The Naturalists' Notebook

It wasn’t a wildlife day today. We went to see HMS Liverpool at the Pier Head, then took the bus down to Sudley House in Mossley Hill to look at the Costume Exhibition.  Despite the sunshine, it was cold with an icy wind. But the crocuses in the garden were splendid, and we saw a Nuthatch.

Following reports of several Short-eared Owls seen hunting over Sefton Meadows in recent weeks, we thought we’d try our luck, but didn’t have any success. Perhaps we left too early for them, perhaps it was the noise of the microlight humming overhead, or the roaring of the three trail bikes and an off-road jeep, or even the farmer’s recent machine diggings all over the area.

But there was plenty of other wildlife about. It was a still day, mostly cloudy, but the sun came out occasionally and the temperature was over 10 degrees. Everything seemed to be waking up for Spring. The first Hawthorn leaves were unfurling, Snowdrops, Crocuses and early Daffodils were blooming, I saw my first Celandines, and one lonely Dandelion in flower on a grass verge. Many 7-spot Ladybirds were basking in the sunshine on Ivy and Arum leaves, warming up after their hibernation.

Birds seen included Robin, Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Wood Pigeons, Starlings, Greenfinches, Magpies, two Carrion Crows mobbing a Buzzard, a Pheasant,  a pair of Reed Buntings near one of the drainage ditches, two Herons flying overhead, and a Fieldfare on a telegraph wire near Sefton Church. We heard Skylarks singing overhead and a Chaffinch in a hedge.

By the side of the path was the kill site of a bird of prey, perhaps of a Sparrowhawk. The plucked feathers were beautiful, and were probably the barred flank feathers of a Red-legged Partridge.

There were masses of Snowdrops amongst the gravestones in Sefton churchyard, and on the bank near the River Alt were two molehills, which have been reported to the MNA’s Dave Hardy as a Mole sighting.

It was a brilliantly sunny day, but still cold at 6 degrees.

The park lake had the usual Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Mute Swans and Canada Geese, but also some Greylag Geese and a solitary Tufted Duck. Hundreds of Black-headed Gulls wheeled overhead.

Snowdrops and Crocuses were all out, with one or two very early Daffodils, and the buds were swelling on many of the trees. On a hill was an old observatory, now apparently closed up, but a sign on a bench memorialised Herbert H H Watson (1924-2005) “who loved this observatory and restored the telescope in his youth”.

Near the garden for the blind and disabled there were Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits,  a Robin, a Nuthatch calling and a Tree Creeper, who gave us an excellent close view.

By the floral clock a stone quoted some lines by the poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) from “The Garden”

How well the skillful gard’ner drew
Of flowers and herbs this dial new;
Where from above the milder sun
Does through a fragrant zodiac run;
And, as it works, th’industrious bee
Computes its time as well as we.
How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers!”

It was warmer today (but only about 4 degrees) and with thick cloud cover. The tide was coming in as we walked all around the causeway of West Kirby Marine Lake.

A few of the Black-headed Gulls had nearly finished growing their dark brown caps, and there were Herring Gulls, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatchers, a Heron, several hundred Knot, dozens of Dunlin and one Turnstone.

After lunch we went into Ashton Park and tried the Duck and Swan food again. The Coots, Mallards and Canada Geese all ate it happily. Further out on the lake were Tufted Ducks, who didn’t come to investigate the free handout.  There are several new wood sculptures in the park, and we liked this one of a Green Man.

In the park and along the Wirral Way we saw Carrion Crown, Magpies, Wood Pigeons, a Robin, Great and Blue Tits, and our first snowdrops. We cut through Sandlea Park to the waterfront again and spotted a “lifer” for me – a flock of Pale-bellied Brent Geese, about 200 of them, in the Spartina marsh between West Kirby and Red Rocks. As we watched they took off and headed towards Little Eye. Apparently they usually stay at Little Eye but the unusually high tide must have tempted them over to the marsh.

Snow had been promised for the whole country, but Merseyside escaped. Nonetheless it was a very much reduced group of only four that met on a cold and frosty morning at Queen Square. We were thinking of going to to Hesketh Park in Southport, but the X2 bus failed to stop at its assigned temporary stop in Victoria Street, and we watched it sail away. So we went to look at the new landing stage at the Pier Head, then took the ferry to Woodside.

The female Peregrine Falcon was sitting right at the top of Hamilton Square tower, staring out over the Mersey. We took ourselves to Birkenhead Priory and had a tour of the Scriptorium, with a display about Ian Fraser VC, a much-decorated diving pioneer who died on the Wirral in 2008.

There were very few other birds about today, just the usual gulls and pigeons, but we did see a party of Long-tailed Tits in the trees around the Priory.

Our first Sunday walk of 2012 was on a cold, still day with the temperature just above freezing.

At the south end of Sefton Park lake the usual crowd of Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, pigeons and Black-headed Gulls were hanging about for bread. Of the dozen or so Mute Swans, seven had blue Darvic leg rings, identifying them as local birds. Two sets of three were juveniles with almost-consecutive numbers, suggesting they were groups of siblings ringed together. Their ring numbers have been reported to the North West Swan Study.

On the path we spotted a Pied Wagtail, there were Magpies and Carrion Crows on the grass, while the water around the island had Moorhens, quarrelsome Coots and five Little Grebes, possibly a pair with three of last year’s chicks. Rats were common at the water’s edge. The former Mute Swan nest site on the island was bare, so I wonder where they are nesting now?

At the café there was a display of dead birds and mammals in small cases. A closer look revealed that they weren’t real animals, but made by “Replicated Taxidermy”. There was a poster advertising classes in this new craft skill. They looked pretty good, though.

There is a small bird feeder area near the Palm House, overwhelmed by pigeons and squirrels, but we chased them off, added some dried mealworms and were rewarded with Blue Tits, Great Tits, a Robin and a Nuthatch.

Since feeding bread to birds is now disapproved of, for my New Year resolution I bought some “Duck and Swan Treat” pellets. They are brown, granular discs, about the size of shirt buttons and the manufacturer (Gardman) says they are specially designed to float, preventing deterioration of the water quality. However, the blurb doesn’t say the intended consumers LIKE it!  The swans and Canada geese looked at it, but weren’t keen. One Swan took a pellet then spat it out. Mallards liked it and so did Coots. Black-headed Gulls dived among the Coots for it and Pigeons tried to hover and take it out of our hands. They pecked at it enthusiastically on the ground.  I also tried some on a Grey Squirrel in the Dell. One little chap approached cautiously, put a paw on my hand and leaned forward to sniff, then turned away in disappointment, finding it wasn’t a peanut.

The afternoon concert in the Palm House was given by the excellent Saxadaisical Quartet, a foursome of saxophonists, who played pieces ranging from Penny Lane to Handel’s Concerto Grosso.