Mersey Valley

Male bullfinch feeding on blackthorn buds, Kickety Brook

A mild, cloudless weekday so I decided to go out for a few hours' walk over Stretford Meadows and towards Sale Water Park.

It had been a quietish morning in the garden: the spadgers, goldfinches and great tits hovered round the feeders most of the time and the male goldcrest made an appearance. I haven't seen the blackcap for a couple of days; one's been singing near the railway station, I wonder if it's the same one. Over on the school playing field we're down to a dozen black-headed gulls, a couple of common gulls and a first-Winter/second calendar year lesser black-back.

Stretford Meadows

We've had a few dry days so I thought I'd wander over the top of Stretford Meadows, the path was only fairly horrible underfoot. The trees at the Newcroft Road end were full of goldfinches, robins and greenfinches. I'd barely got onto the open ground when I bumped into the male kestrel on one of his favourite perches, the female turned up on the other side of the rise. A buzzard rose from the trees by the cricket club and floated overhead and over the motorway. As I turned back to the path another buzzard rose from the same trees and floated off over towards Urmston town centre. As usual there were plenty of magpies kicking about and there were some very vocal robins and reed buntings in the brambles. I'm counting the days to the arrival of the first whitethroats.

Kickety Brook

The hedgerows along Kickety Brook were busy with small birds. Robins, wrens and dunnocks sang, great tits called, blue tits flitted among the treetops and every other hawthorn bush seemed to have a pair of long-tailed tits in it. A few of the blackthorn bushes had come into flower and a male bullfinch sat in one of them pulling apart unopened buds. We seem to be a bit shy of chaffinches lately (I only saw one all day, and that in Sale Water Park).

The floodwaters had abated on Stretford Ees, just a large puddle by the willow trees and the usual pool at the end of Kickety Brook. There had been reports of half a dozen stonechats here over the weekend. I had the place virtually to myself today but didn't even see one, not even one of the pair that's been overwintering here. I suspect the weekend's tally was part of the Spring migration, birds stopping off on their way back to more rugged scrublands. A pair of raven overhead, flying towards Sale, were a nice consolation prize.

There had been reports of a possible white wagtail on the river near Broad Ees Dole this morning. By lunchtime it had probably been disturbed by the work being done on the paths and embankment on that side, there wasn't anything at all on this stretch of the river.

Mute swans, Sale Water Park

I took a chance on Sale Water Park which turned out to be busy but not silly so, though it was starting to get crowded by the time I left. Gulls were thin on the water on the lake, just a couple of dozen black-headed gulls and a couple of first-Winter lesser black-backs. The small herd of mute swans that's usually here had dispersed into pairs evenly spaced around the lakeside. Not many ducks: a few pairs each of mallard and tufted ducks and just the one pair of gadwall. Interesting to see a pair of dabchicks on the lake, probably overspill from what seems to have been a productive year on Broad Ees Dole,

Teal pool, Broad Ees Dole

Appropriately enough there were a couple of dozen teal on the "teal pool" on Broad Ees Dole, most of them loafing in the reeds while a dozen Canada geese dominated centre stage. The pool in front of the hide was quieter than usual: a few coots, one tuftie, three pairs of dabchicks and a pair of goosander. The water's still high here: the island's a good six inches underwater. A wagtail calling by the embankment turned out to be a pied wagtail (there's nothing wrong with pied wagtails).

I bought a coffee and watched the bird feeders by the café for half an hour in the hopes that a willow tit might turn up. The nuthatches pretty much monopolised the bird table and there was a steady stream of great tits, blue tits, dunnocks and robins. A coal tit arrived and was immediately scared off by a lady who seemed to think it wanted her to sing to it. A couple of ring-necked parakeets strafed the car park providing a more melodious accompaniment. 

It was getting busy now and I was on the verge of getting bad-tempered about it so I sloped off down through Sale Ees towards Jackson's Boat. I'd just climbed onto the river embankment by the bridge when there was a lot of indignant screeches from the parakeets in the trees by the pub. Followed very shortly by a female sparrowhawk which shot in front of me at waist height and over the river and into Chorlton Ees. The parakeets reassured themselves with a lot of squeaky toy noises then went about their business pulling ash keys to pieces.

Sale Ees

Through Hardy Farm with its half a dozen singing greenfinches and back home through Chorlton and Stretford town centre.