Dukinfield

Redwing

I'd stayed up into the wee small hours watching the cricket so I decided to keep today's birdwatching short and sweet so's not to tempt fate and doze off in the middle of nowhere. I noticed a firecrest had been reported at Dukinfield Park and headed thataway. There have been a few reports of it over the past month which suggested that it was probably still going to be about but would be pretty elusive. I haven't seen a firecrest this side of the millennium and don't know Dukinfield Park so even if I ended up looking for a needle in a haystack and finding straw I'd have explored somewhere new to me.

Google Maps suggested a variety of ways of getting there. Seeing as how the park's scarcely a mile from Hyde North Station I kept it simple and got the Rose Hill Marple train from Piccadilly, got off at Hyde North and walked there. It was a cool, cloudy February day so the walk was no bother.

Dukinfield Park 

Dukinfield Park's slightly smaller than my local patch, Lostock Park, but is built on a series of steps up the slope to the bowling green so it probably irons out to the same size. There's not a lot of extensive grass but plenty of trees along the paths filled with squirrels and woodpigeons that evidently make a good living by mugging passersby for peanuts. I felt guilty being one of the few people not carrying a bag of monkey nuts.

A few other people were looking for the firecrest and had as much luck finding it as I did. There were plenty of titmice about, nuthatches sang, finches flitted about and sang in the trees. There were enough conifers and holly trees to provide plenty of cover for any very small birds and enough flittings about in the undergrowth to keep me looking. I gave it just over an hour and ceded defeat. A small flock of redwings flew down to throw leaves about the path in front of me as a consolation prize.

I got the 330 into Ashton and made my way home. A long shot hadn't come off but I was no worse off for giving it a go and it had been a nice little stroll.