Frodsham

Marsh harrier

I decided to go over to Frodsham today. It was a bright Spring day, I've not been there yet this year and I was feeling lazy so an easy trip out with a simple connection at Oxford Road appealed to me.

I saw my first butterfly of the year, a peacock, as the train passed through Winwick into Warrington. There were more butterflies, all small tortoiseshells, along the paths on Frodsham Marsh. Walking along Moorditch Lane every fifty yards there was a singing chiffchaff, robin or wren and goldfinches flitted between trees.

Frodsham Marsh, walking up to No.6 Lagoon

I took the path up past No.6 Lagoon. The sheep shared the fields with flocks of jackdaws and woodpigeons and half a dozen carrion crows swaggered about. 

Black-tailed godwits

Black-tailed godwits

Over on the lagoon there were a couple of hundred shovelers, mostly asleep on the far bank, dozens of mallards, teal, tufted ducks, coots and shelducks and about a hundred black-tailed godwits, mostly clustered together in the shallows by the reeds by the near bank. There were a few black-headed gulls loafing and bathing on the open water and a pair of dabchicks over at the deep end. A couple of redshanks and a lapwing were the only other waders I could find and they took some finding amongst the crowd of shovelers. A couple of Cetti's warblers sang, one from the bank of the lagoon and one from some brambles in the drain at the side of the path.

No.6 Lagoon

Marsh harrier

Marsh harriers

A couple of marsh harriers had been hunting at either end of the lagoon. They flew over and started skydancing together high above the wind turbines.

The clean-up crew attends to a dead sheep.
The small black birds are carrion crows, the others are ravens.

Ravens

I'd seen a couple of ravens flying about as I walked down the path. There was a crowd of them in one of the fields feeding on a dead sheep with a few carrion crows. At first I thought it was crows and jackdaws then some of the ravens flew over to the reedbeds on the lagoon and I realised I'd entirely misjudged the scale.

Walking further I was very aware that there was raven ribaldry going on over the other side of the high bank and they seemed very pleased with themselves about it. Eventually they flew up and flew acrobatic circles round each other, cronking their delight all the while. Ravens I am sure love flying for the fun of it, any bird flying upside down for no reason whatsoever must be enjoying themselves. A soaring buzzard drifted over and I thought the ravens might break off to give it a hard time but they were too busy with each other to be bothered. The buzzard made sure to climb sharply so that it was always soaring above the ravens, just in case.

Ravens

Lordship Lane 

I dropped down onto Lordship Lane which in parts was as muddy as hell, which by its standards is hardly at all. Flocks of linnets and goldfinches twittered between fields and hedgerows, more chiffchaffs, robins and wrens sang and a Cetti's warbler sang from a tangle of nettles and water hemlock in the drain by the lane.

Lordship Lane, a dry bit

I walked down Rake Lane into Helsby, chaffinches and great tits joining the linnets in the hedges and flocks of stock doves and woodpigeons feeding in the stubble fields. Another marsh harrier put up a flock of linnets over by the gutter.

I just missed the train back to Manchester from Helsby so I got the bus into Frodsham and was just in time for the next train from there (the Chester to Leeds train that skips Helsby). I'd had a very pleasant afternoon's walk and while the birdwatching hadn't felt busy it had still offered plenty to enjoy.

As I was walking home from Humphrey Park Station there was a commotion amongst the jackdaws, woodpigeons and starlings on Lostock School's playing field. I looked around for the usual sparrowhawk and found a male peregrine instead. Having scattered the birds he did a handbrake turn around one of the rooftops and steamed off towards the Trafford Centre.