The Naturalists' Notebook

I have added some pictures by Chris Derri to the post about Woolston Eyes on 14th April, and also a picture of a Sexton Beetle and some moth IDs to the Cabin Hill post on 24th May

Barbara

Worthington Lakes, owned by United Utilities, are made up of three reservoirs built to supply Wigan with drinking water and are fed by the River Douglas which originates on the moors above Rivington.It was still hot when we arrived at Worthington Lakes from Brockholes and a singing Wren greeted our arrival. Flowering woodland plants included Herb Robert Geranium robertianum, Wood Avens a.k.a. Herb Bennet Geum urbanum, Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea and Yellow Pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum. Mike Barrow and Chris Derri found two plant species that were infected by fungus.

The anthers of Red Campion Silene dioica were covered in a black dust caused by the anther smut Microbotryum violaceum. The rust fungi Uromyces muscari had formed yellow patches with reddish brown spots on a Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta leaf. Insects included a Scorpion Fly Panorpa sp. various Hoverflies and good numbers of the Click Beetle Athous haemorrhoidalis. Click Beetles have a special hinge on their thorax, and by arching their body they can create a tension on the hinge, like a coiled spring. When threatened they leap into the air and the tension is released causing a ‘click’sound.

We were unlucky with our target bird species – Mandarin Duck which nest here but did have good views of a pair of Great Crested Grebe with four stripey young.

Blue skies blazing sun and breezy conditions greeted our arrival. A large shoal of Common Minnows Phoxinus phoxinus and a young Pike Esox lucius were swimming amongst the newly planted reeds as we crossed the boardwalk to the visitor village. We sat down and scanned over Meadow Lake where Tufties, Mallards, Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Gadwall were joined by a fine drake Garganey.

 We climbed up the path overlooking the lake. The notched pink flowers and very deeply cut leaves of the annual herb Cut-leaved Cranesbill Geranium dissectum were noted and Sedge Warblers blasted out their scratchy song from the reedbed. We continued passing recently planted woodland where Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and Blackcap all added to the bird song. A European Toad Bufo bufo hopped over the path as we descended onto floodplain grazing marsh at the edge of the River Ribble. It appeared friendly so Barbara held it in her hand whilst I took a few pics.

A pair of Black Swans swam upstream towards the weir and a helpful birdwatcher put us onto a Kingfisher that was sat amongst overhanging vegetation on the far side of the river. The River held shoals of Common Bleak Alburnus alburnus, a large Pike Esox lucius mooching in the shadows and Common Carp Cyprinus carpio. A couple of Swallows buzzing overhead were joined by numerous Sand Martins that nest in the sandy river banks. A Pheasant called, Whitethroat sang from one of the flowering hawthorns and a Jay flew through a wooded area. A number of Banded Demoiselles Calopteryx splendens were perched on lush bank-side plants. The male is particularly attractive with metallic blue body and translucent wings with dark iridescent blue-black spot on the outer part. These Damselflies are flighty and despite many attempts I only managed to photograph a female with metallic green body.

Riverside plants included Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris, Crosswort Cruciata laevipes, Brooklime Veronica beccabunga and Watercress Nasturtium officinale.

We continued back up to through meadowland onto the public footpath that transects the reserve. In sunny sheltered patches of nettles a few insects were basking with Dance Fly Empis tessellata, Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis and Black and Red Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata.  We ate lunch overlooking number one pit – that provided the ideal breeding habitat of bare gravel around the flooded pit for the Little Ringed Plover that called it’s mournful single pe-ou note. Green Dock Beetles Gastrophysa viridula had been mating and clusters of little yellow eggs were on the underside of a few leaves.

More Damselflies beside the footpath with Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans and Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum – one female of which had a distinct kink in her abdomen. This occurs when a damselfly emerges from the exuvia too near some obstruction such as a twig and the exoskeleton hardens in this shape.

A tandem pair of Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula – the male clasping the female by her neck – caused the clicking of cameras.

Chris Derri and Mike Barrow also did well with Odontata finding a small pond with Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata, Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa and the violet form of Blue-tailed Damselfly. They also had the mega find of Floating Water-plantain Luronium natans. This rare aquatic plant with white 3-petalled flowers is found in two different forms. In shallow water, it develops floating oval leaves, while in deep water it can have long narrow, strap-shaped leaves.

We counted eight Snipe Fly Rhagio scolopacea in their characteristic head-down position on the trunk of a Willow Tree Salix sp. that give them their common country name of Downlooker Flies. There are around 15 species of Rhagionidae recorded in Britain and Ireland and these predatory Flies catch smaller insects in flight and return to their look-out post to eat them.

We returned to the visitor village to catch up with other member’s sightings. John Clegg and co had a fantastic day for Butterflies with eight species – Large White Pieris brassicae, Small White Pieris rapae, Green-veined White Pieris napi, Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines, Common Blue Polyommatus icarus, Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae, Peacock Inachis io and Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria. A great introduction to this new Lancashire Reserve and it can only improve with maturity.

It was a only a small group that turned up at Formby Station for the first of this summer’s evening walks – Dave Hardy, Chris Butterworth, Chris Derri and me.  On a wonderful warm sunny evening we set off along St Luke’s Church Road, going right down to the beach, then northwards along the sands and back by Albert Road.

Although we saw and heard some birds on the way down to the beach – Linnets and Goldfinches twittering, Greenfinch calling, Chaffinch singing, Carrion Crows about – the main interest of the evening was invertebrates. On a rotting log was a small crop of slime moulds Lycogala terrestre, like a scattering of small orange peas.

Sexton Beetle – picture by Chris Derri

In the undergrowth we found a Sexton Beetle, and in the open verge was a Red-tailed Bumble Bee looking for a nest. It investigated a rabbit hole then disappeared into thick vegetation. We also saw a Garden Bumble Bee Hortorium sp. Chris Derri was hunting moths with a net. He caught a mid-sized “Tertrix” micro-moth and a really tiny white one which he took away to ID.  (Later identified as Phalonidia manniana and Elachista argentella respectively.) He also caught a Lacewing and a Picture-winged fly.

Out in the dunes there were some big dark fast-moving moths over the grass. Although they were very lively, CD managed to catch and pot one, and it was an Eggar Moth, probably an Oak Eggar.

Other invertebrates included a roosting Common Blue butterfly, a Brimstone Moth on Albert Road, a very sticky slug (Tadonia sp.) and a Millipede Schizophyllum sabulosum.

Flowers seen included Green Field Speedwell, Common Dog Violet, Viper’s Bugloss, Common Bugloss and Hound’s Tongue Bugloss, and a lovely patch of Bird’s Foot Trefoil.

On the beach CB found Common Necklace Shell, Common Whelk, Spiny Cockle, Prickly Cockle, Rayed Trough Shell, Thick Trough Shell Spisula solida, Banded Wedge Shell, Baltic Tellin (he commented “in comparison to Wirral they are surprisingly uncommon on the Sefton Coast”), Pharus legumen (“the one that looks like a small Razor Shell, but has the hinge half way along the shell, not at the end”) and Pod Razor Shell. One of the Common Necklace Shells had what looked like dried sand in a crevice, but CB said it was Hydractinia echinata, a close relative of Sea Anemones.  One Banded Wedge Shell had a small hole showing it had been predated by a Common Necklace Shell.

A Reed Bunting was in amongst the Marram Grass near the beach. On Albert Road there is a big mound of wild Lily-of-the-Valley. Also blooming marvellously was the Hawthorn: one tree was almost all white.

On our way back past St Luke’s Church about a hundred Jackdaws flew in to roost, calling noisily. We were at Formby Station just before 10pm, and it still wasn’t quite dark.

Thanks to Chris Butterworth for the shell identifications and Chris Derri for a photo and the IDs of the moths.

Dave Bryant, Dave Hardy and I picked a stonking day to visit the RSPB reserve at Dove Stones in the Derbyshire Peak District. We caught the Scarborough train at Lime St, changing at Staleybridge and continuing for a few stops along to Greenfield. Descending the hill from the station we walked a short distance through the village listening to the screaming Swifts before reaching the small river with its resident Grey Wagtails. A clump of Common Comfrey Symphytum officinalis was growing on the river bank. These delicate clusters of tubercular flowers were white with pink markings – different to the usually seen mauve colour.

A few Orange Tip Butterflies were flitting around along with Peacock and Speckled Wood. A burst of bird song had us debating whether it was Blackcap or Garden Warbler – being short in duration like a Blackcap but bubbly like a Garden Warbler lacking the scratchy Blackcap tones. After brief views we decided on Blackcap.  

From our path it looked like fishermen were marooned with their rods in the middle of a field.  We headed over and found a narrow canal with brown peat stained waters. An Alder Fly Sialis lutaria perched on the canal bridge.

We began climbing with great views of the sheep covered fells and a dilapidated mill then passed the old mill workers terraced cottages which had a cheery collection of garden plants outside them and a cute stone gargoyle sat on a wall. Continued along a leafy lane to the main reservoir.

The blazing sun and blue skies had brought out the day trippers and dog-walkers. Walked anti-clockwise around the reservoir edge before heading up a side clough to escape the crowds. Birdlife was quiet with only a few Willow Warblers, Chaffinches, Robins and Coal Tits around. A small copse of trees provided shelter from the sun whilst we ate lunch. We followed a small stream before eventually finding enough stepping stones to safely cross and climbed up again onto the fell path passing our first Meadow Pipits but no sign of any Wheatears amongst the weathered craggy rocks. We stopped close to a coniferous forest, watching and listening whilst Redpolls buzzed around – one male in bright pink plumage perching on top of a conifer. Behind us a Tree Pipit took to the air singing whilst it parachuted quite a long distance into a small tree.

A Pheasant was chasing a dark green plumaged individual across the fell. Dave H said that this was one of the American varieties brought into the UK providing a greater challenge to the ‘sportsman’ during the beat as these birds fly higher than our native breed.As we continued climbing to one of the smaller reservoirs Green Tiger Beetles Cicindela campestris took to the air from the sandy path before dropping down in front of us a few feet away. We played their chase game for a while before we found a more confiding Beetle that couldn’t fly particularly well in the rough grass beside the path. Dave H caught it in a tube before transferring it onto the sand for a few pics and a closer look at the powerful jaws of this predatory mini-beast.

The characteristic high-pitched whistling flight call of a Common Sandpiper directed our gaze to three of these birds flying along the far edge of the reservoir with another two playing hide and seek on our side of the shore. Later we watched as two seemingly flew directly at the reservoir wall and concluded they must have a nest in one of the plastic inflow pipes. We watched a couple of Dippers bobbing around the rocks in a bubbling in-flow stream at the head of the reservoir and a Curlew landed beside the water before unusually silently taking to the air again.

We descended stopping to watch half-a-dozen Nomada Wasps flying near a stone wall before reaching the main reservoir where a carpet of Wild Strawberries Fragaria vesca and Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys put on a good show. It was a wander back along the road into Greenfield village watching the bunnies in the adjacent field enjoying the late afternoon sun and hearing a Nuthatch in a leafy copse. We rewarded our aching limbs after the climb up to the station with a quick pint in the Station pub before catching the return train.  A fantastic day with stunning scenery and hopefully a place to feature on next-years MNA programme.

(Report by John Clegg. Pictures by Dave Hardy.)  Six members met at Ormskirk and a further two at Parbold for our five mile walk on this sunny day.

We started by walking along the canal with Swallows and Swifts flying overhead and Mallards on the water. We soon had a good view of a Whitethroat singing at the top of a tree. At Bridge 40 we walked down from the canal to the bridge over the River Douglas in the hope of a Kingfisher, but not today. While we ate our lunches we saw Orange Tip butterflies.After lunch we crossed Bridge 40 into a small wood, then out onto farmland. Jackdaws and Pheasants were about, along with Peacock butterflies. In the Fairy Glen the ground was carpeted with English Bluebells, the white flowers of Ramsons (Wild Garlic) and Pink Purslane.

On the bridge over the lower waterfall we spotted a pair of Grey Wagtails feeding in the fast-flowing stream. Up the steps on the other side of the bridge we came upon a patch of Marsh Marigolds in full flower. There was another pair of Grey Wagtails at the larger, upper waterfall, and a Chiffchaff was in full song.

On leaving the Fairy Glen we had to cross the main road to get to more farmland, where we saw Lapwings and Wood Pigeons. In the woodland on the side of the fields we saw Chaffinch and Willow Warbler singing away, and there was also a Jay. In the open fields beyond a Skylard was singing high in the sky with Buzzards flying over. Around a small pool there were St Mark’s Flies.

We returned to Parbold and ended the day with a group of Swifts flying over. A good walk enjoyed by all on a very fine day.

A total of 33 bird species were seen: House Sparrow, Blackbird, Robin, Goldfinch, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Wren, Starling, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Skylark, Moorhen, Mallard, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jay, Swallow, Swift, House Martin, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Buzzard, Kestrel, Black-headed Gull, Pheasant, Lapwing.

Four species of Butterfly: Peacock, Orange Tip, Small White and Green-veined White.

How to get there: Train from Liverpool to Ormskirk. From Ormskirk Bus Station take bus 3A (hourly Monday to Saturday) or bus 337 (2-hourly Monday to Saturday) to Parbold shops. No Sunday bus service. Alternately, take the train from Southport or Wigan to Parbold Station.