Stretford

Rye Bank Fields

Another warm dozy day in the garden. There's been a lot of foraging activity by the sparrows, they're doing a grand job of clearing the rosebuds of greenfly. The dunnock and the coal tit are singing again and the great tits and blue tits are looking a bit tatty and frazzled. I'm hoping this all means nests are being productive.

The first couple of young jackdaws have joined their parents on the school playing field. I'm still waiting for any young woodpigeons to turn up. The grown-ups have been at it like knives in the trees on the embankment.

I decided I'd have a teatime stroll through Stretford via Moss Park and Victoria Park and then on to Longford Park and Rye Bank Fields. The parks were busy, as would be expected on a warm sunny Sunday. The highlights were a nuthatch working its way down a sycamore in Victoria Park and a great spotted woodpecker in Longford Park.

Any hopes of catching up with Rye Bank Fields were thwarted by all the entrances being fenced off so the university which owns the land can do "investigations" prior to its continuing to be dug up for a housing development. A chiffchaff in one of the boundary trees was the only warbler of the day.