Pink-footed Goose 5000 including 1000 heading east.
Fieldfare 300 over SW
Redwing 300 over SW
Corn Bunting 4 on wires below beacon.
Chafffinch 50 in hedge near Beacon Farm.
Blackbird 10 in hedge near Beacon Farm.
Pink-footed Geese over St Helens, heading south east.
Woodpigeons passing over beacon.
Plenty of Woodpigeons passing over today, but if you weren't up early you would have missed it, with almost no passage after 8:30am. Also a reasonable passage of thrushes, with the most spectacular sight being a single flock of 150 Fieldfares low over the beacon heading south west. The majority of the thrushes went over between about 8:30 and 9:30. Four Corn Buntings on wires just below the beacon would have been resident birds, perhaps just moved from local farmland.
I can't work out what is happening with the Pink-feet. A large flock of easily 5000 birds went up from the Holiday Moss area of Rainford. Most of them landed in the same area, but at least 1000 headed off south east again, and I watched them until they were dots in the distance over Manchester. I don't know of any Pink-feet feeding areas south east of Billinge Hill, and the logical conclusion is that they are on their way to Norfolk, but I've seen so many head that way in the past few weeks, that you would think that there would be none left here by now, yet there are still at least 6000 birds in the Rainford area, and my guess is nearer to 10,000.
I don't usually see very many flying in the opposite direction, but today there was the odd flock in the distance flying north west, only small groups, but perhaps they don't go to Norfolk to stay, perhaps they just go for a day or two and then come back.
These geese seen from Billinge Hill are an extreme example of a classic recording dilema. Standing next to the beacon, I can see geese flying miles away. I can see right over to Southport and all of the SW Lancs mosses, I can see right down to Liverpool and beyond, to Moel Famau and on a clear day the Great Orme and even Snowdonia. Over to the east I can see the Cheshire plain and the Peak District, including the distinctive shape of Shuttlingsloe where I was on Sunday, and I can see all over Manchester, including Pennington Flash, and north east to Winter Hill. I can even see Blackpool tower and the Ribble estaury, perhaps even Pendle Hill to the north.
Geese are very distinctive and they fly in large flocks, and so are easy to see and easy to identify, because although there may be occasionally other species, the vast majority of the large flocks in the north west are Pink-feet. Therefore, when I say 5000 Pink-feet Billinge Hill, what I really mean is, 5000 Pink-feet from Billinge Hill. It's possible that most of them might be miles away, and might never come near Billinge. Yet my records say 5000 Pink-feet Billinge Hill. What else can I put? If I see a flock flying in the distance, I don't know exactly where it is, it's just a flock in the distance. If I tried to say where each flock was, it would get ridiculous. I'd have to specify about 25 locations, and even then, most of them are flying, so are constantly changing location. The flock which left Holiday Moss and headed south east today I watched for about 10 minutes as it flew over Holiday Moss, Crank, Carr Mill Dam, Haydock Newton-le-Willows, Pennington Flash etc. Do I need to say 1000 Pink-feet at each of those locations? Much simpler to say 5000 Pink-feet from Billinge Hill!
