Mersey Valley

Teal, gadwall and dabchick, Broad Ees Dole

There was another rail strike today so seeing as it was set fair I decided on a walk from home along the Mersey Valley.

Stretford Meadows 

I looked at the path onto Stretford Meadows from Newcroft Road, saw the palettes underwater, decided to stick to the velodrome. Which I had to myself nearly all the way, which is unusual. It was a cloudy day, sometimes looking set for rain, sometimes warm and sunny, the strong wind changing conditions every few minutes.

Stretford Meadows 

The strong wind kept most of the small birds in deep cover. House sparrows chunnered in the hedgerows by the garden centre and robins and great tits muttered in the hawthorns along the path. A couple of goldfinches and greenfinches flew overhead. Woodpigeons, crows and pigeons flew over in ones and twos. Even the magpies were a bit subdued. Red admirals valiantly battled to not be blown away as they fed on Michaelmas daisies. A common darter was less successful as it made heavy weather of patrolling the hedgerows.

Red admiral, Stretford Meadows

Walking along Kickety Brook towards Stretford Ees there was more cover but nearly all the small birds were still for keeping low, just the robins and wrens flitting about. Magpies provided most of the soundscape until a jay flew into an oak sapling a couple of feet away from me, noticed I was there and forgot all about collecting acorns.

Stretford Ees was very quiet even though the wind had calmed down. Robins flitted about in the undergrowth and parakeets muttered to each other in the treetops.

There were a couple of dozen black-headed gulls on the lake at Sale Water Park with a handful of lesser black-backs. I could only see half a dozen mute swans and Canada geese and mallards were unusually thin on the ground. A couple of great crested grebes were cruising about the far bank away from everything else.

Broad Ees Dole 

The teal pool at Broad Ees Dole was completely deserted, which is unusual. There were no small birds about either. The hide pool was busy with gadwalls with a few coots and shovelers and a pair of teal for company. There was just the one dabchick, a juvenile, which kept disturbing the ducks by bobbing up alongside them. Just as I was taking my leave four mallards flew in and disappeared into the reeds.

A few blue tits and great tits fussed about the feeders by the café. Further on along the path to Jackson's Boat I bumped into the only mixed tit flock of the day, mostly long-tailed tits and blue tits with coal tits, a nuthatch and a treecreeper tagging along.

The parakeets had decided on an early roost at Jackson's Boat and were screeching at each other from the depths of the sycamores.

River Mersey 

I decided to walk along the Cheshire bank of the Mersey towards Kenworthy Wood to avoid the late afternoon crowds. The mallards that hadn't been on Sale Water Park were all on the river and the Canada geese were on the golf course. A few cormorants flew up and down the river and a heron pretended I wasn't walking by as I pretended I hadn't seen it. High overhead a male sparrowhawk was being mobbed by black-headed gulls.

I skirted Kenworthy Wood with its cacophony of magpies and parakeets and crossed over into Chorlton Water Park. The lake was busy with coots while mallards, Canada geese and a few mute swans mugged for bird food by the slipway. The small raft of tufted ducks took some finding amongst the coots in midwater.

More parakeets screamed into roost as I set off to get the bus home from Southern Cemetery.