Mosses

A twilit kestrel, Chat Moss

Seeing as how it was a bright, sunny November day I thought I'd have a wander over the mosses via Cutnook Lane. Arriving at the Trafford Centre I just missed the 100 bus to Irlam so I got the 126 to Astley and walked down from there. It turns out the walk through Astley Moss is much nicer from this direction: the sun's in your eyes a lot of the way but you get the tatty semi-industrial bit of Lower Green out of the way early.

Chickens and pheasants, Asrley Moss
(The chickens were the wilder element)

As ever there was a ridiculous number of pheasants in the fields on Astley Moss. And on the paths. And the road.

Along the length of Rindle Road up to the level crossing there were all the elements of a mixed tit flock in the hedgerows — great tits, blue tits, long-tailed tits, even goldcrests — but they never coalesced into a flock. A flock of a dozen stock doves fed in the field opposite Moss Bank Farm and the flock of fifty-odd chaffinches in the trees and hawthorns on the field margins included my first brambling of the year.

On Rindle Road

A big flock of woodpigeons studiously ignored a buzzard in the field by the level crossing.

At the corner by Rindle Farm a flock of pigeons was spooked by either a passing kestrel or a passing low-flying Piper Cherokee, it was difficult to see which caused the most commotion. Except they weren't pigeons. I had a look at the couple of birds that dwarfed the others and they were woodpigeons. The rest, at least a hundred and twenty of them, were collared doves. It took me a while to process this, I've never seen anything remotely like that number all in one place.

Collared doves, Chat Moss

A mistle thrush escorted me along the stretch to Astley Road. I had a chat with a lady who was refilling the feeders in her front garden. As we talked her front garden was full of long-tailed tits, great tits and spadgers. She confirmed where the local barn owls tend to hunt, it was good to know I've been looking in the right place even if I haven't seen them yet. And apparently I need to keep an eye out for little owls, too.

Chat Moss

Further down Astley Road seven lesser redpolls flew overhead in the direction of the trees by the railway line. A kestrel hovered over the field by Mosslands Farm, harassed by a couple of skylarks. There were a bunch of blackbirds and carrion crows in the field between the farmhouse and Twelve Yards Road.

Chat Moss

The sun had set by the time I started down Twelve Yards Road but the twilight was bright and clear. A buzzard perched on a telegraph pole was disturbed by a tractor which eventually joined the two ploughing the field by Cutnook Lane. A few woodpigeons and carrion crows flew about and there was the sound of chaffinches settling in for a night's kip in the hedgerow. I heard but couldn't see what I thought might be a barn owl (but not confidently enough to add it to the year list). While I was looking for it I found a merlin roosting in one of the maple trees in the hedge over by Larkhill House.

Cutnook Lane was pretty quiet except for dog walkers but a few blackbirds in the copse by the motorway bridge made up for it. I didn't have long to wait for the 100 bus to the Trafford Centre.

Looking West from Astley Road