Flixton

Fieldfare, Dutton's Pond

I was having a morning cup of tea at home and noticed a heron leisurely flying low over the back garden. A couple of minutes later it was followed by another heron being chased off by a couple of irate black-headed gulls and a carrion crow.

I had a lunchtime stroll around Flixton South of the railway, starting off by walking down Mersey View and getting onto the path by the bend in the road.

I could hear a pair of bullfinches in the trees and struggled to find them, in the process I found a couple of goldcrests quietly going about their business. As the path entered the open scrub a small tit flock fussed about in the hawthorns, coal tits glowing salmon pink in the low sunlight and a couple of "What on earth's that?" moments were caused by fleeting sightings of blue tits sitting behind sunlit hawthorn berries. A bit further out a kestrel made a couple of unsuccessful sallies at something in the long grass.

Up on the rise I had a look over the river to see what was about on the horse paddocks on the Carrington side. Half a dozen pied wagtails chased each other round the horses' feet, a mistlethrush had a bath in a puddle and goldfinches perched on the fences. Further out, towards the pylons along Manchester Road, half a dozen woodpigeons and a magpie were spooked out of the trees by a buzzard.

Flixton lagoons
The stopping train to Liverpool in the background

As I walked towards the lagoons more pied wagtails flew over, together with a meadow pipit. Dunnocks, wrens and robins rummaged around in the mugworts and brambles. A couple of rooks flew over towards the paddocks and a raven cronked its way towards the electricity station over the river. Looking over the lagoons I could only see a few magpies in the willows.

The huge tit flock in the trees by the embankment turned out to be two large tit flocks going in opposite directions. The flock heading down the path included a treecreeper and a willow tit. The flock heading up the path included long-tailed tits and goldcrests and had a flock of goldfinches and chaffinches tagging along. A buzzard lolloped into the trees by the path, noticed me and decided to move over towards Jack Lane. A low-flying heron generated more upset amongst the blackbirds than the buzzard managed.

I popped under the railway and had a walk round Dutton's Pond. Moorhens and mallards on the pond as usual, another tit flock in the trees. A redwing popped up out of the group of blackbirds rummaging round in the damp vegetation between the willows. A little further on a lone fieldfare made a racket from the top of a tree.

Dutton's Pond

Then off to Urmston for the week's big food shop.