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MANCHESTER BIRDING CLUBS, SOCIETIES AND RECORDING GROUPS |
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If you should find information in this section incorrect or out of date, please inform me here straight away so I may keep the contacts as current as possible, thanks.
CLUBS
GREATER MANCHESTER BIRD RECORDING GROUP (Founded 2002)
Contact: County Bird Recorder Judith Smith, if you would like to join. For full details of this group click here.
MANCHESTER ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY (formerly Greater Manchester Bird Club)
Contact: Robert Sandling, Maths Dept., University of Manchester M13 9PL. Tel. 0161 275 5807.
Meet at St.James' Church Hall, Church Road, Gatley, Tuesdays at 7:30pm. £1 charge at meetings for members and £3 for visitors.
Indoor programme
ALTRINGHAM AND DISTRICT NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
Contact: Claire Joures (Secretary), tel. 0161 928 4513 or for queries about the programme contact: Anne Mason, tel. 0161 980 8645.
Meet at Hale Methodist Church Hall, Oak Road, off Hale Road, Hale at 7:30pm on Tuesdays. 50p charge includes refreshments.
HALE ORNITHOLOGISTS
Contact: Enid Gennaro, 77 Woburn Drive, Hale. Tel. 0161 980 6258
Meet at St. Peter's Assembly Rooms, Cecil Road, Hale at 7:45pm. £1 attendance fee for members, £2.50 for guests. Contact 0161 718 0595 for further information
Indoor programme 2008:
September 10th: Cheshire Dormouse Project and Annual General Meeting
IRLAM AND CADISHEAD NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
Contact: Mrs Ann Murphy, 49 Overdale Cresent, Flixton M41 5GR. Tel. 0161 748 8153
LEIGH ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Contact: Secretary- Raymond Meredith, 7 Kings Court, Market street, Tyldesley M29 8LD. Tel. 01942 793555. Email: raymond.meredith@ntlworld.com
Their website can be visited at www.leighos.org.uk
Meet at the Derby Room, Leigh Library, Fridays at 7:30pm.
Indoor meetings 2008:
September 5th: Seabird City, Susan and Alan Parker
September 19th: Annual General Meeting, followed by Secret Spain, Alan Prescott
October 10th: Fair Isle, Tim Melling
October 31st: Red Kites in Yorkshire, Douglas Simpson
November 14th: Member's evening at Leigh RUFC
December 12th: A Bowland Year, Peter Guy
Indoor meetings 2009
January 9th: Arctic and Hebridean Odyssey, Gordon Yates
January 30th: Ribble Estuary- a world class wetland, Stuart Meredith
February 27th: European travels, John Gardner
March 13th: Where wild birds draw me, John Power
April 3rd: A wildlife photographer's diary, David Tipling
April 24th: Waders and wildlife in the North West, Chares Owen
MARPLE NATURALISTS
Contact: Kath Barkley, 8 Cromley High Lane, Stockport. Tel. 01663 765609
STOCKPORT BIRDWATCHING SOCIETY
Contact: Dave Evans, 36 Tatton Road South, Stockport SK4 4LU. Tel. 0161 432 9513. Email: windhover@ntlworld.com
Meet at Tiviot Dale Methodist Church, Stockport, last Wednesday of the month, commencing at 7:30pm
Indoor meetings 2008
September 24th- British Owls, Alan Gladwin
October 29th- Quest of the Balkan 10, Mike McKavett
November 26th- Arctic and Hebridean Year Odyssey, Gordon Yates
December 10th- Annual General Meeting
Outdoor meetings
Field trips are by coach and cost £15.00 (£5.00 for under 18's) or £20.00 for non members. Trips usually return to Stockport between 5:30pm and 7.00pm depending on the time of year and the destination. Smoking is not allowed on the coach!
Outdoor meeting pick up points are as follows:
Jolly Sailor, Bramhall Lane, Davenport (7.00am), Pineapple Inn, Heaton Lane, Stockport (7.15am) and Gateway, Kingsway, East Didsbury (7.30am).
RSPB LOCAL
GROUPS
BOLTON
Contact: Chris Johnson, 65 Lever Park Avenue, Horwich BL6 7LQ. Tel. 01204 468850. Email: anthony@ajohnson65.fsbusiness.co.uk
Meet at Assembly Hall, Smithills School, Smithills Dean Road, Bolton, 7:30pm Thursdays. Admission charge £1.50 for local group members and £3.00 for visitors.
Indoor programme 2008
September 11th: Future challenges in nature conservation, Mark Avery (RSPB Director of Conservation)
October 9th: A lens for all seasons- the wildlife photographer's year, John and Tracy Langley
November 13th: The wildlife of the Pennines, Gordon Yates
December 11th: Tooth and claw, Mark Hamblin
Indoor Programme 2009
January 8th: Around Europe with a camera, John Gardener
February 12th: The world's best bird images, David Cromack
March 12th: Wings around the world, Colin Smith
April 2nd: A wildlife photographer's diary, David Tipling
HIGH PEAK
Group leader: Peter Griffiths, 17 Clifton Drive, Marple SK6 6PP. Tel. 0161 427 5325
Venue: Marple, Senior Citizens Hall, adjacent Regent cinema, The Memorial Park, Stockport Road, Marple, at 7.30pm.
Indoor programme 2008
September 1st: Annual General Meeting, followed by a talk, Badgers in the Peak District by Brian Ashton
September 15th: Europe's threatened species, Laurence Rose
October 20th: Waders, wildfowl and other wetland species, John Wyatt
November 17th: A few special places, Charles Brown
December 15th: Christmas Party
MANCHESTER
Group leader: Peter Wolstenholme, 31 South Park Road, Gatley SK8 4AL. Tel. 0161 428 2175
Meet at St.James Parish Church Hall, Gatley Green, Church Road, Gatley, on Mondays at 7.30pm unless otherwise stated. Admission £2, unless otherwise stated.
For further information on their meetings and trips check www.rspbmanchester.org.uk
Indoor meetings 2008
STOCKPORT
Group leader: Jean Crouch. Tel. 01625 873147
Meet at Stockport College of Technology (Lecture Theatre B), Greek Street entrance, Wellington Road South, Stockport on the second Monday of the month at 7.30pm.
Indoor programme 2008
The indoor and outdoor event programme for Stockport RSPB can be found here (many thanks to Peter Hugo)
WIGAN
Contact: Derek Sidebotham at derekandlis@talktalk.net or tel. 01257 424497
Their website can be found at www.rspb.org.uk/groups/wigan
Meet at The Church Hall, St.Anne's, Church Lane, Shevington at 7:30pm. Admission free to members, £1 for visitors.
Indoor programme 2008
October 14th: A walk on the wild side of South America, Trevor Davenport
November 11th: Our friendly garden Robin, David Tideswell
Indoor Programme 2009
January 13th: Recollections of Antarctica, Peter Cordall
February 10th: The Dee Estuary, John Raines
March 10th: Snowy Owl, King of the Arctic, Gordon Yates
April 14th: Annual General Meeting
SITE RECORDING GROUPS
AUDENSHAW ORNITHOLOGY
GROUP (Audenshaw and Gorton Reservoirs)
Contact: Roy Travis, 188 Smallshaw Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 8RA. Tel. 0161 330 2607. Email: roy.travis188@tiscali.co.uk
BLACKLEACH RESERVOIR
Contact: Warden, Visitor Centre, off Hill Top Road, Walkden. Tel. 0161 790 7746
COTTERILL CLOUGH SSSI (restricted access)
Contact: Selwyn Forster, 35 Biddall Drive, Baguley, Manchester M23 1PE. Tel. 0161 374 6376
ELTON BIRD RECORDING GROUP (Elton and Withins Reservoirs and environs)
Contact: Peter Baron, 17 Elton Brook Close, Bury BL8 2SN. Tel. 0161 761 6531. Email: peterbaron@supanet.com
HEATON PARK RESERVOIR
Contact: Pete Berry, 145 Higher Green Lane, Astley M29 7JA. Tel. 01942 870810.
Permit required, no access otherwise, click here for 'Permits for Heaton Park and Audenshaw Reservoirs'. There are locked gates and hide, open able with a key supplied with the permit. The bird sightings log in the hide should be filled in by all visitors.
HOPE CARR RESERVE
Contact: Ian McKerchar, 42 Green Avenue, Astley M29 7EH. Tel. 01942 701758. Email: ian@mckerchar1.freeserve.co.uk
MEDLOCK VALLEY, CASTLESHAW RESERVOIRS, DOVESTONES, STRINESDALE
Oldham Countryside Service c/o K. Butterworth, Strinesdale Visitor Centre, Old Waterworks, Holgate Street, off Culvert Street, Waterhead, Oldham OL4 2JJ. Tel. 0161 620 8202. Email: Kath.Butterworth@care4free.net
MERSEY VALLEY
SALE WATER PARK, Visitor Centre, Rifle Road, Sale M33 2LX. Tel. 0161 905 1100. Liz Sazby is the Information Warden based here and her email is: l.saxby@manchester.gov.uk
NOTE
It will be generally more efficient to direct any queries or bird news from either site to this website's forum, although it may be possible to contact Pete via either Liz or Richard.
PIETHORNE VALLEY
Contact: Anne Symonds, Rangers Office, Waterworks Road, New Hey Road, Rochdale OL16 5BQ. Tel. 01706 881049
PENNINGTON FLASH
Wigan Ranger Service, Pennington Flash, St. Helens Road, Leigh WN7 3PA. Tel. 01942 605253
Visitor centre has toilets and recent bird sightings board (updated regularly). I would ask all birders to send their sightings from Pennington directly to either the County Bird Recorder or to the Leigh Ornithological Society (as well as reporting them to the site rangers), as many valuable records from this site are going unrecorded.
SHELL POOL RESERVE (permit required: £20 p.a.)
Contact: Chris Neild. Tel. 0161 436 7551.
There are afew permit still available for this site, any birder interested should contact Chris any evening. They also welcome small groups/parties for guided visits.
WIGAN FLASHES
Mark Champion (Lancashire Wildlife Trust Senior Project Officer), Clifton Street Community Centre, Clifton Street, Worsley Mesnes, Wigan WN3 5HN. Tel. 01942 233976, mobile: 07710 444047. Email: wiganflashes@lancswt.org.uk
MISCELLANEOUS
MOSSLANDS BARN OWL CONSERVATION GROUP
An informal group of birders who have built and installed 30+ Barn Owl nestboxes at mossland and other sites, mainly in the south-west of the county during 1997-2002. Members have also made Willow Tit boxes and Long-eared Owl 'baskets'.
Contact: Judith Smith on 01942 712625 for further details.