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| Grey wagtail, River Mersey |
Barlow Tip was virtually empty of people. Blackcaps, whitethroats and chiffchaffs struggled to be heard over the songs of song thrushes. I was amused by a particularly frisky dunnock. I used to think that the aggression robins had for dunnocks was down to their being similarly sized and probably resource competitors. Having spent a few years watching the interplay between the two species in my garden I've concluded that the fault lies with the male dunnock's testosterone-fuelled urge to hump anything going. Today's victim was a whitethroat which wasn't having any nonsense but still couldn't persuade the dunnock to just beggar off.
I was worrying about the lack of hirundines then as I approached the gate onto the path by the river a small flock of house martins flew over, followed by a pair of swifts. Looking upriver as I joined the path there was a mixed flock of swallows, house martins and a couple of sand martins, as I walked down the path there were more swallows hawking over the river in ones or twos. A pair of grey wagtails were busy feeding along the water's edge, the male working upstream of what I suspect is the nest site and the female working downstream.
There were singles of ring-necked parakeet over Chorlton Water Park and over the river by the golf course, it was only when I got to Hardy Farm that that they were very much in evidence with a couple of adults and at least one youngster shouting the odds in an ash tree.
I jacked it in at this point and got the bus home. Walking in warn weather with a face mask saps my stamina, there was only the stroll round Barlow Tip where I felt comfortable taking it off.
Back home it was nice to find a few more young house sparrows being brought in for a feed and half a dozen adults busy foraging for insects on the roses.
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| The sparrows are working on my greenfly problem |
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