New Moss Wood

New Moss Wood 

It had been a busy day but I needed some exercise so i got the train to Irlam for an hour or so's walk round New Moss Wood.

It was a sunny and cool afternoon. The afternoon had been cooler than the morning as the wind shifted and got an extra bite in so I put on my big coat and felt overdressed waiting for the train in the sunshine. I walked down Liverpool Road and then through the allotments to Moss Road, congratulating myself on the choice of coat whenever a cloud passed over the sun or I stepped into the shadows. Blackbirds and robins sang all the way, goldfinches and a coal tit sang in the allotments, chiffchaffs and a song thrush from the railway embankment.

I'm finding that little stretch of path between Moss Road and the bridge over the old Altrincham line very productive lately. Wrens, dunnocks and robins sang in the hedgerows, greenfinches and a willow warbler sang in the trees and a bramble patch near the bridge had its whitethroat. I struggled to see many of them and suspect I missed hordes of titmice silently going about their business.

Moss Road 

The fields along Moss Road were green and largely birdless. A carrion crow walked across the middle of the turf field opposite the wood and cock pheasants called at each other from the corners. Way out further a couple of lapwings scuttled about a field margin. It was a stark contrast to the houses and gardens at the bottom of the road where house sparrows and goldfinches bustled about the hedges and blackbirds, robins and woodpigeons sang.

Walking into New Moss Wood 

Walking into the wood I passed two singing whitethroats, one taking to the air for a solo before disappearing back into the brambles. The wood was lively with song but the singers were largely invisible in the trees or else fleeting glimpses of tiny figures dashing between cover. Even the robins were coy. Blackbirds, robins, blackcaps and wrens provided most of the songscape, one song thrush singing from the depths of the oak and alder canopy while another hunted in the bracken. Chiffchaffs outnumbered the willow warblers about two to one, they tending to favour the rides in the centre of the wood, the willow warblers preferring the margins and the patches of wet birch and willow. The rides also provided some sheltered open space where red admirals could flutter about the nettles without being blown into the next county. 

New Moss Wood 

New Moss Wood: one of the rides

The gusty wind was making itself known in the wood and I found myself constantly reacting to leaves suddenly shaking in the breeze. Titmice bounced through the trees, more of than not I was only finding them when twigs were bending against the general trend though every so often a pair of great tits would see me off their patch. A pair of long-tailed tits I found by pure dumb luck as they ferried beakfuls of food through some hawthorns. The nuthatch and the great spotted woodpecker that took exception to me were noises off from somewhere in the canopy.

Woodland edge

One of the dragonfly ponds 

Returning to Moss Road I accidentally disturbed a couple of linnets feeding by the roadside. A little further on the only swallow of the day was swooping low over the turf field.

I walked into Cadishead for the bus to the Trafford Centre. The urban songscape was rich and full: blackbirds, robins, wrens, dunnocks, collared doves and goldfinches, even a couple of cock sparrows joined in. Starlings whizzed to and from as they had mouths to feed in eaves. While I waited for the bus three second-calendar-year black-headed gulls circled low over the rooftops of Liverpool Road and I couldn't work out what they were after. I'll never know, the bus finally turned up before I found out.