Pennington Flash

First-Winter great crested grebe

I had an afternoon wander over to Pennington Flash. In these strange times it's nice to find there are some constants like the kestrel hunting on the field by the RHS Worsley bus stop and the oystercatcher on Pennington Flash car park.

A small mixed tit flock greeted me near the entrance to Pennington Flash, a dozen each of long-tailed tit and blue tit. I got to the bridge over the brook where a couple of dozen mallard were fussing about.

The wind got up as I approached the car park, whipping up fair-sized waves on the flash. Most of the Canada geese were on the car park, clustering round the cars cadging food. There were two hundred or so black-headed gulls, forty of them loafing with the Canada geese, most of the rest of them out on the water on the far side of the flash with thirty-odd lesser black-backs. At first I thought there were no tufted ducks about, they were keeping to the shore near the kiddies' play area. All the great-crested grebes were either on the small pools or congregated in the bight by Ramsdales Hide.

The spit by Horrocks Hide was mostly underwater, there weren't any lapwings about, there were only a few ducks, mostly teal, by the banks and a dozen cormorants loafing on the poles and rafts.

There were a couple more mixed tit flocks about, the one by Ramsdales Hide including a treecreeper. I'd thought I'd heard one earlier but it was hard to be sure amongst the squeaks and creaks of the windblown trees. The water on Ramsdales was so high there was just a pair of shovelers and a dabchick on the pool. The pool by the Tom Edmondson Hide was stiff with coot and gadwall and a couple of herons dozed in the tall grass over to the left.

I wandered down to Pengy's and the Bunting Hide to see if I stood still long enough on the approach paths any small birds might come along (primarily in the hope that one of the willow tits might pass by). As it was the tally was two robins, a blue tit, a blackbird and a squirrel.

I continued down to the Teal Pool which, for once, had a load of teal on it together with a dozen shovelers and a couple of first-Winter goosanders.

Walking back towards the car park a lot of gulls were coming in from over the golf course and joining the roost on the flash. Most were black-headed gulls, coming in in waves of a couple of dozen at a time with a few lesser black-backs in tow, all the latter first-Winter birds. Just as I got to the ice cream van stand (he wasn't on today) a first-Winter Caspian gull flew in, wheeled over the car park for a minute or so then shot over to the full roost like sugar off a shovel, where I lost it in the distant crowd. An interesting bird, I've never knowingly had a worm's eye view of one before. Usually I'm struck by how white the head is, I hadn't appreciated that the white goes from chin to vent. The underwing was surprisingly pale, too; it turns out that's one of the differences between first-Winter Caspian and yellow-legged gulls though I'd imagine the difference in the head and bill shapes would have leapt out at you before you got that far. A first-Winter Caspian gull was reported at the roost most of last week, I'd be surprised if this wasn't the same bird.

The view from Ramsdales Hide