Salford

Goldeneyes, Lower Broughton 

It was a bright, sunny morning with a heavy hoar frost and I didn't want to do any of the walks I'd planned as options for the day, partly because I didn't fancy sliding about on icy pavements, partly because I'd had three hours' sleep but mostly because I'm bone idle. I had an early lunch and set off for a midday dawdle.

I got the train to Salford Crescent and wandered down to Peel Park. I didn't manage to see any goldeneyes on this stretch of the Irwell earlier in the year, I thought I'd see if I could do any better this time.

River Irwell, Peel Park 

The Canada geese, coots, mallards and black-headed gulls on the river were entirely to be expected. The male kestrel that flew in and sat in a tree in the park wasn't. I don't think of kestrels as city centre birds but there's no reason why they shouldn't fare as well as the peregrines, sparrowhawks and tawny owls (well, perhaps not the tawny owls, the one that regularly haunted the MacDonalds on Chepstow Street having long since become but a memory). For once there weren't any mute swans on the river, nor any dabchicks or goosanders, and no goldeneyes either.

The Meadows

I crossed the river and had a wander round The Meadows. It seemed quiet at first, just magpies, robins and blackbirds. A blue tit and a long-tailed tit bounced about in a birch tree. I supposed that technically it was a mixed tit flock but it was underwhelming. A few minutes later it became apparent that these were just a couple of stragglers, the main body of the flock was in the trees at the end of The Meadows where the river meets The Crescent. A coal tit was the first I saw, followed quickly by blue tits, long-tailed tits, great tits and goldcrests. And possibly a chiffchaff, I had a fleeting glimpse of something the right size and shape for one silhouetted amongst a lot of ivy. I paid a lot of attention to the smaller birds but couldn't turn any of them into firecrests or yellow-browed warblers so I enjoyed them for what they were.

Weir, River Irwell 

The stretch of the river by The Meadows and up to Adelphi Bridge was bare of birds for some reason. Downstream of the Adelphi Bridge it was a different matter.

Kingfisher, Lower Broughton 

The first bird I saw was a fishing kingfisher on the far bank. Truth be known, the first I saw of it was a series of splashes followed each time by a blue blur heading for the bank. As I got nearer I could see that at some of these dives were successful, a couple of times it dashed a small fish's head against its perch. It was too far away for a decent photo but I tried to get some record shots. Most turned out to include an indistinct blue blur barely indistinguishable from the litter and detritus on the riverbank. The kingfisher's hunting wasn't disturbed any by a blackbird flying down for a bath, probably it helped scare the fish out of hiding.

There was a kingfisher there a moment ago

There was a group of five female goldeneyes on the river where it ran over the shoals. They went in for a lot of synchronised diving before flying upstream to Adelphi Bridge and drifting back down again with the flow.

Goldeneyes, Lower Broughton 

Goldeneyes, Lower Broughton 

Goldeneyes, Lower Broughton 

Goldeneye, Lower Broughton

There were just four Canada geese dozing on the river bank with the black-headed gulls and pigeons. The rest of the flock had taken over the Lidl car park across the road.

Moorhens, Clowes Park 

Clowes Park isn't far away so I had a nosy round there. The grass was carpeted with moorhens while squirrels and mistle thrushes rummaged in the leaves under the trees. There was a crowd of black-headed gulls on the lake, crowding out the mallards, Canada geese and coots hustling for scraps from passing strangers. A pair of tufted ducks seemed undecided whether or not they were part of the crowd.

Clowes Park 

I moved on, thinking I'd finish with a stroll over Kersal Dale. I quickly found that the school run was already kicking in even though it wasn't much after lunchtime. The school run, like half term and commercial Christmas, has become so protracted it becomes necessary to identify and treasure those shrinking windows when it isn't. I decided I couldn't be doing with it and got the 52 back to the Trafford Centre and thence home.

I bought a new pair of boots on the way home.