Mersey Valley

Willow tit, Sale Water Park
Eyes bigger than its belly.

I thought I'd keep today's walk local so I wandered over to Stretford Meadows to see what was about. The short answer being: plenty but not very much breaking cover. Even the sparrows and long-tailed tits in the hedgerow on Newcroft Road were hiding deep in the bushes. Reed buntings sang in the hawthorns in the open areas, a chiffchaff somewhere in an oak tree took exception to me, as did a whitethroat from the depths of a stand of willowherb. Overhead there was a steady stream of pigeons and woodpigeons passing by in ones and twos. I almost missed a pair of stock doves flying over to the fields by the river and nearly made the mistake of assuming that two swifts were high-flying pigeons.

Stretford Meadows 

The walk along Kickety Brook to Stretford Ees was nearly as quiet. Even the young magpies were trying to keep a low profile. They didn't succeed but full marks for effort and they managed to be mostly very, very quiet. Luckily a great tit broke cover and a couple of blackbirds sang in the trees by the motorway so it wasn't all a game of guess the mystery contact call.

The walk down to the river *was* a game of guess the mystery contact call. The great tits, robins and blackbirds were straightforward enough. The wrens gave up in the end and sang from the undergrowth.

Eclipse drake mallard, Broad Ees Dole

A couple of dozen mallards, including some eclipse drakes that were at the virtually flightless stage, were dotted about the teal pool on Broad Ees Dole until they spotted me looking at them and they all steamed in expecting a free feed which, sadly, I couldn't provide.

Mallards homing in on the cadge, , Broad Ees Dole

There were a few more mallards on the hide pool together with a couple of pairs of gadwall. There were a few coots and moorhens and a couple of herons were dozing on the island but I couldn't see — or hear — any dabchicks. The great crested grebe with the injured wing was on its usual station by the reeds on the lake. A few blue-tailed damselflies zipped around the hide as I was looking round.

Herons, Broad Ees Dole

A mixed tit flock took pity on me. I heard the long-tailed tits first but struggled to find them in the treetops. I stationed myself next to a stand of thin birch trees and caught them passing by. The blue tits were trickier, the juvenile nuthatch a bonus and the coal tit was just a song in the trees.

Broad-leaved helleborine, Broad Ees Dole

I walked by Sale Water Park along Cow Lane. A herd of mute swans had half a dozen nearly full-grown cygnets in tow. A couple of dozen Canada geese crowded the slipway on the other side of the lake. I took the little lakeside path off the lane and found myself walking through a cloud of common blue damselflies. I was surprised and delighted to bump into a clump of broad-leaved helleborines, the first time I've ever seen any locally. A female brown hawker patrolled the thistles, the bright lime yellow spots on its body showing up unusually well in the light.

Even a bull-necked little bird like a willow tit will have a problem picking up and making off with half a walnut. Much to my surprise it managed to fly off with it in the end.

I had a sit down by the café (I was too late for a cup of tea) to check out the bird feeders. It was deserted at first, the birds had been scattered by noisy passersby. A willow tit landed on the bird table and remained a fixture for a while as it sorted through what appeared to be a full packet of trail mix. The usual hoard of great tits descended on the peanut feeders but were very skittish. It's a rum sort of afternoon's birdwatching that has a willow tit as the most conspicuous small bird.

Broad-leaved helleborine, Sale Water Park