Irlam Locks

Sand martins

It was warm again and the pollen count was very high, neither condition likely to make walking very enticing. The small birds were keeping to the shade all day and the rooks, jackdaws, magpies and woodpigeons that littered the school playing field in the early morning left it to the butterflies at midday. In the back garden large whites chased each other, speckled woods chased anything that wandered into their territories, bees and hoverflies zipped about the geraniums. 

I was idly looking out of the window watching all this when something bigger caught my eye. I rarely see dragonflies in the garden, the odd brown hawker passing by, so I was surprised to see an olive yellow dragonfly hawking low over the blackcurrant bushes. I couldn't get a good look at it but put it down as a common darter and congratulated myself on a garden first. About an hour later I glanced out and saw it was still there. It had taken to resting on one of the bird feeders in between sallies to snatch midges so I could get the bins on it for a better look. It was bigger than a darter and had black ladder markings up a yellow abdomen, a female black-tailed skimmer. It was well off its usual haunts, the nearest places I'd be unsurprised to see one would be Stretford Ees or Dutton's Pond.

Black-tailed skimmer

I went out to get a shop done in the tea interval, a personal best at nine minutes twenty-something seconds, just as well as it was nine minutes and thirty seconds between the late-running train to Urmston and the timely train back. There wasn't a cloud in the sky but a pleasant breeze took the edge off the heat as I stood at the station. A late teatime walk looked like a good idea.

Irlam Road, the Canal's on the right

The umpires called stumps and I got the 256 into Flixton. I decided to have a wander over to Irlam Locks to see what was about. Blackbirds, woodpigeons and collared doves sang in the gardens and the hedgerows were busy with house sparrows.

Black-headed gulls 

A few swallows zipped over the fields by Irlam Road. I got to the canal and had to do a spaghetti western squint to see the mallards and black-headed gulls on the water. I walked down the road to the locks, sand martins twittering from telegraph wires and black-headed gulls calling from the water treatment works. About a hundred black-headed gulls loafed on the near side of the lock. A few more bobbed about on the water with a dozen mallards and a pair of great crested grebes. Overhead a handful of swallows and a couple of dozen sand martins swooped and swirled high over the canal.

Black-headed gulls 

Black-headed gulls 

Over on the water treatment works a small crowd of woodpigeons and magpies fed on the grass while more magpies skipped around the black-headed gulls and oystercatchers on the filtration pans. A couple of blackbirds joined them. I could hear a couple of pied wagtails but for the life of me couldn't find them.

Irlam Locks, looking downstream to the railway bridge

I did find the family of grey wagtails skittering about on the downstream side of the lock. They made it easy, taking fly-catching sallies from the bank and from the base of the lock, bursts of silver and lemon yellow over the dark blue water. The few pigeons about kept to the shade, the cormorants were finding it ideal wing-drying weather. Looking down stream there were more mallards hugging the bank and another pair of great crested grebes.

Heron

I crossed over and walked down to Cadishead Way. There was yet another grey wagtail on the lockside and the heron I'd been hearing stepped out from the gate mechanism. A couple more sand martins hawked low over the water in the lock basin.

Box tree moth

A moth fluttered into the overhead buddleias. I thought it a swallowtail moth at first but as it fed on the flowers it moved around and I could see it properly. I've not seen a box tree moth before. They're an invasive species from the Far East that was first recorded in Britain about twenty years ago.

I checked the time. I'd have to get a move on if I was to get the train home and the ankle was hurting abominably so I wasn't going to have a dawdle round. Speckled woods fluttered about the brambles and nettles by Cadishead Way while peacocks settled down for the night.

Irwell Old Course 

Neither ducks, coots nor terrapins could be seen on the Irwell Old Course, the mirrored surface of the water only broken by the occasional fish catching flies on the surface. Woodpigeons sang in the trees and a couple of lesser black-backs flew overhead to the roost at Woolston Eyes.

I got to the station just as the train arrived. Despite the aches and pains I was glad I'd got a bit of exercise done. It was a relief to get home and slowly melt an ice pack on the back of my neck.