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...