Manchester Birder's April 2025 Summary

  

Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Chough, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Crane, Snow Goose, Bee-eater, Cuckoo, Wheatear, Black Tern, Channel Wagtail, Black Kite.

The driest start to a spring I can remember has been an interesting month.  Clear skies for 3 out of 4 weeks meant that most migrating birds just sailed on through, not stopping for long anywhere local.  That said, the week of the drizzle was pretty much as good as it's ever been for me locally, with three pleasing self-finds and plenty of miles in the legs checking as many locations in the area as possible.

The undoubted birding highlight was the 2 minute encounter with a bedraggled Bee-eater in Astley Green that promptly vanished before anyone else could connect.  That said, the Crane that landed at Little Woolden Moss gave me a different kind of joy - where you can share the experience with friends.  Black Tern and Channel Wagtail completed the local exotica, and other migration hit with a bang in week two.  Suddenly alive with Grasshopper, Sedge, Reed and Willow Warblers, Whitethroats, Blackcaps and a couple of vocal Lesser Whitethroats meant a few nine-warbler days, and Common Terns returned to breeding locations across Manchester.  Arctic Terns had a pair of memorable days of passage through, and right at the end of the month, Swift and Hobby are back in the skies over the Mosses.  A Temminck's Stint that showed remarkably well at Marshside was a treat, though the photos really did not come out well!

In terms of "new" birds, Eastern Subalpine Warbler takes some beating.  A real gem of a bird, early in the morning at Filey, and being first on site had its perks as the bird spent some time just flitting around our heads before the crowd gained numbers.  Black Kite in Shropshire was an "about time I saw this in the UK" kind of a bird and the 360th species that I have seen in the UK these last 5 years (for those who keep score and wish to decide if they are "better" than me or not); it was a delight to see it soar above landfill before adding it to The Map.

With migrant birds firmly in mind, my year list has grown and is only 22 species fewer than my entire list from 2024!  Though I've had a day in north Wales, one in Shropshire, and one in Yorkshire, the majority of my birding by far has been within 10 miles of home.  Considering the investment in an E-bike to further reduce emissions and gain a higher level of fitness is no doubt being influenced by the sunshine, and my fair-weather biking might tail off in the Manchester drizzle somewhat...

                                            

Highlights

Finding Bee-eater, Crane and Channel Wagtail; seeing Eastern Subalpine Warbler and Black Kite; finally locating local Pied Flycatchers, and meeting up with friends a little more often has really helped motivate me to search with more optimism.

Year List total: 236

New for me in the UK this month: 2 (Eastern Subalpine Warbler and Black Kite)

10k circle total: 124

Birds I missed: Dotterel, Bonaparte's Gull (twice!), Hoopoe, Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint

The year list so far:

Brent Goose	Swift	Ross's Gull	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Starling
Canada Goose	Cuckoo	Kittiwake	Green Woodpecker	Song Thrush
Barnacle Goose	Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon)	Black-headed Gull	Kestrel	Mistle Thrush
Ross's Goose	Stock Dove	Mediterranean Gull	Merlin	Redwing
Snow Goose	Woodpigeon	Common Gull	Hobby	Blackbird
Greylag Goose	Collared Dove	Caspian Gull	Peregrine	Fieldfare
Taiga Bean Goose	Water Rail	Herring Gull	Ring-necked Parakeet	Ring Ouzel
Pink-footed Goose	Moorhen	Yellow-legged Gull	Great Grey Shrike	Spotted Flycatcher
Tundra Bean Goose	Coot	Great Black-backed Gull	Jay	Robin
White-fronted Goose	Crane	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Magpie	Pied Flycatcher
Lesser White-fronted Goose	Little Grebe	Iceland Gull	Chough	Black Redstart
Mute Swan	Red-necked Grebe	Great Skua	Jackdaw	Redstart
Bewick's Swan	Great Crested Grebe	Puffin	Rook	Whinchat
Whooper Swan	Slavonian Grebe	Black Guillemot	Carrion Crow	Stonechat
Shelduck	Black-necked Grebe	Razorbill	Hooded Crow	Wheatear
Mandarin Duck	Oystercatcher	Common Guillemot	Raven	Dipper
Garganey	Avocet	Red-throated Diver	Coal Tit	Tree Sparrow
Blue-winged Teal	Grey Plover	Great Northern Diver	Crested Tit	House Sparrow
Shoveler	Golden Plover	White-billed Diver	Marsh Tit	Dunnock
Gadwall	Ringed Plover	Fulmar	Willow Tit	Yellow Wagtail
Wigeon	Little Ringed Plover	Gannet	Blue Tit	Eastern Yellow Wagtail
American Wigeon	Lapwing	Cormorant	Great Tit	Grey Wagtail
Mallard	Grey-headed Lapwing	Shag	Penduline Tit	Pied Wagtail
Pintail	Eurasian Whimbrel	Glossy Ibis	Bearded Tit	Meadow Pipit
Teal	Curlew	Spoonbill	Woodlark	Tree Pipit
Green-winged Teal	Bar-tailed Godwit	Bittern	Skylark	American Pipit
Red-crested Pochard	Black-tailed Godwit	Little Egret	Shore Lark	Water Pipit
Pochard	Jack Snipe	Great White Egret	Sand Martin	Rock Pipit
Ferruginous Duck	Woodcock	Cattle Egret	Swallow	Chaffinch
Ring-necked Duck	Snipe	Grey Heron	House Martin	Brambling
Tufted Duck	Common Sandpiper	Osprey	Cetti's Warbler	Hawfinch
Scaup	Green Sandpiper	Golden Eagle	Long-tailed Tit	Bullfinch
Eider	Redshank	Sparrowhawk	Wood Warbler	Greenfinch
Surf Scoter	Spotted Redshank	Goshawk	Willow Warbler	Twite
Velvet Scoter	Greenshank	Hen Harrier	Chiffchaff	Linnet
Common Scoter	Turnstone	Marsh Harrier	Sedge Warbler	Redpoll
Black Scoter	Knot	Red Kite	Reed Warbler	Common Crossbill
Long-tailed Duck	Ruff	Black Kite	Grasshopper Warbler	European Goldfinch
Goldeneye	Curlew Sandpiper	White-tailed Eagle	Blackcap	Siskin
Smew	Temminck's Stint	Buzzard	Garden Warbler	Lapland Bunting
Goosander	Sanderling	Barn Owl	Lesser Whitethroat	Snow Bunting
Red-breasted Merganser	Dunlin	Little Owl	Eastern Subalpine Warbler	Corn Bunting
Red Grouse	Purple Sandpiper	Long-eared Owl	Whitethroat	Yellowhammer
Ptarmigan	Black Tern	Short-eared Owl	Firecrest	Reed Bunting
Black Grouse	Arctic Tern	Tawny Owl	Goldcrest
Grey Partridge	Common Tern	Kingfisher	Wren
Pheasant	Sandwich Tern	Bee-eater	Nuthatch
Red-legged Partridge	Little Gull	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Treecreeper