After two warm days that felt like spring, we are back to cold wind and blustery showers. Rice Lane City Farm is on the site of the old Walton Park Cemetery, so little brown Ryelands sheep graze amongst the old gravestones.
Every time we go there, they seem to have switched around the gates and signs, so this time we were not permitted to walk down the long path heading south from the chapel and went northwards instead. There were lots of twittering birds, including Robin and Blackbird. A party of about 12-20 fast-moving small birds went through the bare trees, high up against the light. They may have been Siskins but it was hard to be sure.
There were Snowdrops everywhere, some Daffodils coming out, and in the woods near the Prison the ground was carpeted with shoots of Bluebells rising up through the Bramble. A couple of coppiced Hazel trees bore catkins that were just going over, although they are the first I’ve seen this year.
By the Dutch graves they have been planting young orchard trees, Cherry, Damson and Quince. The farm itself is under Bird Flu restrictions, so at the farmyard gate there is a pad to disinfect boots, and all the poultry is penned up. They have chickens and ducks, geese and turkeys, the aforementioned sheep, some goats, one or two cows, a couple of donkeys and a pony.
We were amazed to see a small coop with about half a dozen Quails. I don’t think I have ever seen a Quail before. One of the staff said they are all females, and they hope they will lay when the weather is warmer, giving them Quail eggs to sell.
On our way back to the bus we stopped in the little park on the corner of Evered Avenue, at the western end of Rice Lane Recreation Ground. There were some female Chaffinches foraging on the ground, perfectly camouflaged amongst the fallen leaves. There was also a small tree just coming into bloom. It’s the first blossom tree of the year, Cherry Plum Prunus cerasifera. Keep an eye out for it, it will be blooming on streets and in parks in the next week or two. Don’t mistake it for Blackthorn, which is usually a couple of weeks later. Cherry Plum is a small tree rather than a hedgerow shrub, it has no thorns and its flowers have short stalks. (Blackthorn flowers appear to come straight out of the wood.)
Just to add that I spotted a Herring Gull outside the Playhouse early on Sunday morning, feeding on a recently-deceased Pigeon. Although it may just have been scavenging an already-dead bird, I have heard that some Herring Gulls actually catch and kill their prey. Who needs the Serengeti!
Public transport details: Bus 20 from Queen Square at 10.20, arriving Rice Lane / Rawcliffe Road at 10.40. Returned on the 21 bus from Rice Lane / Fazakerley Road at 1.45. arriving city centre at 2.10. Next week we plan to go to Sefton Park, meeting at Elliot Street at 10am.