Mersey Valley

Blackbird, Stretford Meadows

It was a muggy sort of day where it was too warm to have your coat on and the wind too chill to leave your coat off. That, and the train strikes, persuaded me to keep today's walk local.

Stretford Meadows 

The paths on Stretford Meadows were drier than on my last visit, which isn't to say they were always dry. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps and blackbirds sang in the trees by the garden centre and wrens and robins flitted about. There were a lot of birds about in the open area though widely spread and mostly quietly getting on with their business as unobtrusively as possible. Even the magpies kept a low profile. The pheasant called from somewhere near the cricket pitch, every tenth hawthorn bush had a whitethroat or a robin, linnets and goldfinches twittered about and lapwings flew over the motorway from the fields on the other side of the river. I had no luck finding any lesser whitethroats in the scrub at the top of the hill. There was a sedge warbler singing up there deep in a patch of rough sedge and willowherbs. Some of the wettest parts of the meadows are in the dips in the clay cap over the old municipal tip.

Walking to Stretford Ees

We're now well into the season where the leaves and flowers on the trees and bushes provide plenty of cover for anything that doesn't want to be seen. I couldn't see any of the song thrushes or chiffchaffs I could hear singing as I walked along Kickety Brook and through Stretford Ees. The blackbirds and blackcaps weren't much easier. Nor even the ring-necked parakeets. If the trees are this lush already the records for the quiet time in July will consist entirely of woodpigeons and random robins.

Stretford Ees 

A male grey wagtail had collected a beakful of insects and took them to its nest in the riverbank as I passed over the bridge.

Great crested grebe, Sale Water Park

The lake on Sale Water Park was quiet, as is usual this time of year when nearly all the ducks and gulls are nesting elsewhere, and all the quieter after this Winter's outbreak of avian flu which really hit the Canada geese hard. The goslings on the slipway were a hint at recovery. The coots were off their nests and noises in the reeds suggested there were youngsters hiding from passing spaniels and terriers, all of which had tidemarks and owners with muddy splashes on their legs. A lone great crested grebe patrolled the reed margins, possibly against the same potential threat.

Canada geese and heron, Broad Ees Dole
The bones are the relicts of the corpse of a goose that died just after Christmas

There were more goslings on Broad Ees Dole and although they were a bit on the big side for a heron to gulp down the geese weren't for taking any risks. Nearly all the ducks were hidden out of sight save a few sleepy mallards. Coots were nesting, dabchicks were feeding and the Cetti's warbler and the reed warbler were singing from their appointed places.

Mallards and heron, Broad Ees Dole

I added calling coal tits and great spotted woodpeckers to the day's tally as I walked over to the café for a cup of tea and a sit down by the feeding station. Business on the feeders was, predictably, a bit quiet with the birds popping by in ones and twos and none staying longer than a minute or so. A nuthatch lingered longest, getting a good feed in to justify the effort of squeezing through a squirrel-proof cage on the fat balls.

Cow Lane, by Sale Water Park 

By this time I was feeling a bit weary of the walk or, more truthfully, fed up of taking my coat on and off depending on how long the sun poked out between the clouds. I wandered through Sale Ees with a view to walking through Hardy Farm and getting the 25 home from Chorlton Park. More blue tits and goldfinches bounced through the trees, song thrushes and wrens sang and robins and blackbirds fossicked about in the undergrowth by the paths. I noticed that a lot of new paths have been laid through the trees between Rifle Road and Barrow Brook.

Blackcap, Chorlton Ees

I got to Jackson's Boat, where another grey wagtail was foraging on the banks, and decided that I didn't fancy the long trudge up Hardy Lane for the bus so I headed into Chorlton Ees. Chiffchaffs and blackcaps sang in the apple trees and the ring-necked parakeets which were notably absent at Jackson's Boat screeched around the treetops. Pheasants called from God knows where and whitethroats sang in the hawthorns in the open ground.

Treecreepers' nest, Ivy Wood
Honestly, the treecreeper was there a moment ago

I crossed over Chorlton Brook into Ivy Green. The woods were just as frustratingly busy with invisible birdlife as everywhere else. An exception was the treecreeper that flew over to the tree trunk by my side and slowly worked its way up. True to its breed it disappeared round the other side of the trunk the moment the camera appeared and only re-emerged when I put the camera away. It then very obligingly flew over to its nest to feed its youngsters. I watched for a while as both parents were being kept busy.

Chorlton Brook 

From Ivy Green I walked over to Edge Lane for the 25 bus and home. Rather despite myself it had been a productive walk and I'd got a bit of exercise in.