County garden lists

County lister or not, most birders surely keep a garden list, so why not add yours!

SPECIES TOTAL	NAME	LOCATION	FURTHER DETAILS

143	Dave Broome	Scotmans Flash	Admittedly this is his dad's garden but Dave of course did live there for much of his life and the garden does indeed overlook the flash, infact the bottom of the garden is the flash! His list, as you might expect, is sickeningly impressive (but still lacks afew common birds!) and includes excellent county birds such as Slavonian Grebe, Firecrest, Long-tailed Duck, Osprey, a flock of Red-throated Divers, Glaucous, Iceland and Yellow-legged Gulls, Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Long and Short-eared Owl, Black Redstart, Yellow-browed Warbler, Water Rail and Grasshopper Warbler. His most painful omission however was a Spoonbill which was actually IN the garden whilst he was away in Scilly in 1990 (the bird was also seen at Carrington Moss the same day). Not surprisingly his list is unlikely to be bettered in the county, and I thought my garden list was good!
105	Andy Makin	Hindley	Andy's decidedly suburban garden has produced 2 Ospreys, Hen Harrier, Shag, Bean Goose, Merlin, 3 Firecrests and 13 species of wader....
90	Ian McKerchar	Green Avenue, Astley	Garden with southerly facing open aspect, some mature Oaks, Hawthorn hedgerow and fields at the rear, Astley Moss just over half a mile to the south, resident at this address for 9 years. Best birds: Bean Goose (the flock of 5 from Astley Moss 2006), Buzzard, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Tit, Green Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank (13 species of wader in total), Peregrine, Raven, Goosander, Hobby, Grey Partridge, Red-legged Partridge, Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Whooper Swan and regular Barn Owl.
89	Jeff Clarke	Walton Road, Sale	Jeff has a medium sized garden with a few large trees in the area, good vision to the south and the Bridgewater Canal about 300 metres away. Having lived there since 1989, Jeff admits to spending a lot of time in the garden (particularly when he should be doing something else!) which has resulted in some enviable birds the best of which are Red-legged Partridge, Fulmar (early 1990's), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Red Kite, Whooper Swan, Little Ringed Plover, Hobby, Merlin and Pintail.
83	Andy Isherwood	Salisbury Way, Astley	South facing garden, overlooked on all sides, has an area of grass and hedgerows with afew established trees. Best birds: Buzzard, Peregrine, Moorhen (flying round at night!), Whimbrel (also at night), Lesser Whitethroat, Whooper Swan, Crossbill, Tufted Duck, Tree Sparrow, Raven and Brambling (although most unusual actually in the garden probably Mallard or Lesser Black-backed Gull!).
79	Henry Cook	Hale Barns	Watched since 2002 highlights have been Little Egret, Mealy Redpolls, Wheatear, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Lesser Whitethroat, Tree Sparrow, Woodcock, Teal and Hobby. Unfortunately, despite being seen just a few meters from the boundary of his garden, Waxwing remains a current omission.
78	Dave Broome	Ashton-in-Makerfield	Dave's own Garden (not that of his Dad's which lies at the top of this list!) is in Ashton-in-Makerfield and his best birds to date include Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Waxwing, Woodcock, Kingfisher (actually in the garden!) and Moorhen. His most spectacular garden visitor however isn't included but nevertheless, the Channel-billed Toucan that graced it, was surely worthy of a mention!
76	Steve Christmas	Swinton	Residing since 1982, Steve's medium sized suburban garden is near a wooded valley and has some impressive species on it's list, not least a Common Rosefinch caught and ringed there! Other notable species have included Common Redpoll (flock of 20), Willow Tit and migrant Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Woodcock, Firecrest, Lesser Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher. Flyover 'goodies' have included Crossbill, Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Common Sandpiper.
76	Peter Berry	Higher Green Lane, Astley	Garden with open aspect, mature trees and field to the rear, Astley moss less than half a mile away. Best birds: Glaucous Gull (x2), Brambling (highest count 15), regular wintering Tree Sparrows (highest count 22), Whimbrel, Hobby, Woodcock, Lesser Whitethroat, Firecrest and Moorhen.
75	Andy Bissitt	Sunfield, Romiley	Residing at this address since 1986, despite a relatively small garden, vision all round is very good, with a couple of mature trees with grassy margins with berry trees close by. Best birds: Woodcock (a bird regularly used to fly over the roof at dusk during the late 80's), Raven, Merlin (one flew through a neighbours garden one autumn), Whooper Swan, Waxwing (seen from front doorstep Feb. 2006), Lesser Whitethroat and Tree Sparrow (overflying birds when they used to breed nearby).
75	Rob and Sonia Adderley	Lower Bredbury	Moved into the house in October 2003. Best birds: Goosander, Buzzard, Little Egret (!!!!), Merlin, Great Crested Grebe, Hobby, Peregrine, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Raven, Yellow Wagtail, Waxwing, Brambling, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting.
75	Simon Johnson	Top floor flat, Whitefield	Simon's 'house' is infact a top floor apartment near Besses of the Barn, Whitefield and so his 'garden' is infact south facing and includes the street below and then out across Manchester! He has lived there since May 2005 and has had remarkable results from visible migration, passage and flyovers, the best of which include Peregrine, Hobby, Goldeneye, Ring Ouzel (wow!), Waxwing, Crossbill, Little Egret, Short-eared Owl, Tree Pipit, Whooper Swan (a flock of 14), Green Sandpiper, Brambling, Wigeon and Reed Bunting, proving just what can be done regardless of where you live and with a little effort.
71	Henry Cook	Hale Barns	After five years of (allegedly ☺) casual watching, Henry's highlights have been 2 Mealy Redpolls, Little Egret, Hobby, Cormorant, Mallard (2 in his tiny pond), Teal, Moorhen, Woodcock, Snipe, Stock Dove and Brambling, all pretty impressive stuff although his local Lesser Whitethroats still evade him and his garden list!
52	Vaughan Evans	Hale, Trafford	North facing garden in fairly mature suburbia offering good cover, lived in the property since May 2003. Best birds: Brambling, Siskin (with an incredible 60+ in April 2006), Tawny Owl, Bullfinch (maximum count of 7!), Lesser Redpoll and Nuthatch. By far the strangest event was a group of 10 Mallard which landed in the garden in May 2006!
51	Geoff Hargreaves	Platt Bridge, Wigan	Geoff's suburban garden consists of a lawn, a few shrubs and 6 adjoining garden with conifers and mixed habitat but it's location just half a mile puts Geoff at the advantage of sighting some more unusual garden species and has already achieved good results with Buzzard, Oystercatcher, Common Tern, Ring-necked Parakeet and Yellowhammer.
50	Andrew Newall	near Holden Clough (SD934014)	With a 30ft garden complete with mature Grey Alder, backing onto farmers paddock and then onto Holden Clough, Andrew's garden list undoubtedly has potential and has already recorded a regular pair of Nuthatches and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (lucky sod!)
47	Tony Coatsworth	Withington, Manchester	100 foot lawn with mature Scots pine and Black Poplar trees only afew miles from the city centre, resident at this address for 12 years. Best birds: Grey Heron, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Siskin and nesting Carrion Crow. Most notable occurrence was a 'fall' of Willow Warblers one Spring during a rain shower, but a record of Harris Hawk must run it a close second!
45	Phil Owen	Wythenshawe	With a few scattered trees and school playing fields at the rear of his house, Phil's list so far includes the particularly excellent garden birds of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Waxwing.
17	Ian Woosey	Whelley, Wigan	Mid-terraced, paved back yard with flower bed, potted plants, plenty of weeds (!) and playing fields to the rear. Ian's rather tongue-in-cheek total does however include Grey Wagtail and a one-legged Wren! I get the impression Ian may not spend much time in his back yard!!!!
11	Tim Wilcox	Moss Side	Mid-terraced, back-to-back housing in Moss side, with little vegetation apart from some overgrown honeysuckle and some half dead 'things in pots'! His nearest tree was cut down he has had some trees planted along his street, his choice being a Mountain Ash which one day he hopes a Waxwing may visit. His best garden visitor to date is Grey Wagtail.