Pennington Flash

Canada geese, Ramsdales Hide 

I've rather fallen out of love with Pennington Flash and I'm not convinced I know why. It's easy enough to get to and it's never not been productive, even in the worst of weather. It might be something as simple as the vile state of the pedestrian access from St Helens Road, I spend a lot of time and energy getting over that first impression.

The pedestrian entrance from St Helens Road, knee-deep hardcore blocking the old car park to make sure people use the pay-as-you-go.

I gave up after fifty yards, walked back and took the road in.

It was a cool, grey and windy day when I i set out and the rain started while I was waiting for the 126 at the Trafford Centre. I was in luck: the rain blew over by the time I got off the number 10 on St Helens Road and walked into Pennington Flash. It was still cool, murky and windy but it wasn't raining. I wasn't really in the mood for a walk but it needed doing: the knees haven't had enough exercise lately and I've not been here yet this month.

The entrance pissed me off no end. In the end I gave up on the path and walked in by road. The official Pennington Flash website says: "Wigan Council has recently invested £2.7m into improving the experience of visitors to Pennington Flash with a new visitor information point and café, new accessible toilet facilities, improved parking with electric vehicle chargepoints [sic], and a new adventure play area all designed to help you enjoy the perfect day out." You can test the sincerity of any organisation's much-vaunted green credentials by comparing the pedestrian access with the vehicular access. I was going to be having yet another afternoon spending a lot of time and energy getting over that first impression.

The country park was astonishingly quiet of people, even taking into account the bad weather. I think I saw half a dozen visitors and all the hides were empty. I've been here when it was raining stairs rods in December and seen more people. Perhaps it's not just me falling out of love…

Wrens and robins sang by the roadside. A few mallards and a moorhen fossicked about on the deserted car park. Mute swans, black-headed gulls and a Muscovy duck sat on the bank. Out on the flash there were a few coots and a couple of pairs of great crested grebes. A raft of half a dozen tufted ducks drifted by, a few more of similar size were over on the other bank. There were perhaps three dozen large gulls, mostly lesser black-backs with a few herring gulls and the one great black-back. A flock of about forty sand martins whizzed about low over the centre of the flash.

From the Horrocks Hide 

Volunteers have been working like Trojans clearing the willow scrub off the spit at the Horrocks Hide to clear the view and it looks ready for whatever influxes of waders come by this Spring. This afternoon it was just three oystercatchers and two lapwings but it's early days yet. 

From the Horrocks Hide 

Most of the spit was covered with woodpigeons and stock doves on the end near the hide and cormorants, herring gulls and black-headed gulls over on the point. Some of the black-headed gulls in the bight were laying dibs for places on the nesting rafts. A few mallards and gadwalls dabbled about, a redhead goosander dozed by the bank and another small raft of tufties cruised by.

By the Tom Edmondson Hide 

I walked down to the Tom Edmondson Hide to the tune of chiffchaffs, robins and great tits. A couple of pairs of teal lurked near the reeds in a side pool along the way. There were a few mallards and Canada geese on the pool at the hide and a dozen more sand martins zipping about.

The usual Cetti's warbler sang by the path as I walked over to the Ramsdales Hide. The pool at Ramsdales was almost covered in Canada geese, the islands littered with black-headed gulls. A dabchicks hinneyed from the depths of the reeds.

At Ramsdales Hide 

It started drizzling as I left the Ramsdales Hide. I decided to walk up past the rucks and head round the Northern shore and on to Plank Lane, just for a change, just in case any willow warblers had arrived and just because I didn't walk to walk back down to St Helens Road. No willow warblers but the reed buntings were singing, there were more chiffchaffs and robins and wrens and it was a nice walk.

Walking towards Plank Lane

Plank Lane 

Walking along the canal into Plank Lane I noticed that nearly all the mallards were drakes and the two ducks were getting quite tetchy about their attentions, and quite right too. The rain got heavier, I had ten minutes to wait for the 584 back into Leigh and we'd gone one stop when the rain became biblical. I decided not to move on to another site for a nosy and waited for the late-running 126 back to the Trafford Centre.

It had been a thoroughly depressing afternoon but I'd had some exercise and Pennington Flash came up with 39 species of birds even with my not popping round to the Bunting Hide.