Pennington Flash

Cormorant, Pennington Flash

Seeing as how the lockdown's over I thought I'd go over for a visit to Pennington Flash, having a wander around the local patch along the way.

The local patch was busier than last visit: plenty of blackbirds and singing robins, a fair sized tit flock and a lot of magpies. And a few of the woodpigeons have returned from wherever they've been.

The first post-lockdown differences in the journey to Pennington Flash were the absence of pied wagtails at the Trafford Centre and the non-appearance of the kestrel at RHS Worsley. (I hope the kestrel's not gone the way of the roe deer!)

Tufted duck, Pennington Flash

Lots of robins and blackbirds at Pennington Flash, too, many or most of which are probably Winter visitors. The brook by the bridge to the car park was standing room only for mallards, tufties and coots, a pair of mute swans struggled to barge their way through the crowd.

A tit flock in the oak trees by the car park included a treecreeper. There were at least four tit flocks kicking about this afternoon, all of them quite small and only blue, great and long-tailed tits.

The car park oystercatcher was busy feeding on the wet grass so at least one constant of normal life is still around. The parks department have been trimming back a few of the trees and shrubs to open up the view over the flash, it was getting quite overgrown here. The ducks, geese and gulls seem okay about its being done, it gives them more space for begging for food.

It was raining when I arrived so I bought an ice cream to make it stop (I don't know how it works but it does). I scanned the flash while I was eating it: a couple of hundred black-headed gulls, a few dozen lesser black-backs, perhaps a dozen each of herring and common gulls. There must have been a hundred or more coot. One of the black dots didn't look right for a coot, after a couple of minutes it drifted round enough for me to identify it as a drake common scoter. The first of the year, I've spent most of non-lockdown 2020 just missing common scoters on local reservoirs. It was well out in the water but I thought I'd get a record shot anyway. So it stuck its beak in its back feathers and went to sleep.

The water was lower than it has been for a while so most of the spit by the Horrocks Hide was exposed. A couple of dozen lapwings provided most of the noise. A couple of dozen teal whistled in the bight at the end of the spit. A female goldeneye bobbed around by the cormorants loafing on the posts at the end of the spit.

Walking down to the Tom Edmondson Hide I could see through to the pool by Pengy's Hide. A dozen each of gadwall, teal and shoveler were joined by five wigeon and a water rail shuffled through the reeds, stopping every so often to have a good squeal. A little egret stalked the pool on the other side of the path.

Cormorant, Pennington Flash

Peeking round the screen by the Tom Edmondson Hide I was immediately struck by a cormorant drying its wings as it sat on the kingfisher stick. More gadwall, coot and tufties on the pool and six herons lurked on the far bank.

Ramsdales pool

From the screen by the Ramsdales Hide I was staring straight into the sun so it was difficult to pick out more than a few dozen teal and a couple of coots.

I walked back and round to the path to Pengy's and the Bunting Hide. Besides another tit flock there were a few chaffinches and goldfinches and a very fine male bullfinch. Someone had left seed in the tops of the fence posts by the Bunting Hide, every post had a squirrel sat on it.

Grey squirrel, Pennington Flash

Walking back towards the flash a flock of thrushes descended on the grass by the play area. Half a dozen song thrushes, a pair of mistle thrushes, a few blackbirds and a couple of redwings. I was surprised at how easily and quickly I picked up the scoter as I approached.

Common scoter, Pennington Flash

A good couple of hours' walk, not many people about, plenty of birds. Let's hope the rest of the year's like this.