Mersey Valley

Mandarin ducks on the Mersey

The day, cloudy and warm but significantly cooler than the past few days, started with a coal tit on the sunflower feeders and a spanking brand new magpie keeping very close to its parent on the washhouse roof before being taken over to the rowan tree to gorge on the berries. The blackbirds hogged the birdbaths to the undisguised disgust of the spadgers and the post brought twenty pounds' worth of rail travel vouchers. I decided I'd listen to the morning session of what has been an enthralling test match, which quickly became a decision to hang on to the end. Which in the end took all day.

I got my tea, India got out, I went for a walk through Ivy Green to Sale Water Park.

Hawthorn Lane 

Blackbirds and woodpigeons sang in the trees as I walked through onto Hawthorn Lane. Magpies and carrion crows fossicked about on lawns, spadgers fussed in gardens and parakeets screamed from the treetops.

Ivy Green 

A song thrush and a nuthatch sang from the margins of the clearing on Ivy Green. Woodpigeons and magpies flew in and out of the tall grass. I kept my eye out for butterflies but they were surprisingly thin on the ground, a few small tortoiseshells, commas and small skippers.

Silver grass miner

Comma

Chorlton Brook 

In the trees by Chorlton Brook, blackbirds and blackcaps joined the singing thrush. Crossing the bridge into Chorlton Ees woodpigeons and wrens joined the songscape, punctuated by the calls of parakeets and jackdaws. I followed the path by the brook. Robins bobbed furtively in and out of the verges, the juveniles more confident than the adults. The singing goldfinches in the treetops and the titmice bouncing through the canopy were almost impossible to see, unlike the magpies and carrion crows.

Chorlton Ees 

The ominous grey clouds drifted over and became ten seconds of rain before moving on. I wondered whether to call it quits now I'd passed the pain barrier and the joints were starting to move freely. I decided I'd dawdle along as see how it went.

Mandarin 

The clouds rolled by as I walked along the river towards Stretford Ees. Great tits, dunnocks and chiffchaffs called in the hedgerows by Turn Moss and another song thrush nigh on drowned them out. A mallard drifted downriver before deciding to fly upstream round the bend. I came to the bend and saw three ducks loafing on the rocks with a grey wagtail. I was surprised to find they were three mandarin ducks.

Stretford Ees 

Reed buntings and goldfinches sang on Stretford Ees. A raven cronked as it flew low overhead, the carrion crows shadowed it from a considerable distance, drifting back once it had passed over the tram line. A flash of bright lime green caught in the sunlight over the river was a couple of greenfinches. As I crossed the bridge I noticed a fledgling grey wagtail on the rocks under the bank.

Great crested grebe 

The lake on Sale Water Park was busy with watersports so all the waterfowl were hugging the banks. I walked round to Broad Ees Dole. The pair of great crested grebes hung out with a group of mallards on the bank. Lesser black-backs loafed on the water by the boaters, a crowd of black-headed gulls joined the mute swans and Canada geese mugging for scraps by the boathouse.

Teal Pool 

Teal Pool was busy with mallards. A reed warbler and a reed bunting sang in the reeds. I spent a while looking through the reeds at the hide. The islands on the pool were exposed and covered in black-headed gulls and mallards. The moorhens, Canada geese and coots picking their way through the crowds were easy enough to spot, the lapwing and teal were trickier. I'd hoped to get a green sandpiper onto the year list but it wasn't happening today. And oddly there was neither sight nor sound of any dabchicks.

Broad-leaved helleborine 

I wandered on. I had a look to see if I could find the broad-leaved helleborine I've seen flowering here the past couple of summers. It was still there but I was about a week late for the flowers.

Mute swan 

Walking along the lakeside a couple of anglers told me that a family of otters had been seen on the lake and were indigent when I answered: "That's good." I know from experience to make sympathetic noises on the subject of goosanders and cormorants but I was taken by surprise this time.

Sale Ees 

It was getting on and the ankle was making warning noises so I wandered over to the tram stop and got the bus back from Chorlton. It came as a surprise to check my notes and find I'd seen forty-odd species of birds. Not bad for quiet July.