The Naturalists' Notebook

Chester FC were playing Tranmere in the Conference Premier league, which counts as a ”derby” match, so the train to Chester was very full and the station was teeming with yellow-jacketed policemen and women, one armed with a video camera. We walked down City Road, Russell Street and Dee Lane, and into the north-east corner of Grosvenor Park. It was cold and still with occasional brilliant sunshine.

Birds spotted in the park were Blackbird, Song Thrush, House Sparrow, Wood Pigeon, Long-tailed Tit and Robin. Grey squirrels were all over the place. We heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and a Great Tit and a Greenfinch calling, but we didn’t see them. The best bird of the day was a Raven flying high overhead, which is the 46th bird species on our modest year list. There wasn’t much doing in the way of spring yet, although this blooming Quince was a welcome splash of colour.

I stopped to look at this bush, which said “Alder” to me at first because of the profuse catkins. It caught my eye because of how tortuous the branches were. But of course it isn’t an Alder, it’s a Corkscrew Hazel Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’, also known as Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick. They have a special visitor direction sign for the one at Bodnant, but this one was just sitting quietly and uncelebrated beside the path.

I also took a good look at the Yews. I know the male Yews are covered with obvious small globular male flowers at this time of year. Here they are.

But what are the female flowers like? After much rummaging around the apparently bare trees, which must be the berry-bearing females, I found these inconspicuous little structures, rather like infant acorns, but only two or three millimetres across.

A large number of trees were pruned rather oddly into a tall narrow tufty shape. They had “sprouty” areas at the bases of their trunks, also carefully trimmed, so I think they must be Limes. They have a famous “Lime and Holly avenue” leading to the statue of the Second Marquis of Westminster, and you can see them in leaf on the Cheshire Now website.  It shows what the strange pruning is for, to give a double row of contrasting nicely-shaped trees.

Other interesting trees were a Weeping Beech, several Blue Atlantic Cedars and a couple of Himalayan Cedars (Deodars). There’s probably a Cedar of Lebanon there too, but we didn’t come across it. This Deodar has a very complex branching heart, which must be a great temptation to climbing children.

After lunch we strolled down to the River Dee and The Groves.  Nothing very exciting on the river – Black-headed Gulls, a Cormorant, a Moorhen, two Mute Swans, some Mallard, juvenile Herring Gulls, and this Common Gull posing on the prow of yacht. They are very like Herring Gulls but have greenish legs, not pink ones, a dark eye and a gentler expression.

In the porch of St John’s Church stood the Chester Giant, set on a wheeled base and dressed in the livery of the Freemen and Guilds. It is used in their processions.

I tried to claim this Golden Eagle for our bird list, but was shouted down.

In Bath Street one of the houses appears to have a fruiting lemon tree growing outside its blue door. Is this another result of last year’s hot summer?  (And as a nod to Game of Thrones theorists –  here’s the evidence Lemon Trees DO grow in Braavos!)

Public transport details: 10.15 train from Central to Chester, arriving 11.00. Returned on the 2.00 train, arriving Liverpool Central at 2.45.

As usual at this time of year, it was muddy and squelchy underfoot but there was always a way around the mini-quagmires.  There were a few Snowdrops out, some wind-blow Daffodils struggling to bloom and the leaves of Wild Garlic were showing through. One very sluggish Bee was blundering about, perhaps just woken up by the surprisingly mild day. On the lake were Coots, Moorhens, Black-headed Gulls and many Canada Geese, parallel-swimming and honking. Are they males challenging each other or is this courtship behaviour?  The Great Crested Grebes were very far out, but we hoped to see some of them courting too, in the secluded bays.

A tree had been very neatly cut down, showing the very dense wood and tightly-packed rings. It was at least 100 years old, the annual rings showing very clearly when magnified through the wrong end of binoculars.

We lunched on the old railway bridge. A Chaffinch was pecking at some seed left out on the parapet, a Buzzard flew over and there was a Blue Tit in the shrubs. A juvenile Grey Wagtail perched briefly on a post then flew off into the bushes. We looked for a Kingfisher, because we often see one here, skimming low over the water, but had no luck. We met a couple later who said they HAD seen one there, probably just after we left. On the far side of the bay beyond the bridge were two Herons, one on the bank and one hunched up in a tree.

A lady had preceded us on our circuit, putting out bird seed here and there. In the swampy area where there is a bridge over the Goyt, Long-tailed Tits were coming to seed, as well as Great Tits and a Coal Tit. We heard a Nuthatch but it didn’t show itself. Below the bridge was a clump of Lesser Celandine.

In the fields beyond, the Moles had been busy, leaving long trails of molehills. In a sheltered spot behind the Lancashire Powerboat Racing Club the first, very early Hawthorn leaves were out.

We spotted a Treecreeper on a tree on the embankment.

A Song Thrush was singing very loudly in the hedges, but we couldn’t find it until it stopped singing and flew away. There was a large carpet of Snowdrops in the front garden of the Powerboat Club.

And the Great Crested Grebes? Many adults and juveniles were just mooching about in the middle of the lake, apparently not the slightest bit interested in courting or dancing. Disappointingly, we appear to have come too early. Perhaps the nesting pair we saw in Stanley Park last week were just randy scouse gits!

Public transport details: Bus 10A at 10am from Queen Square, arriving St Helens Bus Station at 11.05. We just made the 352 bus, due out at 11.05, but which came to its stop at 11.08. Arrived Carr Mill Road / East Lancashire Road at 11.19. Returned from the stop opposite on the 352 at 2.21, arriving St Helens Bus Station at 2.35. Since a 10A had just gone out, and the next fast bus (the 10) wasn’t due for another 20 minutes or so, we went for the train at St Helens Central at 1503, arriving Lime Street at 1530.

We started the day with a look at some trees in the city centre which Margaret had spotted but not yet identified. The first was in St John’s Gardens. All the trees on the perimeter are London Planes except the second one down opposite the Walker Art Gallery. It has upswept branches, and the winter twigs look Ash-like, with opposite black buds on grey bark, although rather more stubby than the Common Ash. This is one we need to look at again when it’s in leaf.

Then over the pedestrian flyover and through some back streets. At the junction of Primrose Hill and Trueman Street there’s a tree with interesting bark, brown ridges making large diamond shapes against a grey background. The buds are conical, light brown, alternate. Another mystery tree needing a second look later in the year.

Along the north side of Leeds Street there’s a row of handsome young Pine trees. They have sparse needles, scaly bark and a fairly regularly-shaped cone, about two inches (5cm) long. I have no idea how to properly identify Pines, but going by pictures of trees and cones, they might be Corsican or Bosnian Pines?

We spotted two dead rats on the verge here, but a more welcome Grey Squirrel on the pavement in Edgar Street, on the north side of St John’s Ambulance HQ. This is an oddly wild place in the City Centre, with lots of rough ground and wild Buddleia, and it might be a good place for butterfly-hunting in the summer. Both Blackbirds and Magpies were living here, too. Then we took the bus  to Stanley Park. There were House Sparrows cheeping in the hedges in Fountains Close and in the park itself another Lesser Black-backed Gull flew over, probably also of the darker “Baltic” race.  There are great views from the terrace, north west to the megamax cranes at the docks, north to Everton FC and north east to Winter Hill.

On the deeper western lake there were Canada Geese and a Great Crested Grebe on patrol.

Then we spotted his mate on a nest. We are hoping to see dancing Great Crested Grebes next week at Carr Mill Dam, but are we already too late in the year?

One normal-looking young Alder tree with its catkins out had a twig of huge cones on the ground beneath it. They were in a cluster of six or seven, each about an inch long, bigger even than the usual cones of Italian Alder. But that’s what they must be, there is no other possible Alder with bigger cones. Perhaps they are another consequence of the very warm summer we’ve had.

On the middle lake there was a Heron on the bank, and Mallards, Coots, Moorhens and Black-headed Gulls. Three male Pochard were amongst them.

The shrubberies were looking very fine, with dark and green leaves contrasting with the red or yellow stems of Dogwood. Near the Isla Gladstone Conservatory they have set up some white statues of cupids or perhaps goddesses, which were rescued from the bottom of one of the lakes, a relic of an earlier time. There are three very lovely Himalayan birches in the borders here, and nearer the football ground, a shrub with long bare whippy stems bearing bright yellow flowers against a background of dark Holly leaves.

There was a young Blue Atlantic Cedar on the Priory Road edge, opposite the Cemetery. On the bank of the newest, eastern lake (the George Audley Lake) was a tree I first thought was an Atlantic Cedar, but as we got closer I could see it was a big Cypress, probably a Monterey Cypress, the one which has the largest cones.  One Long-tailed Tit was foraging in the shrubbery here.

Our last tree of note was a big old one with a leaning trunk, very ridged and burred. It had Latin name tag saying Populus nigra, the Black Poplar. It might be the native subspecies betulifolia, and if so it is now one of the rarest native trees in Britain, with (according to Wikipedia) only about 7000 known, and only 600 of them are female trees (They have separate sexes, which is called “ dioecious”, di-EESH-us).

The female produces long strings of fluffy white seeds, but it isn’t possible to tell whether this one is male or female at this stage. There are two at Ness Gardens, both said to be female. I also know of one in Victoria Park Crosby, but I have no idea if it’s male or female, but I will check it again soon to see what kind of catkins it puts out. I think there must also be a female one on the Seacombe to New Brighton prom, on the corner of Magazine Lane, because I was puzzled in May 2012 by all the strings of white fluff in the road, which I then guessed (wrongly) were male catkins.

Public transport details: Bus 20 from Scotland Road / Leeds Street at 11.14, arriving Walton Road / Fountains Road at 11.22. Returned from Walton Lane / Spellow Lane on the 19 bus at 2.02, arriving Dale Street at 2.20.

Storm Imogen was gearing up, so it was a very gusty day. On Crosby Marine Lake the windsurfers and yachtsmen were shooting around at great speeds.

The grass banks around the Boating Lake had small flocks of Black-headed Gulls, with a few  Herring Gulls. Further over another flock had some Oystercatchers mixed in with them, and also one Lesser Black-backed Gull, which John thought was from the darker northern race, now referred to as a Baltic Gull, but not yet formally split from the LBB. The BHGs were showing a mix of white and dark heads, as their spring plumage grows in.

There were small flocks of Starlings, a couple of Magpies strutted about and some twittering Goldfinches flew over. The Boating Lake had more Gulls, some Mallards and a pair of Tufted Duck.  We were hoping for a Little Gull, as several have been seen on the move on the Lancashire coast recently, but no luck. A Skylark ran up a dune face and launched itself, flutteringly, into the wind, but it was too gusty for it to get going with its song. But another one did manage a song flight a few minutes later. On the sea side of the dunes the wind was whipping sand into our faces and piling  the waves up.

We went a short way northwards on the prom, over big sand drifts partly blocking the way. A Carrion Crow was picking through the seaweed on the beach, and we saw a fly-past of Cormorants. We soon turned back inland, past Harbord Road pumping station, and headed for the shelter of the seafront gardens. In Beach Lawn Garden the lawn edges had flowering Daisies, Shepherd’s Purse and Groundsel, taking advantage of the less-intensive management of the grass now that the Council has cut back. We lunched in Adelaide Gardens around the plinth which used to hold a Toposcope, a structure like a sundial, but with lines pointing to the things that could be seen in various directions. The Friends of Waterloo Seafront Gardens are planning to restore it soon.  There were plenty of House Sparrows in the shrubs and we admired the clumps of carefully-placed Holly trees.

In Crescent Garden we spotted a Collared Dove, several Wood Pigeons, and also a shrub bearing small white flowers and pink buds, rather like Blackthorn, but it wasn’t. I think it’s an early plum, the Myrobalam Plum Prunus cerasifera. Mitchell’s Field Guide to the Trees of Britain says it is normally the first Prunus in flower, often mistaken for Blackthorn. It’s supposed to flower in early March, but everything is so early this year.

There are also several Fig shrubs in Crescent and Marine Gardens,  bearing many unripe fruit.

When I was in Marine Garden on 10th January, I commented that the Holm Oak there appeared to have completely failed to produce acorns, perhaps because it was on its own. But it isn’t alone, there’s another one on the opposite (seaward) side of the same garden, so it isn’t for lack of fertilisation that the acorns failed to develop. Today I also spotted evidence that there had been SOME acorns on the tree, as some twigs bore empty acorn cups. But this must just be something Holm Oaks do, perhaps the opposite of a “mast” year, an ”un-mast” year!

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Near the Rockery in Marine Garden were our Trees of the Day, a small grove of three multi-trunked Willows, clustered around a small pond and shaped to the prevailing wind. The bare twigs were a dark reddish-fawn.

The twigs were all very upright, but some low trunks had grown parallel to the ground and had re-rooted. They were clearly not Weeping Willows, but were they the non-weeping type of the same species, the White Willow Salix alba? We looked up willows in the book and decided they might have been Crack Willows Salix fragilis because Mitchell talks of “long slender upswept branches” and “old trees with heavy, twisted, low branches”. He doesn’t say the winter twigs are red, though, calling them “pale orange in March, before the leaves appear”. We need to look at them again, when the leaves are out.

I walked home through Victoria Park, seeing more of that white blossom, and blooming miniature Daffodils and Snowdrops.

Public transport details: Train from Central at 10.23, arriving Waterloo 10.45. We were back at Waterloo Station in time for the 2.25 train, arriving Liverpool Central 2.45.

Near the Park entrance we noted a Blackbird and some Wood Pigeons, and Eric spotted a Treecreeper. We also heard a Nuthatch there when we were on the way out. On the lake were Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, three Tufted Duck, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, a pair of Mute Swans (with no cygnets) and a single Cormorant on the edge of the island. The water was very high, lapping over the grass edges but wasn’t quite onto the paths. Heavy rain all day had been forecast, but it was only a bit drizzly, the worst being the drips from the trees overhead.

The spring bulbs were struggling out. Some clumps of Daffs had one or two buds open, yellow Crocuses made a splash of colour, and the Snowdrops were just on the verge of flowering.

Near the northern edge of the park, next to the Sensory Garden, is a Specimen Tree Garden holding “a number of large unusual specimen trees including Persian Ironwood, Magnolia, Liquidambar, Gingko and Katsura.”

Some are labelled, and we looked at the Persian Ironwood and the Katsura, and also a Dawn Redwood with a label, but there’s not much to see on trees at this time of year. We also noticed a couple of Japanese Pagoda trees (which are really Chinese) Styphnolobium japonicum. The park holds two which are the Lancashire County Champions for height, at 16m (52 feet), but this one was less than half that size.

We lunched at the octagonal shelter at the north end of the lake, which wasn’t much protection from the drizzle, so we decided to head into Southport and visit the warm and dry Atkinson (Museum).   In the south lobby is the Crossens canoe, suspended and lit from below and looking like a whale.

It was found on a drained section of Martin Mere in 1899 by a farmer. Carbon dating says  it is from about AD 535, although when it was found it had been repaired with small lead sheets and there was a musket inside it.  Was it still in use many hundreds of years after it was made, or was it found and re-used when it was about a thousand years old?

On the first floor was an exhibition of Lord Street memorabilia, including pictures of the earliest hotel in the area. A man called William Sutton, known to locals as The Old Duke, built a new inn in 1792, which he called South Port Hotel, but the locals, who thought he was mad, called it Duke’s Folly. The Hotel survived until 1854 when it was demolished to make way for traffic at the south end of Lord Street. Today the site is marked with a plaque and the street takes his name, Duke Street. On display was a tiny ivory model of it by A W Kiddie c 1900. The building is about three inches tall and the fence only half an inch. Of course, we don’t approve of carving in ivory nowadays, but it was a wonderful material for fine work.

On the second floor is an exhibition on the history of Sefton. Their website says they “hold important collections of natural history and taxidermy with many local species represented.” We wondered if that would include the collection of stuffed birds that used to be in Churchtown Botanic Gardens Museum, but when we asked an attendant she said many of their heads had fallen off! However, they did have a stuffed fox, owl, red squirrel and badger, and six cases of stuffed birds, said to be the work of Cecil Bishopp of Oban and W R Hine of Southport, two of the best taxidermists of their time. The birds were Oystercatchers, a Heron, a Cormorant, a Green Woodpecker, a Mandarin duck and four mixed Robin and Thrushes. The cases were darkened and you had to listen to a series of bird calls, identify them and press the right button, whereupon the appropriate case would light up.

Public transport details: 47 bus at 10.10 from the temporary bus stop in Victoria Street, arriving Albert Road opposite Hesketh Park at 11.20. We left the park on the southbound 47 bus at 1.17, arriving Southport about 5 minutes later. After the museum, we just missed the 2.28 train so we took the X2 bus on Lord Street at 2.42, arriving Crosby at 3.25, and Liverpool City Centre at about  4pm.

The RSPB were having a “Feed the Birds” day at the Palm House, which seemed like sufficient excuse to visit the park again. It was a very mild day, all of a sudden. What a change from last week’s freeze!

There is a fine group of youngish Italian Alders at the southern entrance, with large cones from last year, and this year’s catkins well on show.

Lake (and lakeside) birds were the usual Canada Geese, Mallards, Coots, Moorhen and Feral Pigeons, with many Black-headed Gulls, one with a fully black head. We saw only two Mute Swans, but we saw the rest of the family later. All six cygnets are still hanging out with their parents, but it can’t be long now until they are driven off. There were a couple of Little Grebes on the water near the island. We noticed several groups of young Turkey Oak trees, perhaps five or ten years old.

Their deeply-indented leaves were still thick on the trees, in the way of young Oaks, and they were positively identified by their whiskery buds.

There are very many fine old trees in the park, which are possibly original 1872 plantings, but there are far fewer young ones. Will there be a tree crisis in Liverpool parks one of these days?

On the island next to the bandstand is a variegated Holly tree, with some dark green sections. Has part of the tree reverted, or is there another tree behind it? We found that the gate to the bridge was open, so went to look. Although multi-stemmed, it is all one tree, with yellow-margined and dark green leaves mixed together at the back.

Nearby was a Weeping Ash, and on other side of the path a Witch Hazel (Hamamelis sp.) which was in spectacular bloom. It’s nothing to do with the ordinary European Hazel, it’s from a group of North American and Asian species. The old English name “Witch Hazel” was originally used for Wych Elm, and the early American settlers borrowed the name for the shrubs they found.

Near the old bowling greens John saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but it flew off before the rest of us could catch it. There were Magpies, Crows, and Buzzard, which flew into some dense trees and set all the Crows to cawing. After lunch outside the old aviary we walked northwards along the middle lake to look at the Dawn Redwood with the figured trunk. Then we spotted a weeping tree on the far bank, serving as a handy perch for BHGs and a Moorhen, but not apparently a Weeping Willow (it was grey not blonde) nor an Ash (no bunches of keys). We walked around to it, and it turned out to be the uncommon Weeping Beech, with a very few leaves still clinging on and slim buds just staring to swell.

On that same east bank were some sections of a cut-down Beech, with lovely curly yellow fungi.

Then to the Palm House for the RSPB event. They had a table selling bird food, another with children’s activities. I was amused by the bug hotel labelled “Bugingham Palace”, and also when John agreed to model an Albatross mask.

Another table encouraged membership, and was giving away cute cuddly Hedgehogs to new subscribers. I really wanted one, but I’m already a member and they weren’t for sale. I’ll have to look out in the shop at the next reserve I visit.

Outside there was a telescope at kid-height, trained on the bird table. We saw Nuthatch, Blackbird and Blue Tit there. There was talk of a Kingfisher seen in the Dell that morning, so we walked that way, noting some Common Gulls and Jackdaws on the big field. We waited near the bridge for a while, but no Kingfisher showed.

Along the stream there were Daffodils just about to break their buds. Near the bird feeding area we spotted a Long-tailed Tit, and then some Ring-necked Parakeets flew in, appearing to be uncharacteristically shy of going for the apples that had been put out for them.

The RSPB’s Chris Tynan was also there with a party, and said that there are thought to be about 20 of the Parakeets in Liverpool. He also said he thought the BHG with the fully black head which we noted earlier had been a Mediterranean Gull. On the way back along the east side of the main lake we failed to see the possible Med Gull again, but we found the female Mandarin Duck, which is another good tick for our year list, now looking pretty good after only two Sunday walks.

Public transport details: Bus 82 from Lime Street at 10.11, arriving Aigburth Road / Ashbourne Road at 10.25. Returned on the 82 from Aigburth Vale / Jericho Lane at 2.42, arriving Liverpool City Centre at 2.56.

Our first Sunday walk of the year was a bit of a twitch, looking for the juvenile Great Northern Diver that has been lingering on West Kirby Marine Lake for a week or two. It wasn’t the best of days for it, being very cold and blustery, with leaden skies. While searching the lake, it was only possible to use binoculars or a camera without gloves for a few seconds, before our hands started going numb. We could see some birders with scopes out on the breakwater, and then we spotted the Diver on the far side, coming up briefly before diving again. I couldn’t get a picture, it was too quick and too far away, but a bonus was a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers about half way out. Two good “ticks” on the first walk of the year!

We lunched in Coronation Gardens, huddled on seats in shallow shelters. There is a new mural by local artist Barbara Singleton, depicting a far sunnier day.

There is also a sculpture of three swans or geese, set up like weather vanes, which turned in the wind.

In Ashton Park some House Sparrows were tweeting, and on the lake were the usual Coots, Moorhens, Mallards, and some Tufties. One Coot was building a nest, something they seem to do all the year around, nowadays. The tree at the south end of the lake is another Atlantic Cedar.

In the upper park, on our way to St Brigid’s churchyard, we noted a Robin and a Blackbird. Near the church gate there’s a tree like a droopy Yew, but I think it’s a Western Hemlock. I couldn’t see any of the little downward-pointing woody cones, though, so I’m not quite sure. I had hoped for an ancient Yew near the church, but there doesn’t seem to be one. But Snowdrops were just budding amongst the graves, there was a Grey Squirrel scampering about and lots of Goldfinches twittering in a bare tree. There was a Long-tailed Tit with them. We had hoped to get inside the church to see the Anglo-Norse (“Viking”) hogback stone dating to the 10th century AD, but no luck. The church isn’t open on Sunday afternoons.

Around the side of the church there were some old-fashioned wild roses in bloom, and the bushes bear the signs of many years of pruning to the same shape.

My Trees of the Day were the old Cherry Trees forming a short avenue leading downhill from the church. They will be stunning when they are in flower.

Public transport details: Train from Liverpool Central to West Kirby at 10.35, arriving 11.07. Returned on the 437 bus at 1.42, arriving Liverpool 2.30.

I know it’s only January, but I thought I’d go and look for any signs of spring – any flowers, Snowdrops or catkins. The official Sunday walks haven’t started yet, but it was a fine bright day, ideal for the Waterloo beachfront gardens. In the domestic gardens on the way I noted the hairy buds of Magnolia, one very early Camellia in flower and a Silk Tassel tree Garrya elliptica, which puts out long catkins or tassels in January.

There were also several examples of the December-flowering shrub Laurustinus Viburnum tinus, which is one of the parents of the winter-flowering hybrid Viburnum x bodnantense.

At the north end of Beach Lawn Garden there was a flock of 200-ish Starlings, fluting and whistling on the rooftops then wheeling overhead. Just inside the gate was some kind of Mallow in flower. Is it a Hollyhock Mallow? A garden type, anyway, but a welcome splash of brightness on a brisk January day.

In Adelaide Garden, a Blackbird was chucking low down on a fence, then vanished into the shrubbery. There were lots of Herring Gulls aloft, hovering in the strong onshore breeze. Spears of Daffodils were shooting up.

There were Feral Pigeons and Wood Pigeons in Crescent Garden, and also a Carrion Crow defending what looked like a meaty bone. There’s a colony of House Sparrows in the shrubbery. Around the disused raised pond the paths were flooded.

I stopped for a pot of tea in the café called Waterloo Place, in what used to be the old shop and loo block at the end of South Road. They had lamb stew, hot soup, award-winning pies and home-baked cake. The smart new crockery all matched and I was given a tea strainer and stand. Very elegant! Strongly recommended.

Then into the southernmost garden, Marine Garden, where there were Daisies and Shepherd’s Purse in flower, some Heathers and a cultivated Periwinkle. I spotted no catkins or Snowdrops today, but a Robin was proclaiming its territory from the top of a bush, which must be some kind of forerunner of spring.

My Tree of the Day was a nicely-shaped Holm Oak, with plain glossy leaves, paler and slightly furry underneath. The bark was dark and finely cracked. I looked up into the crown for acorns to clinch the ID, but couldn’t see any. However the ground underneath was covered with tiny undeveloped acorns, 5-7mm across.  I wonder why they all failed? Is there no other Holm Oak in the vicinity to provide pollen?

My route home took me through Victoria Park, which is surrounded by rows of Lombardy Poplars. The trunks are massive, very gnarled and buttressed. I think they must be the original plantings of 1902, and now over 100 years old.

Public transport details: The nearest station is Waterloo.

It was a cold, wet morning, with a steady drizzle all day. On the long walk up to the Hall we noticed an old Hawthorn tree that had come down in storm Desmond, and also that the temporary pond in the wet grass on the left was now nearly encroaching on the path. The herd of Highland Cattle appears to be doing well, now a dozen or more strong, with some young ones. They were ankle deep in mud but didn’t seem to care.

On the lawn opposite the house is an interesting evergreen tree, a Lucombe Oak. It has green glossy leaves and corky bark. See some pictures of it on my post of 11 Dec 2011, where I said it was a hybrid of Holm Oak and Turkey Oak, but that’s wrong – it’s a cross between Turkey Oak and Cork Oak.

The Winter-flowering Cherry was in bloom, probably Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’.

Not a good day for birds it was far too wet. We heard a Great Tit calling tea-cher, tea-cher, and some Crows cawing. Magpies were about in abundance, and some Black-headed Gulls were far out on the fields. A few forlorn Mallards pootled about on the Long Pond, leaving clear trails in the green weed, and some Moorhens ventured out to peck at the wet grass. A clattering of over 50 Jackdaws congregated in a tree above the old stable block.

One of the old Beeches on the main lawn was showing off its exposed roots. They are very shallow-rooted trees, and sometimes come down in storms. This one had, luckily, shed all its leaves by the time storm Desmond came along.

North of the Hall, there’s a tree with bark mulch all around it, and a ring of logs. Two strange devices were hanging in the branches, looking like wind chimes, but they weren’t. The tree had a straight bole and tiny acorns, and judging by the fallen leaves nearby, it could have been a Pin Oak or a Scarlet Oak. Is it undergoing some special study by the students at the outstation of Myerscough College nearby?

As we turned back to West Derby Village, we spotted our Tree of the Day. Next to the path at the end of the fountain lake was an otherwise undistinguished tree with delicate drooping bare branches, which we might have easily taken for a Birch, except that it had a lot of spiky seed balls hanging from the branches. They were far too spiky to be Plane fruits. I looked it up at home and it must be a Sweet Gum Liquidambar styraciflua. According to Mitchell’s tree book, the flowers and fruit are “not often seen” in the UK, so our warm summer must have suited them.  In the Southern USA they call it the most dangerous tree in the suburbs, and American gardeners often collect the spiky balls to ward off snails and slugs from their flower beds.

Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone.

Public transport details: Bus 13 from Queen Square towards Stockbridge Village, getting off at West Derby Village at 10.25. Returned from West Derby Village at 1.45 on the 13 bus, arriving Liverpool city centre at 2.00.