Flint Point, Shotton & Chester (3 Viewers)

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

16/04/16

2 Moorhen, 25 Tufted Duck, 4 Mallard, 1 Coot, 15 Gadwall, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Teal, 6 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow, 2 Mute Swan, and 2 Little Grebe were on the pools.

7 Reed Warbler, and 4 Reed Bunting were in the reed beds.

4 Buzzard, 8 Linnet, 4 Skylark, 4 Pheasant, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Stonechat, 5 Wheatear, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, and 2 Lesser Whitethroat, were noted around the rough grassland and scrub areas.

2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Jay, and a good mix of warbler's, plus the usual common species, were noted in the woodlands.

1 Whimbrel passed through.

2 Cetti's Warbler were heard singing.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

17/04/16

43 Tufted Duck, 3 Coot, 5 Gadwall, 10 Mallard, 3 Little Grebe, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Teal, 3 Swallow, and 2 Sand Martin were on the pools, with 5 Oystercatcher, 1 Grey Heron, and 3 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

4 Reed Warbler, 2 Reed Bunting, and 3 Cetti's Warbler were noted in the reed beds.

3 Pheasant, 1 Common Whitethroat, 6 Linnet, 2 Kestrel, 4 Skylark, 1 Buzzard, 2 Wheatear, and 1 Stonechat, were seen around the rough grassland and scrub areas.

2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jay, and 1 Goldcrest, were noted amongst the usual common woodland species.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

18/04/16

6 Mallard, 11 Gadwall, 2 Mute Swan, and 50 Tufted Duck, were on the pools, with 1 Grey Heron, and 7 Oystercatcher around the margins.

The 'on site' Black Headed Gull colony, remains at approximately 500 birds.

Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, and Reed Warbler number's, are slowly increasing, both in, and around the reed beds.

3 Cetti's Warbler were heard singing.

The common woodland species, were joined by high number's of Blackcap, 1 Jay, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, and 2 Siskin.

The rough grassland and scrub areas, held the usual Pheasant, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Kestrel, and Buzzard, with 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Wheatear, ( including 2 Greenland type ), 1 Lesser Redpoll, ( flyover ), 1 Redstart ( 2015 arrival date 18/04 ), and 1 Grasshopper Warbler ( No birds were recorded passing through the site during 2015 ).

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

19/04/16

6 Mallard, 32 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Moorhen, 3 Little Grebe, 4 Gadwall, 2 Coot, and 2 Teal, were on the pools, with 6 Oystercatcher, 1 Grey Heron , and 4 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, and 2 Cetti's Warbler were noted in the reed beds.

Amongst the common woodland species, and warbler's, were 2 Siskin, and 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The rough grassland and scrub areas.......were notable for, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 2 Wheatear, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Grasshopper Warbler, and 1 Cetti's Warbler ( 1st bird ever recorded on this area ).

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

20/04/16

2 Common Tern (2015 arrival date 30/04 ), returned to site.

4 Mallard, 8 Gadwall, 2 House Martin, 2 Moorhen, 2 Coot, 1 Little Grebe, and 34 Tufted Duck were on the pools, with 1 Grey Heron, and 1 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, and 2 Cetti's Warbler were in the reed beds.

The woodlands held all the common species.

1 Whimbrel, and 1 Ruff passed through.

The rough grassland and scrub areas, were notable for......2 Wheatear, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Stonechat, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Common Whitethroat, and 2 Grasshopper Warbler.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

21/04/16

4 Gadwall, 2 Mallard, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Moorhen, 39 Tufted Duck, and 5 Mute Swan, were on the pools, with 2 Common Sandpiper, and 2 House Martin around the margins.

Reed Bunting, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, and 2 Cetti's Warbler, were also noted.

The woodlands held all the common species.

The rough grassland and scrub areas,..........2 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Sparrowhawk, 10 Swallow, 4 Wheatear, 1 Great White Egret ( flyover ), 7 Common Whitethroat, 3 Grasshopper Warbler, and 2 Yellow Wagtail ( 2015 arrival date 25/04 ) ( flyover ).

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

22/04/16

I continued the habit that I've followed every day so far this month, of being on site at approximately 05.30am every morning, because I've learnt over the years, that this site, is a place where birds roost here overnight, or 'drop in', but seldom hang around, and any visits here after 09.00am, are virtually pointless,.......because everything's,...........Gone!

I heard a Wood Warbler singing around the rough grassland and scrub areas yesterday morning, at around 06.00am, but couldn't see the bird, and only managed reasonable views at around the same time this morning, ( possibly the same bird that's been seen at Burton Mere Wetlands ).

The rough grassland and scrub areas held......1 Wood Warbler ( No birds were recorded passing through the site in 2015 ), 3 Grasshopper Warbler, 18 White Wagtail, 8 Common Whitethroat, 9 Wheatear, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Stonechat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, and 3 Whinchat ( 2015 arrival date 01/05 ).

7 Mute Swan, 52 Tufted Duck, 2 Teal, 9 Shoveler, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Coot, 1 Moorhen, 2 Gadwall, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Swallow, and 3 Sand Martin, were on the pools, with 1 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, and Reed Bunting were in the reed beds, with 3 Cetti's Warbler heard.

The woodlands held the usual common species.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

23/04/16

2 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Moorhen, 1 Teal, 5 Mallard, 62 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, and 2 Coot ( with brood of 6 fledgling ), were on the pools.

2 Cetti's Warbler were heard.

3 Common Tern, were amongst the gull's on the breeding 'Rafts'.

1 Siskin, joined the common woodland species.

The rough grassland and scrub areas........1 Sparrowhawk, 10 Wheatear, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 White Wagtail, 10 Common Whitethroat, 2 Grasshopper Warbler, and 1 Garden Warbler ( 2015 arrival date 24/04 ).

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

24/04/16

45 Tufted Duck, 5 Gadwall, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Coot, 1 Moorhen, and 5 Mute Swan, were on the pools, with 1 Greenshank, 1 Snipe, and 8 Common Sandpiper, around the margins.

6 Common Tern, were on the 'Rafts'.

3 Cetti's Warbler, were heard singing.

5 Siskin, were noted in the woodlands.

The rough grassland and scrub areas........1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Common Whitethroat, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, and also a solitary 'drop in' Tree Pipit ( No birds were recorded passing through the site during 2015 ).

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

25/04/16

Birding got off to a good start at 05.30am this morning, as I did my usual patrol of the rough grassland and scrub areas, as 2 Ring Ouzel ( No birds were recorded passing through the site during 2015 ), flew up high and away from the ground, approximately 150 metres from me,.......other birds found there included,.....1 Bullfinch, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, and 2 Great White Egret ( flyovers ).

5 Mallard, 60 Tufted Duck, 3 Coot, 2 Moorhen, 4 Mute Swan, 6 Gadwall, and 1 Little Grebe were on the pools, with 6 Common Sandpiper, and 1 Greenshank, around the margins.

1 Cetti's Warbler was heard.

The woodlands held all the common species.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

26/04/16

18 Mallard, 45 Tufted Duck, 2 Moorhen, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Mute Swan, 1 Coot, and 1 Shoveler, were on the pools, with c30 Sand Martin, 15 Swallow, and 4 House Martin, hawking over the water........and the traditionally superb, Spring sandpiper passage at Shotton, continued again this year with,....34 ( Thirty Four ) Common Sandpiper, present around the margins.

2 Whimbrel, and 2 Ruff, were noted passing through.

1 Cetti's Warbler was heard singing.

The woodlands held the usual common species.

The rough grassland and scrub areas........1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Redstart, 9 Wheatear, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 White Wagtail, 4 Grasshopper Warbler, and 11 Common Whitethroat were noted.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

27/04/16

3 Little Grebe, 4 Mallard, 4 Coot, 2 Teal, 4 Moorhen, 10 Gadwall, 82 Tufted Duck, 1 Shoveler, 4 Mute Swan, 2 Common Tern, and 2 Great Crested Grebe, were on the pools, and in typical Shotton 'drop in/roost' fashion, only 4 of yesterday's 34 Common Sandpiper invasion, remained around the margins this morning.

The Black Headed Gull colony, has stabilised, at approximately 300 birds.

The woodlands held all the common species.

4 Cetti's Warbler were heard singing.

The rough grassland and scrub areas......5 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Wheatear, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Bullfinch, 4 Grasshopper Warbler, 13 Common Whitethtroat, 1 (late) Merlin, and 1 Short Eared Owl.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

28/04/16

Having reached my penultimate visit for the month, before returning back to work on Saturday, having booked, almost the entire month of April off work, so as to be able to cover the main wave of Spring migration through the steelworks.

I set the alarm for 4.00am, for 21 consecutive morning's on the bounce, to enable me to have a decent breakfast, and then be on site for 05.30am, to catch any overnight rooster's, or early arrivals, before they move on,.......

In short, during migration periods, ( which is when the site excels ), this place, is a Patch Worker's dream, but that's where it ends, and unless you're prepared to be here at first light, regardless of the time of year, there's generally, very little to see after the first couple of hours of daylight, and I wouldn't recommend obtaining a permit for here, purely for the purpose of casual birdwatching.

81 Tufted Duck, 4 Moorhen, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Wigeon, 1 Shoveler, 2 Teal, 6 Mute Swan, 5 Coot, 8 Gadwall, and 7 Mallard, were on the pools, with 5 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

1 Siskin, joined the usual common woodland species.

2 Cetti's Warbler were heard singing.

2 Whimbrel were recorded as flyovers.

The rough grassland and scrub areas........1 Sparrowhawk, 2 White Wagtail, 10 Yellow Wagtail, 10 Wheatear, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 13 Common Whitethroat, and 4 Grasshopper Warbler were noted.

 

[torlanwr]

A real consistent effort. Have enjoyed reading these reports daily. Congrats on some great birding and stand-out birds.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

A real consistent effort. Have enjoyed reading these reports daily. Congrats on some great birding and stand-out birds.

Thanks very much indeed, for the kind comments.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

29/04/16

51 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Coot, and 7 Mallard, were on the pools, with 6 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

3 Cetti's Warbler were heard singing.

7 Common Tern were noted on the 'rafts'.

The woodlands held the usual common species.

The rough grassland and scrub areas........5 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Wheatear, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 10 Common Whitethroat, 4 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, and 1 Short Eared Owl.

 

[coaltit]

Yes its nice to see your records always nice to share, the passage terns will build up to a peak in may usually before breeding and the cetti,s warbler has really spread out since 2010 here in derbyshire when they first bred here and any short Eared owl records in the lowlands are always a bonus.. keep up the good work.

 

[Peugeot]

Yes its nice to see your records always nice to share, the passage terns will build up to a peak in may usually before breeding and the cetti,s warbler has really spread out since 2010 here in derbyshire when they first bred here and any short Eared owl records in the lowlands are always a bonus.. keep up the good work.

Again, thanks very much indeed for your kind comments.

Cetti's Warbler have been on site at Shotton, since 2002/03, but only started to increase markedly from 2012 onwards.........and a female which was ringed on site in 2014, has just been re-caught again recently, so is appearing to be site loyal.........and also of interest,......at least 1 pair of Cetti's Warbler bred on the steelworks in 2014, and this record has now been officially accepted, as the 1st ever breeding record for the species in Flintshire.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

01/05/16

A couple of hours after work, searching for the 1st Cuckoo of the year on site, proved to be a fruitless search.......but I was compensated slightly, with 1 Great White Egret ( flyover ), and 1 Marsh Harrier ( female ), seen hunting over the reed beds, 1 Shoveler, was still present among the tufties, and also, 8 Swift ( 2015 arrival date 26/04 ), were seen hawking over the pools, along with other hirundines.

 

[Peugeot]

Shotton Steelworks

02/05/16

60+ Common Tern were noted on the 'rafts' at first light.

2 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Coot, 2 Shoveler, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Mute Swan, 14 Gadwall, and 51 Tufted Duck were on the pools, with 1 Common Sandpiper around the margins.

Other notable birds from the visit were.......3 Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler, 6 Wheatear, and 5 Yellow Wagtail.