Pennington Flash

Oystercatchers and lapwings

I've been gadding about in search of exotic additions to the year list so I thought I should have a wander round Pennington Flash to see some of the regulars.

I was unlucky with bus connections and the 126 got embroiled in slow crawling traffic on the M60 so I arrived quite a bit later than planned. On the plus side, it was good to see the kestrel back at the RHS Worsley bus stop, I was beginning to worry he'd gone the way of the roe deer.

Bradshaw Leach Meadow

The path into Pennington Flash was fairly quiet, just a few robins and woodpigeons, and it wasn't until I had nearly reached the brook that I bumped into the first mixed tit flock. Interestingly it was the coal tits that were most conspicuously vocal, the blue tits and great tits were pretty quiet and it was only by accident I found a nuthatch rummaging through some ivy with a pair of woodpigeons. The second noisiest bird in the troupe was a goldcrest, which shows you how quiet the others were. Even the redwings and song thrush rummaging about in the undergrowth with a bunch of blackbirds were silent.

The water on the brook was pretty high, which may explain the mute swan feeding in there.

Pennington Flash

The car park oystercatcher was tricky to find today: it was right in the middle of a pack of feeding Canada geese. The usual mallards, coots and moorhens milled about accosting strangers for food despite the "Please do not feed the birds at the moment due to an outbreak of Avian Flu" notices.

Out in the water there were perhaps fifty tufted ducks scattered about in small rafts of no more than eight birds and a couple of dozen goldeneyes dotted about in one's and twos. All the great crested grebes were over in the bight by Ramsdales Hide. There were hundreds of black-headed gulls but not many large gulls: a couple of dozen each of herring gulls and lesser black-backs, a few common gulls and just the one great black-back.

Oystercatchers, lapwings and black-headed gull

A bit more of the spit was exposed by the Horrocks Hide and most of it was covered in lapwings, oystercatchers and woodpigeons. A few cormorants loitered at the end and pairs of teal dabbled round the edges with a few mallards.

Lapwings, cormorants, Canada geese and herring gulls

The Tom Edmondson Hide was locked up when I got there, which was a pity as there were lots of tufted ducks, shovelers and gadwall on the pool and at least five herons loafing at the side.

Great crested grebes and Canada geese

Ramsdales Hide was locked, too, but that's no great hardship as the screen by the hide gives good views. The islands were exposed again, which gave the thirty-odd teal somewhere to sit. The great crested grebes were swimming around in a rather mannered way as a group, perhaps preparatory to pairing up if they haven't already been.

Pennington Flash

I noticed the three-cornered leeks are in full leaf by the path to Pengy's Hide. It's been a very mild winter, I hope a late frost doesn't take its toll.

The Bunting Hide was locked up, too, but there were enough crowds of titmice, robins and chaffinches in the bushes by the path to keep me occupied though I quickly had to give up any hopes one of them would stay still long enough to have its photo taken. No willow tits today, sadly.

Pennington Golf Course

I walked over the golf course to Pennington Hall Park and the bus back into Leigh. Song thrushes and robins sang in the trees and a pair of goosanders flew overhead towards the flash. The male peregrine perched on the roof of the artificial ski slope by the Trafford Centre was a nice bonus.