Birding Group Visit to Macclesfield Forest 6 May 2024

The first birding group outing of May was to Macclesfield Forest on a sunny, but initially cool, day. Although we didn’t see a huge number of birds, we did get a couple of good year ticks and the woods by the Teggnose Reservoir car park were ringing with bird song.

Unfortunately, Google maps sent us mysteriously to the main Macclesfield Forest car park which Anne turned to advantage by using the loos in the very nice cafe there; it is pretty big and obviously they get a lot of visitors at some times of the year. There were a lot of birds singing around there but we needed to get back down to Langley to get on the right track for Teggsnose Reservoir. As it happened, we were not the last people there despite our slight detour. On route we saw a number of Swallows on the telegraph pole wires and when we got out at the reservoir there were a few House Martins flying over – our first year-tick.

We walked up into the woods on the right side of the car park and at the first opening on the right where we found a pair of Great Tits coming and going from a nest box on the side of a tree. One had some food in its mouth suggesting that there might already be young in the nest. There are lots of bird boxes in these woods and at the second opening we found another one – some way into the woods – and a pair of Pied Flycatchers were coming and going regularly from there, possibly constructing a nest inside it. This was the second year tick of the day and the others in the group had good views of Garden Warbler further up the hill. I did not feel up to the ascent so, unfortunately, I missed that.

Instead I walked back down to the car park and dumped my jacket as it was now turning into quite a hot day. Walking round the reservoir I got good views of a group of Mandarin Ducks that had moved from the left side of the reservoir to the right side and were showing well, roosting on a concrete ledge just at the edge of the reservoir. There weren’t the usual Grey Wagtails at the sluice but there were three Little Grebes and a few other birds dotted about.

Apart from the year ticks, the day was marked by the resounding bird song in the woods by the car park; like a competition between Robins, Wrens, Blackcaps, Willow Warblers and Blackbirds to be heard above each other. That combined with the weather being very pleasant meant it was a nice morning, rounded off – of course – by a pint at the Leathers Smithy pub.

Bird Sightings : Macclesfield Forest 6 May 2025

Species	No
Blackbird	3
Blackcap	2
Blue Tit	2
Canada Goose	6
Carrion Crow	4
Chiffchaff	2
Coot	1
Great Crested Grebe	1
Great Tit	4
House Martin	4
Jackdaw	6
Jay	1
Little Grebe	3
Long-tailed Tit	3
Mallard	2
Mandarin Duck	7
Pied Flycatcher	2
Robin	3
Song Thrush	1
Swallow	6
Willow Warbler	1
Woodpigeon	3
Wren	2