Dove Stone

Swifts and other sightings

2013-05-20T11:11:00Z

It's been a while since I last blogged, with news of Common Redstart at Dove Stone, being the last update to the Dove Stone reserve 2013 Bird List. Saturday saw my first sighting of Swfits at Dove Stone for this year with one flying over Dove Stone reservoir, and on Sunday there were several flying around Dove Stone rocks, seen from Ashway Gap so this brings our reserve total to 65. Obviously Swifts have been in the area for a while now, it's just that this is the first record for the year of them actually at Dove Stone. Swifts are really amazing. These are birds that sleep, eat and often mate on the wing.

Swifts are now an amber listed bird, ie they're of conservation concern declining possilby due to loss of nesting sites. There are things you can do http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/underthreat.aspx and if you want to take part in the RSPB's Swfit survey then follow this link http://www.rspb.org.uk/applications/swiftsurvey/

Back to the list. Ahead of Swift we've also seen over the last few weeks the return of Dunlin to the moor tops, coming in at number 64 on the Dove Stone reserve 2013 Bird List.

Elsewhere around Dove Stone I've had regular sightings of Common Sandpipers around Yeoman Hey and Greenfield reservoir and Curlews around the hillsides beneath the Holmfirth road. Also on Yeoman Hey last week there were two Oystercatchers. On the surrounding low hillsides there's been two Reed Buntings as well as Dipper and Grey Wagtail on the reservoir spillways and on Greenfield Brook. All around Dove Stone there are good numbers of Meadow Pipit, including regular flocks on Dove Stone reservoir dam wall as well as Pied Wagtails and Swallows over the water and surrounding fields. At various points around the main trail Willow Warbler are singing well and up at Binn Green there's been Treecreeper, Coal, Blue and Great Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Jay, Mistle Thrush, Wren and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

More soon with updates on what's happening with the Peregrines and perhaps news of Spotted Flycatcher, which would be a good reserve tick !

Ring Ouzel and Redstart

2013-04-29T16:24:00Z

On Sunday we had our first record for this year of Common Redstart, that's a new one for the 2013 Dove Stone Birdlist, which brings our species total up to 63 for this year. There were also some very good views of the Peregrines at the weekend.

No signs of Redstart this morning but I did see a Ring Ouzel. Towards the moor tops or over the higher areas of Dove Stone this morning there's been Skylark, Wheatear, Raven and Red Grouse. Around the main trail and the woods there's been Lesser Redpoll, Mistle Thrush, Grey Heron, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Meadow Pipit and Willow Warbler as well as of course Blue, Great and Coal Tit. More soon with a full update on what's happening with the Peregrines and other recent sightings, including the next addition to the reserve birdlist. Swift perhaps...?

Dove Stone Latest: the first Cuckoo

2013-04-26T12:55:00Z

Here's the latest from Dove Stone. Good additions to our reserve 2013 birdlist with Mealy Redpoll (59) being seen earlier in the week up at Binn Green. In terms of id, Mealy Redpoll are larger and paler than Lesser Redpoll. Today we've had Whinchat (60) in the Chew Road/Chew Brook area. Whinchat is actually part of the thrush family; here's a link to some info on Turididae http://www.bto.org/about-birds/birdfacts/bird-families/chats

Back to the list. Ring Ouzel also seen today (61) and the first Cuckoo of the year, bringing our Dove Stone Reserve 2013 Birdlist total up to a mighty 62 ! Here's a link to the BTO's pages on the movements of the Cuckoo's they've tagged: http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking

So, other recent sightings. Good views yesterday of Common Sandpipers on Yeoman Hey reservoir and also of two Oystercatchers flying towards Dove Stone reservoir. Just a quick note to say that if you are coming to Dove Stone with a dog please bear in mind disturbance from dogs off the lead to nesting birds such as Common Sandpipers, particularly on the shoreline around Yeoman Hey.

Over on the far Dove Stone res. embankment wall ( near the 'plughole') yesterday there was a group of about 30 Meadow Pipits with Pied Wagtails on the dam wall. No Swallows to be seen yesterday - it was a day for some good Dove Stone weather: low cloud and fine rain, progressing to heavy rain ! Also yesterday a brief view of one of the Peregrines flying above Dove Stone rocks from Ashway Gap.

Up at Binn Green we've had a Sparrowhawk flying through the feeding area the day before yesterday. Plenty of regulars to see: Coal, Blue and Great Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Wren, Jay and Mistle Thrush and also a male and female Bullfinch. Also up at the Binn Green I watched a Great Spotted Woodpecker taking sunflower hearts from the feeders and stashing them in a hole in a nearby tree. On the feeders down at the main car park as well as some of the above birds we've had regular sightings of two Nuthatches. Also just slightly down from this area towards the boatyard I saw four Lesser Redpoll in the tree tops. Around and about there are Meadow Pipits in abundance all around the main trail and good numbers of Wheatear towards the tops. Up on the tops themselves Skylark have been showing well. Also around the main trail listen out for Curlew singing and Willow Warbler.

That's it for now, more soon with an update on Dove Stone's Dippers and of course, the latest sightings: Redstart perhaps?

Latest Arrivals: Willow Warbler and Swallow

2013-04-19T16:57:00Z

Sightings of Willow Warbler and Swallow at Dove Stone today, bringing our Dove Stone Birdlist for 2013 up to 58. Last year's Swallow's arrived a full week earlier, on April 12th. Up at Binn Green today I saw a female Brambling, quite late really. Last year we had a record of Brambling at the beginning of April. Surprisingly, we've not got a record of Brambling on our reserve list yet for this year so that brings us up to 59. Also up at Binn Green today both a male and female Bullfinch, male and female Lesser Redpoll, lots of Siskins again ( it did seem to go a bit quiet on the Siskin front for a while after the big flocks of a few weeks back with presumably a lot of these birds moving off to Scotland and farther), 2 Jays, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal, Blue and Great Tit, good number of Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches as well as Wren, Dunnock and Mistle Thrush. You can see a lot of these birds around the main trail too, of course as well as Meadow Pipits, which are to be seen on the hillsides from all around the trail and Pied Wagtails around the res and on the dam wall. Also seen today were a male and female Wheatear as well as Long tailed Tits in the Life for a Life woods and Nuthatch on the feeders down in the main car park. Curlew also heard today coming from the east side of Dove Stone above the farm fields. We also have reports of a pair of Curlew mobbing a Buzzard at Dove Stone today. More soon...

Curlew: a top bird...

Dove Stone Update:Common Tern and Common Sandpiper

2013-04-16T11:32:00Z

Latest sightings from Dove Stone. On Saturday there was a Common Tern flying over Yeoman Hey ( one of the ide features for Common Tern is a black tip on the bill; though not particularly distinct in this photo ) from the direction of Greenfield Brook towards Dove Stone reservoir. Great to see, it will have been just passing through. Not quite a reserve first, this brings our Dove Stone 2013 Birdlist up to 55.On a general note there've been records of Sandwich Terns moving through the area also, although none reported from Dove Stone.

Also one for the birdlist is Common Sandpiper (56), seen this morning at the bottom end of Dove Stone res. I've had a couple of enquiries asking about the birdlist, link attached below. It won't be long now until we can add Swallow to the list. Looking back at last year's blog, our first report of Swallows at Dove Stone was on April 12th and the earliest record for Common Sandpipers from last year was April 22nd. And there's still Willow Warbler, Common Redstart and Cuckoo to expect amongst other summer migrants.

Elsewhere around Dove Stone on the feeders at the main car park today there's been Lesser Redpoll and Nuthatch amongst the Blue Tits, Great Tits, Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Up at Binn Green this morning on a quick visit around the feeding zone there were Wren, Jay, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, 2 male Siskins, Greenfinch and plenty of Coal Tits and Chaffinches. Of course, there'll also be regulars such as Treecreeper around. Over the weekend we also had sightings of a Sparrowhawk flying through the feeding area and a Bullfinch in the Binn Green area. Other areas of Dove Stone, sightings of Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, lots of Meadow Pipits around and Curlew heard calling from around the area at the far end of Yeoman Hey / below the Isle of Skye road.

More soon with an update on the latest arrivals...

in the beginning there was...moss

2013-04-11T12:20:00Z

Moss was one of the first plants on the Earth, having evolved from adapted algae, along with liverworts and lichen. So, it's official, moss is cool ! If you've never stopped to take a closer look at mosses (Bryophyta), at first glance they might not seem that interesting. Take another look. They're really fascinating and beautiful. And they're good environmental indicators; mosses don't like polluted environments.

Moss don’t have roots like other plants, and not having roots ( although they do have root like strucutures called rhizoids, but these don't t absorb water or nutrients, but they are photosynthetic ...) allows moss to grow in places where other plants can’t, such as rocks. Tortella bambergeri is a moss that's only be known in this country since 2006 and it can be found here at Dove Stone in Binn Green car park!

Tortella bambergeri

Back in 2003 in Perthshire a moss was found that was thought, based on experience of a species in the Czech Republic, to be Tortella bambergeri, . Fastforward to 2006 and it was confirmed as indeed being Tortella bambergeri. Over the next year further colonies of the same Tortella were found. This built up a picture of a distinct species found in upland areas and widespread in the northern and western parts of the British Isles. In the High Peak, the few occurrences are on isolated base-rich sandstone boulders, including Binn Green car park. Given the small number of records our knowledge of the ecology of this species is incomplete, but it appears to behave in a distinctive way: most colonies inhabit blocks of calcareous rock, often below crags but sometimes in open moorland.It's thought that thorough recording in Britain and Ireland would probably lead to Tortella bambergeri being considered ‘nationally scarce’ or ‘locally common’.

Other mosses of interest at Dove Stone are Ceratodon purpureus which colonises burnt and bare ground. You can see this quite a lot at Dove Stone - it looks really strikingly ruddy, even at a distance.

Ceratodon purpureus

Another good one is Polytrichum piliferum, which is also quite common at Dove Stone. You can find it even on the edges of Dove Stone reservoir on the far, lowland, shore. This image shows the male 'inflorescence', which is stunning when you see a lot together.

Polytrichum piliferum

More soon. Thanks to Ken suggesting this blog and providing photos, info and enthusiasm for small. mossy plants ! More soon with an update on recent bird sightings, including the latest on the Peregrines....

Wheatear and Chiffchaff

2013-04-07T16:22:06Z

A quick update with what's been around at Dove Stone today. First reports of Chiffchaff calling heard from Ashway Gap today and within minutes, the first sighting of both a male and a female Wheatear in the fields adjacent to Ashway Gap. Also new for the Dove Stone 2013 reserve list is Red Legged Partridge, bringing our total up to 54. Also from Ashway Gap today there have been good views of the Peregrines. Round at Dove Stone reservoir there were sightings of two Oystercatcher flying across the reservoir and over the fields. We also had a Cormorant flying over the res. Up at Binn Green there's Mistle Thrush, Greenfinch and Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker ( seen as well as drumming ), Lesser Redpoll and plenty of Great Tit, Blue Tit and Coal Tit around, Treecreeper, Dunnock and also a Bullfinch, seen yesterday. Also seen yesterday were a group of 10 Redwing just off Banks Lane. Elsewhere around Dove Stone there's quite a few Meadow Pipits to be seen. We've also had the first butterfly of the year seen: Peacock.

More soon...

Skylark, Meadow Pipits and more

2013-04-04T15:13:00Z

Time for an update with the latest sightings at Dove Stone. Starting up at Binn Green, on and around the feeders there's plenty to see with regular sightings of Treecreepers, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Siskin, plenty of Blackbirds and Chaffinches, Greenfinch and Coal, Blue and Great Tit and less often Lesser Redpoll. From the viewing platform at Binn Green you can look out across to Dove Stone rocks and from here yesterday you could watch one of the Peregrines regularly flying across the face of the quarry, perching, then flying again. Manchester Peregrines are sitting on at least one egg so hopefully the Dove Stone birds will be doing the same soon. We're at Dove Stone throughout the week throughout the summer watching to see what happens with the Peregrines and at Ashway Gap Thursdays to Sundays from 11am to 3pm with scopes for anyone interested in taking a look.

Out on Dove Stone reservoir there are a fewer number of Black Headed Gulls then of late. No sign of the Oystercatchers but we'll be reporting on them as and when. A Cormorant flying over Dove Stone res. brings our Dove Stone 2013 reserve list up to 49.Elsewhere around Dove Stone this week there have been sightings of Dipper, a male Stonechat just past Chew Brook and displaying Meadow Pipit (50) above the fields, Reed Buntings in the 6-Scots Pine field also past Chew. As well as some of the same birds that you can see at the Binn Green feeding area, in the woods around the main trail there's Wren and Long tailed tit. In one of the woods we've also had Grey Heron at one of the ponds we've created and Brown Hare - probably more unusual for us to see Brown Hare then it is Mountain Hare here. Up on the moor tops there's Golden Plover to be seen as well as a sighting of Skylark bringing our list total up to 51.

Also reports on Manchester Birding recently of an Osprey flying over Dove Stone and an Osprey in the Arnfield area, probably the same bird ? More soon, as soon as we get reports of any spring migrants. Bets on what will be first. I lay my money on Wheatear...

Dove Stone Update:Goosander and Curlew

2013-03-28T11:28:00Z

Time for a Dove Stone update. Just to recap on how the Dove Stone 2013 birdlist is going, Oystercatcher was our last addition to our list posted on the blog at the beginning of March, which have continued to stay around on the main Dove Stone res. Black Headed Gulls are in good numbers too and there was a Cormorant seen earlier in the week flying low over the res. Since then we've had sightings of two Goosander on Dove Stone res and Curlew returning to their breeding grounds on the moors, bringing our reserve list up to a mighty 48.

At the moment we're all really waiting for the first reports of spring and summer migrants such as Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler followed later by Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher, the latter being one of the later arrivals. Also worth looking out for Ring Ouzel which start returning in March with April being a more probable time that we'll see them at Dove Stone. And of course there's also the arrival of House Martins,Sand Martins and Swifts to come as well as Cuckoo. So there's lots to look forwards to. Obviously we've not had typical weather for the end of March and in terms of access Binn Green is still accessible on foot and the car park is currently closed due to the snow.

So, recent sightings around and about, pretty quiet really. Up at Binn Green there have been Long tailed tits, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blue, Great, Coal tit, Dunnock, Magpie, several Blackbirds, a few Siskins, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

If you're walking up to Dove Stone from Greenfield then it's worth following the public footpath from Tanners Hatch ( by the mini-roundabout by the Clarence Pub ). Dipper and Grey Wagtail can be seen regularly on the brook here and there's always the chance of Kingfisher. On Sunday we had a small group of Lapwings fly over . It's also a good route for woodland birds as well and you can usually get some good views ot Treecreeper, with sightings of other birds such as Song Thrush too. Walking up is a good alternative to the busyness of Dove Stone car park on a bank holiday weekend !

This weekend sees the official start of this year's Peregrine Watch at Ashway Gap from where we'll be observing the Peregrines. We''ll be there from 11am to 3pm for those who are interested in taking a look at the Peregrines through our scopes and finding out the latest. Manchester's Peregrines now have one egg so we'll be waiting to see if Dove Stone's birds follow suit.

Other events coming up are a drop-in to find out about our nest box scheme at Dove Stone and how we undertake our nest box monitoring, that's on Saturday April 13th at 11am at Binn Green. Then on Sunday 14th we have a Beginners Birding walk at 10am, meeting at the top of Dove Stone's main car park. Full details for this and more are on the events pages. More soon...

Dove Stone Latest: Oystercatcher and Reed Buntings...

2013-03-05T11:27:00Z

The big draw at the moment are the number of Siskins at Binn Green on both the feeders and on the Larches, where they're feeding on the cones. And the sound of such a large number of Siskins is great to hear. So how many are there up at Bnn Green ? On the bird ringing session two weeks ago we ringed 87 Siskins, so every Siskin we see without a ring is obviously giving us an idea of the total number at any one time. There won't be such a great number of Siskins all year at Binn Green; although some of these birds will be resident, a great numbers of them will be over wintering from Scotland, Wales and possibly Northern Europe / Scandinavia. Siskins are irruptive so some years there'll be greater numbers than others, influenced by food availability and the cone crop. So, it really is a spectacular sight you won't see all year round. On a seperate note, we put in a new small pond on Sunday next to Binn Green feeding area, come Monday morning there were Siskins drinking from it already.

Also see around the Binn Green area yesterday were Jay, Mistle Thrush, Carrion Crow ( gathering nesting material ). Dunnock, Blackbird, Robin, Long Tailed Tit on the fat feeders, Coal, Blue and Great Tit on the seed and peanut feeders, along with Greenfinch and Goldfinch. Plenty of Chaffinches of course as well. Binn Green is still the place to observe Treecreepers with two being seen yesterday as well as one in the plantation that runs alongside the Binn Green access road that runs down to Yeoman Hey. Moving on to this area of Dove Stone sightings from yesterday include Dipper and two Grey Wagtail and a Weasel right in the corner of Yeoman Hey reservoir on the exposed areas due to the low water levels. Also around Yeoman Hey there have been reports of Red Legged Partridge.

Elsewhere around Dove Stone yesterday there were sightings of Dipper again where the Ashway Gap spillway meets the reservoir as well as Pied Wagtail. One of the Peregrine Falcons was perched on the rock face at Dove Stone rock and we also had regular sightings throughout the weekend of Peregrine in the same area. We'll be updating the blog reguarly with reports of the Peregrines. Moving further round Dove Stone we have sightings from the weekend of male and female Bullfinch, Song Thrush and six Reed Bunting (Dove Stone reserve bird list number 45 ) in the Scots Pines along from Chew Brook and circa 50 Black Headed Gulls on the main reservoir. Also sightings of Red Grouse. Final bird to report is an Oystercatcher on the pontoon on the main res, which brings our Dove Stone reserve bird list for this year up to 46. Very generally, these birds will have wintered in a coastal / shoreline area and are returning to breeding areas from now; in previous years we've had a pair of Oystercatchers at Dove Stone so we'll be reporting back on this too as the spring and summer progresses.

Looking back on reports from February and March and through to April last year we had far more sightings of Brambling then we've had this year. About the same time / mid-March we were reporting sightings of Grey Wagtail, which can disperse during the winter, as do Meadow Pipits going to lowland areas, which we were reporting sighitngs of about this time last year.

Also taking a look back at last year, our first report of Swallows at Dove Stone was on April 12th and in the couple of weeks preceding that we were giving reports from Dove Stone via the blog on Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Curlew, so some great birds to look forwards to over the next few weeks. More soon...

Waxwings and other sightings

2013-02-26T14:39:00Z

An update on the weekend at Dove Stone. Exciting news of 60+ Waxwings, roosting in one of the plantations past Chew Brook. It's been an influx year for Waxwings and there's been quite a few reports of them in the local area ( Uppermill, Greenfield, Springhead ) but these are the first sightings this year from Dove Stone. In the next few weeks it's likely that these birds will be returning to their Scandinavian summer breeding grounds. Waxwings are a new addition to the Dove Stone 2013 bird list bringing the total up to 40.

Elsewhere in Dove Stone's woods we have recent sightings of both Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. Song Thrush is another record for 2013 at Dove Stone, taking us up to 41. Basic id.tip for telling Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush apart is that Song Thrush have arrow shaped markings on the chest whereas Mistle tend to have more rounded spots. Alos there's quite a size difference too with Mistle Thrush being the larger of the two.

Elsewhere around Dove Stone we have sightings of a male Bullfinch in the trees that line the entrance road to the main car park and Moorhen in the fields alongside Banks Lane. So Moorhen isn't strictly speaking within our reserve boundaries but I'm including on our list anyway, now standing at 42. Also new for the list is Buzzard (43), which we don't see many of at Dove Stone so that's good. Carrion Crow seems to have not been included on the reserve's list until now - standing at 44.

Up at Binn Green the feeders continue to provide a real spectacle with large numbers of Siskins as well as Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Also good views of Treecreeper around Binn Green, sometimes being seen on the moss covered boulders around the car park. Good numbers of Coal, Blue and Great Tit also. Over at the main car park regular sightings of Nuthatch on the feeders.

No further sign of the Pochards that were seen recently on Dove Stone reservoir. Worth keeping an eye out for. Round at Chew Brook really great views of two Dippers. Peregrine has also been seen at the weekend, as have Raven.

Coming up this Sunday we have a wildlife pond workshop at Binn Green, drop-in between 11am and 3pm. The small pond we have already at Binn Green is really well used by Siskins and other birds using the feeders there. If you want to find out what's involved in making a wildlife pond why not come along ? We'll be taking you through the steps of what's involved through adding a second pond for birds and frogs etc just by our woodpecker sculpture. More soon...

Good Sightings at Dove Stone

2013-02-20T17:34:00Z

A quick update with recent sightings both this week and last.

Dove Stone reservoir usually has a good amount of Black Headed Gulls, and this week there have easily been 100+ on the res at any one time. Always worth a scan for something more unusual in the mix of Black Headed Gulls though ! On the main res and today were a group of around 8 Pochards, which is a new sighting for the Dove Stone Bird List, bringing it up to 36. Last week we had 5 Mute Swans ( 37 ). Add in a sighting of Kingfisher (38) earlier this week ( at the Ashway Gap end of Dove Stone res and also seen around Yeoman Hey ). Finally, sightings this week of Long Tailed Tit brings the list up to a mighty 39 ! The Long Tailed Tits were seen in trees surrounding the area where we have feeders at the main car park and also on the peanut feeders themselves up at Binn Green. I don't recall seeing Long Tailed Tits on the feeders at Dove Stone before.

Also to be seen in the feeding zones are Nuthatch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch at the main car park and also up at Binn Green, along with two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Mistle Thrush today. The Treecreepers were keeping out of sight. Good numbers of Siskins still present, with 80+ being ringed at Binn Green last week. We've also had a report of possible Crossbills heard but not seen. Elsewhere around Dove Stone we've had sightings of 6 Dippers and a Grey Heron over Yeoman Hey moving towards Greenfield res. Finally, the Peregrines are regularly being seen and observed by us all here and we also have sightings of 2 Ravens over Alderman's Brow as well as around Dove Stone rocks.

More soon...

Peregrines Ahoy!

2013-02-08T17:06:00Z

Well, we’re gearing up for the Date With Nature - Peregrine Watch season, with excitement mounting over whether our Peregrines will breed successfully this year! Signs are promising so far with the pair seen on Sunday January 27^th displaying some courtship behaviour over Dove Stone reservoir. As you may know, in the previous two seasons the male Peregrine was a juvenile and although he was seen doing all the right things (!) he was still too young to fertilise the eggs successfully – at least that’s our theory. So, if it’s still the same male Peregrine, he’ll definitely be old enough this year as he’s lost all his juvenile brownish plumage and markings. So fingers crossed that when Date With Nature starts at Easter we’ll have lots of activity to observe! Hope to see you there.

Binn Green Access

2013-02-06T09:55:00Z

The Isle of Sky road is open but Binn Green car park isn't ! So just a quick heads-up that if you're coming to this part of Dove Stone today that there are a limited number of parking places in the layby adjacent to Binn Green. It's looking beautiful out there with bright sun and blue skies, so the snow melt will probably be fairly fast. Cue dramatic water levels on Chew Brook ! More soon...

Siskins

2013-02-05T17:33:00Z

Pretty wild at Dove Stone today with a strong, freezing wind blowing the snow across, particularly when walking along the main reservoir wall and between Dove Stone reservoir and Yeoman Hey. Accessbility-wise, not too bad getting into the main car park earlier today but we have had another snow fall since then and it's snowing as I write so the situation might be different in the morning. Advice for Binn Green car park is to leave your car elsewhere and enjoy the walk !

The Siskins today at Binn Green were fantastic; the males looked so vibrant, such an amazing colour with the females no less beautiful; just more subtle. Binn Green itself was quiet on the people front but that was great for watching all the activity on the feeders. As well as large groups of Siskin, there were a good number of Goldfinches in the area on and around the Larches, masses of Chaffinches and good numbers of Blackbirds, looking good against the snow. Over at the main car park there were Greenfinches on the feeders and a reasonable number of Black Headed Gulls on Dove Stone res. Always worth taking a look for any unusual or less frequent gulls on the res.

A fuller ' recent sightings ' report coming soon...