The Naturalists' Notebook

According to the Celts, the first day of May was Beltane, the first day of summer, when they started new fires, drove their cattle between two bonfires then led them out to summer pastures.  It didn’t feel much like summer as we walked up Long Lane, Aughton towards Gorse Hill Nature Reserve. It was cloudy, damp and drizzly, and the garden trees dripped on us as we passed.  They were lovely trees, though. The classic spring trees were blossoming – Horse Chestnut, Laburnum, Rowan, Whitebeam, Lilac and Hawthorn. Some of the early foliage was magnificent too, including this lovely Copper Beech and a Sycamore of the late-greening variety ‘Brilliantissimum’.

Gorse Hill NR was open for their “Blossom and Bluebells” day, and we walked some of the woodland paths before they officially opened at noon. Wildflowers were abundant along the edges, including White Dead-nettle, Herb Robert, Yellow Archangel, and some early Cow Parsley. Birds included Blackbirds, Robins and some singing Chiffchaffs. The Hawthorn or May blossom was out everywhere.

We lunched at Seldon’s Pond, spotting a Sparrowhawk cruising overhead. A minute or two later it came back, flying low and fast, chasing something, but we didn’t see what it was hunting. Then we assembled outside the café for the guided walk led by volunteer Su. She took us into the normally-closed Wilowbank Wood, former farmland which was planted with trees in 1996 and 1997 and had its hedgerows restored. Part of the area was crossed by a small stream and an old bank of native English bluebells, which is what we had come to see.  It is still thought to be growing pure English bluebells, although the pollen from the invasive Spanish bluebells wafts in on the wind from our gardens, and is brought in by wildlife.

There are Roe Deer in the wood, but we didn’t see any signs of them. They also have a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers who have taken a liking to the electricity pole and have excavated many nest holes in it. The reserve staff are watching closely, hoping the pole doesn’t get hollowed out, causing it to fall and the electricity to be disastrously disrupted.

We ended our tour in their heritage orchard, whose blossom was mostly over, but the carpet of Cowslips growing beneath the trees was lovely. Cowslips are the food plant of the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary butterfly.

Finally, we went to see the rare native Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana, which I have mentioned before. (See the last section of my report on Allerton Towers on 13 Sep 2020). The multi-stemmed group on north side of the path was very sparsely leafed, with no sign of flowers, but there were some younger saplings on the opposite side in better light. It was still too early for full flowers, but the buds were well-formed.

In other tree news, I was on the MNA short walk in Newsham Park last Wednesday (27th April) and found what I believe to be a Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis, another rare native tree and another lifer for me. I was actually looking for the even rarer Service Tree of Fontainebleau (was Sorbus latifolia, now called Karpatiosorbus latifolia) which is said by the Tree Register to have several examples along the Gardener’s Drive / Carstairs Road avenue, one of which was a height champion. I thought I had found one of the ones I was looking for, but after consulting several tree books I can’t make it “Fontainbleau” and it seems to be a straightforward Wild Service Tree, although rare enough.  If you want to see it, it’s near the café and toilet block, opposite the skatepark and just west of the permanent table-tennis table. It’s on the south side of the path and is a leaning tree, which brings the leaves and flowers conveniently close.

Public transport details: Train from Central towards Ormskirk at 10.07, arriving Aughton Park Station 10.45. Returned from Aughton Park on train at 3.40, arriving Central 4.10. 

Southport is a seaside resort north of Liverpool, which was founded in 1792 and had its heyday in Victorian times. It advertised itself as more genteel than Blackpool, with covered arcades and high-end shops. The era of foreign holidays hit it hard, but it has the second longest seaside pleasure pier in the British Isles and is still one of the most popular seaside resorts in the UK.  We don’t often go there in spring or summer, preferring to avoid crowds, but it wasn’t too bad today. The southern arm of the Marine Lake had a different population of birds than we see in winter. There was only one Black-headed Gull for instance, where we usually see hundreds. And all the Herring Gulls scrambling for bread seemed to be juveniles. Have all the adults gone back to their breeding grounds?

There were the usual Mallards and Pigeons, just a few Canada Geese, one or two Coots and rather more Greylag Geese than we are used to. One pair had four little goslings while this group of six adults were shepherding a crèche of 18 little ones.

There were over 40 Mute Swans, many clearly last year’s cygnets, still showing some brown plumage, but others were all white so may have been sub-adults. Two of them were sitting on the edge, preening, and they bore white-on-blue Darvic rings. I reported them to Steve Christmas of the North West Swan Study, who said 4BXD was ringed as a cygnet at Leasowe, Wirral on 8/12/2015 (so is now six years old) while 4DNT was ringed as a cygnet at Parsons Meadow, Wigan on 22/10/2020 (so is now two years old).

The park around the lake is very “tidy” and we detected the liberal use of herbicide on the path edges. There wasn’t much in the way of “weeds” and we saw only one Bumble Bee all day. It may be tourist-friendly, but it’s not very naturalist-friendly. A raised corner bed by the miniature railway had escaped the gardeners’ attentions, and was lush with Bluebells and Dandelions.

Two Swallows swooped over the water, my first of the year. Over on the far side, where they moor the “swan” and “flamingo” pedalos, we noticed that one is now painted up as a Black Swan, in honour of the vagrant pair which are often seen here. That’s a nice touch.

In front of the new Big Wheel I spotted a very mutilated tree. It’s the one on the right against the wheel, a Cedar. It’s not a Deodar Cedar because the needles were all the same length. It might have been an uncommon green Atlas Cedar (most are blue) or even the now-rare Cedar of Lebanon, but it was impossible to get close to it, and it was very sadly cut about.

After a trip to Morrison’s we returned through King’s Gardens. The only birds were Starlings, one Blackbird and a Wood Pigeon. To be fair, it isn’t a good place for trees because of the strong, salty onshore winds, and the sparse well-trimmed shrubberies seem to be healthier. There are a few stunted Hollies and Scots Pines, but one other half-dead tree caught my eye. Some twigs seemed bare while others were producing growth. Blow me, it was an Elm, almost certainly a Wych Elm. There aren’t many full-sized ones of those left.

We went around the back of Southport Theatre, where the promenade overlooks the inaccessible islands in the northern arm of the lake. We were hoping for a Heron, or even Egrets, but there were just more Canada Geese, more young Herring Gulls, and an addition to the day’s list, a single Lesser Black-backed Gull.  
 
Public transport details: Train from Central at 10.23, arriving Southport 11.05. Returned on 14.28 from Southport station.

It was Easter Sunday, and it had been a beautiful weekend so far and promised to be warm and sunny today. We chose Leasowe because it often gets good spring migrant birds dropping in, like Wheatear, and there has been a Ring Ouzel in the horse fields off Park Lane all week.  That would be a good tick! Where the old Cadbury factory used to be, north of Moreton Station, there is now a large estate of new houses. There was a Pied Wagtail on the lawns and Hairy Bittercress growing all along the fence at the edge of the pavement.  We turned off Pasture Road into the North Wirral Coastal Park, Kerr’s field, passing an apple tree which was just coming into flower.

Mallards were pairing up on the river Birket, a Chiffchaff was singing and a Heron flew over. A Mistle Thrush was poking about, and in the next field there were Carrion Crows, a Lesser Black-backed Gull in a puddle and two resting Canada Geese. Two more Canadas flew in, which prompted the first two to engage in some hostile running and honking, until the interlopers were seen off. The warm weather had brought out the butterflies, including some Orange Tips, and this Small Tortoiseshell sipping from a Dandelion.

Wildflowers lined the verges: Garlic Mustard, Yellow Archangel, Green Alkanet, a big patch of White Dead-nettle, Spanish Bluebells (mostly pink and white, not blue), masses of Dandelions and Daisies, Red Dead-nettle, Alexanders, Lesser Celandine, and we spotted the first Hawthorn blossom just opening. In the hedges the Alder leaves were coming out, but they were covered in Alder Beetles. The adults over-winter in the leaf-litter apparently, and the warm weather has woken them up, ready to get mating and laying.

We took the path parallel to the coast, leading to the horse fields off Park Lane. There was a Curlew in the field on our left, and the last of the Blackthorn was shedding its white petals onto the path.

We came upon two men with tripods and telescopic cameras. They confirmed that this was the field that the Ring Ouzel had been in all last week, but on Saturday evening it was chased off by a Sparrowhawk and hadn’t been seen since. Just our luck. But they pointed out two White Wagtails, which was a pretty good consolation tick.

We turned north towards the coast along the shady farm lane overlooked by a mountain of horse manure. There on the steep opposite bank was a large patch of an unusual plant. Each stem had a cluster of little white flowers surrounded by a single green leafy cup. This arrangement is called “perfoliate”. I identified it at home as Winter Purslane or Spring Beauty, Claytonia perfoliata. In the USA it’s called Miner’s Lettuce. It’s edible, rich in Vitamin C, and its seeds are sold as an ingredient of winter salads. I had already foraged some Garlic Mustard and the young stems of Alexanders, and I’m sorry I didn’t know enough to collect some of that, too.

We lunched up on the sea wall bank with a view of Liverpool Bay, then returned to the Lighthouse by a different path. More Orange Tip butterflies, a Peacock or two and a smart-looking Speckled Wood.

There was a patch of Greater Stitchwort under a hedge.

We were looking for Swallows (none), Wheatears (none), Stonechat (none either) although we did see a Skylark singing overhead. By the side of the road to the car park was a single clump of Lady’s Smock. It’s the food plant of the Orange Tip butterfly, but that one clump is not enough, surely.

A Blackbird was singing its heart out at the top of a shrub on Pasture Road.

Along the path that lines the Birket on the eastern side of the road, the just-leafing deciduous trees made a pleasing grey-green foil to the dark evergreen Scots Pines.

That was far subtler than the bright pink new leaves of the ubiquitous Sycamore, although those are lovely in their own way, too.

Public transport details: Train at 10.05 from Central Station towards West Kirby, arriving Moreton 10.25.  Returned from Moreton at 2.41, arriving Liverpool Central 3.10.

The gardens are what remains of the Liverpool Garden Festival of 1984. By 1997 they were derelict, but a part was re-developed in 2010 and called “Festival Gardens”. It was sunny, but with a cold breeze. As soon as we got off the bus we spotted a Song Thrush rummaging in the road’s green verge, and we later heard it singing in the Japanese garden, along with Greenfinches and a Chiffchaff.

We found more building work going on. In the formerly inaccessible northern section, 28 acres are now deemed a Development Zone, where Liverpool hopes to build 1500 new eco-homes in the next few years. However, there is a big remediation job needed first, because this land was once a tip. Lots of machines are digging down to the rubbish layer. The progress report on the noticeboard by the entrance says they are “excavating to remove all landfill waste for processing and to expose areas of subformation.” This is fifth section of seven, with four sections already completed.

South of the gardens is an area called the “Southern Grasslands”, where they are building a new Landscape Mound. Perhaps this will be an extension to the park.

The overall standard of the current park is quite mixed.  The grassy areas are being mown and there isn’t too much litter, but the water in the lake is quite low, and everywhere Bramble is emerging from the shrubberies. There seems to be basic maintenance but no proper “gardening” going on. Of course, this is ideal for wildlife. The little ponds had Mallards, Moorhen and Coots. There were Magpies, Wood Pigeons and Carrion Crows. Two Goldcrests were busy in a Scots Pine and we thought we heard a Jay in the woods. One pair of Coots had four little red-headed chicks, the first young birds we’ve seen this year.

As well as the ubiquitous Dandelions and Daisies, the untended flights of steps were sprouting with all sorts of plants, including this Red Dead-nettle.

The wilder pond edges had clumps of Marsh Marigolds.

We climbed the steps up to the woodland area. The first Bluebell of the year was nearly out, and the Hawthorns were covered in buds. From the top there are good views of Moel Fammau in North Wales, and the Port Sunlight River Park just across the Mersey.

We lunched in the warm and sheltered sunshine near the bottom of the main steps. A Heron flew in and studied one ornamental pond, had no luck, so tried the shallow edge of the bigger one.

Then we headed north along the promenade into Liverpool. It turned out to be a longer walk than we remembered (we are all older now, of course), and the day’s overall tally became five miles or more.

The inland side of the walkway has mowed lawns, then long banks of Bramble scrub in front of the backing trees. We decided this would be great habitat for Nightingales, although their arrival seems extremely unlikely!  However, it is known to be a good area for foxes, and we saw some foot-high “doorways” that could be entrances to their trails.

It was low tide, exposing several bits of stony foreshore, but we looked in vain for waders. There weren’t even gulls for the first mile. But once we got to the area of warehouses near Brunswick station both Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were pairing up and behaving aggressively to others. These two LBBs are very dark and I wonder if they are the Baltic subspecies?

Our final bit of airborne interest was the Coast Guard helicopter circling over Wallasey Town Hall and Seacombe Ferry.

Public transport details: Bus 500 from Liverpool ONE bus station at 10.29, arriving Riverside Drive / Festival Gardens at 10.50. Returned to the city centre on foot, arriving Albert Dock at about 3.15.

We walked another section of the Wirral Way today, from Hooton to Hadlow Road Station and back. There was a chilly breeze when we started out, but it is sheltered in the sunken, tree-lined path, so once the sun came out it was lovely.

Much of the Hawthorn foliage is now well out, but other trees are slower. Some were still grey and bare. The Oak buds were just breaking, the first Sycamore leaves were out, but other trees are harder to identify when the foliage is new. There were lots of young saplings that we were calling “Hornbeam”, but now I think they might have been young self-seeded Birch of some kind (and later realised were Hazel, of course. )

Lots of birds were in song. Robins trilled everywhere, Blackbirds scuttled across the path, one or two Jays swooped past, Great Tits and Chaffinches were singing (as well as a distant rooster) and we counted eight singing male Chiffchaffs, one about every 350 – 400 yards. The Pussy Willow flowers were still out, full of pollen, and we spotted a small black wasp or bee foraging among them, although it was too fast-moving to catch a picture of.

There wasn’t much storm damage to see, just one or two snapped trees which were cut up and left as log piles. There has been lots of hedge trimming and clearing carried out this winter, so the path was wide and airy. Flowers were coming on well. We spotted Dandelions and Forget-me-Nots, Lesser Celandine and Dog Violet. The few Coltsfoot were closed, the Garlic Mustard and the Green Alkanet were only leaves yet, but higher on the bank some Yellow Archangel was in bloom.

Several white-flowered trees were out. This is Blackthorn, of course, which was a magnet for Bumble bees.

This was Wild Cherry, I think. Prunus avium.

This one must surely be Bird Cherry Prunus padus. My books say it isn’t supposed to flower until late May, so this must be just one aberrant tree. (By the way, look at those Latin names of the cherries, guaranteed to confuse. “Avium” means “of birds”, so what was Linnaeus thinking when he named those two?  The only lame excuse I can think of is that it must have been different in Swedish!)

Along the way we noticed that the Horse Chestnuts varied in their spring progress. Some had only breaking sticky buds, some had very droopy newly-emerged leaves, while the one by the steps at Hooton had abundant erect flower buds.

Hadlow Road was a station when the Wirral Way was a working railway line. It has been preserved in its 1950s condition as a handy stopping place, with café and loos. We ate our sandwiches there, at a picnic table well-patrolled by Robins, and with a well-fed House Sparrow colony in the adjacent hedge.

During the return walk to Hooton the sun shone, and there were far more people about. A Wren was in a low branch and we thought we glimpsed a Treecreeper. Some early butterflies put in an appearance – a Speckled Wood and this rather slow-moving Comma.

Public transport details: Train from Central towards Chester at 10.15, arriving Hooton 10.48. Returned from Hooton on the 2.29 train, arriving Central 3.00.

What a lovely day! I have been in Ireland, which has also had two weeks of sunshine, and it was sunny and warm again today. We rode the bus across the Wirral, looking at the gardens full of Forsythia, early white Cherry blossom, Magnolias, Flowering Currant and just-opening red Crab Apple blossom. The Norway Maple trees were starting to open their lime green flowers. St Mary and St Helen’s church in Neston has a picture-perfect little country village churchyard, with the peaceful old graves covered with Lesser Celandine and Forget-me-not.

We walked down Church Lane, but instead of joining the Wirral Way immediately we took the footpath south-west past the water treatment works. The hedgerows were alive with singing Dunnocks, Chaffinches, Robins and Chiffchaffs. We heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming, the Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits were foraging in the trees, a Pied Wagtail and a Skylark were feeding in an open field and a Buzzard cruised overhead, hunting.  A Pussy Willow (Goat Willow) had its flowers out, and early bumble bees were buzzing around the pollen.

Daisies and early Dandelions were everywhere, and the hedges were full of Blackthorn.

We went as far as the broken walls of the old quay, where we had our lunch overlooking the marsh. There was no sign of the recent fire damage, just a distant Little Egret.  Then we retraced our steps to Old Quay Lane and along a footpath that took us to the Wirral Way.  

We spotted the earlier Buzzard on the ground, tearing at something, so it had its lunch, too.

The banks of the Wirral Way were full of Arum leaves and lots of Wild Garlic, some of it just in flower.

The Oak buds were breaking out their flowers and leaves.

The first Cow Parsley was in bloom.

We walked as far as the car park, then down Station Road to the Old Quay restaurant. On this Mother’s Day it was full to capacity, with a rope up to deter more arrivals. The fire damage was near there, with a large chunk of the marsh showing black from the charred vegetation. (Sorry about the blotches – I had to shoot right into the sun.)

There were hordes of people in Parkgate, with a big queue at the famous ice cream shop. We hurried along and were just in time at Mostyn Square for the 1.30 bus back to Liverpool.

Public transport details: Bus 487 from Sir Thomas Street at 10.29, arriving Brook Street Neston at 11.20. Returned on the 487 bus from Mostyn Square Parkgate at 1.30, arriving Liverpool 2.25.

We met at the Albert Dock, from where we had planned to walk south, but found that we were heading into the teeth of a very strong breeze with the sun in our eyes, so turned to walk the other way, past the cruise terminal and all the new hotels around Princes Dock. The “Dazzle” ferry was just coming in.

There was a big ship berthed at the cruise terminal, the Fred Olsen Borealis.

At first we saw very few birds, just the odd Gulls, Crows and Pigeons, with a pair of Mallards in the dock. There are very few trees along there, but suddenly four little sparrow-sized birds flew in and perched in a bare ornamental tree outside the Crowne Plaza hotel. Not Sparrows and not female Snow Buntings. We decided in the end that they were female Linnets, not what we would usually expect in the city centre. More good finds were two sleeping Lesser Black-backed Gulls, looking like porcelain ornaments, and a Turnstone pecking about in a bit of fenced-off waste ground, dwarfed by the Herring Gulls.

We turned around at Alexandra Tower. On the pontoons in Waterloo Dock were half a dozen Cormorants.

We could see though to Princes Half-Tide and Victoria Docks (see top picture) framed by the red cranes at Seaforth and Jesse Hartley’s octagonal clock tower. There were four distant Mute Swans, possibly juveniles, and some Canada geese on the far bank. We returned on the inland side of Princes Dock. Several Cormorants were swimming and diving in the dock, and were coming up with long, thin, silvery fish. Sand eels?  We lunched in St Nicholas’ churchyard then headed off home early.

Just off the Wirral peninsula are three tiny islands, accessible at low tide over the sands from West Kirby, but cut off twice a day by the tide. Furthermore, it isn’t safe to walk straight to the main island itself, Hilbre, at any tide. Walkers must first cross on a slightly raised path over half a mile of sand to Little Eye then turn right, northwards, to Middle Eye and then on to Hilbre Island itself. It is two miles to the boat house at the far end of Hilbre Island, where the seals bob about in the water and look back at you. It is only safe to make the crossing when the tide is going out and there is time to get there and back without getting stranded. Tide times and safe crossing times are posted on the notice board at the Dee Lane slipway.

We weren’t intending to visit the islands today, because high water was due just after 1pm, but we thought it would be a good day for bringing birds close to shore. It was another lovely day, with almost continuous sunshine, calm but cold, and we still needed our woolly hats. From the Dee Lane slipway we walked northwards on South Parade and then on the sandy path towards Red Rocks. The Spartina grass has come around from Hoylake and parts of the former West Kirby beach are now turning to saltmarsh. Will it be like Parkgate one day?

There were plenty of people walking over the sand towards Little Eye. Didn’t they know it was the worst possible time? We could see the sea coming in beyond Hilbre itself. In previous visits we have seen rangers in dune buggies, heading off people going the wrong way but there didn’t seem to be any about today. There were no interesting birds at first, just random gulls flying about. However, on the landward side we spotted a pair of Stonechats at the top of a spiny bush and then one or two Skylarks making low song flights. We stopped to look at a stalked plant by the side of the path. Is it Sea Kale? Yes, it looks like it. The leaves, stalks and roots are edible and are now thought to be delicacies, but we left it alone.

Strangely, a lone guitarist was standing up on the bank playing and singing a selection of sixties and seventies numbers (Paranoid by Black Sabbath 1970, Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones 1966 and Your Song by Elton John 1970). What an incongruous selection!

The sea was now in as far as the gap between Hilbre and Middle Eye. We thought we saw something like a seal on the distant sand. It was the right sort of size and shape but it didn’t move at all and they are rarely seen on the landward side of the islands. Maybe it was just driftwood. With about an hour to go to high tide a Little Egret appeared on the salt marsh. Was it waiting for easy pickings as the tide filled the marsh?

We turned back towards West Kirby then, to find a place for lunch. There were excellent views over to the Point of Ayr near Talacre on the North Wales coast. The lighthouse there shone a bright white when the sun hit it.  In the left middle distance of the picture are some of the people who had been recklessly heading for Little Eye on the raised path, found themselves in danger of being cut off and had to wade through an ankle-deep channel to get to safe sand.

On the pontoons in the Marine Lake were Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, a Common Gull, Redshanks, and a Turnstone.

A Pale-bellied Brent Goose was swimming in the lake. They are newcomers to the Hilbre area in last few years, winter visitors from Svalbard or Greenland.

We had lunch in Victoria Gardens then walked back to the Dee Lane area. People were walking on the sea wall around the Marine Lake, looking  like they were walking on water. Some Cormorants, Oyster Catchers and Gulls had settled on Little Eye to wait out the tide.

At full tide all three islands were completely surrounded by water. At Dee Lane people were standing on the remaining bit of beach, dogs were running in and out excitedly and some kids were paddling.

We headed back to the station via Sandlea Park and admired the displays of daffodils and crocuses. A Flowering Currant bush was starting to bloom.

Note also that on the MNA short walk in Sefton Park on Thursday 3rd March we spotted a Coot with a white Darvic leg ring coded LNX. I have reported it to the ringer and will add the report when it arrives.   [Added 11 March. “LNX was ringed in Sefton Park on 30/11/2021 as an adult and has been seen there since a few times, I think it may be a breeder at this site. Good to confirm it’s still there – thank you!” ]

Public transport details: Train from Central at 10.05, arriving West Kirby 10.35. Returned on train at 2.01, arriving Liverpool Central at 2.37

It was a gorgeous day today, dry and sunny, with just a chilly breeze. Miles better than recent Sundays. Hordes of walkers and their dogs came out after lunch, and spring is springing. For a change, we walked around the lake anticlockwise, interested to see two fishermen being interviewed and sent packing by what looked like park security. They had to remove loads of kit, tents, rods and trolleys. Were they blocking the path? Were they unlicensed?  We saw them again later in the day on the other side of the lake, so they were persistent.

The usual large flocks of urban birds were present on the lake. Canada Geese, Mallards, Coots, one skulking Moorhen, a huge flock of Black-headed Gulls, some young Herring Gulls, Feral Pigeons, three or four Tufted Duck and two Mute Swans.  No Grebes seemed to be about.

The “no bread” message hasn’t got through to everyone, and large chunks of doughy white were still being offered to the Canada Geese, which gobbled it up. They were surrounded by a flying flock of Black-headed Gulls and we noticed that one had a blue leg ring. Sadly all our attempts to get it to stand on the path to be checked or photographed were in vain.

The (female?) Coots had started nesting while the males out on the lake were acting out their aggression. Some were swimming low next to each other and making aggressive chipping calls, while others escalated their disputes to outright splashing and slashing.

Around the south side of the Palm House we heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming, and spotted a flock of Ring-necked Parakeets in an Alder tree. We eventually found the Woodpecker near some new bird feeders in a clearing. One of the Parakeets has developed a liking for a fat block.

Just around the corner a Heron was standing on a bank, slightly above us and quite close.

An evergreen shrub caught our eye, as it looked like Laurel but it was coming out in little purple and yellow flowers. It’s Japanese Laurel Aucuba japonica, which we have noted in autumn before, but not in spring. The species usually has spotted leaves, but this one was a plain variety.

One low Hawthorn bush was bursting into leaf all over. We headed down to the Persian Ironwood tree. It’s very bare this time of year, and it looks very gnarled and twisted. The shocking-pink flowers were nearly over.

We lunched on the picnic tables by the Palm House entrance, watching a pair of Song Thrushes on quiet lawn nearby. Then, to our amazement a large inflatable pink pig walked past! We followed it and its entourage to the open space near the Oasis café and discovered it was a group of vegan campaigners. There’s a volunteer inside it, walking it along. One side of the pig said “Love all animals, not just pets” while the other said  “Save the planet, go vegan”. It soon attracted a crowd who had leaflets pressed on them by an organisation called Viva! which is mostly about chickens, and their website, amusingly, is Life is Cheep.

Crocuses were out in abundance, especially by the side of the path leading to the obelisk. I don’t think we have ever seen them look so marvellous.

The Cedar on the western bank of the lake, near the southern end, is still not conclusively identified. I’m fairly sure it’s an Atlas Cedar Cedrus atlantica, but since it’s a green one, not the more usual blue (var. ‘Glauca’) it could easily be taken for a Cedar of Lebanon. One of the distinguishing features is that the cones of the Atlas are said by Mitchell to have a dimple in the top. They are usually hard to inspect, since they don’t fall off the tree intact, but fortuitously, a branch has come down in the recent storms.  So here are some cones and do they have dimples? Not very deep ones, I have to say. “Trees in Britain” by Roger Phillips has a photo of Atlas cones and says they are “flat-topped”, as opposed to the Lebanon cones, which “taper to the top” and look a bit pointy in his photo. I’m still plumping for it being an Atlas Cedar, not a Cedar of Lebanon.

In my local Alexandra Park in Crosby the Cherry Plum blossom is out.

Public transport details: 82 bus from Elliot Street towards Speke at 10.03, arriving Aigburth Road / Ashbourne Road at 10.21.  Returned on 82 from Aigburth Road / Jericho Lane at 2.05, arriving city centre at 2.22.

We often go to Landican Cemetery at this time of year, hoping to see the Hares which sneak in from the surrounding farmland to snack on the floral tributes.  Sadly, we didn’t see any today, just lines of fresh molehills (which we can claim as a wild mammal “sighting”). It was a filthy day, gloomy and windy, with more heavy rain forecast for the afternoon. We had been thrashed by Storm Dudley on Wednesday, by Storm Eunice on Friday, and now Storm Franklin was revving up.  We half expected to see more trees down, but all was clean and tidy. The previous storms of the winter must have already taken out the weak ones. The prominent Monterrey Cypress merely had some broken branches tangled in its canopy, but a much-loved memorial tree by the side of the main drive had recently snapped right off. It had been cleared up, leaving just a pile of broken twigs for the gardeners to collect.

Most of the spring flowers like crocuses and the first daffodils had been flattened by the winds. Bunches of flowers and cherub ornaments were blown about higgledy-piggledy, and this tribute to someone called “Gazza” had been stripped.

We did look at the trees, admiring a marvellous old Cherry with a twisted trunk, the catkins on an Italian Alder and a red-twigged bare tree which was probably some kind of Willow.

The pollen sacs on the Golden Yews appear to have protruded and opened at one end.

The wind became gustier as Storm Franklin approached. We sheltered for our lunch in a roofed alcove next to the central buildings. We thought the chapels were all closed up for the weekend, but we noticed a man and woman open a door, take in fresh flowers and bring out old ones. After they drove off we investigated and found a remembrance room for cremated remains, with closed niches covering all the walls. It was rather lovely.

By then it was raining hard, and it was time to go home!

Public transport details: Bus 472 from Sir Thomas Street at 10.12, arriving Arrowe Park Road / Landican Cemetery at 10.46. Returned from the stop opposite on bus 471 at 12.55, arriving Liverpool 1.25.