The Naturalists' Notebook

Just after a very heavy rain shower three MNA members met at Sir Thomas Street, and if the other two hadn’t turned up, I was planning to go home! Three more got on the bus, and at Our Lady’s RC Church Lydiate we met four or five RSBP members for our joint walk, including their Group Leader Chris Tynan. We paid a swift visit to the Hay Loft tea shop before setting out. They have a duck pond with Mallards and domestic geese, Peacocks and Guinea Fowl. A Buzzard was being mobbed overhead and there were Swifts over the farm shop.

The sheep in the field along Hall Lane always have interesting extra rations and today they were climbing over a huge mound of cabbages!

In the fields we saw Jackdaws, Magpies, Rooks, two Brown Hares under fence, Lapwings, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, several Pheasants, and Swallows flying over fields of young Barley. The hedges were just starting to burst out with Hawthorn blossom, the sweet-smelling Mayflowers.

There was supposed to be more rain, but although it was very blustery and overcast, we stayed dry all day. Just past the horse racing practice course we spotted a Crane Fly on the grass. I think it’s Tipula vernalis because of the distinctive wing pattern and the dark stripe along the abdomen. It’s the right time of year for it, too.

Towards Lydiate Hill Bridge the path was powdered with fallen May petals. A Skylark was singing, a Pied Wagtail was poking about on molehills, and the sun came out! We added Great Tit, Crow and some Goldfinches twittering in a tree. On the canal we saw a Moorhen, two Yellowhammers, a Robin and a Dunnock. Near the canal cottages, formerly the Anchor Arms, we noted Great Spotted Woodpecker, Black-headed Gull, House Martin, Greenfinch, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush. There were great drifts of Pink Campion on the verges, and Red Valerian on the waterside.

We lunched at Jackson’s Bridge, listening to a Blackbird and a Chaffinch singing. There was a Heron on the towpath and two Linnets in the deep ditch of Sudell’s Brook which marks the border of Sefton and West Lancs. There were St Mark’s Flies there, too. One field was blasted brown with weed killer. I’d have thought it would be a place to avoid, but the birds loved it being so open. An Oystercatcher appeared to be nesting, and possibly some Lapwings, too. Closer examination turned up two Wheatears and a Whinchat, which we got a scope on. At Rimmer’s Bridge a mother Mallard had seven ducklings.

I left the group there, because I had someone to meet off a train, but the rest of the group set out eastwards for another hour or two’s walk. Star of Bethlehem was coming out in Our Lady’s churchyard.

Public transport details: 300 bus from Sir Thomas Street at 9.51, arriving Our Lady’s RC Church, Lydiate at about 10.45. Returns every 30 mins on Saturdays, or hourly on Sundays. Note that the timetable will change on 15th June, so check.

If you are interested in the wildlife of the north-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, see the main MNA website for details of our programme and how to join us.

Richard Surman, DaveB and I headed out to Cilcain near Mold in Flinshire, North Wales for the day. We turned off the A494 onto a single track lane beside the entrance to Loggerheads CP and continued a few miles into the village noting a Jay and a couple of Grey Wagtails en route. Warbler birdsong greeted us with a Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff along with three vocal Ravens and chacking Jackdaws. After only a few yards I spotted a hairy black caterpillar with orange underside – a Garden Tiger Arctia caja.

Garden Tiger

The tree shaded lane edges held a mass of wildflowers with Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa,Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria, Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea, Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata, Dog’s Mercury Mercurialis perennis, Wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella, Herb-Robert Geranium robertianum, White Dead-nettle Lamium album, Cleavers Galium aparine, Crosswort Cruciata laevipes, Greater Burdock Arctium lappa, Lords-and-Ladies Arum maculatum and English Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta.

Wood Anemone

Garlic Mustard

Bluebells

Long-tailed, Blue & Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Bullfinch were soon added to the list. As we were peering over the edge of a gate to the woodland below – an area where Redstarts have been noted in the past a lady invited us in – the track led down the slope to a small community garden where they grow veg. A hyperactive Spaniel was rushing to and fro as some of the volunteers wheel-barrowed compost from the heap. I found a few fungi with Jelly Ear Auricularia auricula-judae, Blushing Bracket Daedaleopsis confragosa and a lone King Alfred’s Cakes Daldinia concentrica. It had turned cloudy – a Green-veined White Pieris napi rested and fed on a Cuckooflower Cardamine pratensis with Common Dog-violet Viola riviniana – including a pinkish tinged form close by.

Green-veined White

We briefly watched a Spotted Flycatcher and a Willow Warbler posing as a Spotted Fly had us hallucinating for a while. A Redstart was teasing us with bursts of song from amongst the woodland, remaining unseen. We returned to the lane and continued past the first of the small fishing lakes.

Comments from Richard and DaveB that this is where they usually see Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch proved correct with them appearing on cue – the latter checking out a potentially suitable nest-hole. A Yellowhammer sung it’s ‘little bit of bread and no cheese’ song from the flowering European Gorse Ulex europaeus. Woodpigeon and Goldfinch were noted before we began slowly climbing past further fishing lakes up onto the moor.  Plenty of flowering Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus looking slightly more ragged with brown-edged leaves compared to the fresh green growth we’d seen at White Coppice last weekend. Amazing to see yet more Wood-sorrel growing along the track in this exposed environment along with a few flowers of Tormentil Potentilla erecta and Common Eyebright Euphrasia officinalis. Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium was noted growing along the edge of a stream and in a large puddle was Round-leaved Crowfoot Ranunculus omiophyllus.

A Swallow whizzed overhead. A Cuckoo was persistently calling – the valley’s shape amplifying the volume, yet more Ravens were circling and calling their name and Pheasants were trying to outdo each other with their calls. A Tree Pipit was seen performing a more lack lustre parachute display flight down to a bush than the Meadow Pipits who sailed much higher and sang heartily as they descended to the moor. A few Whitethroats were singing their scratchy notes from a scattering of bushes on the moor – it was pondered why these males thought they would attract a mate in this exposed landscape than in more lush settings further down the valley? A few Willow Warblers also seemed to like this area as did a distant Whinchat and a scattering of Linnets.

We found a soft patch of ground to stop for lunch whilst listening to the Cuckoo. The stone walls and gate posts were covered in a huge variety of lichens with Map Lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum and R. reductum and R. oederi. Verrucaria nigrescens and countless others. One particularly noticeable variety, which is locally common on base-poor rocks in upland areas, was Ophioparma ventosa. It had abundant blood-red apothecia on a thick, warted, yellow-grey crusty thallus (f. ventosa) another form has a pale grey grey crusty thallus (f. subfestiva, lacking usnic acid). There was also Fuscidea kochiana which has an almost white thallus, cracked areolate; apothecia black, irregularly angular, set in the thallus and often occurs with Rhizocarpon geographicum.

Map Lichen

Lichen Ophioparma ventosa f. ventosa

Fuscidea kochiana

An Oak Eggar Lasiocampa quercus caterpillar camouflaged well with the lichen. A lone Mountain Bumblebee Bombus monticola with distinctive orange bottom flew by and a handful of Buff-tailed Bumblebees Bombus terrestris were noted.

Oak Eggar Caterpillar

We continued round the other side of the valley watching a male and female Wheatear amongst the sheep and noting a singing Whinchat on the top of a mature Sycamore Tree. The Cuckoo was louder and closer now. Scanning the trees surrounding a bowl in the valley was rewarded when Richard spotted the slaty-blue male belting out its call from the tree edge with seemingly very little effort.

A Buzzard circled and a Curlew called out signalling our departure from the moor, returning to more wooded conditions and rosettes of the Lichen Parmelia saxatilis predominating on the stone walls.

Parmelia saxatilis

A Pied Wagtail was hunting for insects in a field which held a few Highland Cattle. A second Cuckoo called out from further down the valley, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps sang away and there were snippets of song from a couple of other elusive Redstarts.  A few insects with dangly legged St. Mark’s Fly Bibio marci, Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum, Honey Bee Apis mellifera and Hoverfly Syrphus ribesii.Nettle Rust Puccinia urticata was noted on Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica and Dock Rust Puccinia phragmitis on Broad-leaved Dock Rumex obtusifolius.

A Magpie and a dozen or so Rooks from the Rookery of 40-45 nests were added to the list. As we continued back down through the village we added Mistle Thrush, Collared Dove, House Sparrow and saw a couple more Swallows. The high verges of the lane were bursting with more wildflowers – Buttercup Ranunculus sp.  Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus, Red Campion Silene dioica, Sheep’s Sorrel Rumex acetosella, Primrose Primula vulgaris, Cowslip Primula veris, Black Medick Medicago lupulina, Round-leaved Crane’s-bill Geranium rotundifolium, Greater Periwinkle Vinca major, Green Alkanet Pentaglottis sempervirens, Wood Forget-me-not Myosotis sylvatica, Ground-ivy Glechoma hederacea, Red Valerian Centranthus ruber, Spanish Bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanica and Ramsons Allium ursinum.

Greater Periwinkle

A Dunnock hopped around the churchyard of St Mary’s – the interior was stunning with the wooden arched roof of the south nave decorated with angels, shields and grotesques.

Angel

The pond besides the Cilcain waste water treatment building held Marsh-marigold Calthapalustris and masses of Marsh Horsetail Equisetum palustre.

Our leisurely 6hr circular walk had flown by, some good lists for the day and all within an hour’s drive of Liverpool!

Nineteen MNA members joined our first coach trip of 2014 to White Coppice near Chorley in Lancashire. It has been 7 years since we last visited this location on an abysmally wet day. Thankfully today’s similar wet forecast didn’t materialise and we all had an enjoyable outing.  We parked at the small town of Brinscall before walking up Well Lane noting Garlic Mustard a.k.a. Jack-by-the-Hedge Alliaria petiolata, Lady’s Mantle Alchemilla sp. Wood Forget-me-not Myosotis sylvatica and Spanish Bluebells Hyacinthoides hispanica. A Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis was bounding along a tree branch and a road-kill flattened Common Toad Bufo bufo was the first corpse of the year. A number of Cranelies were sat on Nettle Leaves that I later identified as female Tipula vittata with distinctively patterned wings and dark stripes along the sides of the abdomen.

Cranefly Tipula vittata 

Birdsong continued as we took the path into Hodgkinson Wood with migrant Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler and Cuckoo along with a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Jay. Moss enveloped the stone walls which held masses of Wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella and there was also plenty of flowering Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus and Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium. In a clearing John Clegg pointed out a sun- basking Peacock Inachis io and I also noted a Tawny Mining Bee Andrena fulva and a White-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus lucorum.

Bilberry

A moss-covered old ruined building had an abandoned bird’s nest. A few of the 8 or so cold eggs were examined and thought to be that of a Robin. A precarious slippery mud path led down the hill. A number of members commented on the orange coating to many of the tree trunks. This is not a Lichen as many suspected but an algae Trentepohlia sp. – the orange pigment haematochrome (β-carotene) hides the green of the chlorophyll. There were a few Fungi finds with masses of Birch Polypore Piptoporus betulinus, a few desiccated Jelly Ear Auricularia auricula-judae, Blushing Bracket Daedaleopsis confragosa, Common Tarcrust Diatrype stigma, Small Stagshorn Calocera cornea and Common Grey Disco Mollisia cinerea. In a boggy area beside the Black Brook at the foot of the hill I found a couple of Common Frogs Rana temporaria one of which posed.

Common Frog

Emerging from the woodland out onto the moorland a Nuthatch was seen entering a hole in a lone tree with another spiralling around the tree’s branches. Examining the trunk of another tree we noted masses of grey coloured Lichen species including Evernia prunastri, Parmelia sulcata and an Usnea sp. The tree’s branches were covered in Polypody Polypodium vulgare. We took a rocky path across the heathland, adjacent trees having suffered storm damage with one Ash appearing to have been struck by lightning. A couple of Tree Pipits looking more monochrome than the Meadow Pipits were seen and a flock of a dozen or so twittering birds were identified as Linnets.

We stopped for lunch at the cricket pitch which was very picturesque with a few olde-worlde cottages at one edge and a large wood pavilion. Pied Wagtails joined Blackbirds and Song Thrushes chasing insects across the turf and a Curlew called from the moors. I had a nose around a Nettle patch adjacent to a stone wall finding a small Stretch Spider Tetragnatha sp. and a male Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines.

After lunch some of the group joined David Bryant for further exploration of the moor whilst the remainder joined John Clegg for a stroll beside the brook again towards Brinscall. Plenty of flowering Marsh-marigold Caltha palustris in the damp areas and distinctive looking Sedge that was later identified as Common Sedge Carex nigra.

Common Sedge

The leaves of Broad-leaved Dock Rumex obtusifolius were covered in Green Dock Beetles Gastrophysa viridula and the leaf undersides held groups of the oval yellow eggs.

Green Dock Beetle Eggs

A pair of rusty red horned cattle kept us amused whilst underneath a Birch tree behind them a Rabbit was feeding and nearby male Pheasants were in fine form calling then fluffing out their feathers in display. We watched as a farmer was training his sheep dogs to round up a sow and her piglets at the far end of a field and closer at hand an old breed boar and his two sows were snuffling and routing around in the mud of their enclosure.

At the small fishing lake there were Mallards, a few Muscovy Ducks, Moorhen along with Black-headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. Cuckooflower a.k.a. Lady’s Smock Cardamine pratensis was in flower along with Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon.

Cuckoo Flower

I investigated a small patch of meadow which held Green-veined White Pieris napi, Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae and another Peacock Inachis io. A few insects with a good find of a Bee Fly Bombylius major along with two common Hoverflies – Heliophilus pendulus and the Dronefly Eristalis tenax. Unfortunately the strong breeze was a killer for any macro photography but I did manage to snap a bit of cannibalism with a small male? dark coloured Wolf Spider Pardosa sp. with its jaws tucking into a larger female?

Yum 🙂

If you are interested in the wildlife of the north-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, see the main MNA website for details of our programme and how to join us.

A wide photographic selection of birds, marine life, insects, mammals, orchids & wildflowers, fungi, tribal people, travel, ethnography, fossils, rocks & minerals etc. is available on my Alamy webpage

Report from Tony Carter:  The North West Fungus Group started their spring foray at Freshfield Station. Moving through the mixed woodland a few spring-loving gilled fungi were seen, Clitocybe fragrans (Fragrant Funnel) and the always-present Strobilurus tenacellus (Pinecone Cap) on buried cones. An impressive Exidia glanduosa (Witches Butter) was also seen.

Clitocybe fragrans (Fragrant Funnel)

Strobilurus tenacellus (Pinecone Cap)

Exidia glanduosa (Witches Butter)

Most of the finds were of ascomycetes, which shoot their spores from a tube or ascus. Mainly tiny discs and blobs on fallen wood and litter, they are difficult to identify because many are host- specific so it is vital to know the identity of the plant material. Not easy in mixed woodland.

A large stand of old Ulex (Gorse) supported Tremella mesenterica (Yellow Brain), that usually grows in association with the genus of Peniophora, a corticiod (or crust) fungi. Both the pink Peniophora incarnate (Rosy Crust) and the grey P. incarnata were present. Also smaller ascomycetes of which we have been able to identify Proliferodiscus pulveraceus and Orbilia xanthostigma.

Tremella mesenterica (Yellow Brain)

Proliferodiscus pulveraceus

Orbilia xanthostigma

On the dune heathland were numerous Panaeolus cinctulus (Banded Mottlegill) whose existence would be encouraged by the presence of cows. Also Entoloma sericeum (Silky Pinkgill).

Crossing Formby Golf Course on Fishermans’ Path, some more spring species appeared. A large patch of Entoloma clypeatum (Shield Pinkgill) and, close by, some Conocybe aporos (Conecap).

Entoloma clypeatum (Shield Pinkgill)

Conocybe aporos (Conecap)

Reaching the pine woods, we searched through an area that had been clear-felled last year.  The bits and pieces produced some interesting finds. The uncommon resupinate fungus, Gloeoprus taxicola  specialises in colonising fallen conifer branches. The ascomycete, Hyaloscypha leuconica had taken over a fallen cone.

We also turned up some myxomycetes (Slime Moulds) from their warm chambers under piles of logs. Arcyria denudata and Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa being particularly attractive.

Arcyria denudata

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa

Moving along Old Fishermans’ Path we came across Psathyrella spadiceogrisea (Spring Brittlestem). A most interesting find was made while searching through old leaves under Cratageus (Hawthorn) bushes, of Xylaria oxycanthae, a Candlesnuff fungus that grows from buried haws. A new species for the site and to all present.  Probably always there, we have never looked for it before.

Xylaria oxycanthae

Having reached the dunes we turned for home. It was then we made our best find of the day. A rare Inocybe ochroalba (a Fibrecap) for which there are only 23 previous British records. Unfortunately there is no photo because it was not appreciated how rare it was until it was dissected for microscopic examination.

So far, over sixty species have been confirmed but, having regard to the problems of identifying the ascomycetes, it will be some weeks before the list is finalised.

Note that the pictures of the ascomycetes and myxomycetes are x40 taken under the microscope and that the picture of the Xylaria was taken by the finder, S. Pinnington.

This was the second of our experimental short walks, and attracted nine members and a visitor.  We met at the Leaf Globe behind the Isla Gladstone Conservatory, on a warm sunny morning.

All the ornamental shrubs were blooming, including Forsythia and Pieris “Flame of the Forest”, and the cherry blossom was out.

The recently-restored formal walk with flower beds was looking its best, and beyond it were some of the half a million daffodils planted in 1991 as part of the Marie Curie Field of Hope project.

Park birds were Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Magpies, a Wren calling, Robin and Blackbird.  On the lake were Canada Geese, Moorhen, Coot, Mallards, some Cormorants on the island, a Great Crested Grebe, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a pair of Tufted ducks, but no Pochards and no sign of the Mandarin Drake, who hasn’t been seen for six weeks or more. There used to be a female Mandarin too, but she disappeared a year or more ago.

While we were in the gravelled circle of  eight very old London Planes, we looked at the central tree, which John was told was something special by a Ranger, but he can’t remember what it was. It seems to have a flat-topped habit, like some ornamental cherry trees. From the look of the breaking buds Chris Felton thought it might be some kind of Poplar. In a depression in the bark of one of the eight old London Planes Chris F identified the web of a lace-webbed spider Amaurobius similis, which he described as a hunter which bites a crane fly on the leg, waits for the poison to take effect, then wraps and eats it.

We crossed the road to Anfield Cemetery, and spotted a Sparrowhawk circling above. There were also two Jays on the grass, a Mistle Thrush, 11 or 12 Magpies having a meeting and a Buzzard overhead. Grey squirrels were scampering about. Several Buff-tailed Bumble Bee queens Bombus terrestris were flying low and investigating holes at the bases of  fallen gravestones.  A fallen Hawthorn tree had clumps of lichen on it, identified by Chris F as Xanthoria polycarpa.

We also had a browse about some interesting monuments and gravestones. One referred to the deceased as the “Vicar of the Parish of Bevington, Liverpool”, but none of us had heard of such a place. I think it was St Alban (Bevington) C of E on Limekiln Lane, Vauxhall, founded 1846 and closed 1941. We also looked at the mass grave of 554 Liverpool citizens who were killed in the May Blitz in 1941. Three Belgian Merchant Seamen were also killed that week and their gravestones are near the side of a path, probably cared for by the Belgian Government.

There are also memorials which record the burial somewhere in the cemetery of two early recipients of the Victoria Cross. The one on the left is for Patrick Mylott  who was honoured for his bravery in Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion (Mutiny) of 1857 while the other is for Joseph Prosser for his valour at Sevastopol in 1855 during the Crimean War.

While some of us were looking at those, Chris grubbed about in the soil and came up with a rather splendid keeled slug Limax maculatus. Originally from Black Sea area and the Crimea, the species was probably introduced to Ireland, where it is now common, and it is spreading rapidly in Britain. For instance, the first Worcestershire report was in 2000.

Final tally: 20 bird species, one mammal and several interesting plants and invertebrates.  The walk broke up at just after 1 pm, with many members expressing pleasure and surprise at how attractive the park and cemetery were and how much there was to see.

People who are are interested in the wildlife of the north-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, should see the main MNA website for details of our programme and how to join us.