Mosses again

Twelve Yards Road

Another day of indecision so I got the 100 from the Trafford Centre and had a wander over Chat Moss, passing a peregrine falcon sitting in the roof of the Beyond building along the way.

Cutnook Lane

I got off the bus at Cutnook Lane and walked over the motorway bridge. There were plenty of small birds in the trees and hedgerows but only the goldfinches and blackbirds were making any noise. A few woodpigeons fed on the paddocks with the horses while a flock of swallows hawked low over the turf fields. A crocodile of infant schoolkids marched in unruly order out of the fishery, that looked like a smashing school trip and it shows how little traffic there is down this lane.

Twelve Yards Road was, if anything, even quieter. There were plenty of woodpigeons in the fields, mostly hidden by herbage. Every so often a dozen or so would rise unexpectedly from the crops and settle on a fence further down. A single lapwing flew overhead. Pied wagtails and meadow pipits foraged in the ploughed fields but were hard to see unless they flew up onto a ridge. Two or three tree sparrows called loudly from the thick hedge by the track leading to one of the farms. Every so often I'd see them fly out of one bush only to disappear completely into the foliage of another. The whitethroats were just as bad but tended to lurk in the ditches beneath the hawthorn hedges along the road. This time of year is hard work for small bird spotting.

Little Woolden Moss

Little Woolden Moss was quieter than last time with fewer meadow pipits and pied wagtails and no yellow wagtails or reed buntings. A couple of the meadow pipits were collecting food for nestlings. A couple of kestrels flew low over before turning their attentions to the barley fields. A hobby caught a couple of dragonflies high over the other side of the reserve before flying off towards Glazebury.

I was conscious that I'd not seen any dragonflies on Chat Moss and just a couple of common darters so far on Little Woolden Moss. This changed drastically when I walked round onto the path towards Glazebury: the dragonflies were all hunting in the hedges and ditches on this side. Some more common darters, four-spotted chasers and a couple of emperors were joined by my first ruddy darters and black darters of the year.

I walked slowly along the path to the farm, hoping for a singing quail or another nice view of the Channel wagtail. This time there were no surprises, no yellow wagtails of any flavour and only a few meadow pipits.

A very pleasant but very quiet walk down Moss Lane into Glazebury and the bus into Leigh and then home.