Mersey Valley

Stretford Meadows

I didn't feel like going for a walk today, which is an excellent reason for going for a walk. I decided to take the bridge over the motorway from Stretford Meadows to Ashton-on-Mersey and walk down to Urmston Meadows, a walk I've never done before. Turns out it's a nice walk but one to do when it's not likely that everyone and their dog will be bombing down the paths on their bikes.

I walked along the southern margin of Stretford Meadows from Newcroft Road. Plenty of chiffchaffs, wrens and robins singing with blackbirds, blackcaps and dunnocks providing the accompaniment. A couple of reed buntings and a whitethroat could be heard singing from the hawthorns in the open.

Once over the bridge I followed a path that runs along the Ousel Brook. A lot of chiffchaffs singing in the trees, together with a couple of song thrushes and greenfinches, and a pair of bullfinches flew over. This path eventually leads on to a lane that runs back to the A56 so I retraced my steps and took another path running roughly parallel to the motorway. This runs down to the Mersey opposite the Ashton-on-Mersey golf course.

This stretch of the river was a bit barren, even bearing in mind how busy it was with people. Upstream there was a duck mallard with a couple of ducklings, downstream nothing. I hadn't seen any swallows or martins all day and the only swifts had been flying over my garden.

River Mersey, Ashton-on-Mersey

Once I passed under the Carrington Road bridge and into Urmston Meadows there was a bit more space but not a lot more birds. House sparrows were feeding on red admiral caterpillars on the nettles by the path. At the next river bend the banks became more overgrown and the river ran over a particularly rocky bit of bed. This obviously suited the flock of a couple of dozen sand martins feeding low over the water. I heard the first willow warbler of the day singing in the willows just before I got to the cemetery.

Walking on towards Urmston town centre I saw the first swallow of the day hawking over one of the paddocks. Just the one swallow. They seem to be in very short supply this year.

I noticed that the house martins which usually nest on the corner of Flixton Road, which have been notable by their absence this past couple of years have adopted on of the buildings on the corner of Church Road. It's less picturesque but has a good overhang which provides better shelter from the elements.

Back home I glanced out of the living room window while I was having my tea and was delighted to see a family of eight young long-tailed tits at the bird feeders.