Mersey Valley

Grey wagtail, River Mersey

I've not heard or seen anything convincingly like a lesser whitethroat this year so I had a wander round Stretford Meadows taking an eccentric series of paths across the Northern side to try and take in as many bramble patches as possible. No lesser whitethroats today but there were a good few chiffchaffs and blackcaps in the trees and half a dozen common whitethroats singing from the hawthorn bushes on the open rises.

Stretford Meadows

The recent cold snap seems to have had an impact on the butterflies: at the beginning of April there was the usual mix of whites and Vannesids kicking about, lately it's just a smattering of large whites, orange tips and brimstones and today was no exception. Hopefully the change in the weather will bring more out.

Early purple orchid, Stretford Meadows

The early purple orchids were in full bloom in the damp patches of scabby grass near the cricket pitch.

Fallen white poplar, Stretford Meadows

The Spring storms have taken their toll of the trees along the path through the wooded patch at the Eastern end of the meadows. The white poplars in particular look to have lost a lot of limbs and a couple had blown over. There were plenty of small birds being very inconspicuous, quiet contact calls being the only clues to their presence. A family of long-tailed tits included a dozen youngsters with their black Zorro masks.

I surprised a pair of bullfinches feeding on dandelion seeds by the path running along Kickety Brook. I was as surprised as they were.

Stretford Ees, the end of Kickety Brook

Reed buntings and whitethroats sang from the scrub on Stretford Ees while house martins and swifts flew about overhead. A flock of goldfinches had been twittering about in the tops of the trees by the cemetery but I only managed to see them once they'd been spooked by a passing kestrel. A ring-necked parakeet flew in from the cemetery and settled in the trees by Turn Moss. I was watching a couple of grey wagtails on the river when I bumped into my first dragonfly of the year, an azure damselfly.

The bridge at Jackson's Boat is closed (no surprise there, it's been like the Wobbly Wobbly Way for years) so I decided not to explore Chorlton Ees today so I went and crossed the river by the tram lines. Another grey wagtail fed by the river under the bridge.

Grey wagtail, River Mersey

There were a lot more azure damselflies on Broad Ees Dole, it looked like there'd been a mass emergence in the big drain by the path. For once there wasn't much on the "teal pool," just the one singing reed warbler. There was a little more on the hide pool: three herons, a dabchick and a family of coots. There were more dabchicks and a few mallards in the creeks and drains away from the pools.

Broad Ees Dole

There wasn't much on the lake at Sale Water Park, the herd of a couple of dozen mute swans outnumbered the coots and Canada geese.

Young coots, Sale Water Park

The woodland was more productive. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps, robins and song thrushes sang, magpies chattered and goldfinches twittered about. I'd noticed a hole in one of the tree trunks the other day and thought to myself it looked like a woodpecker nest. This was confirmed today when I caught a male great spotted woodpecker coming out of it.

Great spotted woodpecker. Sale Water Park

The female woodpecker came to the feeders by the cafe. Other visitors included a couple of blue tits, a pair of great tits, a nuthatch and a jay.

Jay. Sale Water Park

After a brief nosey round Sale Ees without adding to the day's tally I got the tram over the river into Chorlton and got the bus home.