Mersey Valley

Fledgling pied wagtail, Sale Water Park

I hadn't intended going out for a walk on a Bank Holiday Sunday afternoon but I was feeling oppressed by the cat so had a wander down to Stretford Meadows. 

Stretford Meadows

Much to my dismay somebody's been at the meadows with a strimmer, taking out a few of the bramble patches including one that I found the most reliable place to find lesser whitethroats last year. They're being reported from elsewhere on the meadows (I had no luck today) so not all is lost. There were plenty of chiffchaffs, willow warblers and whitethroats about and singing, together with a couple of blackcaps. Four sand martins flew over as I walked in from Newcroft Road and a swallow flew by at knee high as I approached the crest of the rise. The usual pheasant was giving a running commentary on the match being played on the cricket pitch.

Willow warbler, Stretford Meadows

Three buzzards soared overhead, two floated off towards the Trafford Centre while the other was Cheshire bound. No sign of the kestrels again today.

Stretford Ees

I walked down through Stretford Ees to Sale Water Park. There wasn't a lot on the lake at the Western end. Broad Ees Dole was quiet too, probably because a bunch of teenagers were congregated by the hide for an afternoon's loud gossip. There's at least one Canada goose nest on the go. A pair of goosanders were loafing on the island in the company of a couple of black-headed gulls and a coot.

The Eastern end of the lake was busier, the herd of swans congregating over by the slipway and Canada geese peppered liberally over the water. Two pairs of geese had young goslings in tow. About forty sand martins and a handful of swallows hawked low over the water for insects. A pied wagtail split its time between catching flies low over the water and feeding the fledgling that was shadowing it. This is perhaps the only circumstance where pied wagtails are dead quiet.

Jay, Sale Water Park

I had a quick look at the feeders. A couple of jays tried their best to monopolise the fat feeders but a pair of great tits and a nuthatch managed to slip in for a feed every so often.