18/05/2012 by Sabena Blackbird.

Whilst the Sunday Group members walked along the prom from Seacombe to New Brighton I had a firkle along the shoreline. Barnacle species included Semibalanus balanoides the most widespread intertidal barnacle in the British Isles. It has six calcified grey-white shell plates and a diamond shaped opercular aperture.

There were plenty of Common Periwinkles Littorina littorea and a few White Piddock Shells Barnea candida – despite its fragile appearance this bivalve burrows into soft rocks on the lower shore. A dead female Shore Crab was lying on her back in the sand.

I counted around 45 Sea Gooseberries Pleurobrachia pileus washed up on the shoreline – these Comb-jellies or Ctenophores are roughly spherical gelatinous masses, around 2cm in diameter and have eight rows of comb-like plates with tiny cilia along their sides.

There were a number of Sand Mason Worms Lanice conchilega. These burrowing marine polychaete worms build a tube out of sand grains and shell fragments which projects out of the sand.

Lush fronds of Sea Lettuce Ulva lactuca was floating in the sandstone rock pools. Like its name suggests it is edible and contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, especially iron.

And here’s a pic of the wonderful flowering Quince Chaenomeles speciosa in Vale Park

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17/05/2012 by Barbara.

It was a lovely day for the ride on the ferry, and they even have a new commentary!

Right by the Seacombe Ferry building I was surprised to see Feral Pigeons pecking about on the beach (they do it a lot, apparently). I had them pegged as diehard “townies”. Skulking quietly under the pier, near the water’s edge, were three Turnstones. One seemed to be well on the way to its summer plumage and should have flown north weeks ago. Perhaps it was a young one which won’t breed this year. Another surprise was a Ringed Plover. That shouldn’t be here any more either!  Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were scattered all over the beach, and there were a couple of Shelduck. Opposite Vale Park we spotted some Common Terns diving over a buoy.

It was sunny and warm, although there was a lively breeze. Some of the first Hawthorn trees were in flower in the seafront gardens and near Magazine Lane a tree was shedding lots of fluffy white male flowers. We tried to see which tree they came from, without success. Anyone know what they are? Elm? Ash? Some kind of Poplar?

Quince was flowering in Vale Park, Swallows flew over and we saw a Large White butterfly. Opposite Manor Lane there is a bit of rocky / sandy breakwater which rarely gets covered by the tide, so it has some beach-loving plant life, including big clumps of Sea Kale and a good showing of Red Valerian.

There are House Martins near New Brighton, and fossil oysters in the sea-defence rocks near the Lifeboat Station. At the Marine Lake people were lining the railings and catching crabs with a simple line and any old bait.

As for man-made attractions, we looked at the artwork embedded in the seafront roadway all along from Seacombe to New Brighton, and particlarly liked the ring of dancers, commemorating the Tower Ballroom, whose dresses were picked out in various polished granites.

Here is the plan for the next few Sundays:
20th May, Thornton. Meet 10 am Sir Thomas Street.
27th May, MNA coach trip, no Sunday walk.
3rd June, Chester. Meet 10am at Lime Street Station lower level
10th June, MNA coach trip, no Sunday walk.
17th June, to be arranged
24th June, Childwall Wood and Fields. Meet 10am Liverpool ONE Bus Station

Anyone is welcome to join 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 come out on 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.

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07/05/2012 by Barbara.

On the previous two occasions we had been to Taylor Park, it had rained hard, so we were surprised to finally see it as it ought to be. It was bright, sunny and warm nearly all day.

Several unidentified white butterflies were on the wing and a pair of Speckled Woods were dancing together next to some shrubbery. In the parkland we saw Robin, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tits, a Wren, a Nuthatch, two Treecreepers and we heard a Chiffchaff. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over the trees in the distance. On the main lake (”Big Dam”) were Canada Geese, a motley-looking Greylag, Mallards, Coots (two on nests), Herring and Lesser Black-backed gulls, a Swallow, a pair of Common Terns, one of whom often sat squatly on an orange buoy, the other taking an interest in a possible nesting platform. A Grey Wagtail flew out from under the Ranger Station. A Mute Swan was nesting in the bushes on the far side and there was also a Great Crested Grebe on a nest. The swan and duck food came out of my pocket (I’m still trying to get rid of it.) The geese turned their beaks up once again, but the Mallards seemed to like it. The squirrels were not impressed.

We planned to lunch beside Big Dam, but some enthusiasts were running their noisy model boats, so we headed for the Quarry Garden.

Above the Quarry Garden is a viewpoint looking over to Billinge Hill.

The leaves on the Whitebeam trees were just coming out, standing up like Magnolia blossom against the blue sky.

In the wooded area around Eccleston Bottom Dam there was Yellow Archangel, Marsh Marigold, white and blue Bluebells (of mixed English / Spanish ancestry) and something we thought was Pink Purslane.

On Eccleston Bottom Dam we stopped to watch a pair of Great Crested Grebes with two well-grown youngsters, nearly fledged. Dad approached with a large fish (perhaps five or six inches long) and one of the chicks steamed towards him and gobbled it down. A few minutes later Daddy Grebe came up with a similar fish and again one chick hurried over to him and was fed. There was no squabbling over the food, the chicks seemed to know whose turn it was. We asked a fisherman, and he thought the male Grebe was catching young Roach for his family. That same fisherman was just about to return a very nice fish to the water, a large Bream.

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01/05/2012 by Barbara.

It was the perfect time of year to visit Calderstones Park. The cherries, azaleas and rhododendrons were in flower, and the trees with ornamental coloured foliage were at their freshest and best.

Sadly, it rained hard all day, coming down like the proverbial stair-rods, so our appreciation of the wonderful colours of the spring flowers and trees was spoilt by the weather. There was hardly any shelter, either. The greenhouses have been taken out, there was no exhibition in the Coach House, which was locked up, so we had to take refuge in the tiny shelter in the Japanese Garden.

But there were some birds about.  The sodden lawns were paradise for Blackbirds and a Mistle Thrush. Magpies were everywhere and we saw a Jay, a Bullfinch and a Nuthatch. But the weather was too much for us, and we were on our way home before 1pm.

Note that I was away for the previous two Sunday walks, Lydiate on 15th April and Wirral Way on 22nd. John Clegg has written them up and I posted his accounts yesterday. However, I tinkered with the posting dates, so you will have to scroll down for them, where they appear in chronological sequence.

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23/04/2012 by Barbara.

(Report by John Clegg) When we arrived at Hooton Station we had to fight our way through 300-400 people who were queueing for the train to Liverpool to see the Sea Odyssey giants.  On the Wirral Way we heard Great Tits and a Robin singing and had good views of  Great Spotted Woodpecker.

We had lunch at the restored Hadlow Road station, then continued all the way to Neston. Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were singing all along the Wirral Way, Forget-me-Nots were in flower and we had a good close sighting of a pair of Treecreepers, flying from tree to tree.

When the sun came out in the afternoon we saw lots of butterflies: Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Peacock and Large White.  We got the bus home from Neston. A total of 24 bird species were seen

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16/04/2012 by Barbara.

(Report by John Clegg) After getting off the 300 bus the walk started in Hall Lane, with Rooks flying around the church. We crossed the Racing Stables, where there were Lapwings on the gallops and we had lunch on the bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool canal. Swallows flew above the water and there was a Buzzard overhead.

After lunch we walked along the canal towpath to Jackson’s Bridge then returned to Hall Lane. At the farm shop on the other side of the road we saw a mother Mallard with 10 one-day-old ducklings, and six Peacocks were displaying on the field.

From the bus stop outside the church we saw a Raven fly over, and the churchyard had good numbers of both blue and white English Bluebells together with the yellow flowers of Lesser Celandine.  A total of 26 bird species seen.

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04/04/2012 by Barbara.

The motor cyclists were gathering for the Egg Run in William Brown Street this morning, many of them dressed as chickens and bunnies. And since it was April Fool’s Day, the morning radio had been talking about donkey rustling for Palm Sunday services. Scorning these distractions we set off on the 72 bus for Landican.

After last week’s heatwave there was a cool breeze, although it was still warm in the sunshine. We took the path from Woodchurch Road along the side of the Cemetery, seeing a Dunnock, Blue Tits and Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits and some Wood Pigeons. In the cemetery we heard a Chiffchaff and saw a Blackbird, a Chaffinch, several Carrion Crows and a couple of Magpies. Pairs of Buzzards were courting overhead, a Jay glided through the trees, the Irish Yews were stately and elegant and the Blackthorn was starting to bloom.

We kept our eyes peeled for Hares, since this is the place where Chris Packham was filmed creeping amongst the gravestones. But no Hares today, there were too many people about.

In Arrowe Country Park there was a Pied Wagtail on the bowling green where we had lunch, a Nuthatch and Greenfinches calling, a Robin, more Buzzards overhead, and two butterflies: a Small Tortoiseshell and our first Speckled Wood of the year.  In the shrubbery we saw a Coal Tit apparently harass a Chaffinch from its chosen perch, and our best bird of the day, a Goldcrest flitting through a Cherry Laurel bush.

Following the sound of engines, we found the British Model Flying Association at the far side of the big field, putting their craft through their paces. One of them had a model helicopter which he could make loop-the-loop, fly upside down, fly on its side – amazing!

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26/03/2012 by Barbara.

This was one of John’s mystery destinations, and it turned out to be a small park on the north side of the East Lancashire Road, between Lower Lane and Stonebridge Lane, near to the sewage works and opposite the Showcase Cinema. Someone, perhaps the North-West Development Agency, has landscaped the area around Sugar Brook, made paths, planted small trees and shrubs, and set up a fishing lake. We strolled around it in the warm sunshine and I asked a young fisherman what he caught. He said he’d had three Carp, his mate had had one and his cousin had had another.

There were Mallards and Coots on the water, and Marsh Marigolds in the drainage ditches. Forsythia was blooming wonderfully, Coltsfoot was in flower, 7-spot Ladybirds were out basking, a Honey Bee with full pollen sacs foraged among the Broom, and a Peacock butterfly fluttered past. Two Cormorants flew towards Prescot, a Heron came up and headed for Croxteth Park and a dog flushed two very unexpected Grey Partridges from a small stand of trees. All along the path edges Field Horsetails were shooting up, and in several places they had started to break through the tarmac.

In a stagnant backwater right next to a path, two Mute Swans have built a nest and were sitting on three eggs. Neither had Darvic rings but the Cob had an unreadable BTO ring. They seemed to be in a very accessible and vulnerable position, so perhaps they are a young pair who don’t know any better, but there was evidence that the locals held them in some affection. A father was showing them to his little daughter and the water around them held whole slices of bread and a complete but very soggy bagel.

We ate lunch sitting on crash barriers, with the dull roar of the East Lancs on our right and the sweet songs of Chiffchaffs, a Dunnock and Goldfinches to our left.

After lunch we walked down to West Derby Cemetery to look for some gravestones, and admired three wonderful pink flowering Cherry trees.

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12/03/2012 by Barbara.

With the promise of a high tide, we took the 487 to Parkgate, and as we travelled through suburban Wirral we admired the early-flowering pink and white cherry trees, Forsythias, masses of daffodils, and a few Magnolias just about to bloom.

The RSPB was there with its van and tent, and the telescope brigade were lined up along the walls of the Old Baths, but the tide wasn’t particularly high, even along the quay northwards, despite being billed as 9.7 meters.

In the pools out in the marsh we saw three Little Egrets, some Oystercatchers, two Pintails, Canada Geese, some Teal, a Wigeon, lots of Mallards, lots of gulls, a pair of Mute Swans and a female Red-breasted Merganser.  Where the road turns into the car park there were several fresh Molehills.

We crossed the golf course and headed back along the Wirral Way. Skylarks were singing, a Kestrel hunted over the Gorse, and we saw a Long-tailed Tit, a Robin, a Wren, a Chaffinch, a Jay and a Grey Squrrel. Several kinds of catkins were out, but the trees were otherwise bare, except for the Hawthorn, which was showing fresh green leaves.

Back at the car park, I asked the RSPB staff how the day had gone, and they reported sightings of Hen Harrier, Peregrine and Merlin. We didn’t see those. They also said there had been a Spoonbill out on the marsh. Just as we were waiting by the bus stop for the 3.30 bus home, there it was with its back to us, not showing its distinctive bill, but clearly bigger than the Little Egret which landed beside it.

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04/03/2012 by Barbara.

It wasn’t a wildlife day today. We went to see HMS Liverpool at the Pier Head, then took the bus down to Sudley House in Mossley Hill to look at the Costume Exhibition.  Despite the sunshine, it was cold with an icy wind. But the crocuses in the garden were splendid, and we saw a Nuthatch.

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