Morning Visit To Tatton Park 29th March 2012

Morning Visit To Patton Park 29th March 2012

The last few days have been like mid Summer with beautiful clear skies and warm temperatures so I went for a walk through Dog Wood and along Tatton Mere to the new Hide at the far end. As soon as I got out of the car I could hear several Chiffchaffs calling loudly. It only took me a minute or so to get one in my scope ! As I entered Dog Wood the woods were filled with the sound of Woodpeckers drumming and it only took me a further five or perhaps ten minutes before I located a Great Spotted Woodpecker. There were lots of Nuthatches calling as well so, with all the usual birds pitching in, the whole woods resounded with Spring birdsong. An additional advantage was that by 10.30 the morning dog walkers appeared to be largely finished until the fresh batch at lunchtime. I walked for at least half an hour without encountering a single other person which meant that I stood a reasonable chance of some good birding.

As I walked through the woods I could see Blue and Great Tits busying themselves checking out the bird boxes, old Woodpecker nests and natural cavities in the trees looking for potential nest sites. The woods were full of Jackdaws and Blackbirds and I saw a Wren singing and giving its wing quivering display. I also located one of the several Nuthatches in the woods and a Long-tailed Tit and a Coal Tit. As I came to the first clearing where you can see the Mere, I could see that several Grey Herons had already started nesting and were sitting on their nests in the trees in the far side. On the water were a couple of Greylag Geese, lots of Coots and several Great-Crested Grebes. In fact there must be at least a dozen of the latter on the Mere these days. I spent quite some time watching them as they went through some of their display repertoire. There were also lots of Tufted Ducks and a few Mallard and some Canada Geese. As I walked on there were lots of Crows, Magpies, Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws busying themselves, many collecting twigs for their nests.

As I passed the fenced in wooded area on the right of the Mere I saw a Jay but didn’t manage to see the Treecreeper I was expecting. As I reached Duck Spinney I could see a dead Coot face down in the water by the small patch of Reeds. I wondered what it had fallen victim to. On a cheerier note there were also Reed Bunting in the same area and a couple of Mute Swans and Moorhen  at the far end of the Mere. I set up my scope on the grassy area opposite Crow Wood and next to the new hide. Over Melchette Mere there were two Buzzards slowly wheeling around. Another roosted in a tree at the far side. A Cormorant flew over the Mere and there were a few Goldeneye on the water. Other than that it was mainly Black-headed Gulls, Tufted Ducks and Coot.

I walked back the same way but I took the higher path in the hope that I could see a Green Woodpecker as I had done previously. There were clearly Woodpeckers aplenty all round the park as I could clearly hear several of them drumming at all distances. As I passed back parallel with Duck Spinney but higher up a Kestrel suddenly hove into view quite low and hovering over the grassy area next to me. It provided great views for several minutes and when it slowly moved closer to the Mere it dropped down lower so that by now it was more or less level with my eye line but with its back to me. As a result I got fantastic views of the plumage from this direction. I stood for a good ten minutes watching before it dropped down out of sight. A little later I saw it lifting back up and flying over the Mere. As I passed by the section of the woods where the Scouts encampment is the whole area resounded with the calling of Nuthatches. After a bit of scouring the trees I eventually managed to locate one of them as it sang.

I dropped down through Tatton Mere Covert and walked back along the hard path to the car. The whole morning had been one of my best visits to the area and especially since the total tally of birds leaned towards woodland birds and not water birds.

Bird Sightings : Tatton Park