Mersey Valley

Great crested grebe steaming in for a fight with the neighbours, Chorlton Water Park

I made the mistake of making a pot of tea before going out so it wasn't until lunchtime that I finally stirred myself to take advantage of a mild, sunny day. It had been quiet in the garden, now the days are longer there aren't the desperate crowd scenes of Winter. Which doesn't mean the bird food isn't being consumed in quick order. Over on the school playing field it was another gull-less morning. The rooks were also conspicuous by their absence.

I got the 84a bus from Humphrey Park into Chorlton, possibly for the last time because it gets the chop next month, and got off at The Bowling Green for a walk through Ivy Green. By the entrance a couple of coal tits were trying to shout over a ring-necked parakeet in the treetops, which sort of set the soundscape for the day.

Chiffchaff, Ivy Green

Robins, wrens and great tits kept up a solid wall of song as I walked down towards Chorlton Brook. Every so often a chiffchaff would pipe up. The ones I managed to see tended to be spending their time gleaning insects from hawthorn bushes, stopping once in a while to "chiff-chaff" a couple of times then get back to feeding. I added to my portfolio of "There was a warbler there a second ago" photos. A couple of courting buzzards slow-wheeled overhead just above the treetops and drifted over Chorlton Ees.

Comma, Ivy Green

Yesterday I saw my first whirligig beetle of the year on a puddle in West Kirby, today I saw this year's first butterflies. The first was a brimstone which quietly went by its business along the top of the bank by the brook. The second was a particularly belligerent comma which came at me a few times before having its bloodlust sated by the sacrifice of a passing jogger.

I crossed over the brook into Chorlton Ees. There were more of the same small birds, with a lot of woodpigeons making clumsy efforts at plucking buds from hawthorns and blackthorns and a treecreeper finding plenty of food in an elder bush. As I approached the gate leading to the riverside path everything went quiet. I glanced up and watched a female sparrowhawk lazily glide overhead.

River Mersey, Jackson's Boat

Walking down towards Jackson's Boat I could hear a buzzard but couldn't see it. Then I looked straight up. Eight buzzards wheeled high overhead, calling all the while. After a couple of minutes they dispersed in pairs. Presumably one of the pairs was the one I saw over Ivy Green. I've never seen this behaviour before, it looked quite different to the usual seeing an intruder off the premises.

Buzzard, Jackson's Boat

There were half a dozen each of Canada geese and mallard on the river between Jackson's Boat and Chorlton Water Park, taking advantage of the river having calmed down from its recent surges. In fact it was so gentle even a couple of moorhens were feeding by the bank.

Peacock, Barlow Tip

Barlow Tip was seething with robins and chiffchaffs. Pairs of long-tailed tits worked their way through the hawthorn scrub and goldfinches sang from the tops of birch trees. The sun had brought out some peacock butterflies and they sunned themselves on the path by the bamboo grove. They'd woken up just as grumpy as the comma butterfly had but luckily for me they confined their aggression between themselves.

Gorse, Barlow Tip

Great crested grebe, just flown in for a fight with the neighbours, Chorlton Water Park

It was evidently a stroppy sort of day all round. A couple of the pairs of great crested grebes on Chorlton Water Park spent as much time scrapping each other as they did indulging in head-wagging courtship displays in the reeds. The few mallards that were on were hiding under trees on the margins, a small raft of half a dozen tufties kept well to themselves and a lone male shoveler drifted about mid-water. The only gulls were two black-headed gulls flying overhead.

Kenworthy Woods

I crossed the river for my first wander round Kenworthy Woods of the year. There were fewer chiffchaffs about. In theory this should be willow warbler country, we'll soon be finding out. The chaffinches that weren't in Ivy Green and Chorlton Ees were singing in the wild cherry trees and a pair of bullfinches chased each other round the treetops.

Chorlton Water Park