Chelford

Tree sparrow

I've been neglecting Cheshire South of the Mersey so I thought I'd take advantage of a warm, sunny day for a trip down to Chelford to walk round the quarry pools.

Walking down Knutsford Road from the station, dunnocks sang in the hedgerows, blue tits and robins from trees and goldfinches twittered about. Out in the fields there were a few carrion crows and jackdaws, and a pair of stock doves, but oddly enough no woodpigeons.

By Holmes Chapel Road 

There was a cacophony of birdsong from the trees lining Holmes Chapel Road. Robins, blackbirds, chiffchaffs, wrens and great tits were joined by chaffinches, blackcaps, a song thrush, a goldcrest and a coal tit. Blue tits, goldfinches, jackdaws and woodpigeons bounced through the trees, the flimsier the twigs the larger the birds. The sun brought out the butterflies: speckled woods and brimstones fluttered through the trees and one brimstone chased a small white in and out and around a clearing by one of the brooks. As the landscape opened out into the parkland of Lower Withington the jackdaws outnumbered the sheep. On my side of the road a dozen Canada geese loafed by a little pond on the far side of the field. As I walked a few paces ahead and started seeing the pond properly I released there were half a dozen teal in there having a bath.

Holmes Chapel Road 

Lapwing Lane 

Turning onto Lapwing Lane I looked through the trees onto the edge of Acre Nook Quarry. I could pick out a few distant tufted ducks and coots and there was a lot of gulls over the way but I couldn't get a sense of scale of them, I could only identify them as "not lesser black-backs." Which was odd as there was a steady stream of lesser black-backs flying overhead.

Goldfinch 

I walked the length of Lapwing Lane. The mixed songscape in the trees subsided into the songs of robins and goldfinches in the gardens and of tree sparrows in the hedgerows. Much to my delight, as I was taking photos of tree sparrows singing from hedge tops my first couple of swallows for the year twittered over the rooftops.

Tree sparrow

There's a path off Lapwing Lane I've been ignoring for years, assuming it was just a short cut to Holmes Chapel Road. How wrong I've been! There's been some tree clearing and I could see a clear stretch of Acre Nook Quarry showing through. So I walked down and lo and behold! there was the quarry in full open sight from a grassy bank. (Note to self: this isn't the first time I've had to tell you about making assumptions.)

Acre Nook Quarry 

There wasn't a huge lot about on the quarry pool, most of the wildfowl have moved on or are starting their breeding season furtiveness. I could see single figures of coots, tufted ducks, shovelers and Canada geese and a couple of great crested grebes. A dozen or so herring gulls loafed and bathed in the company of a couple of lesser black-backs. A couple of dozen black-headed gulls were very active, snatching emerging midges from just above the water. They were so active I almost missed the adult little gull in the background, looking half the size in comparison and jinking and bobbing in the air like a tern. Actually, no. More like a short-eared owl, that same sort of impression of a butterfly hanging from a length of elastic. One had been reported earlier in the week but I'd assumed it had moved on. It's nice to be wrong occasionally.

Hoof fungus 

The full-on songscape resumed when I walked through The Mosses to Lapwing Hall Pool, with backing vocals from nuthatches and pheasants, a drumming great spotted woodpecker and a calling buzzard. It barely went quiet as a male sparrowhawk shot through the woods.

The Mosses

Passing through the gate and onto the path around Lapwing Hall Pool, willow warblers and reed buntings joined the chorus and a Cetti's warbler sang from the reeds down by the lakeside. A pair of siskins bounced through a stand of pine trees by the path, I'm bumping into them in unexpected places this Spring. The pair of jays was more predictable, as was their silent retreat when they noticed me, almost as sure a sign of spring as singing warblers.

There wasn't much on the pool, a few coots and tufted ducks out in the open and at least one pair of dabchicks lurking by the bankside.

Lapwing Hall Pool 

Oak

I took the cut through the hedges and walked back via Congleton Road, conceding along the way that Cheshire does a fine line in really gnarly oak trees. I hadn't walked far but my knees were making themselves known so I decided against adding in a stroll round Mere Farm Quarry. Along the way back a bullfinch wheezed its way into the songscape and my first small tortoiseshell of the year fluttered about a patch of nettles.

Buxton Pavilion Gardens 

I got the train from Chelford Station and went home via Buxton, like you do. Chaffinches, blackbirds, robins and coal tits sang in the Pavilion Gardens where all the Canada geese were paired up and the only unpaired female mallard was having a very torrid time of it.