Just after I first joined Manchester Birding Forum I went to Pennington Flash and saw a large brown mammal slipping through shallow water in front of me. I reported it as an otter and was informed by someone that it was probably a mink. If somebody tries to tell me that the large brown mammal I saw at Cheadle Bridge at about 6 this evening wasn't an otter, I will arrange to meet them in person to discuss the matter!

I was looking casually off the bridge as I often do, expecting a Dipper to skim across and land on one of their normal perches, when I saw the water disturb by the bank on the Manchester side. It looked fairly likely what it was but I didn't have my bins so I was open-minded, but it was abundantly clear within moments. Oh my god! The otter proceeded to swim along the bank, breaking the water or diving a few feet under the surface, before it hopped onto a rock, looked up at me, jumped back in the water and carried on. It was the luck of the moment that with the angle and the light I had a perfect view of the animal under the surface as well as when it came up, so I had a perfect view really. It moved under the bridge and some resting Mallards flushed away, and as I tried to track it from the bank I had one final view as it lifted its head, but the vegetation on the east side of the bridge is such that the viewing chance had gone.

Unbelievable in one sense, but actually quite believable when you consider what has happened to the species in recent years. But point blank views in broad daylight 15 minutes walk from home...I need to buy a lottery ticket this week...

Came across a Common Plume Moth this morning on a customers front door......extraordinary and a first for me.

Several Banded Demoiselle's along the Mersey at the Mersey Valley Nature Park SBI today also a Water Shrew seen along the river.

I had a quick walk round Heaton Mersey Common this evening, and as well as a couple of Peacock butterflies and a Comma, a great sighting was a Tawny Mining Bee. When I saw it flying around I saw a little hole that they evidently make with a cone like mound of soil around it, and then I noticed 4 more holes around the square foot or so of soil. Assumption would be that they belonged to other bees; although they are supposed to be solitary I presume a cluster of nests isn't unusual. The bee was stunning, a rich russet orange looking superb in the sunshine

I've been out a couple of times looking for Dragonflies and Butterflies, just locally around the Heaton Mersey NR and down by the river. So far I've seen the following butterflies commonly:

Large White
Small White
Red Admiral
Comma
Meadow Brown
Speckled Wood

...and these less frequently:

Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Gatekeeper
Holly Blue
Brimstone

...and the following dragonflies:

Emperor
Brown Hawker
Common Darter

and a Banded Demoiselle Damselfly

I think I've seen some nice stuff for a pretty built up area.