Excerpts from a birders diary at Glovershaw.....
Today Glovershaw was at its glorious best, clear blue
skies and a gentle breeze from the north-west made it
perfect for watching birds. The birds were showing
well and there were plenty of them. A family of
Stonechats greeted me as I left the car. They were on
the left of the Glen Road, using the bracken for
perching and cover. I counted two adult birds and
three juveniles. As I walked further along Reed
Buntings and Meadow Pipits were prominent on the
bracken on both sides of the road and on the overhead
wires. My attention was attracted by an adult
Whinchat on the adjacent wall, it was shortly joined
by others, and thereafter, a gathering of five of the
birds (two adults and three young birds) were seen
sitting along a wire fence. Alongside the moorland
edge with the Golf Course on my right I stopped
frequently to check the wall on my left. Sure enough,
it proved to be worthwhile, as four birds were
prominent, these proved to be another Whinchat, a
female Wheatear, a male Stonechat with a juvenile.
Flitting around the Golf Course and the nearby bracken
was another juvenile Stonechat and a Whithroat moved
from the tall grasses onto a fence post as a Willow
Warbler probed in the branches of a spindly plant. As
I walked towards Golcar Farm, another female Wheatear
was using the field boundary, fence and ditch on my
left and another family of Stonechat was present.
They were feeding near a gorse and make use of some
adjacent scrub. I noted two adults and two juveniles
this time, the party being joined by Goldfinches and
Greenfinches which were attacking the many thistle
seeds. I waited a little while by Golcar Farm and it
was no surprise to see the pair of Spotted
Flycatchers, that I first noticed on the 8th August.
They were using the field and hedges to the north of
the farm. As I turned to leave I noticed that a flock
of about twenty House Martins had moved in,
supplanting many of the Swallows which were generally
feeding up over the fields and moving through in a
southerly direction.
In total : 12 Stonechat, 6 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear, 2
Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Whitethroat and numerous
Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit,
Willow Warbler.
