Gutted

Photos:

Great Crested Grebe, HGF

Grey Herons, Glazebrook

Grey Partridges, Rixton Moss

Moat Lane pool 2, Rixton - the exposed islands show how much water has been removed

The north corner of HGF - far left is the remains of a patch of reedmace which used to be under water. This gives you a good idea of how far the water level has dropped.

Friday 3rd June

I visited Moat Lane pools this evening. It had been four days since my last visit and I was hoping to see three well grown tern chicks. I was slightly puzzled that the Black-headed Gulls didn't give me the usual noisy welcome and it soon became obvious why. The owners have virtually drained the whole pool. There was no signs of life here today - with no water protection I suspect the tern chicks were predated and the adults have moved on. Looks like the same fate befell the three incubating Black-headed Gulls too. I was so pissed off I just stood and stared at dried mud for what seemed like ages.

Pool 1 had a pair of Oystercatchers and a Little Ringed Plover. I wonder if this will be next. The tip pool is also bone dry and deserted. A Cuckoo at the clay pits and a pair of Grey Partridges on the mosses were scant consolation. The pair of Mute Swans on the fishing pools emerged today with a single cygnet in tow.

Unfortunately the same fate looks like hitting the Great Crested Grebe at HGF. United Utilities are virtually hoovering water out of the pool. When she built her nest there was 30-40 feet of clear water around the nest - now there is less than a third of that and she is extremely nervous, constantly leaving the nest.

No sign of the Common Scoter today though the female Sparrowhawk drifted over again.

There is a field in Glazebrook directly opposite work which sloped downhill from the road and then climbs on the opposite side to a housing estate. For some bizarre reason Grey Herons love this place and for several years I have notd them just sitting in the middle of the field in small groups. Today was no exception with four adults dotted around the field like statues. I wonder what attracts them!

At lunch I had a mooch around the old training camp in Glazebrook. Lots of warblers, three

Bullfinches and quie a few Linnets but not much else.