Bird Sightings in the Macclesfield and Surrounding Areas
April 2011 (Please click on photos or any underlined comment for larger images and/or more information)
Legend (m) = male, (f) = female, (p) = pair, (ps) = pairs, (s) singing, (H) = Heard only
Date and Time	Sighting	Location and / or Map Reference	Comments
30th	Pied Flycatcher – at nest box	Lyme Park	Richard Arnold
30th (pm)	(a) Redstart (m) Willow Warblers (sev.) (b) Swift	(a) (17:15) Tissington Trail Hartington (b) (c18:00) over moor near Cat and Fiddle	Simon Jackson
30th	Swift	Woodford	Chris N Grime
30th (13:30)	Swift	Over Eyam Village	Mark Arnold
27th	Great Northern Diver – adult in breeding plumage Lapwing (5) Redshank (p) - mating	Carsington Water	Ray & Margaret Perry
27th (pm)	(a) Tawny Owl (2H) – one calling and one more distant (responding ?) (b) Grey Partridge	(a) Vicinity of Hare Hill Garden (N.T.) (b) Prestbury Road – Alderley Edge	Gordon & Rita Howard
27th	(a) Garganey (p) Wigeon (4) Gadwall (9) Shoveler (p) Whitethroat (5) Reed Warbler (1) Blackcap (1) Redshank (p) Little Ringed Plover (p) Oyster Catcher (3) (b) Black Tailed Godwit (47) Little Ringed Plover (p) Willow Warbler (1) Wigeon (5) Shoveler (4)	(a) Neumann's Flash & Haydn’s Pool. (b) Sandbach Flash	David Collis & Daniel Bailey
27th	(a) Linnet (2p) Skylark (b) Yellowhammer (m)-(s) (c) Black-tailed Godwit (40+)	(a) (10:30) Marton (b) (11:00) Nr. Yellow Broom restaurant (c) (13:00) Sandbach Flashes	Chris N. Grime
26th (20:00)	Cuckoo (H)	Lindow Moss Wilmslow	Brian Grieve
25th (11:30)	Cuckoo (H)	Goyt Valley South of Errwood Hall	Tony Hayter
24th (09:00)	Short-eared Owl Snipe – over flew with beak full of food	Derbyshire Bridge	David Collis
23rd	(a) House Martin (b) Northern Wheatear (c) Stonechat	(a) Somerford Booths (nr. Congleton) (b) Gun Hill (nr. Meerbrook) (c) Ridge Hill (Upper Sutton)	Ray & Margaret Perry
23rd	(am) Grasshopper Warbler Curlew (sev.) Golden Plover (sev.) Red Grouse (many) Willow Warbler (pm) Short-eared Owl Wheatear (4)	Derbyshire Bridge area	David & Jen Tolliday
23rd	(a) Dunlin (3) Little Ringed Plover (p) Oystercatcher (4) (b) Mandarin (m) Garden Warbler (3)	(a) Lapwing Lane silt ponds (b) Sutton (Turkshead) Reservoir	David Collis
22nd	(a) Lapwing (many nesting) Wheatear (many) Meadow Pipit (many) Skylark (2s) Red Grouse (few) Raven (1) Curlew (few) Kestrel (1) Common Buzzard (1) Swallows (2) (b) Golden Plover (c) Ring ouzel (2p + f)	(a) Danebower area (b) Above Sparbent (c) Blackclough and Orchard Farms area (all very mobile)	Ray & Jean Evans
21st (10:40)	Pied Flycatcher (s)	Goyt Valley	pair also seen investigating nest box Heather Green
21st	Pied Flycatcher Blackcap Green Woodpecker Kestrel Peregrine Falcon (p)	Coombes Valley N.R.	Geoff Atkin
21st	(a) Ring Ouzel (m) (b) Raven Wheatear (c) Pink-footed Goose Mealy Redpoll Oystercatcher – on nest near island	(a) (13:00) Derbyshire Bridge car park (b) Danebower (c) Tittesworth	David Collis & Daniel Bailey
20th	(a) Wheatear Ring Ouzel (b) Woodcock (2-3) - roding	(a) Danebower (b) Macclesfield Forest	Geoff Atkin
20th	Little Ringed Plover Pink-footed Goose Oystercatcher Sand Martins Swallows	Tittesworth	21 species seen Chris Eccleston
19th	Garden Warbler (s)	Pikelow Farm Marton	David Taylor
19th	Common Sandpiper (p)	Bottoms Reservoir Langley	David Collis
17th (c12:00)	Common Sandpiper (2)	Ridgegate Reservoir Langley	Dave Bancroft
16th (18:00)	Red Kite Buzzards (3) Raven (2) Kestrel	Wildboarclough Blaze Farm area	Great views and positive ID All together at the same time Chris N Grime
16th (c09:00)	Wheatear Meadow Pipit	Derbyshire Bridge	David Taylor
15th (16:00 to 17:30)	Golden Plover (c64)* - very good plumage Curlew (4-6) Short-eared Owl Wheatear	Between Derbyshire Bridge and A537	* 4 seem to have paired off and separated from flock Jean Alston & Hugh Clow
14th	Great Northern diver Lapwings Redshank (3) Oystercatcher Dunlin Curlew Little ringed plover (3) Barnacle geese (21) Tree sparrows	Carsington Water	Tony Bianchi & Steve McCoskery
14th (09:00)	Mallard (p) with 10 newly hatched ducklings	Canal on Buxton Road side of Higher Fence Road Bridge	Peter Hurst
13th	(a) Redstart (m) Blackcap (m) (b) Carrion Crow - aberrant	(a) Langley - behind water treatment plant (b) Langley - seen from Cockhall Lane	Steve Wright
13th	(a) Swallows (20-30) – with Sand Martins & House Martins Grey Wagtail Blackcap (H) Chiffchaff Green Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker (b) Swallows (100-150) – with Sand Martins & House Martins Blackcap Chiffchaff Red-legged Partridge	(a) Bollin Way before Prestbury Sewage Works (b) Redesmere	Geoff Atkin
12th	Peregrine Falcon (p)	Hen Cloud The Roaches	Steve Wright
11th	Great Northern Diver (1), Barnacle Goose (17) Shoveler (p) Oystercatcher (4) Lapwing (4) Redshank (4) Swallow (80+) Blackcap Chiffchaff Willow Warbler Bullfinch (p) Reed Bunting (f)	Carsington Water	Ray & Margaret Perry
10th	Pheasant - (Leucistic)	Pikelow Farm Marton	David Taylor
10th	Sparrowhawk (f) - being mobbed by Carrion Crow Pied flycatchers (m+f) - at nest box Chiffchaff Treecreeper Nuthatch Grey Heron Willow Warbler (H)	Taxal Woods (Whaley Bridge)	Also seen Orange Tip butterflies Andy Gregory & Janet Smith
10^th (10:00-12.30)	Buzzard Raven (4) Wheatear (m+f) (10+) Meadow Pipit Mallard (f) Pied Wagtail Curlew Red Grouse	Danebower	Highlight was Buzzard and highly vocal Raven, circling for about 5 minutes one following the other and swapping places without any apparent aggressive behaviour. Chris Eccleston
10th (am)	Curlew (5) Golden Plover (2) Skylark (2) Meadow Pipits (lots) Red Grouse (lots)	Axe Edge Moor	David Tolliday
9th	(a) Red Kite – overflying (b) Brambling	Marbury C.P. (a) (16:45) overflying (b) in woodland	Simon & Linda Jackson
9th	(a) Chiffchaff (2) Blackcap (2) Swallow (2) (b) Mandarin (m) – occasionally displaying to Mallards (f) (c) Short-eared Owl (2) Meadow Pipit Red Grouse (sev.)	(a) Hare Hill N.T. (b) Redesmere (c) Derbyshire bridge	David Tolliday
9th (12:00)	Golden Plover (64)	Between Derbyshire Bridge car park and A54 Buxton road	Jean Alston & Hugh Clow
9th	Redstart	Sutton (Macclesfield)	Tina Hanak
9th	Mandarin Duck (p) Grey Heron	Norbury Brook Middlewood Way nr Middlewood Stn.	Christine Hilton
8th (am)	Willow Warbler	Sutton (Macclesfield)	Tina Hanak
7th	(a) Short Eared Owl (2) Curlew Red Grouse (b) Swallow	(a) 17:15 – 18:00 Derbyshire Bridge (b) 18:10 Trentabank Reservoir	Chris N Grime
6th	Black-tailed Godwit (15) Ruff (2f) Redshank (2) Green Sandpiper (2) Common Sandpiper (1) Wigeon (50+) Gadwall (8) Barnacle Goose (1) Tree Sparrow (5) Willow Warbler (1) Blackcap (1)	Sandbach Flash	David Collis
6th	Curlew	Overflying Towers Yard Farm Poynton	Richard Arnold
6th (am)	Swallows (2)	Sutton (Macclesfield)	Tina Hanak
5th	Brambling	Pikelow Farm Marton	David Taylor
5th	(a) Wheatears (b) Peregrine Falcon (m)	(a) Danebower Chimney (b) Wildboarclough - near Cumberland Gap	Steve Wright
5th	Waxwings (12)	Furness Rd. off Acre Lane Cheadle Hulme	Peter & Margaret Derbyshire
4th	Fieldfares (30/40)	Marton	David Taylor
4th	Swallows (2) Blackcap (s)	Poynton Pool	Vivienne Arnold
4th (14:00)	Brambling	Garden sighting adjacent to South Park (Macc.)	Feeding on Niger Seed
4th (10:30)	Dipper	Norbury Brook - Middlewood Way (nr Middlewood Station)	Christine Hilton
3^rd	Willow Warbler	Lindow Common	Paul Hughes
2nd	(a) Sand Martin (21) Swallow (3) Little Ringed Plover (3) Pink-footed Goose - (it's been there for a couple of weeks) White Wagtail (b) Peregrine (2)	(a) Tittesworth Reservoir (b) flying over Hen Cloud just to the north of Tittesworth	Steve Seal (via Ray Perry)
2nd (11:30)	Little Ringed Plover (p) Oyster Catcher (p) Teal (p) Shoveler (12) Shelduck (10) Greater Black-backed Gull (1) Lesser Black-backed Gull (15) Goosander (m)	Lapwing Lane Silt Ponds	David Collis & Daniel Bailey
1st (10:00)	House Martin Dipper (p)	Hall Lane Sutton	David Collis