Trip reports
Pennington Flashes
Saturday, 12 May 2007
This turned out to be an eminently sensible decision. Heavy rain was expected from mid-morning onwards but in the event, it held off at the Flash until about 2 pm, by which time we had visited most of the hides and were rounding off our trip. By contrast, the rain reached Yorkshire earlier and we would probably have arrived at those reserves just in time for the start of a downpour.
Pennington Flash is a lake which appeared about 1905, due to mining subsidence around the old coalfields adjoining the town of Leigh in south Lancashire. The mines have long since closed and the area has been open for recreation since 1981. It was looking at its best for our visit, with hawthorn and cow parsley blooming in abundance, as well as fragrant dog-roses.
I was in the first car which arrived about 10.30 am. We went to the information centre and from there began to walk towards the hides, most of which look out onto a series of ponds to the east of the Flash. We later discovered that Roger and the second carload were walking in the opposite direction, so it was some time before we all met up.
In the first hide, as a female swan tidied up her nest, we had a sight of her two eggs. In the second, no. 5, no fewer than five male bullfinches were spotted, each enjoying their own feeding station. Only one female appeared - perhaps the others were busy on their nests. A couple of pheasants also put in an appearance, as well as some of the usual suspects - magpie, chaffinch and greenfinch.
En route to the next hide, we heard a sedge warbler singing and after a while of scanning with binoculars, the songster was spotted on its perch, in a small tree surrounded by reeds.
From hide no. 3, we looked out onto Teal scrape. Alas, there were no teal but plenty of other species made up for this - a pair of little ringed plover, a group of about five gadwall and two lapwing chicks exploring the edge of the water, looked over by their anxious mother. There was also a one heron and a tufted duck that seemed to be nesting, and as we watched, we saw a common tern fly in, with a sizeable fish in its beak.
As we came out of this hide, we met up with the rest of the party and exchanged reports.
A huge patch of brambles and nettles outside hide no. 3 was the source of a great chorus of song and the song experts amongst us identified whitethroat and garden warbler as well as the commoner species. In an adjacent tree, a different song announced the presence of a willow warbler.
We had a look at the canal which borders on the park, but there was nothing much of wildlife interest. We then veered off the main path and saw, as well as heard, a whitethroat in a willow tree. Further on, a blackcap sang but refused to show itself. As we continued along the path, we came to a viewing station overlooking various ponds as well as the main body of the Flash. Here we counted 24 great crested grebes on the Flash. (Later we saw a pair displaying and mating.)
On the scrape, as well as graylag keeping company with a Canada goose, we saw a pair of the less common garganey and some little grebes. There was also a nesting moorhen.
The next hide seemed most popular with teenage lovebirds of the human variety. However, birds of the feathered kind seen here included a single swimming, and one sleeping, pochard. A pair of Canada geese watched carefully as their five yellow goslings began exploring. Four pair of tufted ducks slept peacefully while a busy female mallard herded eleven ducklings. (Where had they all come from?)
At this point, it started to rain, so we hurried on to hide no.1 for another view of the Flash and took in a redshank and a dunlin as well as a lesser black backed gull. As we left, the rain grew heavier but we departed feeling satisfied that we had had the best of the day and that the site had been well worth the visit.
CH