Birds

Birds at Risley Moss

Risley Moss is not managed specifically as a site for birds but its range of habitats provides opportunities for a large number of bird species. Visitors can see about 30 species in any one visit, but the species you do see will change through the year. A regular visitor can see up to 100 species in a year. Some are common birds you can see in your garden such as Robin and Blackbird, but you can see Buzzards from the tower all year round and the nationally rare Hobby is a regular summer attraction, feeding on the sites numerous dragonflies.

Buzzard
Buzzard
Hobby
Hobby

 

 

 

 

 

 

By far the best opportunity to get a close look at the birds at Risley Moss is a winter visit to the Woodland Hide. You can usually see around 10 -12 species in about 20 minutes at the Woodland Hide. The current ‘record’ is 18 species on a single visit (but this must be beatable!). Two of the regular visitors you can see are Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch.

Great Spotted Woodpecker
Nuthatch

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food at the Woodland Hide is sponsored by RIMAG and costs about £300 each winter; if you would like to make a donation towards this cost after your visit, there is a donations box in the Visitor Centre (These are the more common sightings at the woodland hide in winter Birds at Woodland Hide in Winter).

Since records were first collected in 1972, a total of 216 bird species have been recorded at Risley Moss, thanks to the persistence of the experienced team of observers that gather regularly at the Observation Tower.  Rob Smith of RIMAG has collated these records as well as others from diverse sources to produce a summary of the species that have been seen and a commentary on their frequency and abundance.   This is available through RIMAG at a cost of £4 plus postage and packing (please get in touch through our Contacts page)

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Birds of Risley Moss by Rob Smith Copies available through RIMAG

 

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