Just last week I returned from Cyprus where hooded crows were common town birds, and I barely looked twice at them, so that's my excuse for almost walking past one today without it even registering what it was!
I'd got Elaine to drop me off at the layby near Haydock Island on her way to work. My plan was to walk north up the A49 past the entrance to Haydock Park Race course and then follow a footpath from Heath road down to Sandy Lane and make my way home through Golborne. The reason for doing this was to try to see a reported flock of around 100 brambling which had been seen in that area.
Suddenly as I walked down Heath Road I became aware that I was walking past a hooded crow! It was just there, on the grass about 10m away from me. I really couldn't believe it. There had been one near Haydock Island before Christmas and this was undoubtedly it, but the good news was, this former St Helens mega was now in Greater Manchester!
The light was poor and I fired off a few poor photos and then put the news out, sparking a mini twitch! It turns out that although there are a few records of hooded crow in Greater Manchester, they are from so long ago that virtually every Greater Manchester lister needs it for their list! I didn't see any sign of the brambling.
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