The Naturalists' Notebook

Ken says:  Spring is busy time for me but I thought our members would like to see some of the images I have taken this April.

Great Crested Grebes at Carr Mill Dam.

Wheatear, taken at the Sychnan Pass near Conway. There were five Males all in the same area. I also saw my first Cuckoo of the year.

There were lots of Whinchats at Dolgarrog near the Conway Valley, and also a Stonechat.

Interested in the wildlife of the North-west of England? If you 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.

Report from Tony Carter.

A welcome change in the weather. Bright and warm with a few light showers, if a little breezy, for the NWFG fungi foray.

Happily, the recent flooding of the land round the pond has subsided, so we were able to gain access to most of that area. There we were met by hundreds of Common Toads engaged in a mating frenzy, presumably triggered by the change in temperature. A Grey Heron was totally unfazed by our presence as he watched and waited for a meal to swim by. Comma and Peacock butterflies were spotted round the water’s edge.

The change in weather had come too late for us to find the larger spring fungi which will probably pop up in the next few weeks, having been delayed by the cold then very dry spell. A lot of dead wood had been brought down by the snow and wind and this was subject to careful examination. One pile of logs revealed a bleary eyed Great Crested Newt, not quite ready to hit the water

Despite much searching, most of the fungi found were the usual species for the time of year. Only two with gills and a stem. Tubaria furfuracea (Scurfy Twiglet) and Strobilurus tenacellus (Pinecone Cap), a typical find on buried cones. (This picture of the latter is of a specimen found at Allerton Golf Club last December).

 
The rest of our finds were of brackets, such as Trametes versicolor (Turkeytail) or tiny disc fungi and crusts that tend to live in the warmth and dampness under logs and fallen branches.

 
We kept to the woods as it was a bit fresh out on the dunes. We did make an excellent find under some hawthorn trees. A tiny cup fungus Monilinia johnsonii is to be found on overwintered and mummified berries. It is uncommon but that could be because it is very small. Two of our party spent some minutes on hands and knees searching through the leaves and undergrowth before they uncovered a good collection of this species.

Interestingly, the fungus first develops on the hawthorn as a leaf blight, then infects the flower which in turn causes the mummification of the berry. The berry falls. The fungus grows. The cycle starts again.

The total of species found and identified came to forty which is not bad for this time of year.

Boisser’s Glory Of The Snow

A dozen MNA members met at Lime St, catching the train to Newton-le-Willows then the 34 Arriva bus to Pennington Flash. A colourful show of spring flowers greeted us at the entrance to the Country Park with cultivars of Striped Squill Puschkinia libanotica, Boisser’s Glory Of The Snow Chionodoxa luciliae and Blue Anemone Anemone apennina and further along Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria.

Keeping up with the many recent taxonomic name changes is always challenging. Luckily Pat Lockwood has let us know that Lesser Celandine is now Ficaria verna and Glory of the Snow is now Scilla luciliae. Thanks Pat!

Striped Squill

Lesser Celandine

Plenty of birdsong from the resident Blackbirds, Wrens and Robins along with the newly arrived migrants – Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Around at the main car park beside the flash I noted the blue darvic leg ring numbers on a handful of the 22 Mute Swans that were vying for bread handouts from the visitors. Sightings of AU6, AX6, CD6, HZ4, LJ4, XB4 and XZ6 will be forwarded to Wes Halton of the North West Swan Study.

We met up with those members travelling by car, doing the small circuit around the hides before lunch. From Horrock’s Hide a dozen Cormorants were standing together in watchful sentinel pose at the back of the spit, a few Lapwing were displaying and a group of Magpies were hanging around – up to no good no doubt. Black-headed Gulls were joined by a dozen Lesser Black-backed Gulls and lone Common and Greater Black-backed Gull. From New Hide we watched a few Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Shelduck and a female Goosander. From Teal Hide we noted another female Goosander, Teal, Shoveler, Grey Herons, more displaying Lapwings and Sid Duff spotted a couple of Oystercatchers hiding at the back of one of the shingle islands. A small party of Long-tailed Tits flew by the hide window and Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies flitted around.

(Added by Barbara 26th April 2013, Chris Derri’s pictures of Gadwall in flight, Tufted Duck, LBB and BHG, and a female Teal.  Corrected 25th May on Chris Derri’s advice. It isn’t a Teal, it’s a female Pintail. )

A Kestrel was noted near to Ramsdales Flash and there was plenty of frogspawn in the shallow reedy area of a pond before we reached Bunting Hide. The usual flurry of activity here with plenty of Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robin, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Stock Dove and a Grey Squirrel digging a hole to hide a nut it had taken from one of the feeding tables. Eileen Houghton had later seen a couple of Common Toads Bufo bufo in plexus and well camouflaged on the ground.

(Added by Barbara 26th April 2013, Chris Derri’s picture of a pair of mating toads.)

We ate lunch on the picnic tables whilst watching over a dozen Swallows along with a couple of Sand and House Martins sweeping overhead as they moved through. We caught up with Mike Barrow and Chris Derri who had spent the morning on the far side of the reserve ticking Cetti’s Warbler, female Pintail and Tree Pipit overhead. They had watched a colony of Mining Bees and had captured a klepto-parasitic Bee that was disturbing the colony in a tube for later identification.

[Added by Barbara 26th April 2013, Chris Derri’s pictures of an Early Mining Bee Andrena heamorrhoa and the “Cuckoo bee” which he has identified as Nomada flava)

Only a few common fungi species were noted many past their best – Jelly Ear Auricularia auricula-judae, Turkeytail Trametes versicolor, Lumpy Bracket Trametes gibbosa, Candlesnuff Xylaria hypoxylon, Hairy Curtain Crust Stereum hirsutum and Birch Woodwart Hypoxylon multiforme. Best find was some bright orange cushion like fungi Rusty Porecrust Phellinus ferruginosus on a fallen tree branch.

We wandered along to Ramsdale’s Hide where a couple of Redshank were standing on the islands and a pair of Jays flew by. We had a better view of the wildfowl from the viewing handrails further round the path – Goldeneye were mixed in with the Tufted Duck and there were plenty of Great Crested Grebes with a couple of birds indulging in their spring courtship routine with much head shaking and mirror posturing. Another female Goosander completed a circle before landing on the flash. Clumps of Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara were sprouting up everywhere on the rough field near Ramsdale’s, it is unusual because the heart-shaped leaves appear after the flowers. A female Sparrowhawk circled overhead, Skylarks took to the air singing their hearts out, small migratory parties of Meadow Pipits flew through and a Black-tailed Godwit flew over and landed on the spit. Alder trees along the flash shore had long male catkins and small red female flowers – that age to produce the familiar alder cones later in the year.

Squamarina cartilaginea

As I was noting the small patches of lichen – Xanthoria parietina and Squamarina cartilaginea on the blocks of limestone rock dotted around John Clegg asked is that an Osprey? A few members fixed our binoculars onto the Osprey as it was flying away from us. A flock of Redwing flew along the canal as we returned to the woodland. As we walked past New Hide a Raven croaked overhead whilst being harassed by a Carrion Crow. A final look from Bunting Hide was rewarded with views of a fine male Brambling munching seeds from one of the logs. The rain came down as we walked back towards the bus stop – Chris Butterworth pointed out a patch of Sweet Violets Viola odorata that I had earlier missed. The flowers had a sickly sweet fragrance and the sepals were blunt in appearance. A rather wet and bedraggled party returned to Liverpool with a good list of sightings.

Sweet Violet

(Added by Barbara 26th April 2013, Chris Derri’s picture of a Butterbur just breaking into flower.)

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

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.

Goldeneye are one of our well known ducks with individuals from Northern Europe visiting the UK to overwinter. They first nested in Scotland in the early 1970’s and thanks to the Speyside nest-box programme they have been attracted to nest in specially designed boxes put up on trees close to water.

If you’re lucky you may witness their spectacular courtship display in the Spring before the birds return to their breeding areas. Typically the bottle green headed males males swim around the chocolate headed female, while she remains motionless in a prone posture.

They then stretch their heads forward along the water before throwing their heads rapidly back so that they rested on their rumps, bills pointing skywards, while uttering a grating two-noted call.

They swing their orange feet forward, sending up a small shower of water in front of them. If one of the males has been successful in enticing the female he climbs on her back biting the back of her neck feathers and mates. It always looks as though she is half drowned in the process and she often has a quick splash about afterwards to rearrange her tousled feathers.

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

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.

This was the first of our series of Wirral Circular walks, intended eventually to cover the whole distance from Hooton to Seacombe.

It was Grand National Day and at Moorfields I noticed groups of men in suits, and young women wearing extraordinary hats, all off to Aintree and all clearly unfamiliar with public transport. It was a clear sunny day with light wind, just starting to warm up after the long freeze. Eighteen members and visitors met at Hooton station and set off along the Wirral Way.

Our first flowers were Coltsfoot by the wayside, and our best birds of the day were amongst the first we saw – two female Redpolls feeding on the dead seed heads of Rose Bay Willow Herb by the side of the path. A Chiffchaff was calling high in a tree and darting out from its perch to catch flies. Expert opinion was that it was probably a newly-arrived bird because it was so vocal and active, showing off and establishing a territory.

 
Chiffchaff by Chris Derri

House sparrows chirruped in the hedge and we spotted a two-apartment nest box high up on the gable end of a warehouse.

Chaffinch bathing – Chris Derri

Rook – Chris Derri

Robin – Chris Derri

Chris Derri found the track of a Holly leaf miner. I was most impressed when he looked it up on his smartphone and told me it was made by the grub of a fly called Phytomyza ilicis. It is “common across northern parts of the world, and can be found in woodlands, hedgerows, parks and gardens, wherever holly grows.”

We lunched at Hadlow Road Station. There were lots of people out – cyclists, family parties, a group of young people clutching laminated maps and a party of air cadets. It had turned into such a nice day that some people were wearing short-sleeved T-shirts.

So warm, in fact, that we saw our first butterfly of the year – a Small Tortoiseshell flying high in a Pussy Willow, accompanied by an unidentified hoverfly. It’s about time. The extended cold weather has made some things about a month late.  Chris Derri also spotted a Comma sunning itself.

 
Comma by Chris Derri

High in the sky a Sparrowhawk was mobbing a Buzzard. On a patch of Lesser Celandine flowers there were what looked like some foraging bees or wasps, but which were said to be of the genus Colletes. Wikipedia says “The genus Colletes (or plasterer bees) is a very large group of ground-nesting bees within the family Colletidae, with over 450 species worldwide.  They build cells in underground nests that are lined with a polyester secretion, earning them the nickname polyester bees.”

I looked them up on the website of the UK Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS) and I think they might have been Colletes cunicularius. They say it is the only British Colletes to fly in the spring (early April to the end of May, rarely mid-June), it is known to forage for pollen on Ranunculaceae, the family to which Lesser Celandine belongs and it is known to be present on the Wirral. It has an unusual distribution, “being confined to a number of extensive coastal sand dune systems in north-west England and north-west and south Wales.”

We delighted in the sight of a tiny Goldcrest scurrying about in a bare tree.

Goldcrest – Chris Derri

Then Chris Butterworth found a minute ladybird, only about 4mm long. He took it home to ID and confirmed that it was a 24-spot ladybird Subcoccinella 24-punctata, said to be found “in grassland and marshy places where it feeds on plants. It is common in southern England, becoming less so northwards.”

Ichneumon wasp – Chris Derri

Carder bee – Chris Derri

We passed a tree covered in small dark-red flowers, not as showy as cherry or apple blossom. At first we though they might be the female flowers of Alder, but they can’t have been, because Alder has its male catkins on the same tree, and this tree didn’t. These flowers seem bigger than the female flowers of Alder, too. Anyone know what they are? (Added 24th April – identified by Pat Lockwood as the Wych Elm, Ulmus glabra. Thanks, Pat.)

In the cutting the sandstone walls showed a text-book example of “convoluted folding” of the sandstone and a formation that John tried to persuade me was a fossil dinosaur. (It isn’t really! But imagine a side view with an upward curling tail at the right and the head at the left).

We emerged from the Wirral Way at Neston at about a quarter to three and caught the 487 bus back to Liverpool at 1512.  Some of us had even caught the sun!

Bird species list (32). Blackbird, Jackdaw, Heron, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Redpoll, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Kestrel, Song Thrush, Wren, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Buzzard, Coot, Redwing, Mallard, Moorhen, Starling, Rook, Pied Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Jay, Goldcrest, Stock Dove.

Edited 15th April 2013 to add pictures by Chris Derri

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.

This weekend Chris Derri gave me some more of his recent pictures to post.  First off, a splendid Kestrel photographed at Carsington Water on 17th February.

Here are some Waxwings taken in Prescot on 23rd February.

On 24th February he spotted a Heron at Glasson Dock on the Lune estuary.

At Sizergh Castle on 13th March he photographed a Dipper, a Grey Wagtail, a pair of Goosanders, a Redwing and a Red Kite. Here’s the Dipper.

And here’s the Grey Wagtail.

The male Goosander has a dark green head while the female has a red one.

Here’s the Redwing with its very pronounced white eye-stripe.

And lastly, here’s the Red Kite. It’s the one described in Sabena’s post of the visit, with wing tags – left wing orange and right wing red. Its tail is looking quite raggedy.