Manchester May-Hem – Day list attempt 4th May 2010

by John Rayner

Records are there to be broken, so they say. The existing GM day list record was set in 2008 by Messrs Chorley and Rigby and stood at 95. Surely a target of 100 within the county was achievable.

The old team drafted in some young blood in the form of Messrs Passant and Rayner, alarm clocks were set and our team of 4 gathered at Etherow Country Park just after 5.00am. The rules of the competition are that all 4 team members must see or hear a bird for it to count and this was ultimately to cost us 3 birds.

 Our targets at Etherow were Egyptian Goose (yuck! but it counts), Mandarin and Dipper plus this was also our best chance for certain woodland birds. We scored well here with bonus Redstart and Green Woodpecker and came away at 06.40 with 27 species under the belt.

Ludworth Moor, only 10 minutes away, was the next port of call but the Golden Plover that had been around the previous day must have heard that we were coming. Our first Wheatear provoked much discussion as it stubbornly stood on the dry stone wall that formed the boundary between GM and Derbyshire; fortunately we were to see many more. With some good moorland birds gained, the total now stood at 48 and it was only 07.55.

A bit of preparation a day or two beforehand had lined up some decent species in the nearby area and both Little Owl and Lesser-spotted Woodpecker appeared right on cue.

One part of our plan was to avoid time-wasting, traffic-jam travel when travelling any distance across the county but we were already behind time as we left Stockport Borough for Irlam and Astley Mosses in the rush hour!

Nevertheless, we arrived at Irlam Moss by 09.15 and quickly bagged goodies such as Sparrowhawk and Cuckoo. Over the level crossing there were 3 Whimbrel waiting for us but a long stay Ring Ouzel didn’t perform, nor did the Corn Bunting and Yellow Wagtails that had been seen only 15 minutes or so previously. And where were all the Partridge? On these bird races you are always juggling time and one of the key features is knowing when to walk away. Accordingly we left Astley Moss at 11.00 having moved the total on to 64.

Rumworth Lodge, our next site, was good value with 4 new waders including newly arrived Greenshank. Another lesson learnt here, stick together at all times. A bit of team scatter and just 3 saw our only Grey Wagtail of the day before it flew and disappeared for good. We stayed here 40 minutes before driving up Mast Road for lunch, where Peregrine and Raven wheeled overhead and an immaculate male Stonechat proved that not all had been wiped out in the big winter freeze. 77 species now, but Red Grouse were not playing the game, nor were Redpoll at Wilderswood. The time was only 13.10 so still about 8 hours of daylight left but no time for complacency; time soon drifts away, as we had learnt the year before.

Now came a finely judged decision, stick to the original plan of Pennington or a quick dash to Holcombe. We did the latter and were rewarded with fine Wood Warbler, Garden Warbler and a pair of Treecreepers courtship feeding – we had almost given up on the latter having searched high and low at Etherow without success.

We spent less than half an hour at Holcombe before hitting the main GM hotspots of Pennington and Wigan Flashes, arriving at Pennington at 15.00. New birds abounded and the tally raced along to 90 but the Lesser Whitethroat that had been shouting its head off the day before only called once. Worse still only 3 of us heard it so it didn’t count! We did so well at Pennington that only brief visits were needed to Bamfurlong, for Grey Partridge and Yellow Wagtail, and to Pearson’s Flash to bag a couple of ducks. The total now was 94, but the time was 18.10 and we were running out of ideas.

The wonders of modern science came to our aid as we connected to the GM website and learned of Shoveler and Little Grebe at Altrincham ETW. Another time-consuming journey was punctuated with yet another dip for Corn Bunting at Carrington Moss but these 2 species at Altrincham raised the total to 96. However, the weather had now turned cloudy, windy and cold so the hoped for Grasshopper Warbler didn’t sing. It was 19.25 and spirits were beginning to sink as we realised that a further 4 species were going to be hard to come by before nightfall.

We thought it best to head for Oldham Borough but didn’t really think we had enough time left to pick off another 4 as the light was going fast under increasing cloud cover. Time now for a name check! Simon Johnson came to our aid with a phone call telling us of a female Goldeneye at Heaton Park, a private site but allowable under the rules of the competition so long as we stayed where there was public access and peered through the fence. There’s the Goldeneye in the corner and, blimey, an unexpected group of Goosander. Two to go for the ton and the small gull roost attracted attention as Greater black-backed and Herring Gulls, conspicuous by their absence at Pennington, brought us to the magical target. Ton up!!

Lastly, an undisclosed site in Oldham Borough gave us our final species of the day and, although the hunting Long-eared Owl was uncountable (only seen by 3), a Grasshopper Warbler reeled and our final bird, a calling Tawny Owl, brought the team to 102 (of which 95 were seen and 7 heard).

So many relatively common species went unseen that a total of 110, or even 115, would be perfectly feasible. It was great fun in good company and I’m sure we will have another go next year.

John Rayner May 2010

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