Chris Derri has sent me some pictures from our coach trip to Holyhead and Beddmanarch bay on 9th February. First, two shots of a Black Guillemot in winter plumage.
A Ringed Plover
Two pictures of a Shag
A trio of Red-breasted Mergansers and a close-up of the nearest male.
(Report by John Clegg)
A total of 20 members arrived at Burscough Bridge Interchange, by bus, train or car, for our walk on a mild sunny morning. As we left the station a group of Jackdaws flew over, the first of many birds seen. The morning was spent walking over farm fields, where we had close views of over 300 Pink-footed Geese, a single Raven and some Siskins. We had lunch at Martin Mere then walked around the reed beds outside the reserve, seeing many ducks and geese. On a row of fence posts were three Peregrine Falcons. A large female and two smaller ones who might have been last year’s young. A buzzard was close by.
A total of 52 bird species were seen.
Jackdaw, Black-headed Gull, Magpie, Goldfinch, Carrion Crow, Raven, Pink-footed Geese, Greenfinch, Dunnock, Wood Pigeon, Skylark, Lapwing, Whooper Swan, Fieldfare, Redwing, Moorhen, Shelduck, Tree Sparrow, Robin, Collared Dove, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Siskin, Blackbird, Treecreeper, Coot, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Pheasant, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Shoveler, Peregrine, Long-tailed Tit, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Buzzard, House Sparrow, Wren, Linnet, Blue Tit, Barn Owl, Redpoll, Pied Wagtail, Greater Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Photos taken by Chris Derri on the MNA Burscough Reedbed walk
English Longhorn Cattle
Barn Owl
Pinkies
Siskin
Whooper Swans
Mute Swan
It was a very bleak and wet day so we decided to go to the Museum of Liverpool. We did get some bird watching and fresh air, though. As well as taking a trip on the Mersey Ferry for lunch, we spotted five Cormorants in Canning Half-Tide Dock. Two of them had quite a lot of white on their heads and necks, perhaps more than the normal adult courship plumage, and we wondered if they were from the continental sub-species marrocanus. One of the Superlambananas outside the Museum was painted with marine life is this supposed to be a Common Gull? It has yellow legs, a dark eye and no red spot on its bill.
Highlights of the Museum were replicas of the carvings from the Calder Stones, casts of early human footprints from Formby shore, dated to 4000 to 6000 years ago,
… an imagined diorama of the earliest scousers, camping in a woodland clearing in the Woolton area
… a complete coal fired chip fryer from a chippy in Rice Lane, with hand-painted tiles and copper edging, used from 1925 to 1982, and the model of the Lutyens RC cathedral which was never built.
Well not quite 
I was working on some oil-well drill cuttings from Kurdistan. Lifted the penultimate sample bag from one of the boxes when out pops a gecko! These boxes have been in a storage garage on the Wirral for the past week – no idea how long they took to clear customs.
It sat for a while on the bench but became restless so I tranferred it to a glass sample jar, dripped in a few drops of water from a pipette for it to drink and found a few tiny dead flies on the lab window – heh heh. Had a quick photo session – put some sand in the bottom of a shallow tray and it posed nicely before I returned it to its jar.
After the rather frustrating RSPCA call system – no appropriate buttons to press for exotic reptiles in your lab! I finally got through to a human and the little fella was collected at lunchtime.
Had a quick google and it looks like a Rough-tailed Bowfoot Gecko Cyrtopodion scabrum a small, nocturnal ground gecko, with exceptionally long, angular toes.
The first MNA Coach trip of 2013 saw us returning to a familiar venue at Holyhead Harbour and the nearby Breakwater CP. It was a misty and drizzly day but we soon got down to some birding with Starlings and a Pied Wagtail on the grassed area beside the shore and a Song Thrush perched low down in a bush. A dark coloured Grebe diving amongst the boats in the harbour had us puzzling its identity. Elsewhere in the harbour we found a Cormorant, a few Shag, Little Grebe, a Black Guillemot already in summer plumage, a male Red-breasted Merganser with his entourage of four females who were observed performing synchronized diving diving in unison then popping back up together.Chris Derri did some sea-watching and was rewarded with sightings of a few distant Common Scoter, a Red-throated Diver, Common Guillemot and Razorbill.
I had a good root around the seaweed on the harbour shore. There were three different Wrack species and a few long strands of Sea Belt Kelp Laminaria saccharina. There was Spiral Wrack Fucus spiralis, Knotted Wrack Ascophyllum nodosum which has long strap like fronds with large egg-shaped air bladders at regular intervals. A number of fronds bore tufts of the small reddish-brown filamentous epiphytic algae Polysiphonia lanosa.
Egg Wrack with red algae Polysiphonia lanosa
Fronds of Toothed Wrack Fucus serratus were covered in the Tubeworm Spirorbis spirorbis. These are often overlooked due to their small size. Their smooth, white spiral tubes, which coil to the left (sinistral) are only 3-4 mm diameter.
Spirorbis spirorbis
A few thin encrusting patches of an orange coloured Sponge species Pseudosuberites sulphureus clung to the rocks.
Plenty of Common Periwinkles Littorina littorea and a bright yellow Flat Periwinkle Littorina obtusata shell. Harry and Les found a Sea Slater Ligia oceanica, this littoral woodlouse is an inch in length.
On the harbour wall we watched a few Rock Pipits flying up to catch flies which were about despite the weather. On some rocks we watched an Oyk, a Ringed Plover, a sentinel Shag with tufy hairdo. Limestone blocks on the harbour wall gave an interesting diversion as they were packed with fossils including numerous brachiopods, solitary and colonial corals and a lone gastropod.
Fossil Gastropod
We walked past the dramatic cliffs which are composed of Holyhead quartzite, a massive white quartzose sand deposit with some relict sedimentary features but now fused by metamorphism into a crystalline rock. There was plenty of Sea Ivory Ramalina siliquosa growing on the stone walls, this distinctive Lichen has grey tufted strap-like projections attached to the rock. Agrey Heron took off from the shore and a Curlew flew overhead.A shrill cry of chee-ow quickly had binoculars scanning for the source – Red-billed Chough. This beautiful bird sometimes called the sea crow has glossy black plumage, a red bill and legs. A couple of Chough were located feeding on a grassed field along with Oyks and a Redshank.We stopped to admire the mosaics at the Breakwater CP visitor centre before walking back along the lane towards the harbour.
The lane edge had plenty of Winter Heliotrope Petasites fragrans which is one of the Aster family. This European herb has vanilla-scented white-pink flowers, hence the latin name fragrans. Its large green, leathery leaves were not dissimilar to those of Butterbur Petasites hybridus.
Winter Heliotrope
Our usual Brent Geese were missing when we arrived at Parc Arfordirol Penrhos CP, Beddmanarch Bay. The tide was out so we scanned the mudflats through the mist for any sign of life. Shelduck looked monochrome in the gloom, Curlews were probing in the goo with their long down-curved beaks, a Bar-tailed Godwit with upturned bill also probed and Grey Plover had a quick burst of energy darting around before standing motionless again. A few Red-breasted Mergansers were around along with a couple of Great-crested Grebes and a lone Slavonian Grebe. The small pond held Coot, Moorhen, Mallards and a few Black-headed Gulls.The feeders held Chaffinches, a Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, a Robin trying to grab hold of the feeder with Dunnock and Blackbird more sensibly feeding below. Goldcrests calling away from the pine trees proved elusive. Snowdrops were peeking up through the muddy ground and a bright burst of colour was a couple of blobs of Yellow Brain Fungus Tremella mesenterica.
Yellow Brain Fungus
It was warmer today, but with a squally north wind. At Southport we headed straight down to the Marine Lake, and had a good day for birds, with several notes of leg rings to report. On and around the lake we saw Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Moorhen, Mallards, Coots, Mute Swans and two Canada Geese.
At lunchtime we headed out of the wind and settled on the benches outside Southport Bowling Club’s pavilion. There were Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds on the lawns and a Greenfinch twittering and whistling at the top of a bare tree. They usually make wheezy calls, but is this their spring song? We also admired a rather splendid dovecot.
We rounded the southern end of the Marine Lake, and headed northwards into the raw gusty wind. Cormorant, Common Gull, Little Grebe, a second Mute Swan with a Darvic ring and a Goldfinch. Then back onto the Promenade, overlooking the Spartina grass colonising the beach. In amongst the tufts were Shelduck and about a dozen Pink-footed Geese.
From the inland part of the pier there’s a good view over the Pitch-and-Putt course, where we saw Jackdaws, several dozen Oystercatchers, a few Greylag Geese and a Curlew. A party of cyclists was riding along the Promenade, one on a very old bike with a carbide lamp. He told me what it was, and I thought he said it was a “Jersey Peterson” of 1905. Its the one in the foreground of this picture, ridden by the man in the coonskin cap.
On the way back on the train we saw a large flock of Lapwings rising over the school playing fields north-east of Hall Road Station.
These are the five ringed birds we saw, all reported on 6th February to the Euring website:
Two Black-headed Gulls with blue Darvic rings on their left legs: 2C42 and 2C43
Two Mute Swans with blue Darvic rings on the right leg: SDC and NXD. I had a reply from Wes Halton of the North West Swan Study. SDC was a male cygnet ringed at St Annes on the 21 August 2005, and has been seen at Southport many times since then. He is now seven years old. NXD was a female cygnet ringed at St Annes on the 2 Sept 2003 and is now nine years old.
A Coot with the following color rings: right leg pink (or orange) over a BTO ring, left leg light blue over purple.
I will add the reports on their movements as they come in.
Just returned from hols on the tropical island of Sri Lanka. Although mainly a cultural tour visiting ancient painted cave temples, numerous gigantic Buddha statues, the dramatic sky fortress of Sigiriya, tea plantations and deserted ruined cities, I managed to see a great variety of wildlife along the way 🙂
Negombo Fish Market was a lively place with fishing boats landing their catch on the beach, rows of fish drying in the sun, fresh fish for sale such as Swordfish and Red Snapper plus prawns and a few different species of crabs
Blue Swimming Crab Portunus pelagicus
Good selection of mammals with Toque Macaque Macaca sinica, Tufted Gray Langur Semnopithecus priam thersites, Purple-faced Leaf Monkey Trachypithecus vetulus, Grizzled Giant Squirrel Ratufa macroura and the ever present chimpmunks – Three-Striped Palm Squirrel Funambulus palmarum
Toque Macaque enjoying the spicy food
An ‘ever so serious looking’ Tufted Gray Langur
Chestnut-streaked Sailor Neptis jumbah
Indian Wasp Moth Amata passalis – female laying egg
Signature Spider Argiope sp.
Cricket
Red & Black Millipede
A great selection of Dragonflies and Damselflies were seen including Asian Skimmer Orthetrum glaucum, Crimson-tailed Marsh Hawk Orthetrum pruinosum, Indigo Dropwing Trithemis festiva, Asian Groundling a.k.a. Ditch Jewel Brachythemis contaminate,Pied Parasol Neurothemis tullia, Common Bluetail Ischnura senegalensis, Painted Waxtail Ceriagrion cerinorubellum, Yellow Waxtail Ceriagrion coromandelianum and Marsh Dancer Onychargia atrocyana
Crimson-tailed Marsh Hawk Orthetrum pruinosum
Marsh Dancer Onychargia atrocyana
Baby Turtles at The Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery
Left – Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea, Right – Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas
Lizard
Water Monitor Varanus salvator
An endemic Scrub Frog Philatus rus
Yala Toad a.k.a. Atukorale’s Dwarf Toad Bufo atukoralei
It was a sunny, breezy day, and the recent snow was starting to thaw. John wasn’t well, but we headed off without him to Newsham Park. On Orphan Drive near the Police Station there was a dead pigeon on the pavement, possibly a Sparrowhawk kill. Under the trees the daffodil shoots were pushing up, and the fishing lake was still half frozen.
There were Canada Geese, Mallard, Tufted Ducks, Coots, Black-headed Gulls, one Lesser Black-backed Gull, a few Muscovy Ducks and a young Heron, less than a year old.
One of the Mallards had a white pom-pom on the back of its head, the result of cross breeding with a fancy variant called a Crested Duck.
The boating lake was almost completely frozen over, too, with a large flock of Black-headed Gulls standing about waiting for bread. Just one Common Gull amongst them.
There is a new pavilion at the junction of Orphan Drive and Gardner’s Drive, with a café and loos and a row of new exercise machines.
Rain was threatening, so we lunched under cover on the bandstand near Prescot Road, where we had a call from John about Waxwings in Norris Green, at the junction of Parthenon Drive and Townsend Avenue. Off we went, and there they were. About 30 of them in one of the few remaining berry trees on the central reservation. A large flock of them had been there most of the week and had stripped nearly all the trees along that stretch of the avenue, with just one tree left near Broadway.
John said he had been there on the previous Thursday and watched two Mistle Thrushes furiously attacking and chasing about 80 Waxwings, tyring to drive them away from “their” berries. On Sunday we saw just one Mistle Thrush at the top of a denuded berry tree, who appeared to have lost the battle.
A couple of inches of snow fell in Crosby on Friday but although I still found the side streets to be treacherous by Sunday morning, the main roads were clear. The temperature was hovering about freezing and the sky was grey and overcast. There was very little snow remaining in Liverpool City Centre, but it started falling again as we arrived at Sefton Park.
The main lake was half frozen. The usual Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Mallards, Coots, Moohens and Canada Geese were there, with eight adult Mute Swans and three cygnets at the café end and more near the island. There was also a Common Gull on the ice, a Pied Wagtail on the water’s edge, and a Tufted Duck and some Little Grebes by the island. Two Mallard drakes were having a real fight near the island, standing up in the water and battering at each other with their wings. The winner drove the other one off.
What was that all about? It was most likely to be a territorial dispute, but there were plenty of other drakes on the same patch of water. What was so offensive about the losing drake? Was he from a different clan which usually live on the frozen part of the lake?
We looked for tracks in the snow, but all we saw were boots, dog paws and these, which are probably just feral pigeons.
John had brought some dried mealworms and he tried enticing birds to eat from his hand. He succeeded with a Robin and a Great Tit, but the Nuthatch was more wary.
The pigeons liked the mealworms we dropped, but a grey squirrel came up to my hand, and appeared neither to see nor smell the dried mealworm I was holding out. Two Jays were looking hopefully at the bird feeders in the woods, Wood Pigeons were flying about and some Redwings and Fieldfares were rootling about in the leaf litter in the Dell. Two Mistle Thrushes and a Blackbird were on the lawn near the Palm House, and someone had made a cheerful snowman.
There is a Persian Ironwood tree in the dell (Parrotia persica), and it was flowering already.
The Liverpool RSPB group had a display inside the Palm House, which they usually do the week before the Big Garden Birdwatch (BGB), to get passers-by in the mood.
I was interested in the display they had of the 2012 BGB national results compared with Merseyside alone. We have more of the adaptable town birds Magpie and Feral Pigeon, but also above-national numbers of Goldfinch and Collared Dove. Merseyside has fewer Chaffinches and Great Tits than the national average.
