Hey up folks welcome to Birding Cheadle a source of both site information and the latest local bird news and what I hope will become a record of the bird life of my home town and the surrounding area.


I've been birdin' around this area all my life so I know full well just how hard it can be to try and avoid the avian delights of top county sites like Blithfield and slightly further afield the mighty Belvide! Uttoxeter Quarry is quite good too. But if you like to spend less time in the car and more time in the field just birdin' locally can still be rewarding.


Although we don't have top sites like these on our doorstep we still have enough sites within a five or six mile radius of Cheadle to enable you with a little bit of effort to see around one hundred species plus during the year.


Croxden Quarry is probably the best site locally with the potential to turn up anything. Recent highlights have included Avocet, Red Kite and Marsh Harrier. Blake Hall Fishery was very good for passage waders, terns, wagtails and chats when it was first excavated back in the mid nineties but very little is recorded nowadays at this very busy site. It does however, seem attractive to geese with both Brent and White-fronted Geese being recorded recently. Hales Hall Pool is thee site to look for Water Rails in winter as well as being excellent for warblers with both Reed and Sedge Warbler regular. Grasshopper Warbler is recorded some years but can be difficult to see as they tend to favour the marsh north of the boardwalk. Just up the road from Hales Hall is the oldest nature reserve in Staffordshire, Hawksmoor. Owned and maintained by the Natural Trust in spring this beautiful woodland reserve is home to my favourite woodland bird the Wood Warbler, a true gem of a bird. Also to be found here in spring are Tree Pipits, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers and Redstarts. Crossbills although not regular can be found with a bit of luck. Oakamoor picnic site in the Churnet Valley is a regular spot for Dippers and if you fail there you can try up the road at Cotton Dell. The fields above the dell can be good for Wheatears and chats. A recent discovery as been the area around Tickhill/ Banktop Road, which with its elevated position could well produce the goods one day. All it needs is regular coverage during spring and autumn and that little bit of luck we all need.


Nowadays though I'm not the only birder living locally, there's at least seven of us! The benefit of this is that more birders means more birds being found locally and that can't be bad, can it?


So if you've got any bird news please email me at rockbirder@fsmail.net


Andy.