Cob Kiln Wood

Cob Kiln Wood 

It was another dull grey day. I didn't fancy doing much so I had a potter about in Cob Kiln Wood.

Along the way as I passed Humphrey Park Allotments I bumped into a mixed tit flock working its way through the trees along the fence. The blue tits and great tits moved silently but the long-tailed tits were very vocal as they bounced about and flew over to check me out before flitting back and fiddling their way through some fruit bushes. I hadn't gone far before a lot of twittering betrayed the presence of a charm of goldfinches at the top of a tall, old roadside alder. As I was watching them a flock of three dozen starlings flew in to roost in the trees on the other side of the allotments. Flying in to roost and the school run not yet started.

The bridge over Old Eeas Brook and into Cob Kiln Wood 

A couple of robins were singing on Torbay Road as I walked into Cob Kiln Wood. A small mixed tit flock moved through the dogwoods and hawthorns, no long-tailed tits as far as I could tell, only blue tits and great tits. A couple of herring gulls circled the wood at treetop height, calling raucously, before eventually drifting off to join the lesser black-backs and black-headed gulls heading off to roost on Sale Water Park. I've no idea what that was about.

The pond's been tidied up a bit

There's been some more clearance and tidying up and there's been some pond restoration. There's still plenty of bramble cover in the hedgerows so my misgivings about tidying up efforts weren't overwhelming.

There were a couple of dozen woodpigeons feeding in the field by the pond and at least one pheasant running about the far margins.

The clearing

Blackbirds rummaged about in the bushes in the electricity pylon clearing and chaffinches called in the trees. The other small bird sounds were dried leaves rustling or falling to the ground in the freshening breeze. Every so often there'd be the clatter of woodpigeons leaving or carrion crows arriving in the treetops.

River Mersey 

I had a quick look at the river, just for form's sake. As I got to the bridge three mallards flew upriver, other than that there was nothing, not even the usual pigeons on the road bridge. The river was still in spate despite its being more than a week since the storm.

Cob Kiln Lane 

I walked back and into Urmston along Cob Kiln Lane to the accompaniment of clattering woodpigeons in the treetops and scolding wrens in the hedgerow. A couple of little egrets were feeding in the paddock by the lane, closely following the hoofprints of one of the horses. They were bent down in a humpty back fashion and for a moment I wondered if they might be cattle egrets come back for the Christmas season but they didn't have the stumpy rear end of a cattle egret and when they eventually straightened up they were very obviously little egrets. A couple of lady dog walkers asked what I was looking at so I lent them my binoculars to look at the egrets. Not something I could imagine round here twenty years ago.

Sunset

The sun was low as I walked into Urmston and the parakeets were making a racket as they went to roost in the cemetery. I went and got a bit of sausage for my tea and went home.