Etherow Country Park

Mandarin duck

I was in a dawdly sort of mood so I dragged myself over to Etherow Country Park to have a look at the mandarin ducks. Much to my surprise I couldn't find any, at least not until I got to the weir where a couple were pottering about with the white goose that was there last time I came to visit. There were plenty of mallards and black-headed gulls about, the three Muscovy ducks were back but relatively few coots and moorhens, perhaps because it was a busy Saturday afternoon.

River Etherow 

I had hoped that a dearth of mandarins might be balanced out by an overabundance of dippers on the river but not only weren't there any of them the usual grey wagtails were nowhere to be seen either.The feeders in the garden by the weir had been replenished and was busy with blue tits, great tits and nuthatches.

Keg Wood 

I had a wander round Keg Wood, which turned out to be very quiet. Ernocroft Wood was busier, full of the songs of robins and calls of great tits while a couple of carrion crows bounced around the treetops and a heron flew down towards the river.

The walk back to the bus stop in Compstall was much the same though I noticed another couple of pairs of mandarins at the top of the canal and three new Muscovy ducks near the visitor centre, two all black and one sandy brown (a cross between one of the mullards and a Muscovy?).

An oddly quiet visit here for this time of year.