Salford

Goosander

The day's plans fell afoul of Northern's cancellations so I caught up with my sleep while the cat was playing on the dustbin (she likes to scowl at passersby). I didn't feel like doing much so I headed into town and over into Salford for a walk along the Irwell.

I got off the bus at Broughton Bridge and met the usual mob of marauding Canada geese. I threaded my way past them and onto the riverbank for a walk.

A few mallards and Canada geese loafed at the water's edge while three goosanders — two redheads and a first-Winter drake — drifted along on the river. A little further along a drake goldeneye swam and dived midstream.

Goldeneye

Goosander

Almost as remarkable as the Goldeneye were the three woodpigeons flying overhead.

Walking through the housing estate I bumped into a mixed tit flock, a large family of long-tailed tits with two blue tits and a great tit tagging along.

Cormorants

The Meadow was very quiet, just a couple of robins in the hedgerows. The river by Peel Park was quiet, too, just a handful of mallards and a Canada goose, the rest of the waterfowl were upstream under Spider Bridge. There were a few blackbirds about and three redwings and a grey wagtail flew overhead. The birds were just as affected by the gloomy weather as I was, there were already twenty-seven cormorants and seven herons roosting in the trees by The Crescent.

I crossed the road and got the 100 bus to the Trafford Centre and thence home by sunset.