High Rid Reservoir

Grey wagtail

It was a cool (high sixties), cloudy day. Once in a while there'd be half a minute of light rain. I've undercooked the walks round Lostock and Horwich so far this year so I thought I'd have a look at High Rid Reservoir and have a general potter about to ease me into the week.

High Rid Lane

I got the 576 to Ox Hey Lane (the 575 and 576 both stop here) and walked up Fall Birch Road to the reservoir. It was quiet going: a robin sang, a goldfinch twittered, carrion crows, magpies and woodpigeons flew overhead.

High Rid Reservoir 

The reservoir was busier. Small rafts of mallards and coots bobbed about at the sides. A dozen Canada geese steamed across the reservoir. A few herring gulls, lesser black-backs and black-headed gulls loafed on the water. A tufted duck and her duckling kept away from a small raft of tufted drakes. A family of dabchicks fed as a group in a line with a parent at either end, a couple of pairs of dabchicks cruised about, the great crested grebes were all adults and kept to themselves. Needless to say, I double-checked all the gulls, ducks and grebes, just in case. The grey wagtail and pied wagtails working the margins were very skittish.

Tufted duck and duckling

Grey wagtail 

Dabchick

Tufted duck and duckling 

I'd been impressed on the walk up by how green the grass still was. The little pond by the reservoir still had some water in it and the vegetation around it looked lush. A willow warbler squeaked in the trees and a whitethroat razzed a passing spaniel. I dropped down to the path along the wall by the pond and checked out the trees. Autumn passage has started for some birds, it's worth checking isolated pockets of trees on hillsides for anything taking a pitstop. I couldn't tell if the willow warbler and whitethroat were Summer residents or passersby, either way they were all I found. I almost missed the pair of stock doves amongst the squadrons of woodpigeons flying down the hillsides.

The pond 

High Rid Reservoir 

I walked back up to the reservoir and carried on walking round. A handful of swallows passed through, a dozen sand martins stayed for a feed.

High Rid Reservoir 

For a change I took the path at the top of the reservoir over to Old Hall Lane. It smelt like it had been muck-spreading time on one of the fields, which explains the crowd of carrion crows and jackdaws rummaging about in it.

By Old Hall Lane 

It was very quiet down the lane until I reached the corner with Old Hall Mews. A great tit called in the trees and I stopped to look for it. I found a treecreeper first. Then a chiffchaff, a goldcrest and three blue tits. Two great tits called but I could see neither. Bumping into a mixed tit flock always feels like a lucky bonus in August.

I started to walk down Old Hall Clough. Two heifers had got out and were walking up the path. I decided to leave them to it, they were at that age where their response to a passing human could be panic or play and either could be dangerous.

Old Hall Clough, with accessories 

Winter Hill from Old Hall Lane 

So I walked up Old Hall Lane to Old Kiln Lane and walked into Doffcocker. I was wondering if I had the legs for a walk round the lodge when I noticed the 574 back to Bolton was due. The advantage of this bus is that I could get off in Great Lever for the buses to the Trafford Centre and save myself getting ensnared in Bolton town centre traffic. 

Instead, we got stuck behind a road traffic accident in Fernhill. I got off, walked up for the 607 to Wigan and got off in Hindley Green where I could get the 132 back to the Trafford Centre. Walking down to Atherton Road for the bus I passed Clayhole Park so I had a quick nosy.

The Clayhole 

The Clayhole is as advertised, a water-filled claypit. Canada geese, mallards and black-headed gulls loafed; mute swans cruised; pigeons, coots and moorhens pottered about and there was the inevitable scramble at the rustle of a bag of scraps.

The rest of the journey back was, mercifully, uneventful.