Elton Reservoir

Black-headed gulls, coots, mallards and mute swan

I decided to have another go at that walk round Elton Reservoir I didn't do the other week. I got the tram to Bury and the 471 to Bolton Road and walked down to the reservoir.

The feeders in the car park have been fully refreshed and replenished and a horde of blue tits, great tits and chaffinches bullied a couple of squirrels off the peanut feeders. Goldfinches, long-tailed tits and a chiffchaff joined the titmice while a flock of house sparrows made raiding sorties from the hawthorn bushes.

Great crested grebes and tufted duck

The reservoir's still low but was very busy with birds. About a hundred black-headed gulls loafed near the sailing club while a few dozen lesser black-backs and herring gulls bobbed around mid-water. There were dozens of coots, mallards and teal and a dozen great crested grebes and a flock of fifty or so Canada geese cruised up and down the reservoir. There were only a couple of cygnets with the mute swans today, the others have probably moved on before they were moved on.

Elton Reservoir 

The electricity pylons were lined with starlings, the grass was littered with magpies and the trees and bushes in the creek were absolutely heaving with small birds. A mixed tit flock included a couple of dozen long-tailed tits, a dozen blue tits, eight or nine great tits and a couple each of chiffchaffs and chaffinches as hangers-on. I couldn't work out whether the rather noisy juvenile willow warbler was on its own or with the crowd. A small flock of goldfinches twittering round the treetops had a linnet in tow with them.

A flock of sand martins had passed high overhead by the sailing club. A handful of swallows passed low over the creek, hardly stopping to feed. It's getting to the time of year when I start wondering if I'll be seeing the last of them. Not just them: will the common hawkers and red admirals skittering about in the creek be the last dragonflies and butterflies of the year?

A passing birdwatcher tipped me off to look for three black-tailed godwits on the shore and that a common sandpiper had been doing the rounds. I didn't have a lot of hope of seeing them along this stretch as a couple of dogs had been frolicking in the water but it was useful to bear in mind for later.

The dogs hadn't long moved on before the teal moved in and started dabbling at the water's edge. They weren't in crowds but looking round I reckon there must have been a hundred of them dotted round the reservoir. I checked out the teals and the tufted ducks and the raft of large gulls but couldn't find anything that shouldn't have been there.

Withins Reservoir 

I had a quick shufti at Withins Reservoir. The fields were full of Canada geese, woodpigeons and jackdaws but the reservoir itself was quiet with just a cormorant and a tufted duck swimming about.

It's that time of year when juvenile great crested grebes in the middle of reservoirs make you look twice

I returned to Elton Reservoir and walked along the South bank, scanning Northern shore to see if I'd missed anything hidden by trees and bushes. I spotted the three godwits quite quickly but took a long time making sure of the identification as they were fairly distant and dozing with their beaks tucked into their back feathers. I scanned in vain for any other waders, there weren't even any lapwings about. Three male pied wagtails chasing each other round the water line were rather easier to identify.

As I approached the sailing club a cloud of house martins descended and started feeding above the reservoir.

Another visit to Elton Reservoir, another urgent 'phone call, the place must be jinxed. Luckily this time it wasn't anything important in the end.