Salford

Goosanders

I noticed that I haven't seen any goosanders this month. That's easily rectified so I had a Bank Holiday Monday wander along the Irwell from the city centre to Salford Crescent.

Goosanders

Sure enough, goosanders there were. My first thought was that there were fewer than usual, my second thought was that it's nearly Summer and all the pairs are dispersed along the river and the reason they looked thin on the ground on the gravel banks was that all the youngsters are still only half-sized.

Goosanders

Canada goose, mallard and goosanders

Goosanders

Pairs of mallards cruised the river though I only saw one family of ducklings, a dozen tiddlers on the curve at Salford Crescent. Small numbers of Canada geese loafed in the shallows with a couple of herons and a pair of mute swans stopped strangers and asked for food at Peel Park. 

Heron

Lesser black-backs are the default gull in the city centre in Summer and there were plenty of them loafing and preening in the shoals on the river. A few black-headed gulls flew about, too, all adults returning from disappointing love lives.

Heron

A wander round The Meadows found a few robins and blue tits rummaging round in the undergrowth and a singing blackcap in one of the maple trees. Half a dozen sand martins flew downstream, following the twists and turns of the river as they zigzagged from side to side low over the banks. I kept hearing grey wagtails but couldn't see them, the pied wagtails I heard made themselves nicely conspicuous just to keep my morale up.

River Irwell, Salford