunity again to accompany Fungal Punk Dave on one of his fungal forays - despite his name I believe he's very knowledgeable and you'll receive a good grounding in this often overlooked branch of our natural history.

A nice surprise from Tatton Park where regular visitor Robert Purser recently found a Short Eared Owl close to the Mill Pond (7/8) - we have seen them previously at this location, but not normally until mid-winter and not very often!
The ever optimistic Bob Groom went in search of this rare visitor the following day; he didn't find it but was rewarded with prolonged view of a Hobby.
Mid-afternoon, with the sun shining I decided to try for SEO. I wasn't optimistic with the lapse of time and didn't have any luck, just usual Buzzards,Heron at the Mill Pool, a single Chiffchaff and a swarm of c.60 Swallows over the deer enclosure and MP. A pair of Mute Swans came very low over me, 'talking' to each other and landed on MP. But my luck was in as on the way back I spotted a Hobby amongst a lot of BHGs. It kept circling, moved away towards Mobberley then came part way back (but high) and I watched it against blue sky and banks of cumulus cloud until I couldn't hold my binocs up any longer. Must have been an awful lot of insects (or flying ants) up there as the gulls were also avidly feeding. Just made it to the Knutsford gate to exit at 6.00 PM, well satisfied. - Thanks Bob!

Geoff and Sheila Blamire also report a close encounter with a member of the Strix genus, in their back garden a short distance away in Mere - We were in the kitchen when we heard a loud noise above us about 2.45pm. We dashed outside and couldn't see anything, then I ran upstairs and looked out of our bedroom window and there was a Tawny Owl on our flat roof. It was a youngster - obviously fledged but still had downy feathers on its head. There was a tell-tale mark on the library window. It was concussed. I rang the Lower Moss Wildlife Hospital, but no answer so I left a message.
Over the next half hour it began to open its eyes and started to look around. Fortunately it was in the shade. Then it perked up, walked to the edge of the roof, looked through the railings, and flew off to the large conifer in the middle of our back garden. We hadn't disturbed it to check, but when Geoff took out the trail cameras he heard a lot of warning noises from birds in the bottom hedge.
We spent some time looked out of the kitchen window to see if it appeared. No, but 2/3 bats appeared and flew around the garden, very small - probably Common Pipistrelles. We once had wasps that built their nest inside the flat roof at the very spot.
What a day!
Geoff and Sheila's trail cam is a very useful tool - just have a look at the youtube video of their very own family of Polecats!! click here - thanks team!

I had arranged a mid-week outing to Neumann's flash yesterday (22nd) but due to circumstances beyond my control I couldn't go so I had to relinquish control to the Hon.Sec. who reports that everyone behaved themselves and they returned home with a nice total of 42 species.
A small group of us. Geoff/Sheila, Bill Killey, JS, big Dave, Jude, Bob, Tony Ellis and me. We took the route you suggested around Neumann's etc in quite pleasant weather, overcast at times with sunny intervals and quite warm. It is first time I have been with water level so low exposing the silt bed, consequently hundreds of birds.
Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed gull, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing 3 Little Egrets 14 Curlew, Shoveler, Shelduck, Moorhen, Coot, Heron, Dabchick, Snipe, Greenshank, Starling, Teal, 6 Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit ,Gadwall, Reed Warbler, Common Gull, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Kestrel, Blackcap, House Martin, Swallow, Cormorant, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Chiffchaff, Mallard, Mute Swan ,Nuthatch two Holly Blue butterflies, 42 species. - thanks Derek!

Tatton ranger Darren Morris, our window onto the hidden world of the park has suggested that KOS members might want to join him in a survey of the birdlife to be found in parts of Tatton not normally open to the public. It's early days yet but Darren proposes that the work takes place next Spring in April and May and will concentrate on a specific area that lies either side of a stream running through the park known as Hanging bank. The format of the survey will be a bespoke version of the Common Bird Census we do at Rostherne but a bit less complicated and shouldn't present problems for the average KOS member! This is a great opportunity to do a bit of real ornithology and you shouldn't let this offer pass you by!
Darren's away for the next couple of weeks but when he returns we'll be meeting up to finalise the plans so if you're interested send me an email and I'll pass your name on to him.

Given the time of year we weren't expecting to record many species so a final count of 40 was par for the course; from the obs. we had a Kestrel perched on the split lime and a dead tree just to the right held a small post-breeding flock of six Mistle Thrushes and a Green Woodpecker. For some members this was their first visit to the reserve and the obs. so I hope they're encouraged to obtain a permit ( £ 10 p/a from Dave Clarke,1 Harts Avenue, Sale, M33 2JY.) in fact on Friday Dave was offering half price permits for the rest of the year - this offer could well have been extended!
After a walk of about 90 minutes we met up with the rest of the party at the splendid new Bittern hide where we were able to combine our species lists; they'd had quite a few birds we'd not come across including House Martin, Swift, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Swallow, Song Thrush and Lapwing.
It was now around 8:30pm and still no sign of the forecast rain, in fact it was really pleasant sat in the hide with the back door and viewing slots all open allowing a welcome cooling breeze to pass through (the temperature was still a balmy 24C having been 29C when we arrived earlier in the evening)

Rostherne's at it's most interesting in the Winter months so it was suggested we might pay a visit in January or February sometime in the future. That's something we can discuss at one of our committee meetings, in the mean time the reserve is open every day of the year - a good place to relax for a few hours whatever the season. away from the hustle and bustle of our usual busy haunts.
Again our thanks go to our hosts - keep up the good work team!

Mark was first up at 10am in the Pavilion Arts Centre and had attracted a large audience - I estimated at least 150 people were packed into the venue. I've yet to read his book "Our Place" but it deals with the British countryside and his pessimistic view of it's future, blaming current agricultural methods and the ineffective agencies, both government and non-government and their reluctance to deal with obvious deficiencies in our approach to conservation. I like the cover of his book (left) showing two Lapwings watching agricultural machinery trashing their nest site - shades of this year's Mobberley Lapwings.

Tim Birkhead's talk was held in a smaller venue - the Spiegeltent, this too was well attended but I thought he could have done with the sort of microphone Mark had used and I think some people at the back were struggling to hear everything. I've seen Tim before at one of the CAWOS indoor meetings and he's good - very good! His presentation was based on his latest book - "The Wonderful Mr. Willughby" - Francis Willughby lived and thrived in the midst of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Along with his Cambridge tutor John Ray, Willughby was determined to overhaul the whole of natural history and impose order on its complexity. Tim was helped by a small group of academics who's research he distilled down and combined with the discoveries he made after he made contact with Willugby's descendants (including the world's oldest authenticated birds egg collection!) I'd enjoy this lecture again if he returns to talk to CAWOS or even the KOS!!

Despite the very hot weather and July not being the best time for birding a few members have been out and about; Geoff and Sheila Blamire saw a Great Egret at Neumann's Flash and four Green Sandpipers on Haydn's Pool, unusually Darren Morris also recorded a Green Sandpiper, on a small pool in Tatton Park's deer enclosure. Bob Groom reports Hobbies at two locations, but no evidence of breeding this year at their traditional site where he recorded a large flock of 60+ Swifts - they'll be leaving us soon and heading south.

Please remember that on Friday this week (27th) we will be enjoying our third and final evening walk of the season, this will be to Rostherne Mere and a chance to have a look at the observatory and the new Bittern hide as well as the opportunity to walk all the way around the mere. We're meeting in the Natural England car park (half way down the main street opposite the Egerton Hall) at 6:30pm.

The trip went ahead of course, and we simply left for home a little earlier than normal, so ensuring that we'd not miss the kick off at 3pm. An early start at 08:30am from Lilac Avenue got us to the reserve at 09:15; it was yet another beautiful morning as the long-lasting spell of hot weather continued, already 21 ° C at 9am rising to 26 ° C by 1pm, but a steady breeze from the Dee estuary made for perfect conditions. The reception building opened at 9:30am and we set up shop overlooking the main lagoon, some of us enjoying a welcome cup of RSPB filter coffee ( £ 1:80 a cup) - very civilised.
Canada and Greylag Geese along with most of the other wildfowl were in heavy moult and unable to fly, a creche of about 25 Shelduck ducklings were being cared for by a couple of adults that hadn't joined the moult-migration to the north. Avocets had again bred successfully at Burton and around 50 birds, adults and juveniles fed on the mud alongside Oystercatchers, large numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, single Dunlins and Green Sandpipers plus a couple of Ruffs - one a male with traces of it's summer plumage. A distant juvenile Little Ringed Plover was identified after consulting the VAR!
Some song still as we made our way to the Inner Marsh Hide via the Marsh Covert hide and the nearby viewing screen including Reed and Sedge Warblers, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Dunnock with a well hidden Grasshopper Warbler, heard but not seen unfortunately, as we made our way along the boardwalk.
Tangled banks of shrubs and wild flowers were attracting butterflies, bees, dragon and hoverflies - plenty of uninformed guesses only confirmed our lack of knowledge of other branches of natural history, although our resident expert John Somerville (founder of the well-respected british wild flowers website) took the plant ID in his stride! We ended the visit with a total of 63 species, good going in three and a half hours.

How did the match go? Well the Swedes did the gentlemanly thing and folded like a pack of IKEA furniture leaving us with a semi-final against the Croats who limped off the pitch after a penalty shootout with Novichok United, so it looks like the first World Cup final since Jimmy Wood was landlord at the Bull's Head against our friends from Belgium ..... the best laid schemes of mice and men!

KOS members Ken and Shirley Davies have continued their post retirement travels this time to Iceland and the Faroe Islands via Sweden.

Shirley and myself started out in our motor home for Harwich on the 30th April. We took the ferry to the Hook of Holland over night, weather not so good for the first few days and after that only 4 days rain until arriving home on the 15th June (2,879 miles) after travelling through Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden.
The list of birds could have been a few more but the cruise to Iceland and the Faroes, with the trips we had out on a coach you can't ask the bus driver to stop at the sighting of a bird every two minutes (well you could but I don't think we would have been too popular).
The highlight on Iceland was three pairs of Harlequin duck and thousands of Pink-footed geese.
The list of birds are not in order of being seen and some identified with the help of other birders :- Swallow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Jackdaw, Starling, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Lapwing, White Stork, Blackbird, Great Tit, Kestrel, Buzzard, Pheasant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redstart, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Gadwall, Egyptian Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Coot, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Moorhen, Barnacle Goose, Brent Goose, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Herring Gull, Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Rook, Goldfinch, Skylark, Spotted Redshank, Whitethroat, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Knot, Meadow Pipit, Hooded Crow, Wren, Grey Partridge, Jay, Song Thrush, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-necked Grebe, Great White Egret, Goosander, Long-tailed Duck, Gannet, Common Gull, Fulmar, Puffin, Great Skua, Black Guillemot, Iceland Gull, Whooper Swan, Harlequin Duck, Arctic Tern, Pink-footed Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Black Tern, Goldeneye, Velvet Scoter, Garganey, Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Ringed Plover, Linnet, White Wagtail, Curlew, Black Redstart, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Crane, Red-backed Shrike, Spoonbill, Collared Dove, Ptarmigan, Redwing, Raven, Golden Plover, Snow Bunting, Whimbrel, Willow Warbler, Blue Tit, Swift, Bullfinch, Eurasian Nuthatch, Fieldfare, Pied Flycatcher, Robin, Red Kite, Thrush Nightingale, Common Rosefinch, Turnstone, Icterine Warbler, Tree Creeper, Willow Tit, Little Grebe, Greenfinch, Hen Harrier, Dunnock (131)

Our Mobberley Lapwings along Smith Lane seem to have failed completely again, last week only one incubating bird was present, along with a fox criss-crossing the field with it's nose to the ground. It's at this time of the year that post breeding flocks should start to gather locally and I've seen 200+ in years gone by but I fear those days are over for this beautiful, iconic species.

It's not all bad news of course and some birds have bred successfully - Bob Groom has been watching two pairs of Yellow Wagtails feeding young in Tabley, at Rostherne the Spotted Flycatchers are still around and we watched a well-grown young green Woodpecker peering from it's nest hole in an oak tree. As usual Geoff and Sheila's garden in Mere is the scene of much activity ....." Our garden is full of juveniles with their hard working parents. Some are: Great and Blue Tits, Goldfinches (for a long time), Chaffinches and perhaps Nuthatches. We still have 2 pairs of Greenfinches and Bullfinches - of course they take the seed to regurgitate to their youngsters, but they should appear in the garden soon. Even a House Sparrow juvenile with its parents, no idea where their nest was. We still have pair of Mallards (assuming their juvs were predated as last year) and 2 pairs of Woodpigeons. Then Carrion Crows, Jackdaws and Magpies - many juvs. - quite a racket! Then yesterday our first Great Spot. juvenile, with its mum. Have at least 2 females adults and 1 male adult Gt spot, so its only question when the other juveniles appear with their parents".....

The early morning conditions seemed to suit the nesting warblers and there was plenty of song from Chiffchaffs, Common Whitethroats and Willow Warblers but without a doubt the star performers were the numerous Sedge Warblers singing from the dense rank undergrowth lining the footpaths for the first part of our walk around the perimeter of the reserve. They're less concerned by the presence of an audience than Reed Warblers and frequently took to the air in their display flight or, like the individual in Simon's excellent photo, perched out in the open for all to see; this bird was on top form and gave us his full repertoire - without hesitation, deviation or repetition!

Our first port of call was "The Lookout", a glass fronted hide overlooking the imaginatively named Number One Pit - Sand Martins were using the artificial nesting banks provided for them and a Common Tern appeared to be nesting on a wooden raft anchored to the bed of the lake, a Common Sandpiper patrolled the shoreline whilst out in the middle of the lake three Common Scoters were an unexpected addition to the day list.
Further along our route, at the second hide, we had good views across the water to the large island that lies just offshore; Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Ringed Plovers and Redshanks had all bred there with varying amounts of success. A single Lapwing chick was well advanced and able to fly but three Ringed Plover youngsters were recently hatched and weren't straying too far from their parents.
Traffic noise increased as we walked up towards Bolton Wood, as the path lies only a 100 meters or so from the motorway, we added Gadwall and Dunnock to the day's tally plus a single Song Thrush in the top corner almost drowned out by the racket! It was much quieter in the wood - the trees absorb sound quite effectively and we heard Blackcaps, Nuthatch, a lone Garden Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher before heading back to our starting point. Lunchtime sandwiches were eaten either in the cars or on one of the handy benches approaching the impressive, award winning "Visitor Village" before sampling the tea or coffee in the restaurant. Some of us sat outside on the veranda at the end of the restaurant, joining a party of a dozen kids enjoying a day out at Brockholes in celebration of one of their numbers birthday, a cake bearing candles appeared and we all joined in singing "Happy birthday" to Rosie who blew out all the seven candles in one go!
After all that excitement Jude Halman our trip leader for the day lead us along the "meadow trail" beside the River Ribble and back to the most productive of the hides before heading for home. The river was quiet compared with the rest of the reserve but from the final hide we did add Dunlin to the list giving a respectable total of 54 species for the day.

On Monday (4th) Jude Halman and I completed our final visit to Rostherne's Harper's Bank Wood as part of the ongoing Common Bird Census. The other four areas covered will also be finished this week, the data will be analysed and in due course a report published, if it's allowable I'll add it to this website. The highlight for us was the Spotted Flycatcher we found, but it was only seen once - perhaps this is the bird that later turned up on Steve Collins' patch in Wood Bongs. Steve also reports a singing Grasshopper Warbler at Ashton's Flash close to the car park at Witton Mill - it can be heard from "the mound", we've had one at this location in previous years.

The CBC type of survey that continues at Rostherne has now been largely replaced by the Breeding Bird Survey or BBS, a joint effort by the RSPB/JNCC/BTO based on 1 Km squares. Geoff and Sheila Blamire are volunteers and on Sunday (3rd) enjoyed a close encounter with a displaying Goldcrest!......"But the best was when we saw a pair of Goldcrests low down in a conifer next to the road. After a few minutes the male started to sing, raising its crest, and with the whole body shaking with the effort - and literally just 4 feet away!"

Steve Collins has been over to Neumann's Flash again and reports Avocets, Ringed Plover and even a Turnstone - very rare inland - thanks Steve.

Members were saddened last week to learn of the death of Nick Davies. Nick and his wife Jayne had been members of the society since 2007 and were regular attendees at both indoor and outdoor events. Since taking early retirement both have served as volunteer rangers at Tatton Park and Marbury Country Park, our condolences go out to Jayne at this most difficult of times.

Don't forget this coming Friday (25th) it's the first of our three Summer evening walks. We're off to the Goyt again and hope to catch up with the displaying Woodcock and other crepuscular species! 6:30pm at the Tatton Street car park in Knutsford or 7:30pm at the middle car park in the valley. We'll be there until late again so it's always advisable to take a torch along.

I received an email last week from John Chrystal who told me he'd been watching a pair of Yellow Wagtails carrying food to what was presumably a well hidden nest on the west side of Knutsford. John tells me they were quite common until the mid-nineties, but since then they've declined considerably so he was pleased to find this pair - thanks John. This is another species that we too have recorded on fewer and fewer occasions; I remember in the 1970's sitting by the side of Tatton Mere in the early evening and counting 56 migrating Yellow Wagtails leave the cover of the small Alder tree that still grows close to the old bathing area. I don't recall any being seen in the park in recent years.

I spent Monday morning doing this week's common bird census (CBC) in Rostherne NNR's Harper's Bank Wood, a pleasant 15 ° C by the time I finished at lunch time. This survey work on the reserve has been going on now for over 50 years and provides invaluable data that helps to provide a good indication of the broad state of wildlife in Cheshire. This is because our birds occupy a wide range of habitats and respond to environmental pressures that also operate on other groups of wildlife. The work lasts about 10 weeks between the beginning of April to the end of May - one visit per week lasting about three hours. Participants get to see areas of the reserve not open to the public, including the new Bittern Hide - it's not too demanding and help is always available for anyone doing this sort of thing for the first time.

On Thursday we head south for a long weekend's birding in Suffolk based at the Thetford Premier Inn, the weather forecast is good and I'm told we should be aiming for a list of 100 species - we'll see!!

Our second stop of the day, before returning home, was at the eastern end of the valley at Derbyshire Bridge where Blackbird was added to the list and a pair of Red Grouse flying quickly over inevitably led to a discussion about the ridiculous price of cup final tickets! Some years ago we'd had a pair of Whinchats just up the road, towards the "Cat and Fiddle" but despite repeated visits we'd been unlucky in subsequent years, nevertheless we gave it another coat of looking at this year - and yes that's right - there they were in exactly the same place, a pair of Whinchats! They were quite active commuting from post to post and down into the heather unconcerned by our presence - excellent and a nice way to end our morning up in the Pennines.

Some news from Mobberley and the all white Robin that was seen last year in the area around Mill Lane has re-appeared in the garden of Barbara and Alan Langston - it's done well to last so long. Thanks Alan.

The fields opposite Smith Lane farm with newly hatched Lapwings mentioned in the last update (1/5/2018) has had visitors. They've been ploughed up and last week a contraption like a cross between a WW1 tank and something out of a Mad Max movie was going over it again! All I can do is record what has happened and, as I know little about farming, I'm not in any position to offer advice or constructive criticism to the parties involved, but it does seem a shame and such a blow to a threatened species like the Lapwing.

A little closer to home and a slightly smaller raptor made a welcome return this week when Darren Morris reported the first Hobby of the year hawking for insects over Tatton Mere on Friday evening (27th) with two birds at the same location two days later.
I went looking for the Hobby on Saturday (28th) and perhaps my first Swift of the Spring; no luck with either but I did have a singing Reed Warbler on Knutsford Moor and later in the day a Swift over Mobberley. One had been seen the previous day at Rostherne where Jude Halman and I had c20 over the mere whilst doing the common bird census on Monday morning (30th), later in the day Bob Groom had 80 over Tatton Mere.

We're now at just about the peak time for the Spring migration and members will be looking for Terns over Tatton Mere and their first local Garden Warblers and Flycatchers of the season etc in and around Dog Wood. Simon and Lyn have already visited the Goyt Valley where they had both Pied Flycatchers and Tree Pipits; we have a trip there on the evening Friday 25th May when we return from the Suffolk long weekend, but it may be a good idea to have a look before then and catch the valley's specialities whilst they're in full song.

Some species already have chicks, at least four pairs of Herons are feeding well grown youngsters in the Higmere colony opposite Dog Wood, in Mobberley our Blackbirds have been successful and Starlings are finding plenty of food for their offsprings in the boggy area around Mobberley SQ, where the first family of Mallard ducklings appeared this week. Also in Mobberley, Lapwings are doing well in the big fields opposite Smith Lane Farm and at least one pair had chicks when I investigated on Sunday (29th April) - I hope they can vacate the area before the farmer does anymore work on the fields.

Members who attended the AGM last Friday will have been given a copy of the 2018 - 2019 KOS programme. Those not in attendance (or anyone else for that matter) can download a copy by clicking here

Members who haven't yet read their copy of the May 2018 edition of "British Birds" may be interested to know that this website features quite prominently in the 10 page paper by Jeremy and Julian Greenwood entitled " The origin of the birdwatching term "jizz"". Contrary to the belief in certain quarters we do sometimes take our birding quite seriously!

Bob Groom's been out and about again, including a trip over to Burton Mere - Wood Warbler and Fieldfare in the same tree near Burton Mere car park this morning! Lots of good birds on the Reserve, including many Avocets, 7 Spotted Redshanks, associating with a big flock of Black-Tailed Godwits, also a single Ruff plus 2 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Great White Egret, Cetti's Warbler (super view), Reed Warbler. Also one of the many Blackcaps did a whole series of imitations, completely different to its normal song, and we watched it doing them so no mistake about the ID of the songster, completely new to me. Raptors were in short supply, just Buzzard and Kestrel. Sounds good Bob, the reserve goes from strength to strength and I think we might consider paying a visit sooner rather that later.

Don't forget it's our KOS AGM this coming Friday (27th) in the Jubilee Hall at 8pm. All the current officers will be standing again so no need to worry about being press-ganged into something you don't fancy! It will take about 10 minutes if previous years are anything to go by. After this formality Geoff and Sheila Blamire will be telling us all about their recent trip to Central America - " Panama, The Land of the Harpy Eagle"

The cafe back in Llanfairfechan was very busy when we returned so we returned down the A55 to the RSPB reserve at Conwy - only a short drive of about 10 minutes where we enjoyed lunch in the excellent little cafe - ok the service is a bit slow at times, but remember it's staffed by volunteers and the food is excellent - I can recommend the bacon baps!
We added 15 new species to the list at Conwy including a newly arrived Reed Warbler that was heard but not seen singing from deep in the phragmites reed bed; a Sedge Warbler had also been heard earlier in the day but we missed out on that particular bird. There had been a significant overnight fall of Phylloscopus warblers and Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs were everywhere - at one location we counted five in a single hawthorn bush. The reserve's first Common Sandpiper of the year arrived in mid-afternoon, landing on an island in front of the hide from where we viewing, joining a group of around eight White Wagtails.

Some of our party stayed overnight at the Premier Inn in Glan-Conwy allowing a relaxed start to the day on Sunday. After an excellent breakfast we enjoyed a leisurely drive up the Marine Drive to the top of the Great Orme (first left after the Rest and be Thankful cafe) and by 10:15am we were on our way across the limestone pavement.
The weather was dry again although there was more cloud than on the previous day. The route across the Orme was quite disappointing this year with only Stonechat added to our list as we reached the steep road winding down to the Marine Drive. Fulmars were a welcome addition as we began the long drag up to the cafe as the last time we were here they were few and far between, the nesting ledges below the lighthouse were crowded with auks, mainly Guillemots and only a scattering of Razorbills; surprisingly we didn't see a single Kittiwake all morning although I believe that the species has been declining in Wales over the past few years. Stars of the show on the Orme were the corvids, Jackdaws were revelling in the windy conditions - tumbling acrobatics over the road, more at home here than in our Cheshire flatlands where they rarely get to show off their flying skills! Even more excitement when we heard the unmistakable sound of a Chough which put on a virtuoso performance as it displayed overhead, the almost electronic sounding call echoing off the cliff faces.

Back down to Conwy for a late lunch before re-visiting the hides closest to the information centre where we added a couple of new species bringing our total for the trip to a creditable 71 before heading back down the busy A55 and M56 to Cheshire after a very enjoyable weekend break.

Don't forget that this Friday (20th) it's the CAWOS (Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society's) re-arranged AGM at 7:45pm in St. Vincent's Church, Tatton Street, Knutsford. Followed by a presentation by Mike Roberts entitled "Wildlife and Birding in the Isle of Avalon". Admission is free.

Late news today (17th April) A Lesser Whitethroat was singing this morning along Smith Lane in Mobberley.

So, from the 2nd, things improved and our Summer visitors began to appear - on Wednesday (4th) Bob Groom had four Swallows and a migrating Osprey over Budworth Mere (incidentally the Dyfi Ospreys are back and the HD images from the nestcam are amazing - click here. It's well worth having a look and listen in the early evening when the Snipe can be heard calling and drumming).
Saturday (7th) was a good day; United put the noisy neighbours in their place and overnight there must have been an influx of migrants as, during Sunday morning (8th), Alan Booth had five Swallows, three Blackcaps and a Willow Warbler in Tatton whilst Bob again did well with eight Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk thermalling over Neumann's Flash plus three Willow Warblers, a Blackcap, Chiffchaffs and even an early Reed Warbler! Later in the day the same observer counted 25 swallows and 100 Sand Martins at Tatton whilst in Mobberley I had my first Swallow of the year at Duckenfield Cottage along Pavement Lane - a traditional site for the species.
I later spent an hour at Mobberley SQ (disused sand quarry) ; this is an excellent site for passing migrants with two large stretches of water separated by an area of boggy marsh. It's now owned by the parish and, perhaps unfortunately, has become very popular with villagers who walk their dogs there - a seemingly endless procession of pooches from dawn to dusk! A small flock of five snipe dropped in and fed for a few minutes before they were scattered as Rover ploughed into the water chasing it's favourite bright yellow tennis ball!

CAWOS members will have received their copy of the Cheshire and Wirral bird report for 2015 this week, 150 pages of facts and figures plus a selection of images of some of the rarities involved. In this age of instant news and views via the internet it may appear an antiquated way to disseminate information about the county's birds but of course this is not so. Stuff floating about in cyberspace is unchecked, unverified and can vanish forever in the blink of an eye! These publications will be around long after we've gone and will prove invaluable to future generations, so the fact that the latest report is a little late is irrelevant - all records are checked and verified making it a publication to be trusted. The amount of work done by those responsible for the report (all volunteers, including four KOS members) is quite amazing and our thanks are due to all concerned.

An early pair of Black-necked Grebes had returned to Woolston last week and were seen mating and nest building but unfortunately there was no sign of them yesterday. By way of compensation we did see two full Summer plumage Mediterranean Gulls amongst the hoards of Black-headed Gulls who were noisily squabbling over the best nest sites.

So, no Black-necked Grebes yesterday but plenty of other water birds including - Mute Swan, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Shelduck, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Shoveler, Moorhen, Pochard, Teal, all these species nest every year or have nested in the past so there was plenty going on in front of the hides.

The feeders were still busy and we had excellent views of Greenfinches, Bramblings, Chaffinches and Bullfinches actually on the feeders with other less agile species below feeding on the discarded seeds.

We had an interesting journey home as, for the first time, we were forced to stop and wait at the swing bridge on the A50 to allow a liquid gas tanker - the "Happy Falcon" to pass up the ship canal to Cadishead. Some people say it's illogical to import gas from abroad when we have 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas lying beneath our feet!!

Visitors to the Rostherne NNR may have wondered what was the purpose of the weather station floating on a buoy in the centre of the mere. I thought it may have provided the data used by the Met. Office who quote figures from Rostherne No.2 but that's not the case, Rostherne No.2 is located on nearby farm land to the north of the reserve. The station on the mere is part of network of similar set ups that are used to monitor lakes across the UK Click here and the data generated are available for free online click here. They are downloadable, so anyone who so wishes can do so and correlate the arrival and departure of avian migrants with the wind direction, temperature and sunshine etc. So get your spreadsheets out and off you go!!

The day list began as we approached Leighton Moss from Carnforth driving alongside the new areas of reed that, I believe, now form part of the reserve - a Kingfisher flew across the road in front of us #1 and a good start; we'd reached 15 species before leaving the car park!

The staff in the reception building were very helpful (a feature at Leighton Moss) with the latest news and there's always an up-to-date list on the white board next to the rear door onto the reserve. The expected range of species fed on and beneath the feeders - Great and Blue Tits, Nuthatch and Chaffinch although there was no sign of the Marsh Tits; a reserve speciality of course. Bitterns had been booming apparently but we didn't see or hear any during the day although a very vocal Water rail was squealing loudly as we walked down to the Tim Jackson hide. Plenty of species on view from the Jackson hide - Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Oystercatcher, Shoveler, Pintail, Little Egret and a female / juvenile Marsh harrier carrying a green wing tag. Two Snipe flew in, landing on a small reed covered island, there were quite a few around including one just next to the hide that posed nicely for Geoff's camera.
The highlight from the Grisedale hide was the Great White Egret shown in the second of Geoff's images, feeding on the insects and small fish it disturbed by shuffling it's feet as it progressed through the shallows. Making our way back from the hides we came across the Marsh Tits and enjoyed brilliant views, down to a few feet in good light - they were in pristine early Spring plumage - Excellent!
A quick visit to Lillian's didn't produce anything new so we made our way down to the causeway hide where the number of birds on view came as quite a pleasant surprise with good numbers of Pochard, Tufted Duck and 18 Goldeneye; a single Little Grebe was added to the list and a male Marsh Harrier struggled over heading into the latest snow storm.

Lunch was taken in the cars or in the reserve's excellent cafe before driving over to the two coastal hides - the Allen hide and the Eric Morecambe hide. Here we found a large flock of 106 Black-tailed Godwits and 20+ Avocets - superb birds! An electric fence has been erected around the Allen pool to deter predators which decimate the Avocets that attempt to breed there every year. Once again a website devoted to the Avocet's progress is again online [click here] let's hope the fence works and they have more success in 2018 than in previous years. Before returning to the cars for the journey back to Cheshire we paused near an anonymous looking clump of bushes where Barry Jordan had watched a Merlin attacking small passerines that were attracted to the area, there were Tits, Chaffinches and Reed Buntings aplenty; we concluded that food for the small birds must be provided at that particular spot for some reason.
A good days birding for those that braved the elements - well done team!

Remember this coming Friday - 23rd it's our March indoor meeting when Dr. Kevin Briggs will be giving a presentation entitled " Goosanders and Ringed Plovers" I think it's about the birds of the Lune Valley.

Our Hon. Chairperson and Geoffrey had a hat trick of sightings on the 7th at Marbury......... We went to Marbury today to try for the Hawfinches (3rd attempt). There were quite a lot of birders, including 3 in the "usual" spot.
After a few minutes, we started to walk around the swimming pool and came across 2/3 birders and they were watching 1 Hawfinch in the back of a tree.
Geoff saw it first but the view was obscured, I was too far left to see it. After some time it moved slightly, and for me, into a clear view. It started preening and wing stretching. I was in the right place at the right time! So many frustrated birders around us, but I kept saying anyone to the right of me wouldn't see it. Eventually it flew and down inside the pool area. We walked to the entrance to look through the railings, but we couldn't see it. A couple of yew trees were laden with fruit within the pool area.
Then we walked to the hide to try for the Bittern. A birder could see it and gave directions but it wasn't easy. Eventually I saw it - it was so obvious. The top half of the bird was visible with its head facing to the right. I could see the black crown. By the way, we didn't have the scope with us!!! But when it lowered its head it completely disappeared. Unfortunately, Geoff couldn't get onto it. Again I was in the right place at the right time!!
A couple of birders were talking about a pair of Lesser Spots near the feeders behind the pond. So we walked quickly to the feeders. After just a few minutes we heard some drumming and I was peering through the slots towards the direction of the drumming, when 2 Lesser Spots flew into a tree. But 1 kept on flying, with the 2nd bird perched briefly and then followed the 1st bird - out of view. Again I was in the right place at the right time!!! Unfortunately, Geoff didn't see them.........I hope the photographers leave these birds alone this year - they are a schedule 1 species - but I doubt it. This is one of the species I normally keep quiet about, to avoid disturbance but this site is so well known mentioning it here will make no difference. [acu]

Unperturbed by the prevailing conditions Geoff and Sheila Blamire enjoyed an invigorating walk around Mere and Tabley on the 28th, taking in what I assume was the A556 but is now the B5569 which has been "de-trunked" as part of the new A556 link between the M6 and M56.

This morning we decided to repeat a walk we did a few days ago. The sun quickly disappeared and we almost wished we hadn't bothered. The walk starts going along Moss Lane and the fields to the left were full of birds (we took our bins with us!). This is probably conservative estimate:
Lapwings 300++; Golden Plover 40; Fieldfare 60 Plus Starlings and loads of Black-headed Gulls.
Lot of Redwings in the wood amongst the leaf litter, along with Blackbirds.
Along the quiet road between Tabley Church and Mere a flock of 40+Redwings edge of a field, and a Song Thrush hitting a snail on the kerb and flew off with it when a Magpie tried to steal it.
Nice to see, by then we were frozen and it was snowing heavily. c5.25km

The previous day they'd been over to Marbury in search of the Hawfinches.

Just up the road from us Jayne and Nick Davies have also seen an increase in avian traffic in their garden and had some interesting sightings along Pavement Lane.
A few different visitors to our garden during the icy weather:
3 fieldfares (the blackbird did not approve), a goldcrest on our feeders, and a pied wagtail. We're still seeing a brambling from time to time.
Meanwhile two nuthatches are thinking about spring and inspecting our nest box.
We walked along Pavement Lane yesterday morning, and ten or so snipe flew up from the fields on the right. Then there was a lot of flapping between the hedge and the wire fence behind it, and something else flew away across the fields, at first I thought it was another snipe, but bigger, with very obvious rufous rump. Woodcock maybe? That's the only thing we could think of, but we've only ever seen them once or twice so not 100% confident.

If I don't do another update before then, please remember it's our March field trip on Saturday the 17th - this year to Leighton Moss - 08:30 from Lilac Avenue. Given some warmer weather and a following wind we should have our first Sand Martins of the year and Spring will have officially arrived!

But it takes more than the threat of bad weather to keep KOS members indoors and I've received a series of emails to prove the point!

Ken and Shirley Davies have been out and about in their camper van around the Severn Estuary ..........
Hi Tony.....We have had a few days away, starting on the 12th of Feb with a visit to Slimbridge. A total of 55 birds, the highlight was to see 3 Cranes out on the estuary, feeding along with a Red Breasted Goose and C.90 Barnacle Geese.
The weather was overcast and cool but no rain like the two days before.
Rook ,Woodpigeon ,Long-tailed tit ,Blackbird ,Song thrush ,Blue Tit ,Pheasant ,Magpie ,Robin ,Starling ,Collared Dove ,Buzzard ,Curlew ,Dunnock ,Black-tailed Godwit ,Redwing ,Redshank ,Oystercatcher ,Golden Plover ,House Sparrow ,Chaffinch ,Moorhen ,Coot ,Mute Swan ,Cormorant ,Mallard ,Lesser Black-backed Gull ,Black-headed Gull ,Grey Heron ,Shelduck ,Teal ,Wigeon ,Canada Geese ,Greylag Geese ,Pintail ,Bewick's Swan ,Shoveler ,White-fronted Geese ,Little Grebe ,Barnacle Geese ,Red-breasted Goose ,common Cranes ,Jackdaw ,Goldfinch ,Snipe ,Dunlin ,Kestrel ,Stock Dove ,Pied Wagtail ,Goldcrest ,Carrion Crow ,Tufted Duck ,Pochard ,Gadwall ,Herring Gull. (55)

Then on the 21st Feb we visited RSPB Newport South Wales. The highlight was a lovely sighting of a Cetti's Warbler . Weather a little cool but between light cloud the sun shine was very welcome. Magpie ,Cetti's warbler ,House Sparrow ,Carrion Crow ,Wren ,Snipe ,Lapwing ,Stonechat ,Long-tailed Tit ,Blue Tit ,Goldcrest ,Great Spotted Woodpecker ,Robin ,Song Thrush ,Woodpigeon Greenfinch ,Marsh Harrier ,Buzzard ,Pied Wagtail ,Moorhen ,Water Rail ,Cormorant ,Coot ,Shelduck ,Wigeon ,Mallard ,Shoveler ,Tufted Duck ,Little Grebe ,Canada Geese ,Gadwall (31)

Bob Groom paid a visit to Pickmere Lake with the family (a much overlooked venue [I can only find one other reference to it in all the years this website has been running])
We went on the boardwalk with Elaine and the children yesterday afternoon. Rather pleasant as relatively windless. There were 8 Goldeneye on the lake (2 drakes), 50+ Tufted Ducks, trilling Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe etc. and I thought I heard a water rail in the reedbed. Be interesting to visit in spring..

Bob also paid a visit to Newchurch Common, near Whitegate with Sue Middleton in search of the long-staying female Smew
Sue and I had a good morning, at Newchurch Common (near Whitegate, park at the end of Nova Scotia Lane). Redhead Smew on Big Pool, also goosander, wigeon, shoveler, latter 3 also on the smaller pool with a pair of gadwall. Huge mixed flock of Bramblings and Chaffinches on the set-aside. First visit there, would recommend it for a Wednesday morning sometime.

Having recovered at last from a pulled muscle in my leg I've been content to resume my daily walks around the lanes of Mobberley once again. On the 19th February at least 5 Song Thrushes were singing along the 5K route, two days later, in the big fields opposite Smith Lane Farm, the first singing Skylark of the season followed on the 25th by a Lapwing in tumbling Spring flight at the same location. Last Thursday (22nd), in conifers along Slade Lane a singing Goldcrest drew my attention, whilst at the junction of this lane with Smith Lane four Yellowhammers, one of which was in full song. Also at this location a Jay flew across the road in front of me and landed in a tree, as it did so there was the loud mewing call of a Buzzard which was repeated a number of times coming from the same tree - but no Buzzard to be seen, I can only assume it was the Jay - perfect mimicry!

This coming Friday (2nd) March it's the AGM of the Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society (CAWOS) at 7:45pm in St. Vincent's Church, Tatton Street, Knutsford. There is no entry fee and after the AGM there will be an interesting presentation entitled "LOOKING FOR THE GOSHAWK" by author Conor Jameson
Conor discusses the sequence of events that led to him writing his acclaimed book Looking for the Goshawk, some of the people he met and the places he visited as he seeks to understand 'the phantom of the forest'. He describes how the lost raptor went missing from our landscape, and our imaginations, and the work that's being done to help it come back. He describes what the apparent and actual absence of Goshawks may reveal about us, and the exciting challenges of rewilding.

I spent a couple of hours in the peace and quiet of the Rostherne observatory on Tuesday (13th) evaluating the combination of 'scope and clamp; they performed very well, although the magnification is only 20X the 'scope lets in a lot of light and, compared with my 8X binoculars, I was able to identify the various wildfowl species at the mouth of Rostherne brook (including a female and 2 male Mandarin ducks), determine the sex of a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the split lime and identify a group of Goosanders at the far end of the mere, the best part of a kilometer away - all impossible with just the binoculars.

In the early days of the KOS we used to travel down to Shropshire for Goosanders but this winter there are plenty locally with birds at Rostherne, Tatton, Marbury and on Thursday (6th) Bill Mccaig had six on Shakerley Mere - thanks Bill.

I had hoped to see one of the Rostherne Hawfinches on Monday but had no luck, nevertheless I was cautiously optimistic on Wednesday (14th) of seeing my first of the winter as we made our way over to Marbury where there had been a flock of no less than 19 the previous day! It was hard work as we huddled in a group at the appropriate spot in a temperature of only 2 ° C but eventually the sharp-eyed Bill Killey spotted one flying into an ivy-covered tree; it showed well through Derek's Swarovski.
A good count of 44 species during the morning at Marbury although the two Bitterns didn't put in an appearance - it was great to hear a Song Thrush in full song close to where we stood, there was also one in Bucklow Avenue during the week and last Wednesday (7th) a flock of c. 150 Pink-footed Geese passed overhead in a north-westerly direction - sure signs that Spring is just around the corner. (cue another cold spell)

By now it was approaching noon and as the high tide wasn't due until 1pm we decided to walk along the quayside up to the Parkgate chip shop, this is a fine establishment - one of our members - an iconic figure in the world of dominoes and crown green bowling who likes to keep in shape for these extreme activities eats fish and chips only once a year - always at the Parkgate chippie - he wasn't disappointed and neither were we!

The high tide was a bit of a let-down and apart from a single Snipe I don't think we saw any new species as the incoming water remained just a grey streak in the distance.

On then to the RSPB's Burton Mere Wetlands Centre, busy with people arriving from Parkgate but quite a disappointing species count after reports seen online over the past few weeks - Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail and a pair of Stonechats were probably the highlights; apart from the fact that you can now buy a very nice cup of filter coffee from the reception centre for £ 1:60!

On Friday (2nd) it's the CAWOS (Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society) February meeting when Brian Anderson will be presenting a talk entitled "Stinkers, Pintados and Mollymawks". 7:45pm at St. Vincent's Church Hall, Tatton Street.

The following morning (3rd) it's our KOS February field trip over to the Wirral Peninsula for the high tide, Parkgate to begin with then over to Burton Mere Wetlands Centre (via the Parkgate chippie!). Meeting up in Lilac Avenue at 08:50am ready to leave at 9:00am prompt.

A few people have been out braving the elements - up to 6 Hawfinches remain at Marbury Park, they were seen at the end of December by Sue Middleton ( a new species for Sue), Darren Morris and Bob Groom , Derek Pike had 47 Lapwings on the big fields opposite the entrance to Lilac Avenue on 26th December, increasing to 112 on New Year's day - this is less than half a mile from Knutsford town centre and the site earmarked for a development of 260 new homes as part of the local councils "Vision for Cheshire East in 2030". Derek and Jean spent some time in Tatton over the new year and on the 7th January had two Green Woodpeckers calling and two Ravens displaying - the latter are very early nesters so hopefully they'll be setting up shop in the park once more. Tatton Ranger Darren Morris tells me they had 10 Woodcock in Hanging Bank on the 7th and whilst cleaning out nest boxes (they have 30) found that 90% had been used in 2017. It's hoped to attract Pied Flycatchers to the park and to this end some boxes are plugged until mid-May to prevent members of the Tit family from moving in before the flycatchers return.
Roger Barnes reports a Barnacle Goose and two Greylags on Melchett Mere; Bob also saw these as well as 7 Wigeon, a Kingfisher and a flock of Siskins in that area so we may have something to show the public this coming Sunday, the 21st, when we team up with the Tatton Rangers between 11am and 1pm for the annual wildfowl watch, Darren tells me that refreshments will again be available, probably only tea and coffee as last years scones were a bit of a bonus!.
The following weekend on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th we'll be joining forces with the Friends of the Moor (27th) and Friends of Knutsford Heath (28th) for the Big Garden Birdwatch; each event will last for an hour beginning at 11:00am. All welcome - the more the merrier!

Later this month our KOS committee will be meeting to discuss the programme from May 2018 through to May 2019. Last year as well as the normal indoor and outdoor events we enjoyed the Scottish week in June and Lindisfarne at the end of September, perhaps we'll have another weekend away later this year and no doubt due consideration will be given to the possibility of a week abroad to celebrate our 45th anniversary in 2019!

Input from members is always welcome regarding any of the Society's activities - indoor or outdoor - praise or constructive criticism, your wish is our command!

Passerines seemed to be down in numbers this year, I'm guessing that many species are taking advantage of garden feeders. We have two, one of which was designed and built by a friend and features the usual wire mesh front but which additionally curves round underneath at the bottom. It's filled with sunflower hearts and is attracting large numbers of Green and Goldfinches, especially the latter with up to 20 at any one time. The seeds are also dislodged from the bottom mesh onto the ground where they're consumed by Blackbirds, Dunnocks, House Sparrows, Chaffinches and recently 4 Bramblings.

Greetings,
I am pleased to report that, in addition to a very enjoyable evening yesterday, we also had a very successful fund raising.
The total profit realised was just short of £ 300.
This is a record and beats the previous best year (2015) by more than £ 20.

The table below gives the detailed breakdown.

Attendance £ 224.00
Raffle and bird lottery £ 67.00
Bring and buy/Auction £ 41.80
Total income £ 332.80
Expenses £ 36.40

Profit £ 296.40

Twenty-four people were in attendance on the night but some who could not be there sent in donations to compensate so the attendance money is equivalent to twenty-eight persons. Securing quality speakers for our small society is an expensive business and we, quite reasonably, want to offer the best lectures we can to our members. The average cost for a lecturer is currently £ 120 per visit so the profit generated by yesterday's efforts buys us 2.5 speakers. That is approaching half of a whole season's expenditure on lecturers and reinforces how important the Christmas party is in generating funds to keep the Society going in its current format. To all those who contributed their time, effort or funds to staging last night's event, and to those who came and opened their purses/wallets, a great big thank you from the man who takes care of the cash.

Merry Christmas, Frank

On Sunday Marshside lived up to it's reputation as being one of the coldest places on earth! Dry as we left Knutsford but when we reached our destination it was raining heavily and the temperature was reluctant to rise above only 3 ° C. so it was off immediately to the shelter of the Sandgrounder's hide. It wasn't much warmer in there but at least it was dry.
The usual mixture of Wildfowl - Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shelduck, Gadwall, Shoveler plus Canada and Greylag Geese. At one point, in the far distance, a huge flock of Pink-footed Geese passed over towards the Ribble estuary - many thousands - quite extraordinary we'd never seen that many before. Waders were well represented with Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Curlew and Golden Plovers but just a single raptor braved the elements - a tiny male Sparrowhawk that landed on a fence post just up from where we watched - it looked quite dishevelled and miserable.

Given the time of year there weren't many people at Martin Mere although a few brave kids seemed to have persuaded their parents to "Sail to Santa" across the water in front of the reception building where we ate our lunch before moving to the restaurant for a coffee.

The highlight of the afternoon came as we sat in the Ron Barker hide and watched five Marsh Harriers quartering the reedbeds. Apparently, earlier in the day, there were seven in view at the same time! There was the usual scrum at feeding time with 1,600 Whooper Swans and a sea of Shelducks hoovering up the grain but we saw only a couple of Ruff this time despite a count of 83 during the morning.
As the light began to fade the Pinkfeet returned (there are 15,000 on the reserve [thanks Marcia]) settling noisily at the far side of the main lake.

A reminder that this year's Christmas walk will take place on Friday 29th December meeting up at the public car park next to the Stanley Arms in Anderton at 09:45am. Derek has a 4.3 mile walk planned which, with stops, should take us about three hours.