Visitors today included a great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, great tit, coal tit, blue tit, blackbird, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, magpie, jackdaw, robin, crows, woodpigeon, black headed gulls, wren, grey wagtail and reports of a wheatear up towards Chew.

A lot more activity at Binn Green now that the feeders are back in use. Visitors included a great spotted woodpecker, great tits, coal tits, blue tit, blackbird, chaffinch, magpie and robin.

Elsewhere were woodpigeon, black headed gulls, wren, a family of grey wagtail, kestrel and reports of a large flock (or should I say charm?) of goldfinch.

A fairly quiet day at Dove Stone with a brief appearance of a peregrine followed later by a kestrel. Also seen were black headed gulls, meadow pipit, robin, Canada geese, mallard, and pheasant.

Lots of red grouse noted on Saddleworth Moor.

A lovely day at Dove Stone gave the following sightings at Binn Green - robin, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, woodpigeon, treecreeper, chaffinch and bullfinch.

At Ashway Gap were meadow pipit, Canada geese, mallard, a family of grey wagtail, a family of pied wagtail, goldfinch, swallow, black headed gull and pheasant.

There were also reports of common sandpiper, redpoll, stonechat, goldcrest and jackdaw.

United Utilities have provided paths around the reservoirs which are accessible to people using wheelchairs and those with young families in buggies, but we are always keen to find ways to encourage and enable as many of our visitors are possible to explore routes off the main trails and experience more of the reserve and the wildlife that calls it home.

We have worked with Experience Community in Huddersfield and our own…

A very wet Dove Stone meant many birds keeping well under cover but sightings included a dipper at Ashway Gap, black-headed gull, robin, blackbird, grey wagtail, blue tit, woodpigeon, goldfinch, chaffinch, magpie, meadow pipit, wren and mallard.

Today’s sightings at an increasingly wet Dove Stone include black-headed gull, robin, blackbird, swallows, pied wagtail, grey wagtail, blue tit, woodpigeon, jackdaw, goldfinch, chaffinch, magpie, meadow pipit, song thrush, mistle thrush, treecreeper, a family of wren feeding at Ashway Gap, mallard and canada geese.

Today’s sightings at Dove Stone include robin, blackbird, lots of swallows (at both Ashway Gap and the main car park), pied wagtail, grey wagtail, dipper, great tit, woodpigeon, jackdaw, greenfinch, chaffinch, kestrel (above Yeoman Hey), magpie, meadow pipit, mallard and canada geese.

Additional interest was found with a large toad at Ashway Gap picnic area.

Today’s sightings at Dove Stone included pied wagtail (with young), swallows, mistle thrush(also feeding young ones), meadow pipit, magpie, mallard, grey wagtail, wren, a family of canada geese, mallard, a single cormorant and sandpipers.

The highlight though was three peregrines in flight above the quarry face with their flying skills showing clear improvement.

There are also reports of several ring ouzel up…

Latest sightings included chiffchaff, blackbird, wren, willow warbler, great spotted woodpecker, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, swallow, mallard, magpie, mistle thrush, common sandpiper, robin and a family of long tailed tits with at least 5 young.

Sadly no views of the peregrine chicks yet but one of the adults was seen resting on the quarry face in mid afternoon.

There was a young roe deer in Pennyworth wood and a solitary…

To kick off last week, on Monday we held the first moth trapping session of the season down at Ashway Gap. Signs were against us to start the evening, winds were strong and some dodgy wiring threatened to cancel the fun. Luckily conditions improved and the first catch of the summer was pretty successful!

Highlights were definitely the lovely Small Elephant Hawkmoths, we caught six of these, which is the highest number for…

A glorious day at Dove Stone with prolonged views of the peregrines on offer. It was confirmed yesterday that the pair are raising 3 chicks which looked in very good condition, so we can hope for some increased activity over the next few weeks.

Other birds around Ashway Gap included a kestrel, pied wagtail (with young), grey wagtail, magpie, mistle thrush, meadow pipit, dipper and mallard. 

There have also been reports…

It certainly has been a hectic couple of months at Dove Stone across all of the projects in order to get all of the on the ground work completed before the breeding bird season begins in earnest. In addition, we've also had some issues with wildfires and the wonderful news of our Natura 2016 award for Conservation. On the WREN funded Spreading the Moss project, in March alone, we managed to complete the following bits…

A relatively quiet day at Binn Green enlivened by the appearance of a Nuthatch together with blackbird, blue tit, great tit, chaffinch, dunnock, goldfinch, jay and woodpigeon.

At Ashway Gap there was a pair of common sandpiper, grey wagtail, pied wagtail, mallard, meadow pipit and pheasant. A peregrine put in a brief appearance with a flight in and out of the nest site and there was an almighty row in the picnic area…

It was very quiet around the feeding station at Binn Green now that the feeders are no longer in use but the following were seen - jay, blackbird, chaffinch, dunnock, wood pigeon and goldfinch.

A pair of stonechat were evident by Yeoman Hey together with mallard and lots of meadow pipits.

Sadly no sign of the peregrine although there are reports of at least one chick hatching. Grey wagtail and pied wagtail were both…

It was a fairly quiet day at Binn Green, where most of the feeders have now been removed. The highlight was a great spotted woodpecker, with a supporting cast of siskin, blackbird, chaffinch, blue tit, wood pigeon and pheasant.

Down at Ashway Gap there was a pair of canada geese with their family, grey and pied wagtail feeding in the spillway, meadow pipit, song thrush, long tailed tit, robin, pheasant, a pair of mallard…

At Binn Green we had chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, siskin, blue tit, great tit, great spotted woodpecker, blackbird, redpoll, wood pigeon, a pair of jays and a pair of mallard!

Down at Ashway Gap - in the adjoining spillway was a very active dipper, a pair of grey wagtails and a pied wagtail. A solitary black headed gull was scavenging around the picnic benches. A peregrine put in a brief appearance and there were…

We just wanted to update people about the fire at Dove Stone last night – it’s hard to write enough detail on Twitter!

The fire started yesterday evening above Chew Brook.  We don’t have any details about how it started but we are surmising it was either accidental (by someone having a BBQ) or it was arson.

It affected in the region of 20-30 hectares, roughly the same area that was burnt two springs…

It was a very quiet day at Binn Green with only robin, chaffinch, goldfinch, coal tit and great tit - and oh yes, a few pheasant. One point of interest was the call of a curlew overhead.

The peregrines kept out of view at Ashway Gap as did the ravens. Pied wagtail, wren and meadow pipit were evident and there were reports of wheatear near the quarry, stonechat up towards Greenfield reservoir and skylark on the tops.

Only the usual suspects were in attendance on Friday at the Binn Green feeding site - Chaffinch, blackbird, robin, great tit, coal tit, blue tit, siskin with a late appearance of a great spotted woodpecker to liven things up.

A trip down to Ashway Gap improved sightings with 2 peregrines, a raven, pied wagtail, grey wagtail, meadow pipit and really good views of a dipper.

A lovely clear, cold day saw plenty of activity at the feeding station at Binn Green with good numbers of siskin, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, blue tits, coal tits and great tits.

Other visitors included a treecreeper, jay, 2 redpoll, blackbird,  robin, magpie, long tailed tit and a great spotted woodpecker. Increased numbers of pheasants were also evident.

At Ashway Gap there was a solitary grey wagtail and 2 ravens…

A lovely bright dry day together with peanuts and seed attracted the usual pheasants and chaffinches at Binn Green together with siskin, greenfinch, goldfinch, blackbird, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, robin, brambling (male and female) and our solitary reed bunting.

Other visitors included a jay, 2 treecreepers, 5 long tailed tits, 2 redpoll and a great spotted woodpecker.

Again, activity at Ashway Gap was very limited…

The snow that fell during the second week of January was certainly badly timed in terms of getting any practical Sphagnum planting done, but in terms of timing (happening a week after the project launch) gave me a chance to introduce the new volunteers to some of the conditions we will be working in on this project...only one drop-out, but to be fair she wasn’t feeling well before we left, and the climb up in sub-zero…

The brambling was back today in amongst about 20 chaffinch together with the now resident reed bunting (hope I've not tempted fate). Other visitors included a jay, male bullfinch, siskin, greenfinch, goldfinch, blackbird, blue tit, coal tit, great tit and a small flock of 6 long tailed tits. There were two wood pigeons and several male pheasants together with a splendid treecreeper feeding off the fat cake feeder.…

The lone Reed Bunting must like Binn Green because he's still around. Additionally there were Jays, chaffinch, goldfinch, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, blackbirds, robin, siskin and a mistle thrush.

There have been reports this week of 3 pairs of golden plover on Saddleworth Moor close to the A635 above Binn Green, ravens at Birchen Clough and a male bullfinch at the feeding station at Binn Green.

Tremendous…