Garden beginning to wake up. Yellow Rattle showing in our wildflower patch and a large number of self seeded Snake-head Fritillaries.
Little Owl box installed on gable end of our garage today. A nice floor covering of bark & dried leaves. For those wondering about my OCD it’s off centre as I used two existing holes from a defunct alarm system. Hopefully they’ll find it #Littleowls #cawos
Getting it installed tomorrow Ian
Wirrals (Newton) had White- throated Sparrow as has Helsby & Northwich. White-crowned at Woolston & Junco in Chester
Little Owl box almost ready to go up on gable end of our garage. Grey Squirrels taking over all boxes on farmland & we’ve had L Owl regularly in garden & squirrel won’t be able to get in! Fingers crossed 🤞 #Littleowls
Anything, we’re not fussy. Long overdue on the island considering how close we are to Seaforth !
A nice spring Yank Sparrow would be nice
New blog post. A bit out of sequence:
wirralbirders.blogspot.com/2026/03/3doi...
#Thailand
More maintenance on the heligoland traps @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social today. A brisk F6 westerly made repairing the west side of the ‘Newton’ interesting! Internal baffles replaced on SK so we’re now ready for the new season
Busy day @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social repairing one of Heligoland traps ready for the main migration. Birding time limited but did manage Scaup off N end. Probably the long staying bird at WK Marine Lake #cheshirebirding #ukbirding
Little Owl in our garden again tonight #littleowl #cheshirebirding #ukbirding
Now 3 singing Blackcaps around my local village patch. No Chiffchaffs yet. Very unusual
My 1st singing Blackcap of the year for my village #pwc2026 village patch in Cheshire. Unusual to get Blackcap before Chiffchaff!
Mandarin on one opposite house this morning. Once a patch mega now a regular visitor #pwc2026 #ukbirding #cheshirebirding
Landing on your doorsteps - The British Birds journal’s March 2026 issue
Highlights:
• Eurasian Curlew conservation
• North American landbirds on boats
• Britain’s first ever Canada Warbler
britishbirds.co.uk/journal/volu...
2025 not 2026
Unicorn @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social today? No, it’s a Chiffchaff with a pollen horn. One of two ringed at the Obs today
Great fun & nice speaking to these two this evening
Coal Tits aren’t annual @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social but are most commonly seen in spring. These two were caught & ringed today
Nice spring passage of Robins @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social today. Probably 10-12 birds on the island & 6 ringed.
Great day @hilbrebirdobs.bsky.social today with @steveonhilbre.bsky.social. The run of Stonechats continues with 1 ringed & this colour ringed bird photographed on Middle Eye. Ringed in August 2026 on Mull!
Sound up. Cold but bright Wednesday morning & a Song Thrush singing its heart out in our garden. One of the best bird songs in the UK #ukbirding #cheshirebirding
Little Owl showing in another previously favoured nest hole viewed from our garden this afternoon
I remember doing a ringing demo when I was a student on zoology field course whilst at Manchester Uni. Seemed strange being a student but helping with demo. 1st bird out net a very angry Little Owl! Span like a giant Wren🤣
Would be a great project!
Fantastic! I remember flocks of 1-200+ Y’hammer & T Sparrow in stubble fields just beyond Ford Hall Farm. Lesser Spot Woods still relatively common in area as well. Linneage used to be v good for orchids
I used to live in Bridge St between L Melford & Alpheton. Linneage Woods, Spelthorn & Queech my local patch patch. Marsh & Willow Tit were still fairly common. Nightingale bred every year. Guess they’re gone now?
Surreal.
