Mersey Valley

Ring-necked parakeet, Chorlton Water Park

A busy morning turned into a busy lunchtime and I was pretty much settling down for having a day at home watching the long-tailed tits and mistle thrushes bouncing round in the railway embankment sycamores. But it seemed a shame to waste the cob end of a nice afternoon and I needed some exercise and it was more than high time I got ring-necked parakeet onto the year list so I bobbed over to Chorlton Water Park and had a walk back through Chorlton Ees and Ivy Green.

It was fairly quiet at the water park. Well, it would have been had it not been for the parakeets shouting at each other in the treetops. The local population seems to be on the increase big time. The goldfinches were out in force feeding on the young alders by the lake, well out of the way of the parakeets.

Goldfinch, Chorlton Water Park

Out on the water there were a lot fewer mallards and Canada geese than usual (it turned out a lot of the mallards were on the river).  The sixty-odd black-headed gulls were accompanied by a few common gulls and herring gulls. A dozen tufted ducks were preening and diving by the island at the Barlow Tip end of the lake. If the pochard with half a wing's still about I didn't see him.

Chorlton Water Park

A small flock of half a dozen redwings flew into the trees at the edge of Barlow Tip, spent a minute rattling at each other then flew off in the direction of Chorlton Ees.

The Mersey was running high and fast so there wasn't much chance of seeing the grey wagtails in their usual haunts. I'd probably be a bit late for them anyway, the impression I get (probably entirely erroneously) is that grey wagtails are early risers while pied wagtails are night owls. There were plenty of mallards on the river and three cormorants flew low over heading for Sale Water Park.

The parakeets were making a loud song and dance of coming in to roost at Jackson's Boat.

It was a lot quieter in Chorlton Ees, a couple of parakeets screeched through, a few robins and wrens sang in the undergrowth and a bunch of carrion crows came in to roost with a lot of cawing and clattering. In contrast a couple of herons came to roost in absolute silence.

Chorlton Ees

A couple of hundred jackdaws had settled into the roost at Ivy Green, with plenty more coming in as I walked through. Every so often they'd settle and quieten down a bit and let the robins and song thrushes make themselves heard.

Jackdaws, Ivy Green

It had only been a short walk, not quite three miles, but a fair bit the of birdwatching and a nice bit of twilight in the woodland.

Ivy Green