It was a beautiful day, with a clear blue sky and bright sunshine, but there was an autumnal chill in the air, reminding us it was the day before the equinox. Summer is definitely over.
We had intended to go to Chester for several Heritage Open Day events, but Merseyrail had engineering works and rail replacement buses for part of the route, which made it impossible to get there in time. This is the second year running they have done this on the crucial day. So we chose a church that we hadn’t visited, located near the north end of Sefton Park and not open until after lunch. Time in the morning for a walk in the park. We entered at the “obelisk” path, hoping for some autumn colour. Most of the trees were still green, but there were some trees like the Cherry above and this Persian Ironwood, that were starting to turn.
The open fields were scattered with Crows, Wood Pigeons, Magpies and occasional Herring Gulls. Parakeets were squawking. Near the Palm House someone was feeding Pigeons and had attracted a small flock of Crows.
We headed for the Fairy Glen where a Kingfisher was said to be back for the winter. We didn’t see it, sadly. There were just Mallards and Moorhens on the little stream there. We heard several Nuthatches but didn’t see one. On the bank of the stream near the stepping stones was an interesting tree. It had many bunches of red fruit, looking almost like red currants, hanging in unbranched bunches on long stalks. Definitely not a Cherry, as their fruits come in pairs, and the tree bark was wrong. Was it some kind of crab apple? According to the experts on the Facebook tree group it might be a Siberian Crab Malus baccata or a Chinese or Hupeh crap Malus hupehensis, but there are several dozen other candidates. “A lot of precise work would be needed to be sure of what it is.”
We did a quick circuit of the lake before lunch. There were Coots, Moorhens, Canadas and two Mute Swans. No Little Grebes or Great Crested Grebes. No interesting storm-tossed migrants. But there were two Cormorants on the posts.
At the south end was a mixed flock of Gulls: Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls and one Lesser Black-backed Gull.
As usual, we lunched by the Aviary. The sunshine brought out one Speckled Wood butterfly and many insects foraging through the Himalayan Balsam. Is this a Honey Bee?
It’s a popular picnic spot, staked out by a Robin and a Blackbird, and possibly two House Sparrows which dived into the shrubbery as we approached. The availability of lunch crumbs there probably also accounts for two rats, which were very skittish, hiding away at the slightest noise or movement.
Then on to Christ Church, Linnet Lane. It’s a big Victorian church with beautiful stained glass, a splendid wooden ceiling and innovative roof design. However, the roof eventually leaked and it cost about a quarter of a million pounds to fix (via a Heritage Lottery Grant) a few years ago. Like many churches nowadays, the congregation has fallen to under 50, and the big church is too expensive to heat, so they have made a sort of insulated square yurt at the back of the church, and hold services there.
Public transport details: Bus 76 from Queen Square at 10.02, arriving Sefton Park Road / Croxteth Road at 10.20. Returned on bus 82 from Park Road / Gredington Street at 2.05, arriving Liverpool 2.30. Next week will be Taylor Park, St Helens. Meet 10 am Queen Square.
Anyone is welcome to come out with the Sunday Group. It is not strictly 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 or a wet bench (A garden kneeler? A newspaper in a plastic bag?), and wear stout shoes or walking boots. We are usually back in Liverpool City Centre by 3pm 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 www.mnapage.info for details of our programme and how to join us.