Report from John Clegg
A sunny, warm morning saw ten MNA members meet at Orrell Water Park for our walk.
We started with a pair of Great Crested Grebes dancing on the largest of the lakes, with good numbers of Coots, Black-headed Gulls and Canada Geese. At the feeding station a male Sparrowhawk was seen to put up the feeding birds, including Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Blackbird and Robin.
On the bank of a stream over 100 Miner Bees were seen , including Early, Tawny and Andrena Mining Bees. On the Holly hedge we saw a number of Holly Leaf Miner beetles and a Snake Millipede.
The sunny day brought out lots of butterfiles: Large White, Green-veined White, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral and Peacock were all seen. In the wood were carpets of White Wood Anemone and yellow Primrose.
A total of 21 bird species were seen on the day.