Mersey Valley

Mute swan (elderly cygnet), Chorlton Water Psrk

After a wild and woolly night's wind and rain the day settled down a little, with the sun even making an occasional appearance. The wind kept most of the garden birds skulking under cover — even the jackdaws perched low down in the trees — and the only birds on the school playing field were two dozen black-headed gulls sat low in the grass with their shoulders hunched and their heads as low as they could manage. 

By lunchtime it had become one of those days where if you don't like the weather you just have to wait ten minutes and something different will come around so I thought I'd chance it with a walk round Chorlton Water Park. There wasn't much out in plain sight on the way there, even the pigeons huddled in the lee of the rooftops in Stretford and Chorlton town centres.

Mute swan, Chorlton Water Park

It was relatively quiet at Chorlton Water Park, much more like a pre-lockdown weekday.  All the small birds were keeping under cover here, too, with a lot of house sparrow noises from the hedges round the car park and a song thrush singing from deep inside one of the hawthorn bushes.

Out on the water most of the Canada geese congregated round the slipway with the coots, as usual. There were a few black-headed gulls here but most were congregated in a raft over on the Barlow Tip end out of the wind. The usual single male pochard was asleep under the usual tree, as usual. The tufted ducks swam in groups near the margins of the lake, as did three goldeneye — a drake and two ducks. 

Tufted duck, Chorlton Water Park

The usual herd of mute swans was dispersed around the lake. Last year's cygnets are now mostly white with rusty patches on their flight feathers, heads and necks and their heads still have that slightly rounded "duckling" shape to them. The grey of their bills has become a salmon pink and it won't be long before their parents make it clear they're no longer welcome.

Mute swan, Chorlton Water Park

It was a bit more sheltered in Barlow Tip, more like Spring, especially in the company of my first singing chiffchaff of the year.

River Mersey, Chorlton

I walked down to Jackson's Boat. The river was high after last night's rain and the wind was strong and blowing in the opposite direction to its flow so any mallards that ventured far from the riverbank soon got fed up of bobbing up and down like a yo-yo and headed straight back. A carrion crow tried to mob a raven over the power station but as the raven was effectively flying backwards and the crow sideways it was a doomed effort.

The grey wagtails were over by Jackson's Boat, their usual haunts on the rocks being underwater. They were joined by the male that's usually on the river near Broad Ees Dole. The parakeets were relatively quiet, chunnering to themselves in the trees by the car park.

Sale Ees

It was still fairly quiet, I'd only had to negotiate half a dozen cyclists on the riverbank, so I thought I'd chance a visit to Sale Water Park. I walked through Sale Ees which was fairly quiet, most of the small bird noises coming from the creaking of willows in the wind. 

Sale Ees

The bird table by the café was busy with great tits and blue tits, a nuthatch and a couple of dunnocks joining in. No joy with willow tits again today: the wind had blown the bird table clean and the willow tits rarely try to use the tube feeders.

Sale Water Park

The lake at Sale Water Park's a bit more exposed than is Chorlton Water Park so all the birds — even the lesser black-backs and cormorants — were hugging the margins. 

Broad Ees Dole

The water was high on Broad Ees Dole with just the trees to show where the island should be. A dozen gadwall fed around the submerged tree roots in the company of a few coots and a Canada goose. Half a dozen dabchicks bobbed around the pool and pairs of teal hugged the margins. There were more Canada geese on the teal pool, together with a pair of rather disconsolate looking herons sheltering in the reedbed.

Stretford Ees

I walked back into Stretford through Stretford Ees, bumping into a great spotted woodpecker in the trees by the electricity pylon. I was approaching Hawthorn Lane when the Heavens opened. I'd been lucky to have avoided rain that long.