Friday 3^rd January effects of the cold spell showing with 3 Blackbirds in the field near the boardwalk at Holden Wood Reservoir. 

4 Goldeneye at Ogden Reservoir.   11 min Mallards at both reservoirs

Sunday 5^th January min 10 Blackbirds at Victoria Park, and a few Song Thrush maybe at least 4, and some Redwings in the trees At least 7 and a Mistle Thrush. 

Monday January 6 approx. 110 Black Headed Gulls to bread at Holden Wood Reservoir

Wednesday 8 January max 3 Blackbirds, maybe 3 Redwings in Victoria Park.    Approx 110 Black Headed Gulls to bread, with a handful of Common Gulls

3 Teal flew in at Holden Wood Res

Friday 10 January  All 3 reservoirs were more than half frozen  approx.

Holden Wood Res highlights

30 Black Headed Gulls looks like they have deserted

2 Fieldfare

1 Snipe

1 Woodcock

1 Meadow Pipit

Calf hey

Maybe up 20 Robin around the feeders and car park

Min 8 Blackbirds in same area

Approx. 8 Dunnock

 Approx 10 Wrens around Grane and the Quarries

Saturday 11 January

1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Stonechat 3 Lapwing at Holden Wood Res

7th February walk around reservoirs  highlights 

Holden Wood   min 130 Jackdaws,  29 Lapwing including 1 displaying very briefly, 17 Starling, 3 Mallard, 1 each of Meadow Pipit, Stonechat and Pied Wagtail

Ogden    1 Oystercatcher 

-- Edited by sarfraz on Monday 10th of February 2025 12:08:20 PM

18 february Chaffinch singing at Holden Wood Res my first in song this year

21 February walk around Grane Reservoirs  highlights  4 duck species  Six Teal, 2 Goosander, 32 Mallard and 2 Goldeneye.   Lapwings displayed a little, 13 Oystercatcher at Ogden Res

24 February  Holden Wood Res sightings included min 42 Lapwings with some display, 1 Stonechat in brief song which is first of the year for me, 

Water levels have dropped and who knows we may get an exciting Wader like a Redshank in March?

26 February  what flew like a Martin/Swallow and looked brownish over Calf hey could not be confirmed sadly......it would normally have been one but I consider it too early even though  quite a few areas have reported them.  

28 February  2 "spring" milestones ticked  a Reed Bunting and it's half hearted song and just when I gave up and thought a February without a Skylark, one in strong song over Crow Trees.  Sadly no Curlew this year yet.  36 Lapwing over Holden Wood res and approx 30 Oystercatchers at Ogden Res.  Quite a few Greenfinch wheezing aroud Grane and Song Thrush having a good presence too.  

March  5th     first Curlew of the year for me at Holden Wood flew from Musbury over to Clough Head, lots of Siskin in song around Clough Head

March 7th    approx 32 Oystercatchers at Ogden res and min 3 displaying Meadow Pipits....another spring milestone....min 4 Redwing at Crow Trees , 3 Common Gull still around.  1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Dipper on Ogden  and  4-6 Teal on Holden Wood.

5 pairs of Stonechat  - 1 at Holden Wood, 2 above Ogden and 2 Jamestone areas.

March 8th   2 Whooper Swans at Ogden res

March 9th    1 Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming on a nestbox at Clough Head Centre , first Rossendale Bumblebee of the year visiting my newly acquired Crocus 

11 March singing Redwing at Holden Wood Res

14 March 31 Oystercatcher min at Ogden, min 10 Redwing at Calf hey, barely any displaying Meadow Pipits and 0 Skylark in song around Grane, 1 Wheatear behind Troy my earliest date ever. Trip to Ewood Bridge and 0 Sand Martins.

9 Common Gull at Holden.Wood and a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker at Troy Wood

Not exactly a living Butterfly but a wing of a Peacock was at Holden Wood.

-- Edited by sarfraz on Saturday 15th of March 2025 08:22:56 PM

25 March 1 Sand Martin at Holden Wood
26 March 4 Buzzards over Troy, 4 Redwings over Heap Clough and Pink Footed Geese over Grane but not seen , min 12 Redwing over Haslingden from over a 20 minute period from 11.30 pm eastwards

28 March 1 Chiffchaff at Jamestone West and 4 Wheatear of which 2 Males and 2 females from Deep Clough to Jamestone East but no Sand Martins or Little Ringed Plover

2 male and 2 female Brambling over the last week at Clough head feeding station

Redshank singing at Holden Wood (maybe 2 birds present) and at the Holcombe Road side a singing Willow Warbler which becomes my earliest ever in Rossendale and anywhere in the UK by a few hours.

12 April  a male and female Ring Ouzel in the area North West of Calf Hey Res and 5 Wheatear there from a Flickr contact.

13 April    4 Greylag at Holden Wood Res .  2 House Martins over Whitworth but have not had any since then in Rossendale.  They haven't returned to Grane or Haslingden.  

14 female Wheatear on the Wheatear wall at Holden Wood Res my first of the year here.  

17 April     1 Mediterranean Gull second summer  at Holden Wood res.     My first Rossendale Blackcap of the year with one singing in the trees near Asda.  Grasshopper Warbler reeling at Calf Hey Reservoir via Paul Jackman.  

18 April   walk around Grane and Quarries.  At Holden Wood the highlights being 1 Great Black Backed Gull which seems to be in adult plumage but has brown on the win and a stolen Canada Goose egg.   I am not sure how it accessed it but it dropped it into the water but that wouldn't break it so it tried on land.  A pretty solid looking egg so I guess not far form hatching.  A 2nd younger bird was present.    About 4 different Great Black Backed Gulls have been present over the last 2 weeks.    Also 1 Greylag and 2 Common Sandpiper. 

Ogden Res/Calf Hey border  Grasshopper Warbler reeling in the rushes. 

Quarries  11 Wheatear and a flyover Yellow Wagtail heading South East but couldn't be relocated at the Quarries or in the fields.    My first Blackcap in the area at Crow Trees.  They have eluded me at Grane this year.    

Looks like the Teal departed late March early April.  

-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 18th of April 2025 03:46:32 PM

19  April  after the rain there seemed to be a deluge of Willow Warblers with maybe six singing along the lane to Holden Wood and more around the reservoir ......minimum of 12 with ease

19 April   at least 12 Wheatear in the pastures North West of Calf Hey Res but south of Grane Road along with 4 Ring Ouzel

20 April 1 Grasshopper Warbler reeling at holden Wood res

22 April 1 Mediterranean Gull over Holden Wood Res and 1 Grasshopper Warbler still there  but not heard after this

25 April   2 Mediterranean Gull adult in the Lapwing fields at Holden Wood Res on way back but not there on the beginning of my walk.   2 House Martins over Holden Wood Res too.  No singing Grasshopper Warblers, no waders out today except Lapwing and Oystercatcher, just about  5 Chiffchaff around.   1 Wheatear at Calf hey Reservoir and 7 behind both Jamestone Quarries.  

Holden Wood Reservoir

Wren      10 

Dunnock  3

Blackbird     5

Willow Warbler   9

Song Thrush   2

Whitethroat   1

Chaffinch    6

Oystercatcher 2

Pied Wagtail     5

Goldfinch  8

Woodpigeon 2

Jackdaw approx. 40

Robin  7

Greenfinch 1

Carrion Crow  min 10

Starling 1

Cormorant  3

Magpie 3

Reed Bunting  5

Meadow pipit  7

Great Black backed Gull   4      2  came in form the south and were then seen flying over Musbury later

Black headed Gulls   min 2 in morning but min 10 at lunch time

Lapwing a few days back I counted sitting birds/possible nest and I came up with about 9 in the fields North of Holden Wood Res and potentially  2 pairs on the bank of the reservoir

Siskin 1

Swallow  approx. 10

Sand Martin approx. 10 with some looking at trying to excavate holes in the bank of the stream that feeds into the stream from Ogden res

Great Tit  1

Linnet 2

Moorhen 2

Long Tailed Tit 1

House Martin 1

Blackcap 1

Blue Tit 1

Stonechat 2   a pair

Pheasant  1

Common Sandpiper 1

Min 20  Orange Tips and min 20 Green Veined Whites

 Tortoisehell 2

Peacock 1

Ogden reservoir

Wren 7

Blue Tit 1

Willow Warbler 3

Stonechat 3

Meadow Pipit  17 along the middle path

Robin 1

Blackcap 1

Mallard 1

Lapwing 1

Oystercatcher  3

Orange Tip  Butterfly min 15

Green Veined White min 15

Musbury and Musbury Heights

Skylark  17

Meadow Pipit   55

Wren 12

Wheatear 8

Linnet 1

Stonechat  5

Swallow   5

Chaffinch 4

Reed Bunting 3

Crow min 10

Pheasant 1

Blackbird 4

Curlew   5        3 seen together and a single in the same area even though the 3 had moved on, 1 on hillside west of Calf hey

Goldfinch  min   5

Willow Warbler  4

Mistle Thrush 1

Robin  3

Grasshopper Warbler 2

Greenfinch 1

Great Tit   2

Dunnock 1

Woodpigeon 2 

Red Grouse heard

Lapwing 2

1 Buzzard on Darwen side

1 Green Hairstreak butterfly

 Stoat 1 

Calf Hey Reservoir

Willow Warbler  13

Robin 14

Mistle Thrush 2

Wren 18

Blackbird  6

Chaffinch  16

Great Tit 1

Blackcap 2

Coal Tit  3

Song Thrush 1

Nuthatch 3

Blue Tit 2

Goldcrest 3

Treecreeper  1

Great Tit 3

Goldfinch min 10

Sparrowhawk  2

Chiffchaff  1

Siskin   6

Grey Heron 1

Pied Wagtail 1

Mallard 4

Grasshopper Warbler 1

Little Ringed Plover 1

Kestrel 2

Cormorant 1

Reed Bunting 1

Whitethroat 1

Green Vined White Butterflies  min 10

Orange Tips min 10

28 April  Mallard hatched 9 ducklings around Clough Head Visitor and led them to Jamestone Quarry safely.

5th May Green Sandpiper calling over Ogden and a drake Teal at Holden Wood Reservoir 

7 May  Mallard with 8-9 ducklings at Holden Wood Res

9 May   2 Curlew, 1 female Wheatear, 1 2 week old duckling alone, 3 Small Heath Butterflies at Jamestone

10 May Paul Jackman had a.Cuckoo at Calf Hey

11 May 2 Curlew and 1 drake Teal at Holden Woid  Res

9 May fully fledged Pied Wagtail at Jamestone West no downy feathers

10 and 11 May   Osprey reported by 2 unique observers.  The first were 2 ladies who saw a big bird hovering and circling around the reservoir about 9am and then  the following day too.  Seen by  fishermen too last weekend.  

12 May    at least 20 Swifts over Haslingden  screaming together


15 May min 1 fledged Stonechat top end of Holden Wood Res, at least 1 fledged Robin in scrub near car park , 2 lots of Mallards with 3 ducklings each ....10 day old 3's and younger ones. Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and Lapwing were all nesting on the bank of Holden Wood Res but now all vacated.....too many dog walkers running dogs on the banks!!!

16 May at least 1 fully fledged Blackbird at calf Hey looked like a male, Garden Warbler both at Holden Wood Res which has been present all week and Calf hey . Barely any Kestrels around Grane

Walk around Clowbridge 4 Oystercatchers, 3 Curlew all singles and 2 fledged Starlings the highlights. Man walking 3 dogs around banks where waders would have been DEPRESSING!!!!!!


I spoke to a man who lets his 2 white Pointers off the lead and quite a distant away at Grane about his dogs running around the shoreline of Holden Wood yesterday after I saw them. He said he was not aware but I had told him last year. If people see him and hos dogs on the bank of the reservoirs they should say something to him. We don't need to be aggressive but just a reminder.

-- Edited by sarfraz on Friday 16th of May 2025 10:16:53 PM

BBS  Stonefold    on 18th May   

Skylark 17

Meadow Pipit 19

Linnet 4

Stock Dove 7

Willow Warbler 4

Goldfinch 13

Woodpigeon 9

Blackbird 4

Robin 4

Chaffinch five

Blue Tit 1

Reed Bunting   2

Jackdaw 37

Curlew 1

Swallow 7

Redshank   1?    2 calls heard one almost certainly part of a Skylark song   and another 100 meters away and a call alone

Pied Wagtail 1

Wren   8

Crow     7

Magpie 4

Bullfinch 1 

Song Thrush 1

Dunnock 1

Little Owl 1

Lesser Black Backed Gulls plenty over

Small Heath 1

Wall Brown 1

Red Admiral 1

White Butterflies    10

Broad Bodied Chaser  1

Friday 23 May a Lapwing somehow managed to hatch a young on the shoreline at Holden Wood Res near the wide point.  With all the people walking there and some with dogs I am not sure how.    It may have moved up a little on the shoreline now.  Aalso 2 Garden Warblers at Calf hey with one still there on 30th.  

BBS  Stonefold    on 18th May   

Skylark 17

Meadow Pipit 19

Linnet 4

Stock Dove 7

Willow Warbler 4

Goldfinch 13

Woodpigeon 9

Blackbird 4

Robin 4

Chaffinch five

Blue Tit 1

Reed Bunting   2

Jackdaw 37

Curlew 1

Swallow 7

Redshank   1?    2 calls heard one almost certainly part of a Skylark song   and another 100 meters away and a call alone

Pied Wagtail 1

Wren   8

Crow     7

Magpie 4

Bullfinch 1 

Song Thrush 1

Dunnock 1

Little Owl 1

Lesser Black Backed Gulls plenty over

Small Heath 1

Wall Brown 1

Red Admiral 1

White Butterflies    10

Broad Bodied Chaser  1

Friday 23 May a Lapwing somehow managed to hatch a young on the shoreline at Holden Wood Res near the wide point.  With all the people walking there and some with dogs I am not sure how.    It may have moved up a little on the shoreline now.  Aalso 2 Garden Warblers at Calf hey with one still there on 30th.  

BBS Stonefold May 18

Skylark 17

Meadow Pipit 19

Linnet 4

Stock Dove 7

Willow Warbler 4

Goldfinch 13

Woodpigeon 9

Blackbird 4

Robin 4

Chaffinch five

Blue Tit 1

Reed Bunting   2

Jackdaw 37

Curlew 1

Swallow 7

Redshank   1    2 calls heard one almost certainly part of a Skylark song   and another 100 meters away and a call alone  ?

Pied Wagtail 1

Wren   8

Crow     7

Magpie 2

Bullfinch

Song Thrush 1

Dunnock 1

Little Owl 1

Lesser Black Backed Gulls plenty over

Small Heath 1

Wall Brown 1

Red Admiral 1

White Butterflies    10

Broad Bodied Chaser  1

June 9 - 1 Chipping Snipe at Holden Wood and first Meadow Brown of the year

June 13 - 4 Curlew on Hassy Ossy Moor border    .3 flying off south west together and 1 settling on the ground, approx.  A max. 80 Lapwing in fields on high point of Grane Road

June 14   -1 Red Kite over the highest point of Grane Road    8.12am     First Swallows and Sand Martins fledged today at Grane this year from what I have noticed

June 16  - Holden Wood res   Oystercatcher with 2 young at top end, my first Skipper species, Burnet Moth sp and Ringlet,

June 17 - first fledged Black Headed Gulls

June 18 - near adult Common Gull Holden Wood res

June 19 - Ring Necked Parakeet heard over Bury Road/Lomas Road Rawtenstall

June 23 - Ring necked Parakeets Victoria Park

June 26 -  Common Hawker female dead at Victoria Park

June 30 - 2 Fledged Little Egrets at Holden Wood Res and 50 Sand Martins.    Approx 50 Pied Wagtails around Tesco at about 9pm

July 1 - Ring Necked Parakeets heard on Helmshore Road near junction with St Peters Avenue and further up St Peters Avenue towards the end of the playing fields, 300 plus Jackdaws roosting in Memorial Gardens Haslingden

July 3 - Ring Necked Parakeet at Victoria Park maybe 2?

July 4 - lots of butterflies around mainly and highlight was 1 Comma at Jamestone West, fifty Swift over Crow Trees, Green sandpiper at Ogden res

July 5 -    Rawtenstall 1 adult and 1 fledged Stock Dove on Brunella Drive, feeding on grassy verge, approx. and approx. 30 House Sparrows around Barrit Avenue, also calling Crossbills at Clowbridge could be heard from layby on main road

July 6  - 1 Gatekeeper at Holden Wood res, Redshank and Green Sandpiper at Ogden, Green Woodpecker at Calf Hey

July 7    - Holden Wood Res approx. 20 Sand Martins at top end on wires I have a feeling ready to go, 5 Swift dropped in and moved on, a Moorhen with 3 young in open at the top end and a fully-fledged Moorhen immature

July 9 - Mallard with 2 tiny ducklings 

July 11 - min 150 Hirudines on wires at tenements farm Mallard with 2 tiny ducklings now at dame side of Holden Wood res

July 12- Hummingbird Hawkmoth on Dale Street, Haslingden and Emperor Dragonfly at Holden Wood res

July 17- 4 Whimbrel and 1 Graylag at Holden Wood Res, Moorhen with 3 young still around

July 18- 2 Juvenile Common Whitethroats 1 at Holden Wood and 1 at Calf Hey

July 19 - 1 Little Egret at Holden Wood Res which flew to Ogden

July 20 - 4 Curlew at Holden Wood Res hopefully a local breeding success, 2 Little Egret at Ogden

July 21 - 6  Kestrels at Calf Hey Res a family party, 2 Crossbills over Holden Wood heading south

July 22 -  1 adult male Crossbill photographed at Clough Head feeders 

July 23 5 Little Egret first on Holden Wood res then on Ogden

Over the last week Reed Bunting, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Wren all singing

July 27  Moorhen with 3 larger young in a different location to previously noted pair with 3 young.  Mallard with 2 young still around.  

July 29 - Ring Necked Parakeet calling at Victoria Park, min 17 Swift over Haslingden

July 30 1 adult Common Gull at Holden Wood res

July 31 - Holden Wood 1 Black Tailed Godwit which was trying to get some shut eye, 3 Teal, 1 second calender Common Gull, 2 Curlews, 2 Common Sandpiper

1 Ring Necked Parakeet at Memorial Gardens

August 1 - 1 juvenile Whinchat above Holden Wood, 2 family parties of Reed Bunting and Stonechat the latter 1 young fully fledged and the other recent fledging, approx. 10 Linnets,

unseen but heard Screaming Swifts over Haslingden in the morning and approx 50 Starlings over Haslingden

4 Great Black Backed Gulls have been present around Grane of which 2 are adults and 2 immatures through May, June, July.

Kestrels have been a bit on the quiet side.  I am not sure if any have fledged on the North side of Grane Road around the Quarries.  There seemed to be bests around the antiques and the farm at Holden Wood the latter may have fledged as quite noisy.      

Butterflies have been doing quite well around Grane with a noticeable increase in Small Coppers.