Working in Nether Alderley, I’ve recently started spending my dinner hour birding the local sand quarries, which are only a stone’s throw from where I work. As a kid, I used to go birding regularly with my dad around the Chelford sand quarries while growing up in Holmes Chapel, and over the years I’ve been lucky enough to see some great birds in the recording area, including Long-tailed Duck and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
The quarries I’ve started watching again are Acre Nook Sand Quarry, where the Caspian Tern was found back in July 2013, and Lapwing Hall Pool. There’s a link below showing the wider Chelford Sand Quarries complex and the surrounding pits. Unfortunately, most of the quarries are inaccessible to the public, which is frustrating, but despite that, the area has amassed a species list now pushing into the 190s. Regular birding here mainly turns up the expected mix of wetland, woodland, and farmland birds, with the occasional surprise.
Click Link Below
Map Of Chelford Sand Quarries
The Two Quarries I'm Birding
Lapwing Hall Pool with Shutlingsloe in the Peak District in the distance
Acre Nook Sand Quarry
I began at Lapwing Hall Pool, where the long-staying Black-necked Grebe was quickly located on the Lapwing Lane pool. Also present were Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Goldeneye, Coot, Moorhen, Greylag Goose, and Canada Goose.
Black-necked Grebe
Goldeneye
A circuit of the pool produced a Meadow Pipit, and I flushed six Snipe from the damp margins.
Meadow Pipit
On the walk back to the car, I checked Acre Nook Sand Quarry, where I picked up Lapwing, Shelduck, and Mute Swan. From the nearby Mosses, a Green Woodpecker was calling.
Shelduck
Mute Swan
The field opposite Lapwing Farm held Fieldfare and Redwing until a Sparrowhawk swept through and put everything up. The hedgerows were alive with smaller birds too, including Dunnock, Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Wren, and Blue and Great Tits.
Redwing
Dunnock
All in all, it was a really good hour of birding, a perfect way to break up the working day. I feel very fortunate to have an area like this right on my doorstep and so close to work.
