Etherow Country Park

Mandarin duck porn, Etherow Country Park

It was a grey day with a brisk wind adding a further edge to an already cool lunchtime. I was a bit low energy today so I wandered over to Etherow Country Park to take photos of mandarin ducks.

Beech trees by the canalside lane

I got off the 383 at Compstall post office and walked into the country park. Robins, dunnocks and chiffchaffs sang in the bushes and jackdaws and pigeons flew about overhead. Just the two black-headed gulls and a flock of twenty or so sand martins hawking over the boating pond were signs of Spring. Another was the Canada goose nest with the four eggs in it, the parents being too busy hissing at passing coots to sit on them.

Mandarin duck, Etherow Country Park

There weren't many mandarin ducks on the canal, most of the pairs were whistling at each other in the trees by the river.

Scanning the river as I approached the weir I noticed that the white goose was back in station by the bridge and a grey wagtail was flitting about in the rapids. I almost missed the dipper dozing on the rocks.

Dipper, River Etherow

I tried to find the dipper again from the bridge but had no luck. I did find a heron that had been hidden by the unusually large volume of water pouring into the river from the canal overflow.

Heron, River Etherow

Heron, River Etherow

Keg Wood 

I've not been getting the long walks in the past few weeks and it's been showing so I thought I'd give the knees and wind a bit of a workout on the dips and rises in Keg Wood. The woods were lively with birdsong, mostly blackbirds, robins, chiffchaffs and nuthatches, and titmice and goldfinches bounced through the trees. Someone had been through earlier today scattering bird food in small dumps and these were proving popular with the squirrels, great tits and nuthatches. A couple of great tits walked up to me on the path in the hopes I might have something on me, which sadly I didn't.

Nuthatch, Keg Wood

The paths were densely lined with wild garlic and dog's mercury and here and there the first drifts of bluebells were in bloom. I was struck by how dark many of them were this year. I noticed that one pair of nuthatches had a nest right next to the path so I moved on quickly so's not to disturb it any.

Bluebells, Keg Wood

Passing the orchard I started to hear more blackcaps and willow warblers with the chiffchaffs and a pheasant was calling from somewhere up the hill. I stopped for refreshments at Sunny Corner, sitting in the wooden bus shelter affair overlooking the trees. This is a good spot if you keep fairly still. Within minutes I had pairs of robins, nuthatches and blue tits feeding just yards away and they were soon joined by chaffinches, great tits and coal tits. A family of carrion crows were making a racket in the trees on the other side of the dip.

Pied flycatcher, Keg Wood

Later on I was watching a pair of squirrels chasing each other around in the undergrowth when a flash of white in a holly bush caught my eye. It turned out to be a female pied flycatcher, which was an unexpected pleasure. It was very distant and very active, like a rather manic goldcrest. About five minutes later I found a male flycatcher being a little less frenetic but no less distant. I hope they're a pair and they linger rather than passing through. There are more than enough old trees and nest boxes about in the woods for them to choose from.

Pied flycatcher, Keg Wood

Robin, Keg Wood

It started drizzling as I made my way back out of the wood but it didn't last long. Just to be on the safe side I opted for the high level path back to the visitor centre, the trees providing a bit more shelter than the canalside paths.

River Etherow 

A handful of swallows had joined the sand martins over the boating lake. I had one last look round and made why way over for the bus back into Stockport and thence the bus home. One of those afternoons where you don't expect much and receive plenty.