Lazy day

Ivy Green 

I felt like having a dawdly sort of day today. After an early lunch I toddled over to see what was about on the local patch. It didn't feel that there was much about but there was a fair variety. It was good to see the buzzard, though it was heard far more than it was seen. A couple of redwings did a surprisingly good job of looking inconspicuous in the bare trees, And a singing reed bunting was a bit of a surprise.

• Black-headed Gull 1
• Blackbird 2
• Blue Tit 3
• Buzzard 1
• Carrion Crow 5
• Dunnock 1
• Feral Pigeon 8
• Goldfinch 12
• Great Tit 6
• Greenfinch 2
• Herring Gull 1
• Long-tailed Tit 3
• Magpie 15
• Mistle Thrush 1
• Redwing 2
• Reed Bunting 1
• Robin 8
• Starling 1
• Woodpigeon 5
• Wren 3

Barton Clough 

I got the 25 into Chorlton and had an hour's wander round Ivy Green and Chorlton Ees. There were more birds heard than seen, singing coal tits and song thrushes making themselves heard over the screeching of parakeets; robins, wrens and great tits called from the undergrowth while blue tits, blackbirds and dunnocks quietly rummaged about. One pair of blue tits were busy chipping away at a new nest hole, the entrance was evidently a bit of a tight fit especially when trying to carry bits of moss in to line the nest. Carrion crows and magpies were building nests in the treetops, judging by their excessively furtive manner I suspect a pair of jays were doing similar. I couldn't see any signs of the parakeets nesting yet despite all the interest they were showing in the telegraph pole by Jackson's Boat a few weeks ago. I noticed the usual buzzard was soaring over the golf course. The recovery of the local buzzard population this side of the millennium has been remarkable.

I had a bit of a wait for the 18 back to the Trafford Centre from Barlow Moor so I spent quarter of an hour watching the feeders by the café on Sale Water Park. It was difficult for anything to squeeze through the crowds of great tits on the fat balls but the long-tailed tits somehow managed. A few blue tits and a couple of coal tits waited for the occasional lull in the crowds, which were few and brief. A quick check of the time and I headed for the bus after a nice little cameo of a walk.

Ivy Green