Water Pipit: A scarce bird these days across Greater Manchester it was a real treat to catch up with it after dipping a water pipit at the same place last year
Found by Phil Rhodes and the information passed on to me by Sam Harris before going onto Manchester birding forum.
It is most likely that this bird has come from its breeding areas in the central European mountains such as the Alps to overwinter under the sunny skies of Bolton.
Water pipits are famous for sending their time at sewage treatment facilities, feeding on the filter beds, but they also favour habitats that include, rivers, lakes and flooded gravel pits, lowland wet grasslands and coastal fresh and brackish lagoons.
This stocky bird really stood out amongst the smaller meadow pipits, that were also more olive brown in color then the much grey, plaer water pipit.
It seemed very settled and I watched it for about an hour before moving on.
To my delight it would regularly perch up on the water pipes that were slowly circling the filter beds, brining the bird closer to me as they spun around.
