Low Moor and Oakenshaw Wildlife

Actually not that much about today.  Only real things of note were 4 Swallow feeding low over Caldene Fields, a pair of Song Thrush at Raw Nook Nr and views of a male Blackcap collecting nesting material.

Firstly I had a ‘ blast from the passed’ moment today when a pair of Lapwing were displaying over Caldene Fields a regular nesting site in bygone years.  A returning male Swallow flew into it’s old nesting site the horses shed at Caldene Fields and whilst I do not normally comment on nest sites the Swallows one is very safe….as a rather large mean looking stallion keeps the Swallow company…  Only a female Blackcap at the top end of the fields was judged as a new migrant in.

Last night was the first time this year I put out the moth trap and was rewarded with a Brindled Pug the f hirchkei form which is a new site record. 2 Common Quaker and 3 Hebrew Character were also recorded.

Four Smooth Newts were observed at Raw Nook nr pond and at least 4 Peacock and 3 Small Tortoiseshell were noted.

Received an email from James Bass who visited Raw Nook Nr on 15/4 and was struck by the numbers of singing warblers.  His counts were 3 Willow Warblers + 8 Chiffchaff + 6 Blackcaps all good counts.  My first thoughts were the reserve given it’s size would struggle to accommodate all those territories.

So on the 17/4 I did some counts to see if some of these birds were passage birds.  My counts were 4 Willow Warblers + 4 Chiffchaff ( possibly some females may have been nest building) + 4 Blackcaps 3 M+1pair suggesting most of the birds have stayed.  I still have the same views and believe within the next week or so some of these birds will have moved on both to find a new territory and a mate.

One Swallow circled Caldene Fields before drifting S/W and 3 House Martins were back over there nest site at Raw Nook Nr

Following on from my sighting of a C Buzzard drifting N/E on the 10/4 Stuart Tordoff emailed to say he had seen three Common Buzzards circling over Woodlands/M606  slowly drifting off eastwards.

Long Tailed Tit appear to be doing very well in our recording area

A male Blackcap and a Willow Warbler both probable passage birds were at Caldene Fields this morning.

Yesterday at Raw Nook Nr pond I has an excellent count of at least 35 Common Toads of which many were copulating. Also the sunshine brought out the first Comma butterfly and 2 peacocks were also noted.

This morning 8 Herring Gulls were feeding at Caldene Fields, which is unusual to have feeding birds and then late after noon a Common Buzzard flew N/E over the fields.

Herring Gulls

A check this morning for summer migrants revealed 2 additional Chiffchaffs at Toad Holes Beck bringing the number of birds to 3 and a new Chiffchaff was at Raw Nook Nr.

A pair of Tufted Duck ( which have probably come from nearby Harold Park) were on the middle pond at Toad Holes Beck.  Also at the pond was an early bloom of Marsh Marigolds which was a welcome sight and two male Song Thrushes filled the air with song as they claimed territories.

A male Goosander flew S/W over Raw Nook Nr.

This morning I did some vismigging at Caldene Fields watchpoint.  There was a steady trickle of returning Fieldfares 103 moving N and 118 Meadow pipits moved N/N/W.  A count of Bullfinches at Toad Holes beck revealed 9 of which 4 were males…an excellent count.

Found a returning Chiffchaff this morning singing from an old nest site at Toad Holes Beck…Spring has arrived!

Also at the site were 4 Song Thrushes which is a good count.  A pair of Coot have taken up residence at the middle pond which is recovering from recent pollution.

A pair of Canada Geese like every Spring are moving around the local area looking for a suitable nest site.

A Buzzard was calling east of Toad Holes Beck

And at last Frog spawn has appeared in the local ponds.

Pre – Frog Spawn…

As Spring gets ever nearer it has been rewarding noticing early nesting birds like the Jackdaws that are collecting mud for nest building at Caldene Fields and then leaving to the S/W.  Also a pair of Collard Doves have been observed nest building as well as a number of Magpies have been collecting nesting material.

A party of 48 Whooper Swans came in from the N/E at 10.40 this morning and left to the S/W over Caldene Fields. A record count for this species.