The Naturalists' Notebook

What a glorious day it was! We walked the new footpath from Seacombe to Woodside, through Birkenhead docks. It’s the most recent addition to the Wirral Circular Trail, opened up last September after a 12-year campaign by a Wirral resident.

We met at the Pier Head and took the 10 o’clock ferry to Seacombe. Our best bird of the day was almost the first one we saw. A dull-looking wader on a rock next to the river. It’s a Spotted Redshank!  The few I’ve seen before have been quite dark glossy birds, and they are all supposed to have migrated back to their northern breeding areas by May, but this must be a pale non-breeding adult.

Other birds included a Pied Wagtail on the rocks, Canada Geese and Cormorants along the river, Great Crested Grebes in the docks, Swallows skimming the water, Linnets amongst the Dandelions on Tower Wharf and Greenfinches and Goldfinches in the trees.

On the overgrown setts on the dock edges were lots of clean empty mussel shells. Have the gulls been dropping them to get at the meat inside?

The trees are perfect just now. The shapes of the trees and the branches are still visible but the fresh young leaves are coming out in various distinctive shades of green. Here’s a selection – a young Whitebeam tree and its new leaves, fresh Beech leaves and Hawthorn buds.

Near Edgerton Wharf we spotted a Bumble bee trying to find a burrow in a grassy bank. Whipping out my FSC bee identification card (bought yesterday at South Stack RSPB) I think it’s a Garden Bumble Bee.

Later we also saw a smaller bee on the footpath, which was crawling along, hugging the deepest shade and looking sick. It was probably a Tawny Mining Bee. The butterflies were loving the sunshine, of course. None of them stayed still long enough to be photographed, but we saw a Large White (probably a male with a yellowish tint), a Red Admiral, several Small Tortoiseshells dancing together and a small white one which was moving too fast to ID.

Flowers included some fresh Ragwort near North Alfred Dock and a ring of Daisies at Edgerton Wharf.

 

The route has an interesting mix of the old and new. One of the docks held a derelict vessel, and there is still some old winding machinery set into the pavement, marked as made in 1860 by the Dagliesh St Helens Foundry. The chain is still around the wheel but now there’s a tree growing out of it.  But the same corner now has the Liverpool John Moores University Astrophysics Research Unit.

Near Woodside we passed the old one-o’clock-gun.

Once it provided a time signal to shipping on the Mersey and was fired electrically from Bidston Observatory. It started on 21 September 1867. Firing was suspended during the Second World War, but then the tradition carried on until 18 July 1969. The website of the Proudman Observatory at Bidston says the original canon was a relic of the Crimean War. In 1933 the War Office provided a new cannon, a 32 pounder from Woolwich Arsenal, and after WWII it was replaced by a third gun, a six pounder naval anti-aircraft Hotchkiss gun. One of the earlier canons is now said to be at the Maritime Museum, but I don’t know if this one still on the plinth is the Crimean gun, the 32-pounder or just a replica.

We had our lunch just before Woodside Ferry, admiring the magnificent views over to Liverpool Waterfront.

After lunch we continued southwards to Monk’s Ferry and Norton Priory.

Norton Priory is the oldest standing building on Merseyside, founded in about 1150. The monks from here operated the first Mersey Ferry. It’s now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and they’ve been spending Lottery money, repairing and rendering the former interior walls, opening a new entrance onto Church Street with a disabled lift, and providing new public toilets.

The cemetery contains the vault of the Laird family, starting with John Laird, the first Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, who lived 1805-1874, and also his ship-building descendants. We were also touched by a gravestone mentioning “Hannah and Mary Beresford (sisters) the faithful and much-valued servants of the Rev Canon Knox, vicar of Birkenhead, Hannah for 35 years and Mary for 51 years.”

We returned to Liverpool via Hamilton Square. There was no Peregrine on the station tower, but the blossom trees in the square were in full bloom.

Blossom is starting to burst out everywhere, especially on all the splendid Magnolias we admired from the bus on the way to Lydiate. It still isn’t really warm, but dry and overcast, with a freshening breeze, very clear views from Liverpool over to the Wirral and the Welsh hills, and the threat of rain later. We took the 300 bus from Sir Thomas Street at 10.20 and got to Our Lady’s RC Church at Lydiate at 11.10.

There is a small rookery in the churchyard, and the calls of the Rooks followed us down Hall Lane. Outside one of the houses there is a sumptuous Aubretia along the garden wall, which we have admired in previous years.

In the sheep field on the right there was a big dew pond with Shelducks in it and Jackdaws on the edge. Swallows were flying over the field, Goldfinches and House Sparrows twittered and we spotted a pair of Linnets on the fence. Both Red Dead-nettle and White Dead-nettle were flowering in the hedgerow.

We took the footpath south alongside the racing gallop for the horses in training. Blackbird, Greenfinch, Magpie, Wood pigeon and a rabbit. We crossed the racecourse by two stiles, observing the sign warning of horses passing at speed! The trees held a Jay and a Crow, so we saw all the corvids so far except a Raven. Three Mallards flew over, looking like Hilda Ogden’s wall ornaments. Lunch was at Lydiate Hill Bridge, which carries just the footpath over the canal beneath, not a road. It’s hump-backed and narrow, crusted with old lichen, and if it’s the same age as the canal probably dates back to 1775. It’s Grade II listed, anyway. This picture, taken in late summer from the canal bank, is by “Irate” from Wikimedia Commons.

There were Moorhens and Mallards on the water and a Willow Warbler in the shrubs on the bank. We set off along the canal northwards, waving to lots of narrow boats. The Pride of Sefton went past, a boat we have cruised on in the past. There were Daisies, Dandelions and Forget-me-nots on the verge.

Just past Jackson’s Bridge some fishermen said they mostly get Roach and Perch. The flat fields had Canada Geese, an Oyster Catcher and a small mixed flock of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backed gulls apparently sitting on the ground.  A field was being harrowed while another had a crop already growing – a cereal crop in neat rows.

The wind was now gusty with spots of rain and it was very overcast.  We left the canal at Rimmer’s Swing Bridge and headed west along Green’s Lane, back towards the main road. The house on the corner with a large garden pond had a rather fine floating duck house (£540 each, according to Amazon! ) and an elegant ornamental Heron.

We noticed Collared Doves on a wire and Lapwings in field, but we were walking straight into the teeth of a strong wind and a persistent drizzle. We were very happy to get to Lydiate Hall farm opposite Our Lady’s church, and into the Hayloft tea shop for some shelter and the loo. They keep a large duck pond, dozens of tame Mallards, some Guinea Fowl and a lot of  Peacocks. One displayed obligingly for us.

He did a twirl, revealing that he looks just as amazing from behind!

After a quick shop for duck eggs and mushrooms at the farm shop we caught the 300 bus at 2.20 back to Liverpool.

This was a joint MNA / Sunday Group walk.  On a cloudy day with a forecast of rain, two MNA members joined the Sunday Group at Queen Square, with the rest of the MNA expected to be on the 18 bus from Liverpool ONE bus station. However, it was completely empty when it pulled in at Queen Square. Happily, three other MNA members joined us at Croxteth Hall.

The trees were still bare, although some early cherry blossom is beginning to show and the Magnolia is just breaking into bloom.

Birds were quite sparse, including Magpies, Mallards, Moorhens (but no Coots), Wood Pigeons, Robins, Great Tits, a Blackbird, a Jackdaw. A big tree near the lake had several Nuthatches and we spotted a distant Sparrowhawk.

Near the Hall a great old tree stump attracted our attention.

Growing over and around it were Bramble, Dandelion and Lesser Celandine, with Nettle, Red Campion, Wood Avens and Bluebell still to flower. Chris Felton rooted under some fallen bark and found woodlice and a small slug about 10 mm long. It was the Dusky Slug, Arion subfuscus.

It soon began to drizzle, but we carried on, noting more plants trying to catch up on the Spring. Primroses were out, the Wild Garlic was just coming into bud and the Water Lilies were emerging from the lake. Dog’s Mercury, that indicator of ancient woodland, was near to flowering, the lawns were scattered with Daisies, and the Dandelions were popping out everywhere.

Sheltering from the rain, we ate lunch in the covered bay at the corner of the Hall. On the lawn in front of the walled garden were some delicate and dainty Snakeshead Fritillaries.

A huge old log was showing a fine crop of Trametes gibbosa, the Lumpy Bracket.

About 1.30 the rain stopped and a weak sun tried to break through. A Bumble Bee flew low over the undergrowth but we couldn’t identify it. Near the model railway was a clump of unusual flowers which Margaret identified as Summer Snowflake.

Our last fungus was the slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon, the False Puffball, looking like a dollop of rice pudding about six inches (15 cm) across. Apparently the Mexicans call it “caca de luna” or “Moon’s poo” Nice!

Thanks to Chris Felton for his encyclopaedic knowledge of plants, invertebrates and fungi.

Spring has definitely arrived. I enter in evidence ducklings, mating coots and mating toads. Hooray!

We took the X2 bus to Bridge Road, Seaforth and headed for Old Roan. It was an overcast and windy day, with one rain shower in mid-morning, but much warmer at last.  We saw the normal denizens of the canal – the Moorhens, Coots, Mallards and Canada Geese, but also Herring Gulls, which were calling overhead. In the hedgerows we heard a Chiffchaff, Blackbirds were trilling sweetly and House Sparrows tweeted. We also saw Wood Pigeon, Crow, Robin, Magpie and Collared Dove. Very few trees were in leaf, with only the Hawthorn showing definite green. There aren’t many flowers yet either, just Coltsfoot, Lesser Celandine and a few Dandelions, with clumps of Bluebells coming through, not yet in flower. On the far side of the canal there were outbreaks of daffodils and narcissus, looking like someone had chucked a few handfuls of bulbs over their back fence.

One interesting tree was a Common Larch, with male and female flowers showing. The female flower is a lovely upright red burst, less than an inch tall, while the male flowers are the brown down-pointing globules.

On the grassy edges we noticed lots of holes or burrows. The one on the left in this picture was about 1½ to 2 inches in diameter (4-5 cm) and at least 14 inches (35 cm) deep, sloping steeply downwards towards the water. Could they have been made by Water Voles?

Further on was a ruined artwork, a pile of steel stars with plants etched on them  Oddly, there was a trunkless white elephant perched on top. It seems it was once a sculpture called “Carrying Star”, put up in 2007, and the star panels were originally mounted on a framework. It  referred to the historical planting of “star grass” (Marram grass) on the dunes by the Lords of the Manor of Sefton in the 18th century. People used to collect it secretly to thatch roofs and make furniture. Peasants caught stealing the Lord’s grass (accused of “carrying star”) faced harsh punishments.  A passer-by told us there used to be a sign about it, but it has been vandalised. And as for the elephant, he was added to the stack of stars by the person who lived in the adjoining house. He dropped it in the process, and the trunk broke off.

On the path was a pair of mating toads (“in amplexus”) with the smaller male gripping the back of the larger female. They were on their way from the undergrowth to the canal to mate but the male had grabbed the female well before she got to the water. Further along there was a different pair which retreated back to the hedge and further again still was a solitary male, dead in the middle of the path, perhaps run over by a bike.

The first ducklings of the year were a brood of just three tiny ones, pottering about with both parents near Cookson’s Bridge pub.

The mortality of baby Mallards must be very high on the canal. A fisherman just before the Swift’s Lane bridge told us he’d had a 3lb Pike that morning, about two feet long, and he’d previously caught one of 13lb in that same spot. He proudly showed me a picture of it on his smartphone. They must feast on all the ducklings in the spring.

The sun came out after lunch and we saw our first Bumble Bee this year. Past Fleetwood’s Bridge was a male Mute Swan, which we checked for leg rings (none). A lady on the towpath said he’s a very good natured lad, used to being fed, and has been known to poke her with his beak when he wants bread. His mate was on a nest a bit further on, near the Swing Bridge, sharing the bank with a dumped mattress.

Just before Old Roan was another milestone showing Liverpool 8, Leeds 119¼ .

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.

The winter may be over, but spring still hasn’t properly arrived. It was cool today, with a weak sun, but at least not the freezing weather that we’ve had for so long. We took the 487 bus from Sir Thomas Street to the lovely village of Thornton Hough, where scarecrows are everywhere.

The trees are still almost completely bare but in the gardens on the way we enjoyed the sight of daffodils, Forsythia and some early blossom trees. Another “spot” from the bus was the first of many Hares in the ploughed field on the corner of Clatterbridge Road and Thornton Common Road. We walked out of the village and left the road at Croft Bank Cottages. As we turned into the fields Vee saw a molehill move! We stopped and stared at it for a bit, but there was no more heaving activity. But the young moles must be on the move now the ground has thawed. We did note the clumps of late snowdrops, which are just going over.

Birds included Crows and Jackdaws in the fields, a Yellowhammer in a hedge, a Skylark singing, a Mallard flying, a bright male Kestrel hovering. In the hedges there were Greenfinches, House Sparrows, a Song Thrush, a pair of Robins and a Dunnock. It would have been idyllic but for the pong of fertiliser all day. Somebody had been muck-spreading!  It smelled rather “darker” than the usual dung, with (we joked) hints of caramel and bay-leaf. John hazarded that it might have been chicken manure. We stopped for lunch at a path junction where there was a piece of rusting farm machinery. An olde mucke-spreader? No, it was an ancient rusty seed sower.

In the rough grass on that corner there were lots of little burrow openings, each between ¾ inch (2 cm) and 1½ inches (4 cm) wide, leading to shallow burrows in the topmost soil layer. The long grass was neatly cut off around the mouths of the holes, but surprisingly, none seemed to go in further than about three or four inches (9 cm). We had lots of fun probing them with twigs, but they were all “blind”. I am guessing they were made by Bank Voles, but have no idea why there were so many that didn’t go anywhere. Just daytime hideouts?  [Edit 15th April 2013.  Chris Butterworth has suggested they were made by Field Voles, and what we saw were the ends of longer burrows made under snow, which have now melted away. Sounds highly likely.]

The Lever Causeway is an old carriage drive leading to a former home of Lord Leverhulme. We crossed it several times during the day. It was a beautiful grey-green tunnel, looking like something David Hockney would paint.

Then we spotted four Hares in a stubble field. They were running about after each other, and we saw two of them boxing. They put on a really good show for us and we were entranced. (You should be able to spot three of them in the picture below, but I know they are a long way off! Two are near each other on the right, looking at a third one further left.)

On a Dandelion we saw what looked like a wasp or a honey bee. I think it must have been one of the same Colletes bees the MNA saw yesterday.

A single Lapwing was stalking about in a ploughed field, perhaps guarding a nest. As we came out of the fields near Brimstage we saw a Red-legged Partridge heading for the cover of a hedge. The steps of the old stile there have been worn by centuries of feet. You can see where the fence used to go, across the middle.

The last time we were at Brimstage was 1st May 2011. We saw hares that day too, and Swallows nesting under the archway. It’s too early for them yet, especially in view of the cold weather. The late spring is causing some odd sights. On a field at the back of Brimstage Courtyard we spotted a Fieldfare in its summer plumage. It isn’t supposed to change until it gets back to its breeding area in Northern Europe. The lengthening days have made it moult but it’s been too cold for it to fly back north. There was another winter visitor too, a Redwing. Then back over the fields to Thornton Hough.  At the Talbot Avenue corner there were even more hares, and we stopped again to watch their antics. They delayed us so long that we missed the hourly bus for Liverpool by a mere four minutes. So we waited for the 87 for Eastham, enjoying the Rooks cawing in the trees. The bus took us to Spital station where we just caught the train for Liverpool.