Stretford and Sale

Broad Ees Dole

I tried to time my afternoon stroll to avoid Bank Holiday cyclists and dog walkers. The timing worked for Stretford Meadows, not so well once I'd walked down to Sale Water Park where the dogs were hard-pressed to keep their unruly humans in line.

As usual I started my walk over Stretford Meadows from Newcroft Road, the trees being full of the songs of chiffchaffs and goldfinches. The wrens, robins and great tits were more sporadic singers and the blue tits went about their business in silence.

Stretford Meadows

Out in the open it was very quiet, not least because for the first time I can remember there wasn't even a single magpie about. The usual pheasant called from somewhere near the cricket pitch, a few reed buntings sang from bushes and just the one whitethroat sang from a bramble patch.

Walking down along Kickety Brook to Stretford Ees made up the magpie deficit in spades.

Stretford Ees

A pair of grey wagtails chased each other round the riverbank as I crossed over to Sale Water Park.

The lake is at its quietest this time of year, there weren't even many Canada geese or mallards with the mute swans demanding feeding over by the water sports centre. A few coots were nesting in the reed margins, a lone great crested grebe swam mid-water and the only gulls were half a dozen immature herring gulls and two black-headed gulls.

Broad Ees Dole was busier with half a dozen pairs of Canada geese on the two pools, a few pairs of mallards on the teal pool and a couple of pairs of teal lurking in the depths beneath the trees roots in the drains. The water in the pool by the hide was still very high and the island was almost entirely submerged. A couple of female teals dozed on what was left while a mallard duck shepherded her ducklings away from a pair of nesting coots.  

Mute swans on Barrow Brook

I spent a while watching the feeding station while I had a drink by the cafe. No willow tits today but a male great spotted woodpecker kept trying to pluck up the courage to visit the feeders. This was when I discovered I hadn't put the memory card back in the camera after I'd loaded yesterday's photos onto my laptop.