Trip reports

Visit to Pennington Flash 21/01/2012

Sunday, 22 January 2012

We arrived at about 11am and it was bright and sunny but very windy. The flash waters were very choppy and the main areas to see the birds were in the bays out of the wind and on the ponds and scrapes in the woods to the east of the flash.
Out on the part of flash known as Ramsdale Flash we found Black headed and Lesser black backed and Herring gulls. Cormorant, Coot, Moorhen, Great crested and Little Grebe. Also Mallard, Teal, Goldeneye, Tufted, Shoveller, Pochard and Shelduck. There were Canada Geese and one hybrid goose which looked like a Greylag with a white head. There were Jackdaw and Carrion Crow feeding out on the islands and the only waders of the day to be spotted were flocks of good numbers of Lapwing and an Oyster Catcher. There were good numbers of Goosander and also Mergansers were reported.
From the hides on the ponds and scapes Heron, Mute Swan, and Gadwall with other duck species mentioned before were sheltering from the wind. On the way round the woods there were Wood Pidgeon and a Grey Wagtail was spotted on Westleigh Brook with Wren in the undergrowth. There were also sightings of Sparrowhawk dashing along the hedge and Kestrel up in the high trees. Buntings Hide proved very popular as this has a feeding station for the birds and a good lunch/afternoon tea spot for the birders taking shelter from of the elements. Here we were treated to the great colours of the Bullfinch and the acrobatics of the tits which included, Long Tailed, Blue, Coal, Great and Willow. There were Jays, Magpies and Great Spotted Woodpecker flitting amongst the trees. Down on the ground we found Dunnock, Blackbird, Pheasant, Redpoll, Stock and Collared doves. On the feeders there were Robin, Green, Gold and Chaffinches along with Reed Buntings. Grey Squirels were also seen feeding here. At Pengy's Hide some of us got good views of the Kingfisher fishing on the edge of the pond and on the way back to the coach there were Pied Wagtail in the car park.
We all managed to duck into the hides to avoid the squalls but it was nice to be back on the coach out of the wind and for a bit of warmth for the homeward journey.
31 people managed to total up for the group 47 different species today. Many thanks to Brian Furness and Brian Bottomley for organising the a very good birding day out. See Links for more informaton about Pennington Flash.

Val young

http://www.manchesterbirding.com/penningtonflashsiteguide.htm