TonyC
Sunday 18th July 2004, 18:02
Not exactly Cheshire's birding hotspot, but over the last few months I have been surveying around this area, for the Cheshire and Wirral breeding bird atlas project http://www.cheshireandwirralbirdatlas.org/
It lies either side of the A566 to the west of Rostherne Mere straddling the M56. I managed to see 62 species with 28 species definitely breeding and 23 probably breeding. Highlights were a Hobby chasing Swallows, a Tawny Owl chick wheezing in a tree, and two Tree Sparrow colonies. The best 'birding' is to be found right next to Rostherne Mere and required a permit from English Nature, although most species could be seen from public footpaths. There are a large number of Rabbits and Hares in the fields which could support a lot more Buzzards than there are, but unfortunately I did find a Buzzard nest shot to pieces - presumably by gamekeepers.
I'd highly recommend this survey work as it forced me to bird an area I normally zoom past at 70mph, and some dull looking farmland turned up a good variety of birds.
It lies either side of the A566 to the west of Rostherne Mere straddling the M56. I managed to see 62 species with 28 species definitely breeding and 23 probably breeding. Highlights were a Hobby chasing Swallows, a Tawny Owl chick wheezing in a tree, and two Tree Sparrow colonies. The best 'birding' is to be found right next to Rostherne Mere and required a permit from English Nature, although most species could be seen from public footpaths. There are a large number of Rabbits and Hares in the fields which could support a lot more Buzzards than there are, but unfortunately I did find a Buzzard nest shot to pieces - presumably by gamekeepers.
I'd highly recommend this survey work as it forced me to bird an area I normally zoom past at 70mph, and some dull looking farmland turned up a good variety of birds.