Mersey Valley and Carrington Moss

Chiffchaff, Sinderland Brook

I thought I'd have an afternoon's wander over Cob Kiln Wood and perhaps nip over to Banky Meadow while the weather was behaving itself.

Blue tit, Cob Kiln Wood

The main players in Cob Kiln Wood were chiffchaffs, great tits and blue tits. The hedgerows had plenty of chaffinches and house sparrows, nearly all of them quietly going about their business. One male house sparrow sang loudly from one of the hawthorn bushes. A sparrowhawk quietly shot overhead and headed for Urmston Meadows.

Long-tailed tit, Cob Kiln Wood

A couple of blackcaps sang from either end of the field with the electricity pylons. It took a while to find any of the long-tailed tits I know live here, I'd pretty much given up on them when a pair bobbed up at knee height from the brambles by the path.

River Mersey, Ashton-on-Mersey

I crossed the river onto Banky Lane. Lots more chiffchaffs sang in the trees along the lane. I left the main path when I got to Banky Meadow and took the loop that meets the river then curves round to meet the main path at the car park. The river at this point was bereft of bird life, not so much as a moorhen. Another (the same?) sparrowhawk flew quite high overhead towards Carrington. There were plenty of butterflies about and I added comma and orange tip to the year list.

Skylark in song flight, Carrington Moss

On a whim I crossed Carrington Road and took the national bridleway to Carrington. Lots more chiffchaffs and blackcaps were singing in the trees along the path. There were a hundred or more woodpigeons on the open fields, accompanied by a dozen each of magpies and carrion crows and a small flock of stock doves. The walk was accompanied by the song of duelling skylarks.

I'd got to the stand of conifers when a burst of manic twitterings announced the arrival of four swallows.

I got to Isherwood Road and decided to have a wander over Carrington Moss, stopping to find where a raven was cronking from on the electricity station.

A great spotted woodpecker was drumming from the woods by the Shell Pool. It was still possible to see the pool from the path, in a few weeks' time there'll be too much foliage in the way. At least 250 black-headed gulls were making a racket. A single herring gull lurked at the edge of the crowd. I could see a few Canada geese and mallard, just the one gadwall, and I could hear but not see a dabchick. Three sand martins flew over, unlike the swallows they didn't make a sound.

Carrington Moss

I turned at the corner by the old chemical works and headed down the path through the trees. As usual there were plenty of chaffinches and goldfinches along this stretch and it was nice to find a pair of siskins working their way through the alders. The only buzzard of the day rose and fell from the edge of the trees and disappeared over the fields. The wind was picking up now and had a definite edge to it.

Carrington Moss

I'd just joined Brookheys Road (which sounds rather grand for what is, essentially, a pack horse trail) when a violently bright male yellowhammer dashed out of the trees to feed in the stubble in the field.

Yellowhammer, Carrington Moss

I walked down the path along Sinderland Brook. The hedges were heaving with goldfinches and chiffchaffs. 

Thence down Sinderland Lane, through Broad Heath and a bus into Stretford from Altrincham, then a walk home from the town centre. A fair old walk, and a very good afternoon's birdwatching.