Wellacre Country Park

Blue tit

Day three of an official heatwave and I thought it would be wise to avoid traipsing about in the noonday heat two days running. I had planned on going out on an adventure but all the ones I've got sketched out involve fair walks starting at lunchtime. I'm sort of glad I don't live in the Northeast, I'd be spending my days whizzing up and down the North Sea coast hoping to catch up with the brown booby that's leading people a merry chase.

The spadgers have reacted to the heat by spending most of the day deep in the trackside brambles, I might see one or two of them at the feeders first thing in the morning. The great tits, blue tits and the robin are in and out all day and magpies are a constant feature, if they're not eating rowan berries they're stealing the cat's breakfast. I'm seeing the coal tits more regularly lately though they still spend most of their time at the railway station where the male's resumed his singing.

I went for a teatime stroll round Wellacre Country Park, getting the train to Flixton and walking down to the entrance by Flixton Bridge. A quick look at the river found a couple of woodpigeons and a speckled wood but nothing on the water. Overhead a buzzard was escorted over the paddocks by a small flock of rooks.

Fly Ash Hill

It was still a very warm day so I took one of the paths that meander through the trees away from the top of the hill. A good idea, it turned out, as not only was I walking through dappled shade there wasn't anything except magpies out on the open meadow. Overhead there was a steady traffic of woodpigeons, mostly flying into Flixton from the outlying fields. A trio of stock doves flew in the opposite direction. Down on the ground a mixed tit flock bouncing through the hawthorns and apple trees was made up of equal parts blue tits and long-tailed tits, a couple of dozen each. They were accompanied by a couple of great tits and four juvenile chiffchaffs. Speckled woods and large whites fluttered about the mature trees near the railway line.

Dutton's Pond 

Dutton's Pond was quiet, just a couple of moorhens in the water and a Southern hawker zipping about the trees.

I walked down the path by the railway embankment, the trees either side busy with another mixed tit flock, this one including coal tits, chaffinches and a nuthatch with the titmice and chiffchaffs. It seemed like every fifth tree had a squirrel, most of them noisily irritated by the passing by of me, a magpie or both.

Jack Lane Nature Reserve 

Jack Lane had yet another tit flock, just long-tailed tits and chiffchaffs in this one. Moorhens chunnered in the reedbeds and a migrant hawker patrolled the hawthorns. A flock of swallows passed noisily overhead, gone almost as soon as they'd arrived. It may be scorching hot but it's still Autumn.

Wellacre Country Park 

A couple of herons had a squabble in the field by Jack Lane. After a couple of minutes' screeching and leaping one headed for Irlam Locks and the other for the Mersey. The woodpigeons, carrion crows and magpies didn't turn a feather and just carried on with their feeding.

Wellacre Wood 

Wellacre Wood was very quiet indeed, or would have been if a parakeet hadn't gone to roost in a tree over by the school. It wasn't yet six o'clock but the robins, great tits and chaffinches were settling down to roost in the brambles. A couple more stock doves flew overhead towards the farmlands.

As I waited for the bus home the traffic in overhead woodpigeons got busier as they flew in to roost in suburban trees.

It had been a couple of hours' slow dawdle round and I was very glad I hadn't gone on a long walk.