Jack Snipe - Cutacre, Greater Manchester

Arriving at Cutacre Country Park at around 9am, I soon realised I might have made a mistake coming on Sunday. The place was heaving with walkers and dogs, with many people completely ignoring the paths and wandering across the grassland and wetlands.

Nevertheless, I made my way along Engine Lane, hearing Willow Tit and seeing Jay, to Swan Lake. 1 Mute Swan had returned since the lake froze over, but waterfowl numbers are still well down generally. 2 Gadwall and 1 Tufted Duck were the only notable birds. I accidentally flushed a Woodcock from next to the path and saw 2 Grey Partridge flying across the grassland in the distance.

I then walked towards the Scrape, which had been cleared of some of the reeds which had started to take over. Walking around the pond and thinking that it was deserted of birds, I was shocked when Snipe began erupting from hidden cover. I counted at least 18 Common Snipe, but there may have been more.

With Snipe still whirling around, all of a sudden a raptor emerged out of nowhere and made a dive at one of the Snipe. It was immediately apparent it wasn't one of the local Kestrels, but a Peregrine Falcon. The speed of the bird was insane, although it somehow couldn't catch the Snipe, which stayed low and zig-zagged around, while the Peregrine climbed up before plunging towards the bird.

Peregrine Falcon - my first patch tick of 2023

Peregrine (right of pylon) preparing to dive towards a Common Snipe, low centre

Also on the Scrape, I managed to spot 2 unmistakable Jack Snipe, which only flew up as I almost stood on them, and dropped down silently only a few metres away.

A record shot of one of the 2 Jack Snipe

On one of the largest pools near the logistics site I noticed more work had been done to dredge the pond and remove some of the reeds which had taken over. As I went over to have a closer look, a dog walking group decided to let 10 large dogs of a lead, which all charged towards the pond. Common Snipe began to erupt from the muddy edges and reeds. I counted at least 46, but there may have been more. That gave a minimum of 64 Common Snipe across the site, with a number of pools left unchecked.

I added a few more interesting species around the rest of the site, with another Woodcock, a lone Redwing, a Goldcrest and a patch year tick with Greenfinch. I finished with 41 species, bringing my Cutacre CP year list up to 60.

Later in the afternoon I briefly visited Pennington Flash and connected with 5 Little Egret, my highest Greater Manchester total by far. Unfortunately, I missed the Bittern which was reported earlier in the morning!


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