The Naturalists' Notebook

It was a cool, cloudy morning with a promise of rain from midday. We took the 82A from Liverpool ONE bus station at 10.17, arriving at Hale Village at 11am. Hale is famous for the 16th century giant, John Middleton (1578-1623), known as the Childe of Hale, who was reputed to have been 9 foot 3 inches tall.

There is a new statue commemorating him, replacing the old wood carving. It seems they have made it oversized, because it’s about 11 feet tall. It’s too well-proportioned to be convincing as well, just an enlarged version of an ordinary-shaped man.

His cottage is marked with a plaque.

John reckoned the two little windows on the gable end are where his feet used to stick out when he was in bed!

His grave is in the churchyard, with the inscription
HERE LYETH THE BODIE OF JOHN MIDDLETON NINE FEET THREE BORNE  1578 DYEDE 1623

My great-grandfather was fascinated by the legend, and in the 1920s wrote a long doggerel poem about the Childe, full of mock-Jacobean words. It begins
Now I’ll tell you a norrible tale
About the man called Childe of Hale
He was a very famous wight,
John Middleton he hight
Who grew right up to nine foot three.
I should not like to be so tall,
For see how far I’d have to fall.

But my great grandfather, who lived in smoky Everton and who had been a chimney sweep for most of his life, certainly appreciated the clean country air at Hale, and ended his poem thus.
I hope that I may be forgiven,
But Hale must be all right to live in.
‘Tis open land and near the Sea,
As like to Eden as may be,
With lots of grass and flowers and trees.
Enough, I hope, of bread and cheese
(Good, eaten in a healthy breeze).
Here people need not fear they’ll choke,
Not even if their chimneys smoke.
No wonder they’re a long lived folk.

From the back of the churchyard we saw a male Pheasant, a Magpie and a Wood Pigeon. Down Church Road we noted a Blackbird and a Greenfinch perched together on a TV aerial and House Sparrows in a hedge. The gardens had pink cherry blossom and a golden Maple shrub.

Swallows skimmed over the fields, and Rooks and Carrion Crows foraged busily in the ploughsoil, perhaps eating the farmer’s seeds. The path down to the lighthouse ran between a great expanse of oil-seed rape in full bloom, which was a dazzling sunshine yellow on a dull day. There weren’t many spring flowers out. Apart from the masses of Dandelions, some Red Dead-Nettle, and the early Cow Parsley, I saw only one Garlic Mustard (Jack-by-the-Hedge) in flower. The Hawthorn (May) blossom isn’t out yet either, and there don’t seem to be very many buds on the bushes.

As we approached Hale Head the cloud thickened and the brisk breeze gusting off the river carried spots of rain. John’s plan to lunch on the rocks below the lighthouse had to be abandoned.  Seeking shelter, we followed the cliff path westward, disturbing a Meadow Pipit on the edge, and spotting a Reed Bunting diving down into the sea of yellowness on our right. We eventually settled into a small copse of Beech trees.

There must have been at least one Oak, though, because we found several of last year’s fallen Oak Marble Galls, each about the size of a Malteser. They are caused by the Gall Wasp Andricus kollari, whose egg distorts the Oak leaf buds. On the picture below you can see the small hole where the young wasp emerged.

We headed back towards the village and into the woods around Hale Hall. They don’t seem to be ancient woodlands. There were a few clumps of Bluebells, but they seemed to be mixed patches of blue, pink and white Spanish bluebells, probably planted in the last few decades. The ground cover was almost all made up of tiny heart-shaped leaves, possibly one of the Violets, but I didn’t see any of it in flower. In the park, on the way back to the village in the steady drizzle, we saw a Song Thrush poking about on the lawns and there were also some fresh molehills. We were back in the village in time for the 82A back to Liverpool at about 2pm.

I have been reading the Eat Weeds website which has inspired me to gather the one flower shoot of Garlic Mustard that I saw, plus two or three leaves and flowers from a small patch of Ramsons in the woods. I plan some garlicky scrambled eggs!

Here is the plan for the next few Sundays. (Leaders J = John, B = Barbara, O = Olive).

19th May, Canal 3, Old Roan to Maghull. Meet 10am Central Station. (B)
26th May,  Battle of the Atlantic Weekend. Meet 10am Pump House, Albert Dock. (J)
(Walk details to be arranged and may include some charges.)
2nd June, Woolton. Meet 10am Great Charlotte Street. (O)
9th June, Neston Marsh. Meet 10.20 Sir Thomas Street. (J)
16th June, Canal 4, Maghull to Lydiate. Meet 10am Central Station. (B)
23rd June, no walk, MNA coach trip.
30th June, Hightown to Formby. Meet 10am Central Station. (Note that this may change. We might be going to Woolston Eyes for their Open Day. Watch this list) (J)

Note that walks may change if there are engineering works on Merseyrail.

Anyone is welcome to come out with the Sunday Group. It is not part of the MNA, although it has several overlapping members. We go out by public transport to local parks, woods and nature reserves all over Merseyside, and occasionally further afield.  We are mostly pensioners, so the day is free on our bus passes, and we enjoy fresh air, a laugh and a joke, a slow amble in pleasant surroundings and sometimes we even look at the wildlife!
If you want to join a Sunday Group walk, pack lunch, a flask, waterproofs, binoculars if you have them, a waterproof pad to sit on if we have to have lunch on the grass, and wear stout shoes or walking boots. We are usually back in Liverpool City Centre by 4pm at the latest.

If you are interested in the wildlife of the North-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, see the main MNA website for details of our programme and how to join us.

What a glorious day it was! We walked the new footpath from Seacombe to Woodside, through Birkenhead docks. It’s the most recent addition to the Wirral Circular Trail, opened up last September after a 12-year campaign by a Wirral resident.

We met at the Pier Head and took the 10 o’clock ferry to Seacombe. Our best bird of the day was almost the first one we saw. A dull-looking wader on a rock next to the river. It’s a Spotted Redshank!  The few I’ve seen before have been quite dark glossy birds, and they are all supposed to have migrated back to their northern breeding areas by May, but this must be a pale non-breeding adult.

Other birds included a Pied Wagtail on the rocks, Canada Geese and Cormorants along the river, Great Crested Grebes in the docks, Swallows skimming the water, Linnets amongst the Dandelions on Tower Wharf and Greenfinches and Goldfinches in the trees.

On the overgrown setts on the dock edges were lots of clean empty mussel shells. Have the gulls been dropping them to get at the meat inside?

The trees are perfect just now. The shapes of the trees and the branches are still visible but the fresh young leaves are coming out in various distinctive shades of green. Here’s a selection – a young Whitebeam tree and its new leaves, fresh Beech leaves and Hawthorn buds.

Near Edgerton Wharf we spotted a Bumble bee trying to find a burrow in a grassy bank. Whipping out my FSC bee identification card (bought yesterday at South Stack RSPB) I think it’s a Garden Bumble Bee.

Later we also saw a smaller bee on the footpath, which was crawling along, hugging the deepest shade and looking sick. It was probably a Tawny Mining Bee. The butterflies were loving the sunshine, of course. None of them stayed still long enough to be photographed, but we saw a Large White (probably a male with a yellowish tint), a Red Admiral, several Small Tortoiseshells dancing together and a small white one which was moving too fast to ID.

Flowers included some fresh Ragwort near North Alfred Dock and a ring of Daisies at Edgerton Wharf.

 

The route has an interesting mix of the old and new. One of the docks held a derelict vessel, and there is still some old winding machinery set into the pavement, marked as made in 1860 by the Dagliesh St Helens Foundry. The chain is still around the wheel but now there’s a tree growing out of it.  But the same corner now has the Liverpool John Moores University Astrophysics Research Unit.

Near Woodside we passed the old one-o’clock-gun.

Once it provided a time signal to shipping on the Mersey and was fired electrically from Bidston Observatory. It started on 21 September 1867. Firing was suspended during the Second World War, but then the tradition carried on until 18 July 1969. The website of the Proudman Observatory at Bidston says the original canon was a relic of the Crimean War. In 1933 the War Office provided a new cannon, a 32 pounder from Woolwich Arsenal, and after WWII it was replaced by a third gun, a six pounder naval anti-aircraft Hotchkiss gun. One of the earlier canons is now said to be at the Maritime Museum, but I don’t know if this one still on the plinth is the Crimean gun, the 32-pounder or just a replica.

We had our lunch just before Woodside Ferry, admiring the magnificent views over to Liverpool Waterfront.

After lunch we continued southwards to Monk’s Ferry and Norton Priory.

Norton Priory is the oldest standing building on Merseyside, founded in about 1150. The monks from here operated the first Mersey Ferry. It’s now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and they’ve been spending Lottery money, repairing and rendering the former interior walls, opening a new entrance onto Church Street with a disabled lift, and providing new public toilets.

The cemetery contains the vault of the Laird family, starting with John Laird, the first Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, who lived 1805-1874, and also his ship-building descendants. We were also touched by a gravestone mentioning “Hannah and Mary Beresford (sisters) the faithful and much-valued servants of the Rev Canon Knox, vicar of Birkenhead, Hannah for 35 years and Mary for 51 years.”

We returned to Liverpool via Hamilton Square. There was no Peregrine on the station tower, but the blossom trees in the square were in full bloom.

Blossom is starting to burst out everywhere, especially on all the splendid Magnolias we admired from the bus on the way to Lydiate. It still isn’t really warm, but dry and overcast, with a freshening breeze, very clear views from Liverpool over to the Wirral and the Welsh hills, and the threat of rain later. We took the 300 bus from Sir Thomas Street at 10.20 and got to Our Lady’s RC Church at Lydiate at 11.10.

There is a small rookery in the churchyard, and the calls of the Rooks followed us down Hall Lane. Outside one of the houses there is a sumptuous Aubretia along the garden wall, which we have admired in previous years.

In the sheep field on the right there was a big dew pond with Shelducks in it and Jackdaws on the edge. Swallows were flying over the field, Goldfinches and House Sparrows twittered and we spotted a pair of Linnets on the fence. Both Red Dead-nettle and White Dead-nettle were flowering in the hedgerow.

We took the footpath south alongside the racing gallop for the horses in training. Blackbird, Greenfinch, Magpie, Wood pigeon and a rabbit. We crossed the racecourse by two stiles, observing the sign warning of horses passing at speed! The trees held a Jay and a Crow, so we saw all the corvids so far except a Raven. Three Mallards flew over, looking like Hilda Ogden’s wall ornaments. Lunch was at Lydiate Hill Bridge, which carries just the footpath over the canal beneath, not a road. It’s hump-backed and narrow, crusted with old lichen, and if it’s the same age as the canal probably dates back to 1775. It’s Grade II listed, anyway. This picture, taken in late summer from the canal bank, is by “Irate” from Wikimedia Commons.

There were Moorhens and Mallards on the water and a Willow Warbler in the shrubs on the bank. We set off along the canal northwards, waving to lots of narrow boats. The Pride of Sefton went past, a boat we have cruised on in the past. There were Daisies, Dandelions and Forget-me-nots on the verge.

Just past Jackson’s Bridge some fishermen said they mostly get Roach and Perch. The flat fields had Canada Geese, an Oyster Catcher and a small mixed flock of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls apparently sitting on the ground.  A field was being harrowed while another had a crop already growing – a cereal crop in neat rows.

The wind was now gusty with spots of rain and it was very overcast.  We left the canal at Rimmer’s Swing Bridge and headed west along Green’s Lane, back towards the main road. The house on the corner with a large garden pond had a rather fine floating duck house (£540 each, according to Amazon! ) and an elegant ornamental Heron.

We noticed Collared Doves on a wire and Lapwings in field, but we were walking straight into the teeth of a strong wind and a persistent drizzle. We were very happy to get to Lydiate Hall farm opposite Our Lady’s church, and into the Hayloft tea shop for some shelter and the loo. They keep a large duck pond, dozens of tame Mallards, some Guinea Fowl and a lot of  Peacocks. One displayed obligingly for us.

He did a twirl, revealing that he looks just as amazing from behind!

After a quick shop for duck eggs and mushrooms at the farm shop we caught the 300 bus at 2.20 back to Liverpool.

This was a joint MNA / Sunday Group walk.  On a cloudy day with a forecast of rain, two MNA members joined the Sunday Group at Queen Square, with the rest of the MNA expected to be on the 18 bus from Liverpool ONE bus station. However, it was completely empty when it pulled in at Queen Square. Happily, three other MNA members joined us at Croxteth Hall.

The trees were still bare, although some early cherry blossom is beginning to show and the Magnolia is just breaking into bloom.

Birds were quite sparse, including Magpies, Mallards, Moorhens (but no Coots), Wood Pigeons, Robins, Great Tits, a Blackbird, a Jackdaw. A big tree near the lake had several Nuthatches and we spotted a distant Sparrowhawk.

Near the Hall a great old tree stump attracted our attention.

Growing over and around it were Bramble, Dandelion and Lesser Celandine, with Nettle, Red Campion, Wood Avens and Bluebell still to flower. Chris Felton rooted under some fallen bark and found woodlice and a small slug about 10 mm long. It was the Dusky Slug, Arion subfuscus.

It soon began to drizzle, but we carried on, noting more plants trying to catch up on the Spring. Primroses were out, the Wild Garlic was just coming into bud and the Water Lilies were emerging from the lake. Dog’s Mercury, that indicator of ancient woodland, was near to flowering, the lawns were scattered with Daisies, and the Dandelions were popping out everywhere.

Sheltering from the rain, we ate lunch in the covered bay at the corner of the Hall. On the lawn in front of the walled garden were some delicate and dainty Snakeshead Fritillaries.

A huge old log was showing a fine crop of Trametes gibbosa, the Lumpy Bracket.

About 1.30 the rain stopped and a weak sun tried to break through. A Bumble Bee flew low over the undergrowth but we couldn’t identify it. Near the model railway was a clump of unusual flowers which Margaret identified as Summer Snowflake.

Our last fungus was the slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon, the False Puffball, looking like a dollop of rice pudding about six inches (15 cm) across. Apparently the Mexicans call it “caca de luna” or “Moon’s poo” Nice!

Thanks to Chris Felton for his encyclopaedic knowledge of plants, invertebrates and fungi.

Spring has definitely arrived. I enter in evidence ducklings, mating coots and mating toads. Hooray!

We took the X2 bus to Bridge Road, Seaforth and headed for Old Roan. It was an overcast and windy day, with one rain shower in mid-morning, but much warmer at last.  We saw the normal denizens of the canal – the Moorhens, Coots, Mallards and Canada Geese, but also Herring Gulls, which were calling overhead. In the hedgerows we heard a Chiffchaff, Blackbirds were trilling sweetly and House Sparrows tweeted. We also saw Wood Pigeon, Crow, Robin, Magpie and Collared Dove. Very few trees were in leaf, with only the Hawthorn showing definite green. There aren’t many flowers yet either, just Coltsfoot, Lesser Celandine and a few Dandelions, with clumps of Bluebells coming through, not yet in flower. On the far side of the canal there were outbreaks of daffodils and narcissus, looking like someone had chucked a few handfuls of bulbs over their back fence.

One interesting tree was a Common Larch, with male and female flowers showing. The female flower is a lovely upright red burst, less than an inch tall, while the male flowers are the brown down-pointing globules.

On the grassy edges we noticed lots of holes or burrows. The one on the left in this picture was about 1½ to 2 inches in diameter (4-5 cm) and at least 14 inches (35 cm) deep, sloping steeply downwards towards the water. Could they have been made by Water Voles?

Further on was a ruined artwork, a pile of steel stars with plants etched on them  Oddly, there was a trunkless white elephant perched on top. It seems it was once a sculpture called “Carrying Star”, put up in 2007, and the star panels were originally mounted on a framework. It  referred to the historical planting of “star grass” (Marram grass) on the dunes by the Lords of the Manor of Sefton in the 18th century. People used to collect it secretly to thatch roofs and make furniture. Peasants caught stealing the Lord’s grass (accused of “carrying star”) faced harsh punishments.  A passer-by told us there used to be a sign about it, but it has been vandalised. And as for the elephant, he was added to the stack of stars by the person who lived in the adjoining house. He dropped it in the process, and the trunk broke off.

On the path was a pair of mating toads (“in amplexus”) with the smaller male gripping the back of the larger female. They were on their way from the undergrowth to the canal to mate but the male had grabbed the female well before she got to the water. Further along there was a different pair which retreated back to the hedge and further again still was a solitary male, dead in the middle of the path, perhaps run over by a bike.

The first ducklings of the year were a brood of just three tiny ones, pottering about with both parents near Cookson’s Bridge pub.

The mortality of baby Mallards must be very high on the canal. A fisherman just before the Swift’s Lane bridge told us he’d had a 3lb Pike that morning, about two feet long, and he’d previously caught one of 13lb in that same spot. He proudly showed me a picture of it on his smartphone. They must feast on all the ducklings in the spring.

The sun came out after lunch and we saw our first Bumble Bee this year. Past Fleetwood’s Bridge was a male Mute Swan, which we checked for leg rings (none). A lady on the towpath said he’s a very good natured lad, used to being fed, and has been known to poke her with his beak when he wants bread. His mate was on a nest a bit further on, near the Swing Bridge, sharing the bank with a dumped mattress.

Just before Old Roan was another milestone showing Liverpool 8, Leeds 119¼ .

If you are interested in the wildlife of the North-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, see the main MNA website  for details of our programme and how to join us.