 |
| Great Crested Grebe |
 |
| Mistle Thrush |
 |
| Female Goosander |
 |
| Male Chaffinch |
 |
| Cormorant |
 |
| Comma |
 |
| Sallow |
 |
| Sallow |
 |
| Ivy |
 |
| Cranesbill |
 |
| Blue Tit |
 |
| Blackthorn |
 |
| Hawthorn |
 |
| Alder |
 |
| Coltsfoot |
 |
| Grey Wagtail |
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Didsbury & River Mersey - 1st-8th March
The very first signs of Spring as the temperatures slowly move into double figures and the heavy rain is replaced by sunshine and showers. The Black-headed Gulls are gradually moulting into summer plumage, with their dark brown caps, as are the Great Crested Grebes on Chorlton Water. Mistle Thrushes are singing from the tops of trees and Chaffinches have begun to sing. Blackthorn is in full flower and Hawthorn leaves are emerging with the flower to follow later. Sallow is flowering along the River Mersey and Garlic leaves have appeared in profusion with the promise of flower to come. The delicate yellow Lesser Cellandine is in flower alongside the equally attractive Coltfoot. Goosanders numbers on the River Mersey between Didsbury and Cheadle are ca. 10 with several pairs of Grey Wagtail also seen. On Sunday 8th March I heard a Chiffchaff singing and a Blackcap practising its warbling song - and the first butterfly of the year in Didsbury for me - a Comma basking in the sun (12 degrees centigrade). This is the beginning of a new year for wildlife.