It was a bright and sunny day, and got quite hot in the afternoon. The seaside crowds were out, walking around the Marine Lake path, hiring paddle boards and queueing at ice cream stalls. We avoided them by walking along the Wirral Way a bit. Apart from a calling Great Tit and a Blackbird on the path, there were no birds to see. Both verges were thick with Stinging Nettles, Bramble and Black Briony, and the winged seeds of Norway Maple were scattered across the path. One Speckled Wood butterfly sped past. A cluster of berries high up in the verge foxed us, but it was a stalk of Lords and Ladies Arum maculatum, which someone had picked, then discarded.
We continued through the top end of Ashton Park, around St Bridget’s churchyard, then back to the park for lunch by the bowling green. There are two Cedar trees there, the most noticeable one being a wide-spreading Blue Atlas Cedar between the bowling green and the lake. But the less obvious one in the border on the other side of the green interests me. Cedars are hard to distinguish, but this one might be a now-rare Cedar of Lebanon. That mid-height branch is growing fairly level, neither drooping at the tips (Deodar Cedar) or reaching upwards (Atlas Cedar).
Another way to tell is by the needles, which are in short bunches, all about the same length, and by the cones, which are said to have low points (rather than the Atlas cedars, whose cones are dimpled at the top). Unfortunately, the cones don’t fall to the ground for inspection, like pine cones do, but stay on the tree, slowly disintegrating and releasing their seeds. I can convince myself that some of these cones do look a bit pointed.
There were no interesting birds on the lake, just Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, and lots of juvenile Herring Gulls. There were also Wood Pigeons, Feral Pigeons and Magpies at various places around the paths and lawns.
Sandlea Park, opposite Morrison’s supermarket, was the best wildlife spot of the day. Their Buddleia bushes had two Peacock butterflies and one Red Admiral, quite a bonanza by current standards.
We went to visit the little tree with pink blossom which we had spotted when we were last here on 10th March. It had been identified to me then as an Almond tree, quite a rarity. Today it was bearing several clusters of almond fruit, presumably with hard nuts forming inside. It’s the only Almond tree I know of on Merseyside.
Public transport details: Train from Central at 10.05, arriving West Kirby at 10.35. Returned on the train at 2.31, arriving Central 3.05.