The birdlife on Chat Moss of course varies season to season, and will also change as the moss develops into a ‘truer’ mossland – meaning that the available habitat will change.

 

 

Depending on how harsh Winter is and the relative abundance of food you may spot the likes of Linnet, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Skylark, Buzzard, Fieldfare, Snipe, Short Eared Owl, Brambling, and Merlin.

In the Spring and Summer the influx of birds returning to their Mosslands home simply depends upon the rawness of nature and the intervention of mankind along their increasingly perilous migration routes which can deplete their numbers in the millions. Inspite of the travails of migration this is a time of the year when each note of another arriving migrant’s song sings of a symphony of delight.

Chiffchaff with their onomatopoetic song which shouts out this birds name is usually the first migrant to be heard

Sand Martin although often earlier arrivals than the previous species are, if you are looking at the sky at the right time, usually whizzing over the Moss to their more northern breeding grounds-our local birds arrive slightly later.

Then the cascading song of a Willow Warbler may also catch your ear.

Those heading to the moss to breed include Swallow, Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat, Lapwing, and House Martin. You may also spot Buzzard, Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Hobby.

 

 

Autumn sees food sources dwindle but also the arrival of Pink Footed Geese. There are also flocks of Skylark and Meadow Pipit, as they arrive to refuel on their onward journeys whilst flocks of Starling arrive and stay as they take refuge from their summer homeland in Northern Russia and Poland.
If there are any notable bodies of watery ground there could be an autumn passage of wading birds as has occurred on Little Woolden Moss with a brief window of opportunity to see Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Black Tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Golden Plover, and Grey Plover.

 

 

Well over 100 species of bird have been recorded on the moss and the surrounding area by local expert Dave Steel (photos on this page by him). The full list is:

Barn Owl    ♦♦♦   Barn Swallow     ♦♦♦   Bean Goose     ♦♦♦   Black-billed Magpie    ♦♦♦  Blackcap    ♦♦♦   Black-headed Gull    ♦♦♦   Black-tailed Godwit    ♦♦♦   Blue Tit    ♦♦♦  Bohemian Waxwing    ♦♦♦   Brambling    ♦♦♦   Carrion Crow    ♦♦♦   Cetti’s Warbler    ♦♦♦  Chaffinch    ♦♦♦   Coal Tit    ♦♦♦   Common Blackbird    ♦♦♦   Common Bullfinch    ♦♦♦  Common Buzzard    ♦♦♦   Common Chiffchaff    ♦♦♦   Common Coot    ♦♦♦   Common Crane  ♦♦♦   Common Crossbill    ♦♦♦   Common Cuckoo    ♦♦♦   Common Grasshopper Warbler    ♦♦♦   Common Greenshank    ♦♦♦   Common Kestrel    ♦♦♦   Common Kingfisher    ♦♦♦  Common Linnet    ♦♦♦   Common Moorhen    ♦♦♦   Common Pheasant    ♦♦♦   Common Quail    ♦♦♦   Common Raven    ♦♦♦   Common Redshank    ♦♦♦   Common Redstart    ♦♦♦  Common Sandpiper    ♦♦♦   Common Shelduck    ♦♦♦   Common Snipe    ♦♦♦   Common Starling    ♦♦♦   Common Swift    ♦♦♦   Common Tern    ♦♦♦   Common Whitethroat    ♦♦♦  Common Wood Pigeon    ♦♦♦   Corn Bunting    ♦♦♦   Curlew Sandpiper    ♦♦♦   Dunlin    ♦♦♦  Eurasian Collared Dove    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Curlew    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Hobby    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Jackdaw    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Jay    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Marsh Harrier    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Oystercatcher    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Reed Warbler    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Siskin    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Sparrowhawk    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Teal    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Tree Sparrow    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Treecreeper    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Wigeon    ♦♦♦   Eurasian Woodcock    ♦♦♦   European Golden Plover    ♦♦♦   European Goldfinch    ♦♦♦   European Greenfinch    ♦♦♦   European Robin    ♦♦♦   European Turtle Dove    ♦♦♦   Fieldfare    ♦♦♦   Gadwall    ♦♦♦   Garden Warbler    ♦♦♦  Glaucous Gull    ♦♦♦   Goldcrest    ♦♦♦   Goosander    ♦♦♦   Great Black-backed Gull    ♦♦♦  Great Cormorant    ♦♦♦   Great Crested Grebe    ♦♦♦   Great Grey Shrike    ♦♦♦   Great Spotted Woodpecker    ♦♦♦   Great Tit    ♦♦♦   Greater Canada Goose    ♦♦♦   Grey Heron    ♦♦♦   Grey Partridge    ♦♦♦   Grey Plover    ♦♦♦   Grey Wagtail    ♦♦♦   Greylag Goose    ♦♦♦  Hedge Accentor    ♦♦♦   Hen Harrier    ♦♦♦   Herring Gull    ♦♦♦   House Martin    ♦♦♦   House Sparrow    ♦♦♦   Jack Snipe    ♦♦♦   Lapland Longspur    ♦♦♦   Lesser Black-backed Gull    ♦♦♦  Lesser Redpoll    ♦♦♦   Lesser Whitethroat    ♦♦♦   Little Egret    ♦♦♦   Little Grebe    ♦♦♦  Little Owl    ♦♦♦   Little Plover    ♦♦♦   Little Stint    ♦♦♦   Long-eared Owl    ♦♦♦   Long-tailed Tit    ♦♦♦   Mallard   ♦♦♦   Meadow Pipit    ♦♦♦   Mediterranean Gull    ♦♦♦   Merlin    ♦♦♦  Mew Gull    ♦♦♦   Mistle Thrush    ♦♦♦   Mute Swan    ♦♦♦   Northern Goshawk    ♦♦♦  Northern Lapwing    ♦♦♦   Northern Pintail    ♦♦♦   Northern Shoveler    ♦♦♦   Northern Wheatear    ♦♦♦   Osprey    ♦♦♦   Peregrine Falcon    ♦♦♦   Pied Avocet    ♦♦♦   Pink-footed Goose    ♦♦♦   Red Kite    ♦♦♦   Red-footed Falcon    ♦♦♦   Red-legged Partridge    ♦♦♦  Redwing    ♦♦♦   Reed Bunting    ♦♦♦   Ring Ouzel    ♦♦♦   Ringed Plover    ♦♦♦   Rock Pigeon (Feral)    ♦♦♦   Rook    ♦♦♦   Ruddy Turnstone    ♦♦♦   Ruff    ♦♦♦   Sand Martin    ♦♦♦  Sanderling    ♦♦♦   Sedge Warbler    ♦♦♦   Short-eared Owl    ♦♦♦   Sky Lark    ♦♦♦   Song Thrush    ♦♦♦   Spotted Flycatcher    ♦♦♦   Stock Pigeon    ♦♦♦   Stonechat    ♦♦♦   Stone-curlew    ♦♦♦   Tawny Owl    ♦♦♦   Tree Pipit    ♦♦♦   Tufted Duck    ♦♦♦   Water Rail    ♦♦♦  Whimbrel    ♦♦♦   Whinchat    ♦♦♦   White/Pied Wagtail    ♦♦♦   Whooper Swan    ♦♦♦  Willow Tit    ♦♦♦   Willow Warbler    ♦♦♦   Winter Wren    ♦♦♦   Wood Nuthatch    ♦♦♦   Yellow Wagtail    ♦♦♦   Yellow-browed Warbler    ♦♦♦   Yellowhammer    ♦♦♦