Northwich

Juvenile black tern, Budworth Mere

I haven't been to Northwich for a walk among the woods and flashes this year, I'd planned on doing so when the lockdown was lifted but the roof fell in at the station so trains couldn't stop for a while and I've not got round to it since it was reopened. So I decided it was high time I went for a wander.

Northwich Station

I walked down Old Warrington Road and over the bridge onto Marbury Lane. I'd expected another fairly quiet walk through the wooded areas, instead I kept bumping into mixed tit flocks and the calling of chiffchaffs and robins was only interrupted by the loud tappings of nuthatches opening beech nuts and, a couple of times, the echoing rapping of great spotted woodpeckers. A buzzard soaring overhead returned the calls of a couple of noisy juveniles over in Marbury Country Park. A couple of common hawkers heralded what was going to be a bumper day for dragonflies.

Marbury Country Park

Over the canal and into Marbury Country Park. One of the fields that had been an icy wasteland on my last visit was lush and wet, a mallard joining a herd of cattle as they cooled their hooves in a big puddle. Behind them the two dark brown objects twitching in the long grass turned out to be a hare's ears.

I walked through to Budworth Mere, a few migrant hawkers whirring along the tops of the hawthorn hedges and occasionally breaking off to chase a large fly or two. On the way in to Northwich I'd noticed reports of a juvenile black-necked grebe and a juvenile black tern on the mere so I had hopes of perhaps seeing one or other of them.

Tufted ducks and juvenile black-necked grebe, Budworth Mere

I'd walked a little way down the path along the water's edge when I got to a gap in the trees and spotted a group of tufted ducks over on the opposite bank. Scanning through them I found half a dozen juvenile great crested grebes and a dabchick with the ducks but no black-necked grebe. I moved on a little and found a few more tufties by that bank. There was also something a lot paler, which dived just as I was getting it into focus. I told myself to calm down, it was just a tuftie lying on its back preening its belly.

A little way further along I bumped into a couple of birders. "The black-necked grebe's just over there," they said. Bugger. It wasn't a tuftie preening its belly. Nil desp. I carried on and found a seat that let me take a closer look at the tufties through a gap in the trees. In less than a minute the grebe drifted into view, a nice juvenile in shades of white and dusty grey with bright red eyes and a neat dark cap. I watched it a while, taking the opportunity to compare size, shape and jizz between the three species of grebe and the tufted ducks while they were in one field of view.

Budworth Mere

I retraced my steps, stopping every so often to look through the Canada geese and greylags on the far bank and the black-headed gulls loafing on the water, finding a few herons and common gulls in the process.

Something smaller and darker flew in and flitted around over the gulls picking insects off the water's surface. The black tern! A juvenile showing incredibly well. As it twisted and turned the contrast between the pale underparts and dusky grey upperparts was picked out in the bright sunshine. The best view of a black tern I've had in years, and even longer since I've seen one in sunshine. A beggar to try and photograph, mind.

Black tern, Budworth Mere

I bumped into the birders again and we exchanged kind words about the tern and the grebe, lamentations on the decline in the population of lesser spotted woodpeckers and a few general anodynes.

Bracken, Marbury Country Park

I wandered through Big Wood back towards the canal. I spent a couple of minutes at the big hide. Even though the feeders were empty there were plenty of small birds including a mixed tit flock, willow warblers and chiffchaffs and a couple of goldcrests. I managed to start recognising the difference in call between the willow warblers and chiffchaffs so I'm confident I'll get the ID dead wrong next time I try.

Common blue, Dairy House Meadows

A few brown hawkers and common darters patrolled the canal banks. Walking down into Dairy House Meadows there were more common hawkers and common darters, a couple of ruddy darters and a few deliriously technicolour southern hawkers. There were still enough thistles and knapweeds on the meadows to cater for a few dozen butterflies, mostly small tortoiseshells and meadow browns with a few common blues courting and mating as they fed.

Dairy House Meadows

I dropped down onto Neumann's Flash and peered through the reeds. Plenty of mallards, teals and coots loafing on the water and half a dozen drake wigeons dabbling at the edges of the reedbeds in their bright ginger biscuit eclipse plumage.

A mixed flock of swallows and sand martins hawked very high over the flash, invisible without binoculars. Fifty-odd black-headed gulls and a couple of dozen lapwings dozed on the far bank.

There were a lot more teal on Ashton's Flash dabbling round the roots of the drowned trees.

All in all a pretty good day.