RINDLE ROAD, ASTLEY

By Ian McKerchar

Rindle Road, Astley (Ian McKerchar)

Site Guide Contents:

Site overview

Site Map

Seasonal birding overview

Location photographs

Site Overview

Rindle Road in Astley lies off the A580 East Lancs Road and has for many years attracted the attention of birders, with the fairly unique (from a county perspective) habitat of peat mossland albeit severely reduced from yesteryear due to extensive peat extraction. The area, other than the peat mossland, has changed little over the years and is a mixture of open farmland, Hawthorn hedgerow, mixed deciduous woodland, with an increasing amount of horse paddocks and rough fields for the shooting of game, neither of which has proved to be a particularly bad thing!

My first visit to the area was in 1982, one of the final year's in which Nightjar's bred in the vicinity and I remember vividly the popularity of the area, especially in winter as birders gathered at the top of Rindle Road by Rindle Cottages to witness the spectacle of often up to 3 or 4 Hen Harriers and 5 or 6 Short-eared Owls hunting the fields off the road. Though raptor days of those magnitude may be a thing of the past the area has seen something of a birding revival, assisted by the finding of a few quality birds which have once again elevated the areas status as a serious birding location but for those who have persisted with birding around Rindle Road, it's birding significance is and always has been palpable. The shooting of game in the area has lead to huge numbers of Pheasants and good numbers of Red-legged Partridge being put down for that purpose and often is it a skilled driver that can avoid running over one or two of the former species along the roads but little has changed besides the disappearance of Nightjar and Turtle Dove with the very last confirmed breeding of the latter species in the county being along Rindle Road when 3 birds including a juvenile were often along telephone wires from mid-June to mid-July 1993.

The area is very small in overall size and can infact be easily birded from the car but in utilising this method you will undoubtedly miss so much, so by far the best option is to park somewhere along the road by the wood yards and then to proceed on foot up Rindle Road as far as the railway, heading back and taking in the length of Moss Lane before reaching the car once again. Parking is infact very restricted along Rindle Road and with often large numbers of horse riders along it care should be taken, it is also worth considering the privacy of the local residents when viewing the area, especially around the newly built/converted Rindle Cottages development. Parking beyond the the wood yards is very limited and there is room for only a few cars along Rindle Road opposite Rindle Cottages and alongside the fishing pond with room for one or two more on the grass verge just beyond the junction with Nook Lane.

Above: Grasshopper Warbler off Rindle Road (Simon Hitchen)

Site Map

Click on the above image to enlarge the map

Seasonal birding overview

Winter attracts arguably the most birds and birders to the area as the farmland, horse paddocks and hedgerows prove irresistible to buntings and finches which in turn attract raptors that prey on them, the establishment of a feeding station at the top of Rindle Road (the railway line end) has developed into a magnet for Yellowhammers, Chaffinches and the like, and has become one of the best locations in the county to see Tree Sparrows. Raptors most commonly include Merlin, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Peregrine and Buzzard although Hen Harrier is now an all too infrequent visitor but best location for them all is most reliably Moss Lane, especially when viewing south towards the moss. Flocks of finches frequently include Brambling and can be found anywhere along Rindle Road, Moss Lane or Nook Lane as they drop out of field-side trees into the fields to feed on grain spillage and winter thrushes enjoy the Hawthorn hedgerows and horse paddocks often but surely we shouldn't have to wait long for the area's first Great Grey Shrike (they have occurred less than a couple of miles away) and a real biggy such as a rare bunting cannot be too far away.

Above: Two Tundra Bean Geese along Moss Lane in 2005 (Rob Adderley)

Spring vies with winter for the most productive month and increased effort by a few observers around this time have produced good results. Passage of Wheatear is often very early (amongst the earliest in the county) and can occasionally generate good numbers, often with Whinchats mixed in. Whimbrels have always been a particular spring feature of the nearby Peat Pools (see their site guide here) and more recent years has seen this spread to the fields around Rindle Road when small flocks utilise the ploughed fields for feeding and afford excellent views, Marsh Harrier has been recorded on a handful of occasions and in general raptor passage is good.

Above: Whimbrel in fields off Rindle Road in late April 2007 (Rob Adderley)

Summer is mostly all about breeding species and is perhaps the areas quietest time although Grasshopper Warblers, Whitethroats, Lesser Redpoll and Linnet are conspicuous breeders, Spotted Flycatcher are scarce but do occur, Cuckoos make their presence felt, Oystercatchers remain in the fields and the area still holds the potential for something more unusual at this time of year. Later in the summer, flocks of Mistle Thrushes sometimes nearing three figure counts become a feature, Tree Sparrow numbers often swell with a good breeding season and Hobby can be found with no small amount of persistence, patience and luck.

Above: Tree Sparrows like this one at the feeding station, usually afford excellent views and can often also be found searching around in the grass of the horse paddock alongside the track (Ian McKerchar).

Autumn is typically a mixed bag with the return passage of the likes of Whinchat often scarce, skeins of Pink-footed Geese utilise the airspace above the area to travel across the county and as the winter thrushes move in the trees and bushes become alive once more with passage of the latter through the area often being remarkable but rarities do occur with both Great White and Little Egret remaining in roadside ditches along Rindle Road for a couple of October weeks each.

Above: The (quite rightly) very popular ditch-dwelling Great White Egret of October/November 2008 (Mark Rigby)

Location photographs

Above: The 'bottom' of Rindle Road (infact it's most northerly end). Moss Lane is off to the right on the bottom of this picture and Nook Lane off to the left on the left of centre of the picture as Rindle Road bears round to the right. The horse paddock here can be very productive for thrushes and the rough field beyond very often has Stonechats, hunting owls and in summer reeling Grasshopper Warblers (Ian McKerchar).

Above: Moss Lane. The horse paddock on the left here is good for winter thrushes and in spring for migrants such as Wheatear and Whinchat as is the farmland beyond it (on the left of the road). Half way up Moss Lane (where there is a pull-in by a lone large tree) is a good spot to scan the fields for raptors as Merlin can often be found and Buzzard are common above the mossland and woodland to the south as are large flocks of Woodpigeon. The fields here often have decent flocks of Stock Doves in them and in spring attract passage flocks of Golden Plover although this largely depends on the state of the fields, if they are not here they can often be found in fields off the tip road which are located off the roundabout in between Rindle Road and the canal bridge in Astley Village. The fields in the distance on the right of the road were the ones which originally attracted the five Tundra Bean Geese in January 2005 (Ian McKerchar)

Above: The top of Rindle Road (the railway line end!), looking back down it. The fields either side of Rindle Road here can produce flocks of finches in winter and in spring those on the right of this picture between the road and old railway line can produce spring migrants and occasionally Whimbrel, especially if the fields are newly ploughed which makes them especially attractive. The horse paddock on the left of the road as you head towards the railway, just before the Rindle Cottages complex is bordered by a Hawthorn hedge which regularly holds winter thrushes and is well worthy of close scrutiny. Probably the area's most popular visitor was the 2008 Great White Egret that frequented the ditches either side of the road for a couple of weeks, a surreal sight as you drove past, highlighting that just about anything can be expected in this area, especially when you consider that the small brook by the wood yards at the bottom of Rindle Road held a Little Egret for a couple of weeks in 2002!

Above: The feeding station off Rindle Road. This track is in fact the feeding station (I know, you expected something all together more ostentatious) and is fed by Eddie King with feed very generously provided by the Leigh Ornithological Society, it's pot luck as to whether there's any feed down (depending on when Eddie's been down there and how hungry/how many birds are present. There is room to park a couple of cars at the top of this track but it must not be blocked under any circumstances so please do not leave your car and 'go for a wander', large farm vehicles need regular access so either park up by Rindle Cottages and walk to the top here to view or sit in your car and use it as a hide. Either way, the birds use the trees and hedges along it's right hand edge and drop onto the track to feed, it can look quiet on first examination but birds will either appear from the hedge or will fly in from surrounding trees and hedges, unless there's been a raptor through of course, so it's always worth checking all available fence posts for them! The Hawthorn hedge along Rindle Road leading from here up to the railway line is always worth checking and hides many birds and there is a public footpath from Rindle Cottages across the fields to the railway line which is always worth a look as it brings you closer to the Hawthorn lined horse paddock and the fields beyond which can flood and attract Green Sandpiper on occasion. It is permissible to walk down the feeding station track but if birds are feeding it is best to simply view from the road and avoid disturbing them, also the area of peat mossland beyond the fields at the end of the feeding station track which is Astley Moss SSSI. Astley Moss now has it's own site guide which can be found here but care should be given to following the directions on the guide and not to stray onto the moss itself which is not only permit only but more importantly the terrain there is actually very dangerous with a plethora of very deep hidden ditches and pools which is best steered clear of anyway. The small area of mature trees at the end of the feeding station track (on the right of the image) is Rindle Wood which although generally quiet attracts Treecreeper and Woodcock and the lines of trees edging the tracks and ditches from here have contained Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on atleast two occasions although a Kingfisher in the ditch at the top of the track is one of the more unusual sightings of the area (Ian McKerchar).

Ian McKerchar, November 2008

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