Cuckoo's in North-West England (1 Viewer)

[daniel o]

I was hoping to know whether there is a 'best spot' to watch cuckoo's in north-west England, preferably in Cheshire/Wirral but I'm happy to go to Lancashire. Also, is there a good place to see/hear grasshopper warblers, whinchats, wheatears, black redstarts and hawfinch, again preferably in Cheshire/Wirral/Lancashire but I understand that hawfinch may require further travelling.

Thanks :t:

 

[Cheshire Birder]

I was hoping to know whether there is a 'best spot' to watch cuckoo's in north-west England, preferably in Cheshire/Wirral but I'm happy to go to Lancashire. Also, is there a good place to see/hear grasshopper warblers, whinchats, wheatears, black redstarts and hawfinch, again preferably in Cheshire/Wirral/Lancashire but I understand that hawfinch may require further travelling.

Thanks :t:

The 3 nearest sites for Hawfinch are in Conwy, Cumbria and Derbyshire.

CB

 

[Himalaya]

The places which get regular Cuckoos from what I know are Burton Mere in Cheshire, Martin Mere in Lancashire, possibly Mere Sands Wood in Lancashire, Leighton Moss - but from the blog it appears rare, Stocks Reservoir in Lancashire, Dunsop Valley and Langden Valley in Lancashire, Longridge Fell area in Lancashire, Darwen Moor and White Coppice area in Lancashire. There may be Cuckoos on the Sefton Coast some areas of the Fylde Coast as well.


Grasshopper Warblers - Burton mere in Cheshire, Leasowe Country Park around Lingham Lane but they may have been migrants, Martin Mere, Leighton Moss, Pennington Flash - to be honest much more common than the Cuckoo but anywhere where there is rank grassland and they prefer vegetation less than 2 metres tall? They sing early morning and very late afternoon mostly?


Whinchats may still be on passage and you may see them at Lingham Lane at Leasowe Country Park - near the horses paddocks other than that a very sparse breeder now and the best chance is in Lancashire;s Forest of bowland - Croasdale, Cross of Greet area and possibly the Hareden Valley.


Wheaters may still be on passage on the Wirral and do check Burton marsh and Leasowe Country park near the horses paddocks. They breed in the uplands I think so anywhere hilly with stony ground - quite common in East lancs.

Black Redstarts breed possibly in Manchester City centre or there is always a bird or two knock around in the summer. In winter can turn up on the coast, on moors in East lancs ..

Hawfinch - the places I can think of are Sizergh Castle in Cumbria and Woodwell in Lancashire.

I have never seen Hawfinch and only saw my first Cuckoos last year although i Heard many since 2005.

I was hoping to know whether there is a 'best spot' to watch cuckoo's in north-west England, preferably in Cheshire/Wirral but I'm happy to go to Lancashire. Also, is there a good place to see/hear grasshopper warblers, whinchats, wheatears, black redstarts and hawfinch, again preferably in Cheshire/Wirral/Lancashire but I understand that hawfinch may require further travelling.

Thanks :t:

 

[daniel o]

Thank you for such a detailed reply. Hopefully I'll manage to pick all of them up :t:

 

[Himalaya]

You can be very lucky and see plenty and very unlucky and see nothing. By the way what about Redstart, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and Tree Pipit?

Thank you for such a detailed reply. Hopefully I'll manage to pick all of them up :t:

 

[bartolli]

If you could push on into north wales, there are lots of cuckoos around there at the moment. North of llangollen from say worlds end around to the horseshoe pass and beyond into the llantysilio hills. Especially if you are ok with a bit of hill walking! I had 2 below the horseshoe pass yesterday. Also had 1 further north between moel arthur + moel famau last week. The key here seems to be the squillions of meadow pipets.

 

[PhilW]

Frodsham usually good for Cuckoo. Where in Cheshire are you Daniel?

You may have missed the chance for a lot of your target species in Cheshire this year - Wheatears breed in the Eastern Hills and a good place is the Danebower Chimney. You'll get Dipper on the nearby Wilboarclough and Red Grouse on the moors. As others have said, Whinchat is probably a passage migrant only. Grasshopper Warblers will be breeding by now so the males will generally have gone silent.

 

[Cheshire Birder]

As Phil says Grasshopper Warblers will be breeding now and are more difficult to find but I've had birds singing as late as July.

CB

 

[Nightranger]

There is a cuckoo on Astley Moss in Greater Manchester at present but it is rather distant and elusive for viewing purposes. I believe others have been heard at various places such as Wigan Flashes and Watergrove amongst others.

Grasshopper warblers - Marton Mere at Blackpool is sometimes good but beware, they tend to stop singing once they are paired up and you may have to wait for a period between broods.

Wheatears breed regularly along side the path leading up the back of Holcombe Moor near Bury/Ramsbottom and they often offer cracking photo opportunities. Stronechat are also in the same area but they can be elusive.

Keep your ear to the ground with black redstarts, there have been reports from Manchester but they have been recorded in Preston too in recent years.

Whinchats are a little more difficult now we have passed the main period of passage but the Alaw Estuary on Anglesey can be good. Hawfinch often require a special trip to the regular sites in North Wales.

 

[daniel o]

I found a cuckoo on a telegraph pole on Dunham Road near Saracens Head, also picked up wheatear at RSPB South Stack :t: