The Naturalists' Notebook

Kirkby was originally a quiet old village near Liverpool, but a new housing estate was built there in the 1960s. The name is Scandinavian, from the Old Norse word elements ‘kirkja’ and ‘byr’, meaning ‘church’ and ‘village’. Kirkby is another Merseyside place with a proud Viking heritage, exemplified by the design of a longship in the gate of their newest park.

Opposite the church of St Chad, the Millennium Green had a profusion of Red Campion, the only flowers remaining from the civic wildflower planting of a few years ago. Some flowers were a darker red, and others were white.

The edges of the green were clothed in Cow Parsley, and several butterflies were out in the sun – Small White, Orange Tip and our first Small Copper of the year, sipping on a Daisy.

The church of St Chad has an ancient foundation, preceding the Norman conquest, and the church in Kirkby is recorded in the Domesday Book. The font is early Norman and is considered to be the oldest man-made object in Kirkby. The present church was built in about 1870 by the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton, and many of them are buried in the graveyard at the west end. Oddly, the Molyneux gravestones have been neatly boxed in new chipboard, perhaps as protection preceding restoration. The effect is rather spooky, though.

Our main goal at St Chad’s was to see if the Peregrine Falcons were nesting in the belfry again. They were indeed, and we spotted one adult on the louvers, listening intently to something calling within.  Before I could take a picture, the 11.45 bells rang out loudly and suddenly, the Peregrines shrieked in outrage, and three of them flew off. Two parents and one chick? Soon afterwards we spotted a young one on a buttress roof, but the adults didn’t return while we were waiting.

Not long before the 11.45 bongs we had also been looking at the hopper at the top of a drainpipe, where we had seen a Kestrel nesting a few years ago. Something was sitting in it, well down, but all we could see was a grey and black tail. Could it have been a Sparrowhawk? It must also have flown off when the bells rang, and we didn’t see it again

There were Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws flying about, and a Robin in the shrubbery. In the brook below the church someone had abandoned a supermarket trolley, which was lying on its side. A Nuthatch took advantage of the low perch and came down for a drink. A Holly Blue butterfly flew busily past and the shady old area of gravestones at the southern end was a mass of Wild Garlic.

Just south of the church is a little park called St Chad’s Gardens, where we had our lunch. The specimen trees there have been planted with care and taste. A pair of Turkish Hazels flank the entrance, and there are several Red Horse Chestnuts Aesculus x carnea, which is an artificial hybrid between Red Buckeye and ordinary white Horse Chestnut.

There is also a young Dawn Redwood, a medium-sized Deodar Cedar standing alone and beautiful on a lawn, and several yellow Sycamores, the variety ‘Brilliantissimum’, which look pink in close-up.

The only problem is the failed Laburnum arch. A few years ago they put in the metal arch, planted the young Laburnum trees and then failed to train them over the sides and top of the arch. The trees have simply grown up alongside, reaching in the wrong direction, towards the light. A casualty of the cuts to council services, I suppose. What a pity.

Most of the ordinary Ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) appear to be very late into leaf this year, with the first leaves just unfolding. Weeping Ashes are even later, with two near me in Crosby just showing the first buds breaking. However, the Manna Ashes (Fraxinus ornus) have been in full leaf and flower for a week or two. Could the slow ones be infected with Ash Dieback disease? The disease takes several years to weaken the trees, apparently. Are we going to lose all our Ashes? Denmark has lost 95% of theirs. According to the government’s Forest Research website, ordinary and weeping Ashes are susceptible, as is Narrow-leaved Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) but Manna Ash might prove to be tolerant.

We ended the day in Millennium park, next to the church. There were rabbit droppings on all the bare patches of flattened molehills. We explored a wide grassy ride near the north end, which was lovely, as well as being quiet and deserted. Was everyone indoors watching the big football match? There were lots of butterflies about, including Small Whites, a fast-moving Brimstone, several Orange Tips and this well-worn ragged Peacock.

It was so quiet that a few Rabbits started emerging from the shrubberies, out onto the grass.

In the small reedy wetland area along the Simonswood Brook we thought we heard a Sedge Warbler. John also spotted a Goldfinch and a Tree Sparrow. There were plenty of tadpoles in the pond.

Public transport details: Bus 20 from Queen Square at 10.10, arriving Kirkby Row / Old Hall Lane 10.55. Returned from Kirby Row / James Holt Avenue on the 21 bus at 2.20, arriving Liverpool 3.10.

Overlooking the southern end of Port Sunlight’s dell, just outside the station, is this very droopy conifer, which we have never yet made a determined effort to identify. The most obvious candidate is the famously droopy Brewer Spruce, Picea breweriana, named after a Mr Brewer and nothing whatsoever to do with the effects of drinking too much beer.

I think it must indeed be a Brewer Spruce, everything matches the book. The twigs fall straight down from the branches, the male flowers were dropping copious pollen and last year’s cones were the typical leathery, curved spruce type, about 4″ (10cm) long with stains of white resin.

We noted the Honey Locust and a fastigiate Beech, and stopped again at a handsome small tree with green and brown heart-shaped leaves. This seems very likely to be a young Dove Tree Davidia involucra, also called the Handkerchief Tree. It doesn’t seem to be flowering this year, but they flower when quite young, so maybe one of these years it will positively identify itself!

In the tall Tulip Tree we spotted a fast-moving Grey Squirrel with a young bird in its mouth, possibly a Blue Tit nestling. We watched it to see if it would go back to predate another one from the same brood, but it was last seen being scolded by Blackbirds under the bridge, whose two young ones were fledged, hopping about and thus relatively safe.  There were three Mistle Thrushes on the lawn, two parents with a single fledgling. A poor brood for them. Did the Squirrel get the others? I love how they cock their heads as if they are listening for worms.

Past Hulme Hall, with their light-leaved ‘Brilliantissimum’ Sycamores in flower, and up to the Hillsborough Memorial Garden overlooking the Rose Garden and the Lady Lever art gallery. They usually plant it up in red and white, Liverpool FC’s colours.

On either side of the Rose Garden are long avenues of Lime trees. Their identification still eludes us. They have no twiggy growth at their bases so they aren’t Common Limes. The flowers are just coming out, and they aren’t sticking out in all directions, so they aren’t Small-Leaved Limes. The leaves are smallish and thin, so they probably aren’t Large-leaved Limes, and the undersides of the leaves aren’t noticeably white and downy, so they aren’t Silver Limes. Are they Caucasian Limes? American Basswoods? No idea. We were dragged away from this contemplation by loud bird calls overhead, where a Buzzard was being mobbed by a pair of Crows, and it was circling higher and higher to try and get away from them

After lunch we cut through to Greendale Road, where the Judas Tree Cersis siliquastrum, between numbers 32 and 33, was in full flower, the little pink blooms springing straight from the wood.

New Ferry Butterfly Park was having an Open Day. There were tents from the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Friends of Port Sunlight River Park and many others. They had plant sales, a Maypole, Morris Dancing and the Mayor and Mayoress were there to grace it all. The Butterfly Park has just won the Community Impact Award at the Echo Environment Awards, which might explain the attention. We have never seen it so crowded.

One of their volunteers, John McGaw, is an arachnophile, a Spider Man. He had several live specimens on display, which he had found in the park the day before and kept in kitchen containers for the show. Here are four of them.
A Woodlouse Spider, Dysdera crocata which has strong jaws which can crack and eat woodlice.

A female Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis. Before mating the male brings the female a wrapped gift of food to reduce the chances of her eating him afterwards.

A Black Lace-weaver Amaurobius ferox, the one that makes lacy cobwebs in your old flower pots.

Finally, in a Kilner jar, a False Widow Spider, Steatoda nobilis. Overnight she had woven a nest and laid eggs.

We happily pottered about the wilder end of the area, noting Alder Buckthorn just coming into flower. The white flower in the herb garden wasn’t Cow Parsley as we first thought, but Sweet Cicely which smelled of aniseed. We appear to be at the peak of the Hawthorn (May) blossom, and it attracted several butterflies. As usual the Orange Tip was too fast for me but this Speckled Wood behaved more sedately.

And the pond was its usual interesting spot, with pond skaters, water boatmen and very many Newts, which I think are Smooth Newts.

Public transport details: Train from Central Station towards Chester at 10.15, arriving Port Sunlight 10.30. Returned from Bebington Station at 2.55, arriving Central at 3.15.

Dibbinsdale, near Bromborough on the Wirral, is the steep valley of the River Dibbin, nowadays called the Dibbinsdale Brook. It is mostly undisturbed woods, containing many distinctive “ancient woodland” plants below the trees, including native Bluebells. There are also wetland areas, wild meadows, good paths and an information centre. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

It was another scorcher today, possibly another record-breaker for April. Luckily we were in cool dappled shade for most of the day. The trees are mostly Beech and Hornbeam, with some Wych Elm. There are lots of Willows and Alders in the marshy bottoms, including this shattered old Crack Willow.

Most of the Bluebells are the rarer native types (not the imported Spanish ones you see in most gardens) with nodding stalk, flowers all on one side, curled up petals and white anthers.

Other ancient woodland indicator species carpeting the ground were the last few Wood Anemones, some patches of Dog’s Mercury and the bright yellow flowers and glossy green leaves of Lesser Celandine.

We also noted the dainty white flowers of Greater Stitchwort, and near the marshy areas were clumps of rich gold Marsh Marigolds. There were a few plants of Lady’s Smock, which is usually white, but there are pink ones here. It and Garlic Mustard (which we also saw) are the food plants for the Orange Tip butterfly. We saw many of them through the day, all busily in flight, and sadly none sat still to be photographed. We also saw one each of Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood and this Holly Blue, perched on a leaf over a stream, and occasionally shivering intensely, as if it was warming up.

Birds were a bit hard to find, and the only ones we saw were flashing about busily. They were mostly the usual woodland species like Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Robin and Wren. Mallards and Moorhen were skulking in secluded pools, a Heron took flight over the reeds and we heard our first Chiffchaff.

Around the meadow the Apple blossom is out, with its large white flowers and round pink buds. We also spotted more Alder Beetles, and checked the undersides of the leaves for caterpillars around the holes, but couldn’t see any. Is it the awakening adults which chew and damage the soft new leaves? We also spotted what we think was a developing Oak Apple on a Pedunculate Oak. It was over an inch wide, say 3cm, and it was developing on its own, not in a cluster like Marble Galls.

If anyone is interested, the rare Foxglove Tree Paulownia tomentosa in a private garden in Crosby is blooming again. This picture is looking north up Eshe Road. See the post of April 26th 2017 for details of its location. No frost this year, so it’s a cracker!

Public transport details: Train from Central Station at 10.15 towards Chester, arriving Bromborough Rake at 10.35. Returned on the number 1 bus at 2.50 from Croft Avenue East / New Chester Road, arriving Liverpool 3.15.

Greenbank was once the home of the philanthropic Liverpool family, the Rathbones, who lived in Greenbank House. The surrounding land was bought by Liverpool Corporation in 1897 on condition that it was maintained as a recreation ground for the general public, and that the trees were preserved.

It was a bright day, but quite cold, and sometimes felt like January. The Daffodils are mostly over but the Bluebells (mostly Spanish) are about half out. There were plenty of birds on the park lake, including several Coots nesting on the platforms provided, Canada Geese, Mallards, Moorhens, Wood Pigeons and one Muscovy duck. A strikingly-plumaged Heron stood on a nest platform, feathers ruffled by the cold gusty wind.

Two young Mute Swans looked like they were pairing up, but they were only last year’s cygnets, still showing some brown plumage, so they are far too young yet.

Two Cormorants in breeding plumage flew in. I love the way they swim with an alert-looking heads-up air, as if doing an inspection.

One of the old trees at the south end of the lake was a Caucasian Wingnut Pterocarya fraxinifolia, while on the eastern bank were some new tree plantings. Two young Larch trees may well have been Japanese Larches, Larix kaempferi, as the flowers weren’t bright crimson, but pinkish-cream. One still in its planting cage was definitely some sort of Alder, because it bore last year’s cones, but the new leaves were yellow, the twigs pale bronze and the bark almost white. It might be Alnus incana ‘Aurea’, a variety of the Grey Alder known as Golden Alder.

We had lunch in the sunshine in the Old English garden, which is all that remains of the Rathbone’s estate. There were a couple of unusual upright Magnolias, and a pergola showing buds of Clematis and Wisteria. We looked at a small ornamental tree with very dark purple foliage. It wasn’t a Copper Beech, but looked rather like Hornbeam, although I have never heard of a red one. It had a twiggy base to the trunk like Lime and some of the shoots were reverting to the pale green leaves. Could it be a Purple Cherry Plum Prunus cerasifera ‘Pissardi’?  Here are some of the leaves next to a quotation from Eleanor Rathbone, a campaigner for women’s rights.

To our surprise, at the western end of Greenbank Lane, where it joins Sefton Park’s perimeter road, the island in the car park had a cluster of green and purple trees, clearly of the same species as each other, but two different colour varieties. These looked more like the Purple Cherry Plums I know from Birkenhead Park but they bore just a few little red conical fruits like Capsicums. I’m flummoxed by these purple trees!

(Added 19th April – it might be the result of an infection by the fungal plant pathogen Taphrina padi, which usually infects Bird Cherry, see this Wikipedia article . On the Facebook group “British and Irish Trees” there are some similar pictures and the suggestion that it also infects the purple Cherry Plum Prunus cerasifera var. atropurpurea.)
By the old aviary in Sefton Park we looked at the stump of a recently-felled big old tree. It may have been one of the original Beeches planted in about 1872. On the lake we had a very quick glimpse of a Little Grebe, but it dived and vanished. There was no sign of the pair of Mandarins, but there were several families of little punk Coots (are they called Cootlings?)

A Canada Goose was sitting on a nest on the island, apparently plucking down from her breast. We could see one pale fawn egg in front of her legs, maybe two, but she wasn’t ready to incubate them yet.

A Jay came down to the edge of the lake for a drink.

There is a row of wonderful gnarled Cherry trees near the old bandstand, and many of the passers-by were admiring the profuse blossom in an echo of the Japanese custom of hanami or Cherry-blossom-viewing.

The Palm House was staging a free concert by the Band of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment. They were very good, but most of us didn’t stay longer than the first two numbers.

On the way back to the buses at Aigburth Vale we spotted another Caucasian Wingnut tree and a possible young Butternut tree. There was a Pied Wagtail on the verge of the lake and several Tufted Duck out in the middle. There had been reports of a rare Icelandic Gull in the week, but we couldn’t spot it. Some of the Alder shrubs were infested with hundeds of Alder leaf beetles, Agelastica alni. According to the RHS website, the adults overwinter in the leaf litter and emerge in the spring to mate. But if that’s the case, what ate all those holes in the newly-emerged Alder leaves? The beetles don’t eat holes in leaves do they?

The RHS says “Larvae can be found on the leaves from May to July.” Even allowing for the quick start to the spring this year, those chewed leaves still seem anomalous. Did the first adults emerge in that warm spell in February and lay eggs then? There wouldn’t be many leaves for the caterpillars to eat at that time. I regret we didn’t turn the leaves over and look for them. The Alder leaf beetle used to be considered rare in the UK, perhaps extinct, with hardly any sightings between 1946 and 2003. In 2004 larvae and adults were found in Manchester and the species has been spreading ever since. It was found in South Hampshire in 2014 and in North Wales in 2018.

Public transport details: Bus 86A from Liverpool ONE bus station at 10.08, arriving Smithdown Road / Borrowdale Road at 10.33. Returned on bus 82 from Aigburth Road / Jericho Lane at 3.15, arriving Liverpool ONE bus station at 3.30.

The plan today was a repeat trip to Landican Cemetery and Arrowe Park to check on some of the trees we saw in bud on 24th February, but before doing that we travelled one extra stop to the Thingwall corner to look at the wonderful sign which names the area in Norse runes. The local authorities are so proud of their Viking past!

In Landican cemetery, on either side of the little CWGC area, are two Callery Pears (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’). Their pink buds are now white flowers, larger than Blackthorn or Hawthorn, but not as big as Medlar.

There were no exciting birds about, just Magpies and Wood Pigeons, although we heard the calls of Goldfinch and Greenfinch. The Whitebeams were coming into leaf, with each foliage cluster standing upright like Magnolia flowers. One pretty little ornamental tree was a Willow-leaved Pear.

After lunch we crossed over to Arrowe Park, entering via the garden of the derelict ranger’s house. It must have been beautiful in its heyday, but the neglected Magnolia tree is now in magnificent flower.

Wild Garlic (Ramsons) was coming into flower in the wild woodland area behind the house, as were the Bluebells. Earlier we had seen buds of Garlic Mustard (also called Jack-by-the-Hedge). The Norway Maple flowers are still hanging on, and the buds of the Horse Chestnuts have opened to reveal the huge thrusting flower heads.

The sun came out as we approached the pair of mystery trees by the tennis courts, which we had tentatively identified as some sort of Elm. Unfortunately, since February, all the easily-accessible, low-drooping branches have been trimmed off by the park keepers, making it harder to see what kind of flowers had emerged from those pink clusters. But now I can see that they have to be Elms of some kind, with those immature seeds surrounded by oval wings (each called a “samara”).

I currently favour an identification of Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila. Other indications are the ridged bark, (formerly) straggly untidy branches, glossy serrated leaves, rich brown buds and the symmetrical twig branching. Mitchell calls them “rare, mainly S of England” but the current Collins tree guide suggests they were planted more frequently in recent decades because they are resistant to Dutch Elm Disease

Nearer the exit gate is another uncommon tree, a Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea. It’s a tall young tree, just breaking into bud high overhead.

On the ground beneath it were last year’s dead leaves and the distinctive first year acorns with their beautifully-figured cups.

A tiny brown Ladybird (5-6mm) was resting in the direct sun on a Laurel leaf. It didn’t move at all, and might have been dead, but perhaps it had just woken up from wintering in the leaf litter and was trying to revive itself. I’m pretty sure it was the Cream-spot ladybird Calvia 14-guttata.

Blackbirds were nesting in a Cypress and scolded us as we passed. A Robin pecked about boldly on the path. As we turned left to walk along to the hospital for the bus, we were surprised to notice that the old cast iron gates of Arrowe Park had arrow motifs all over them

Public transport details: Bus 472 from Sir Thomas Street at 10.10, arriving Pensby Road / Thingwall corner at 10.50. Returned from Arrowe Park Hospital on the 471 at 2.11, arriving Liverpool 2.35.

Pickering Pasture Local Nature Reserve runs along the banks of the River Mersey near Widnes. Historically it was Hale Marsh, then it was a waste tip from the 1940s to the 1960s, then it was cleaned up and restored by Halton Council in 1982. It was opened to the public in 1986 and became a Local Nature reserve in 1991. From the riverside walk there are excellent views of the old and new Widnes-Runcorn bridges.

As we walked down Mersey View Road we remembered that there is a fruit tree overhanging the industrial fencing, which drops sticky plums or damsons onto the pavement in autumn. This must be its blossom, but if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t expect autumn fruit from these generic white flowers.

A mass of the fertile stems of Horsetail Equisetum arvense was pushing up through the concrete sidewalk.

On the island in the car park is a Grey Alder tree, the only one I know. They are often grown on old tips, where they do well. It was probably planted here in 1982 so is approaching 40 years old. There is a splendid display of Daffodils around the Visitors’ Centre and both Goldfinches and Long-tailed Tits were flitting about in the trees. As we walked south westwards along the river bank we spotted Canada Geese and Cormorants flying over the water and Shelduck on the mid-river sandbank. The wildflower bank had hundreds of Cowslips just going over. On the way into the bird hide at the southern end I looked for the Spindle trees, which are easy to recognise in the autumn by their distinctively-shaped red fruits, but what do they look like now? Not very exciting – plain little leaves and small bunches of flower buds.

From the hide there is a view over a pool, the marsh, and on to the Duck Decoy about half a mile away, now surrounded by bright yellow fields of blooming oil seed rape (canola). There were the usual Canada Geese and Shelduck on the marsh, a Heron flew out to the river, and we spotted possible single Redshank and Lapwing in the distance. There were Robins and Wood Pigeons in the shrubbery, and a single shy Reed Bunting came to the bird table. Then two Little Egrets flew in and circled around. One went to the marsh and disappeared into a gully while the other landed in the pool and started hunting around the islands. It was hungry and seem to catch plenty of small mouthfuls of prey.

The United Utilities pathway around the sewage treatment plant is lined with Birch and Grey Poplar, the latter with their distinctive scalloped leaves still lying underfoot. They have no new leaves yet but are clothed in coarse green hairy catkins

A twittering overhead drew our attention to three or four Siskins, which were after something in those same green catkins. Further along a Wood Pigeon sat on her shallow nest in some Hawthorn and eyed us suspiciously.

A lovely Blackthorn thicket was just going over, and was home to lots of insect life. The warm sunshine had brought out several native Seven-spot Ladybirds, various unidentified bumblebees and hoverflies and a Small White butterfly. On the other side of the path we glimpsed our first Speckled Wood butterfly.

There is a stand of white trees near the west edge, opposite the Control Meadow, which I have previously identified as Aspens. Or are they? Could they be Grey Poplar? They are the only two  tree species with those distinctive scalloped leaves. But they look like a suckering clone of identical trunks (which is what Aspen does) and the catkins are different from those of the Grey Poplar, redder and with grey hairs. I think its really Aspen, despite my second thoughts

The Hawthorn leaves are out everywhere, and in one sunny south-facing spot were the first white buds and a few open flowers. They aren’t supposed to come out until May, and it isn’t even April yet! The first big flush of Dandelions is about a month early, too, probably triggered by that warm spell in February.

On the way back to the bus we spotted our first Ragwort and some Yellow Archangel by the bus stop. Some of the ornamental Crab Apples in gardens have wonderful red flowers just at the moment.

Public transport details: Bus 500 from Liverpool ONE bus station at 10.10, arriving Halebank / Mersey View at 10.55. Returned on the 500 bus from Halebank / Mersey View at 2.33, arriving Liverpool ONE bus station at 3.30.

A lovely day for a joint walk with the MNA, with bright blue skies but a cold gusty wind. We met outside the Visitors’ Centre and admired a Norway Maple which was doing its one and only good trick, putting out its froth of yellow-green flowers. For the rest of the year you wouldn’t give it a second glance.

We set off into the woods, noting the Hawthorn greening all the edges, the Weeping Willow shading from gold to green and both Horse Chestnut and Sycamore just putting out their leaves. There was more blossom about, this time possibly Crab Apple, but all those cherries, plums and apples are very hard to distinguish. Three-cornered Leek, Dandelions and Shepherd’s Purse were in flower and also a few patches of Wood Anemones

A lot of the cut and fallen wood is left to rot, so we saw various fungi, including Stump Puff Balls and Glistening Ink Caps on the stump of an old Beech. We kept finding little painted stones tucked into the bases of trees. One had a picture of a frog on it, others had cartoon characters, smiley faces or words like “happy”. It’s a game for kids, apparently, to give them something to rummage for in woods. There’s a “Wirral Rocks” Facebook page, and the stones are supposed to be re-hidden in another location. According to someone’s smartphone, about 60 new stones had been put out that morning in Eastham woods.

The bird feeders at the back of the Visitors’ Centre were busy, with a Nuthatch, Great Tits, a Coal Tit, a Chaffinch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker which was flitting around the trees but being elusive

A couple of us had to leave early but the others set off to look at another section of the woods.

Public transport details: Bus X8 from Sir Thomas Street at 10.21, arriving New Chester Road / opp Woodyear Road at 10.42. Returned on bus 1 from New Chester Road / Allport Road at 1.53, arriving Liverpool 2.20.

Allerton Cemetery in south Liverpool is one of the main burial places for the city. It was consecrated in 1909 and is Grade II listed. Its 150 acres (61 ha) now contain something like 85,000 burials, including the relatives of some of us, burials from tragic public events and some Scouse celebrities.

Last week’s Storm Gareth has passed over and we are now getting the tail end of Storm Hannah, with gusty winds and hail showers between the intermittent sunshine. On the road up to the Cemetery we noted two types of Eucalyptus tree in a garden, both the Snow Gum and the Cider Gum. Inside the Cemetery we headed for the Persian Ironwood in section CE 1A to see what the flowers look like, two months after sprouting as the shocking pink and black buds that we saw in Sefton Park on 20th January. The answer is, they look quite underwhelming, and we wouldn’t have given them a second glance.

In a wooded section near the main chapel we glimpsed something a bit more interesting, a tree which was throwing out bunches of strange pink tassels. It’s a Box Elder, which isn’t an Elder at all but a type of Maple, Acer negundo, also known as an Ash-leaved Maple. It has separate male and female trees (dioecious), and this must be the male tree with those spectacular pink flowers and anthers.

It has been very wet, and the island on the way to the east section was flooded

We were heading that way to see Ken Dodd’s grave in section CE 28, where he is buried with his parents. The first anniversary of his death was only a few days ago, so there were many family flowers and cards.

After lunch at a convenient picnic table we crossed the road to Springwood crematorium, where the very earliest Cherry trees were in bloom.

We had been looking at a lot of trees of the same species which were showing the first pale green haze of growth. They weren’t leaves or catkins, they were little green hanging strings of flowers. I checked at home, and they were Hornbeams, as we had surmised.

Then, stopping to nod to Cilla Black’s grave on the way, we made our way back to the main gates. One early Rhododendron was in particularly lovely bloom.

Public transport details: Train from Central at 10.13, arriving Liverpool South Parkway 10.25. Returned from the same station at 14.38, arriving Liverpool Central at 14.55.

This is the time of year when the Great Crested Grebes do their famous mating dance, so despite the weather forecast threatening strong winds and hail, we set off for Carr Mill Dam, the nearest place to see plenty of them.

It was surprisingly sunny as we took the path along to Otterswift Farm. The hedgerows had Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Robin, Dunnock, Blue Tit and Great Tit. The Blackthorn is out, Hawthorns are in early pale green leaf and there is lots of blooming yellow Forsythia in gardens and municipal roadside plantings. We got to the “19-arches” bridge in time for lunch, and kept our eyes on the 10 or so mated pairs of Grebes that were in view on either side. They were swimming and diving, but sadly, not strutting their stuff.

There were also lots of Canada Geese and a few Mallards lingering on the sheltered side. We had a few flurries of hail as we set off along the muddy paths of the east side of the lake. Despite some very strong gusts of wind and one very heavy hail shower, we made it around in record time, hardly stopping to look at anything!  At the spot called the The Goyt, where a little brook joins the lake, the water was very high and the woodlands below were wetter than I remember seeing before. Some Wild Garlic was showing its leaves and there were patches of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage.

On the firmer footing of Garswood Old Road we spotted a Cormorant flying towards the lake and heard a Greenfinch. The overflow was also in spate, with the spillway down to the Sankey Brook foaming white over the stepped surface. After a reviving pot of tea in the Toby Carvery Waterside, we headed back for our bus.

Just to add that on the MNA short walk to Arrowe Park on 6th March we spotted three Mandarin ducks, two males and a female, lined up on a log in the Arrowe Brook. More possible ducklings to look out for later in the year! It looks like a small population may soon be established on Merseyside.

Public transport details: The Blackpool train from Lime Street at 10.18, arriving St Helens Central at 10.45. Then bus 352 (towards Wigan) from St Helens bus station at 10.55, arriving Martindale Road / Deepdale Avenue at 11.06. Returned on the 352 bus from Carr Mill Road / East Lancs Road at 2.10, arriving St Helens bus station at 2.20. Some of us got the 2.35 train back to Liverpool, arriving Lime Street station at 3.05. 

The record-breaking February heatwave finished with the threat of Storm Freya, expected to arrive mid-afternoon. We cancelled our plan to go to Carr Mill Dam, where there is very little shelter, and headed for West Kirby instead. A light rain persisted all day, and it was very murky over towards Hilbre Island, with nobody attempting the crossing. 

We noted the five young Stone Pines outside Morrison’s supermarket then walked along South Parade from the Dee Lane slipway.

A solitary Cormorant perched on a jetty, balancing on its tail, but there was no point in it spreading its wings, they would have got even wetter.

Despite the drizzle, the sailing club carried on practising their route around the buoys on the Marine Lake.

We lunched in Coronation Gardens with its brave display of spring flowers and an interesting wind vane sculpture of three wild geese. There was no sign of a plate giving the name of the artist, though. We headed back via the tiny Sandlea Park. There were some Dog Roses still blooming straggily in a flower bed and the seaside plant Alexanders was coming into flower. There were no leaves yet on the Walnut trees, but one tall young tree with light-coloured bark and lanceolate leaves caught our eye. Was it a Eucalyptus? To our surprise it looked like some kind of Cotoneaster. They don’t usually make it to tree size. A group of Long-tailed Tits were in a Birch and a Wren was in a rough corner. The heavily-pruned Flowering Currant were starting to blossom.

On our way to Ashton Park we saw a genuine Eucalyptus tree in a garden – the fairly common Snow Gum Eucalyptus pauciflora.  There was a Pied Wagtail on the pavement and a Collared Dove accompanying a flock of House Sparrows coming to fat ball feeders in Park Road. Over our head was a series of loud “wheeping” calls. A Nuthatch? No, it was a pair of Starlings sitting side by side on a high branch, and one was trying to impress its prospective mate with its mimicry. Various ornamental garden trees were coming into bloom, including this lovely Magnolia.

In Ashton Park the Weeping Willow was just coming into leaf, and there were the usual Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Herring Gulls and a Canada Goose. We heard what might have been a Song Thrush in the shrubbery. A Rat was skulking about in the reeds at the south end of the lake, under the Blue Atlas Cedar. Then on to the last bit of the Wirral Way leading back to the station. There were masses of Alexanders all along the banks and the first Hawthorns were coming into leaf.

Another of the garden trees I had spotted earlier was the very early-blooming Cherry Plum, which has been out for about two weeks. In the last few days some lower-growing shrubs have started to erupt into white blossom, and I think they must be Blackthorn. Happily, there was one Blackthorn on the Wirral Way so I was able to compare them. The Cherry Plum is a small tree with a trunk, the first thing to flower every year, and its white flowers have pink hearts. The Blackthorn is a shrub, with very dark bark, thorns, whiter blossom and longer stamens.

Public transport details: Train at 10.03 from Lime Street Station, arriving West Kirby at 10.35.  Returned on the 2.01 train, arriving Liverpool 2.35.