Canal walk: Leigh to Astley Green

House sparrow

It was a very misty morning and there didn't seem a lot of point setting out birdwatching as I was struggling to see the starlings that turned up in the sycamores on the railway embankment until they descended on the fat feeders. The sun finally blazed through the mist at lunchtime, by which time I'd settled into the usual comfortable trap of spending more energy thinking where I should go for a walk than actually putting my boots on.

In the end I set out aimlessly, caught the first bus going out of the Trafford Centre and found myself heading out to Leigh. On a whim I got off at Butts Bridge with the intention of walking down Warrington Road for a nosy round Hope Carr. On another whim I found myself descending onto the canal towpath and heading off towards Astley. I've not walked the stretch between Leigh and Astley Green before so I went along with the whim.

Bridgewater Canal, Leigh

A couple of pairs of mallards and a pair of mute swans cruised the canal by the bridge. House sparrows chattered in the hedgerows and pigeons flew about the rooftops. The houses by the towpath on the gave way to the farmed mosslands that lie between the canal and the East Lancashire Road. Jackdaws, magpies and carrion crows fossicked about in the fields and woodpigeons started to fly into the trees to roost.

Fields by Bedford Brook 

Jackdaws

The hedgerows were lively with blackbirds and house sparrows, there was a surprising abundance of hips and haws still available for them to have a go at. A couple of mistle thrushes split their time between a couple of tall oak trees and the fields by the path. Houses and gardens line the other side of the canal at Marsland Green and these were busy with sparrows and woodpigeons. Small groups of mallards and a family of mute swans lurked by odd corners of the bank.

Mute swans 

Marsland Green 

A lady passed by with her dog and asked if I'd seen much. This is the standard opening gambit I get nearly every day. Yesterday I was lending my binoculars to a lady so she could see there were three different kinds of waders on the pontoon at West Kirby, today a lady was telling me where to keep an eye out for kingfishers. I didn't get to see them today but I know to keep an eye out for them if I'm round here again. I mentioned that there were a couple of bullfinches with the greenfinches and spadgers feeding on the bramble pips in the hedge behind us.

Pheasants on the hoary stubble

Passing Marsland Bridge and heading out for Astley Green I started seeing pheasants in the fields with the jackdaws and magpies. The hoar frost that had lingered in the deep shadows by the houses became a fixture in the more open landscape. A buzzard sat on a fence post a couple of fields away, another sat on a lamppost on the East Lancs Road bridge and flew off as I approached. Over the other side of the canal a couple of blackbirds and a jay chased a flock of redwings off a stand of hawthorn bushes.

Blackbird

Bridgewater Canal between Marsland Green and Astley Green 

Approaching Astley Green 

Approaching Astley Green as the sun set behind the clouds I spent a few minutes trying to pick the runners and riders out of the mixed tit flock in the trees on the other side of the canal. In the end I had to concede that they were all long-tailed tits and blue tits, there were a couple of great tits in the trees by the towpath a little way further along where I also accidently disturbed a grey wagtail that was settling down for the night in the hedgerow.

Astley Green
The pit wheel in the background is the mining museum.

The sun was setting and the path was icing up as I reached Astley Green. The 129 bus was sat at its terminus on the other side of the canal and was due to set off in five minutes' time so I took the hint, called it a day and took the bus to Boothstown where I picked up the 132 back to the Trafford Centre after an unexpectedly pleasant afternoon.

House sparrows

South of Marsland Green