Mosses

Pink-footed geese, Chat Moss

I had an afternoon wander over the Salford mosses, taking advantage of the mild and mostly sunny weather. It had been a bright morning but it clouded over the moment I stepped off the train at Irlam. The Irlam Station goldcrest cheered me up a bit and the sun spent the rest of the afternoon playing peep-oh! with the clouds.

Irlam Moss

I walked down Astley Road. The hedgerows were very busy: a large charm of goldfinches bounced around in the trees with a couple of blue tits while a few chaffinches and a lot of blackbirds rummaged in the undergrowth. A couple of female bullfinches flew over and nibbled at some hawthorn buds while in a bramble patch over by the Jack Russell's gate a small flock of greenfinches were hard at it with the blackberry pips. A pair of kestrels in the tree by the gate pretended not to notice me and I did them the courtesy of doing likewise.

Irlam Moss

There weren't many woodpigeons about near the road, they were all flocked together a few fields away by Moss Road. There weren't any pigeons about, either, but a couple of stock doves flew over as I approached the motorway. There was another charm of goldfinches in the hedge by Prospect Grange with a handful of chaffinches and a couple of yellowhammers.

Lapwings, Chat Moss

It was a lot quieter on the other side of the motorway, just a few blackbirds and a robin, until I got to the turf fields. Three mistle thrushes were feeding on the green sward and sixty-odd lapwings were loafing on a freshly-scalped portion over at the far side. A few black-headed gulls fed amongst a flock of woodpigeons and another black-headed gull kept a common gull company in a field nearer the road.

Chat Moss

It might have been because of the time of day but I didn't see any tit flocks or pied wagtails here today.

A murmuration of pink-footed geese, Chat Moss

A murmuration of pink-footed geese, Chat Moss

Just as I got to Four Lanes End a flock of a couple of hundred pink-footed geese rose from the fields further down Astley Road and swirled around in a noisy murmuration. After ten minutes' aerial rhythmic gymnastics the flock drifted over towards Glazebury.

Little Woolden Moss

I had quarter of an hour's nosy round on Little Woolden Moss. There wasn't much birdlife about: a chaffinch and a siskin in the woods, three carrion crows on the marsh and overhead a flock of a dozen lesser black-backs were being guided to their roost by a common gull.

I retraced my steps and had a slow twilight walk down Twelve Yards Road. I'd set out today in the hopes of bumping into an owl somewhere along here. 

Chaffinches and brambling, Chat Moss

I didn't think I'd be seeing much this time of day. How wrong I was!

There were plenty of woodpigeons, carrion crows and magpies feeding in the fields on the corner of Astley Road. A damp field a little further on had a small flock of meadow pipits settling in to roost in the long grass. A big tree had a flock of a few dozen chaffinches fidgeting about in the company of a couple of yellowhammers and at least one brambling. 

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Twelve Yards Road
The tree with the chaffinch flock

A little further on a flock in a small hawthorn included chaffinches, yellowhammers and a couple of reed buntings.

Yellowhammer, Chat Moss

The moon was up and the mist was rising from the fields but there was still no sign of any owls. A scan of the bushes by the barn owl nest boxes found a redpoll amongst the yellowhammers.

Cutnook Lane

I turned onto Cutnook Lane and walked back into Irlam with the last of the blackbirds and redwings rummaging about in the hedgerows. I hadn't seen any owls of any kind but I'd added a few species to the December tally and it had been a very agreeable walk.

Chat Moss