Local patch and Trafford Park

Mute swan, Bridgewater Canal, Trafford Park

A teatime walk in the hopes that paths wouldn't be busy, which worked a bit, just a couple of dozen cyclists (and they used their bells!) A wander round the local patch then down Bridgewater Way to the canal and down past the marina and into Stretford. Only three and a bit miles but I needed some exercise.

Just less than an hour round the local patch which was fairly quiet, unsurprising given the time of day and the business of the park.

• Blackbird 11, 5 singing
• Blackcap 2 singing
• Blue Tit 2
• Carrion Crow 2
• Chaffinch 1
• Chiffchaff 1 singing
• Cormorant 1 overhead
• Dunnock 2 singing
• Feral Pigeon 32
• Goldfinch 4, 1 singing
• Great Tit 1
• Greenfinch 1
• House Sparrow 7
• Lesser Black-backed Gull 4 overhead
• Long-tailed Tit 1
• Magpie 11
• Mistle Thrush 1
• Robin 2 singing
• Song Thrush 1 singing
• Starling 2
• Whitethroat 3 singing
• Woodpigeon 15, 2 singing
• Wren 5 singing

Walking down to the canal there were a few more blackcaps and chiffchaffs in the trees between the path and the logistics works. A jay very quietly working its way along the fence along the path had a family of long-tailed tits very perturbed but I didn't see any evidence of nest raiding.

There were pairs of Canada geese dotted along the canal. They were demonstrating a social distancing of sorts, a couple of loud scuffles and aggression displays showed how it was achieved. There was also a pair of mute swans and a few single drake mallards on the water. I could hear a kestrel loudly calling but I struggled to find it, the sparrowhawk that frightened the starlings at Stretford Marina was a lot easier to see.

This heron was catching forty winks on the bank opposite the Kellogg's factory.

It was good to see a few swifts and the first house martins of the year as I got to Stretford tram station.