The Naturalists' Notebook

This was a joint MNA / RSPB trip, but although there were 12 MNA members (some with dual membership) there were no RSPB-only people.

It was sunny some of the time, but a fresh breeze kept the temperature down.

Four species of butterfly seen: Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.  Dave H caught and released a Cream-Spot ladybird and a Dock Beetle.  We saw one Common Blue Damselfly.

Flowers included both Yellow and White waterlilies, Flag Iris,  some late Bluebells still in flower, Ragged Robin and two kinds of Orchid, tentatively identified as Southern Marsh and possibly Common Spotted.

A  Blackthorn bush had some very strange growths on the edges of its leaves.

Sid collected some to see what would eventually hatch out, and Dave H later identified them as galls caused by mites (Eriophyes prunispinosae).

There was a pair of Great Crested Grebes with two stripy young, and we watched one of them being fed by an adult. Several Jays were in the trees.  A pair of Mute Swans had five cygnets with them.

Both swan parents had leg rings – blue SNA and blue SNB.

At the upper lake, where many Mallards congregate hoping for bread, we saw one very funny-looking duck. Smaller than a Mallard, and looking like it was partly Mandarin.

19 MNA members joined the coach trip visiting a new venue for the group at United Utilities Stocks Reservoir near Slaidburn in the picturesque Trough of Bowland, Lancashire.

It turned out to be a fantastic day and a place many wish to return to in the future.We began our exploration from School Lane car park located at the north-east of the reservoir. An eight mile trail runs around the reservoir edge but there was so much to see that most of the group concentrated on the immediate area. This first section of the trail also ran adjacent to Gisburn Forest, leased to the Forestry Commission by United Utilities and managed as a commercial coniferous plantation. Plenty of birdlife with Willow Warblers and Blackcaps in good numbers and a single Garden Warbler performing its melodious song that sounds quite similar to a Blackcap for beginners. Wren, Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits were in song along with Redpolls buzzing away, one of which perched briefly on top of a Sycamore Tree. A bird hide was conveniently located as a lunch stop. This gave views across the reservoir and few exposed sandy banks where we viewed Greylag and Canada Geese, Red-breasted Merganser, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black Backed Gull. We continued down through a meadow where Sand Martins and Swallows were zipping around, the former nesting in holes a sandy bank where the River Hodder enters the reservoir. We crossed the Lock Bridge over Hasgill Beck and had a route around in the stream over turning rocks in the hope of finding Freshwater Crayfish, no luck although we did see a shoal of Minnows Phoxinus phoxinus.

Les Hale checking underneath stones for Freshwater Crayfish

We climbed up onto the fell passing Swaledale Sheep and a small herd of Cows with their calves.

Curlews were flying around calling their plaintive cry, Meadow Pipits were performing their aerial parachute display flight, Skylarks were ascending to great heights whilst singing and a couple of Oystercatchers were flying round one perched giving good views on a drystone wall. Some of the group continued round to the River Hodder and saw a Redstart.

The area was an entomologist’s heaven both for the sheer number and variety of species. Ichneumon Wasps were a prominent feature of the day. These members of the Hymenoptera order are parasitoids -their larvae feeding on another insect. There are around 1200 species of Ichneumon Wasp in Britain so a couple of specimens were collected in tubes for accurate identification by entomologists in Liverpool Museum.

A couple of Sawflies were seen including this handsome specimen Macrophya duodecimpunctata with white markings on its black legs

Sawfly Macrophya duodecimpunctata

A vivid lime green and black Sawfly was later identified as Tenthredo mesomela 

Sawfly Tenthredo mesomela

Black and Red Froghoppers Cercopis vulnerata were present in large numbers and their cuckoo spit could be seen splatted on plant stems.

A Common Cockchafer Melolontha melolontha flew in and began feeding on Hawthorn flowers. It was caught and placed on the ground allowing good views of its feathery antennae before taking off.  

I watched a male Scorpion Fly Panorpa germanica tucking into its lunch of a Soldier Beetle Cantharis nigricans .

Another species of Soldier Beetle Cantharis pellucida was also seen by many. Green Nettle Weevil Phyllobius pomaceus were full of the joys of Spring and engaged in a bit of bonking. A tiny Weevil Polydrusus formosus only around 5mm in length and sporting a wonderful metallic shine posed on Dave Hardy’s arm.

An Alder Fly Sialis lutaria posed nicely. Despite their name they have no connection with Alder Trees, their larvae are aquatic and the adults emerge in May and June.

A couple of Spiders including a female Wolf Spider Pardosa sp. carrying an egg sac and the Spider Tetragnatha nigrita was seen in its typical resting position that gives rise to the family name of Stretch Spiders.

Plenty of Hoverflies with Eristalis sp. Xylota segnis, Volucella pellucens and Sericomyia silentis being recorded.

Common Bog Hoverfly Sericomyia silentis

Many species of Diptera were seen but again this is a specialised field for accurate identification, Empis tessellata, Green Bottle Lucilia sp. Yellow Dung-fly Scatophaga stercoraria, Robber Fly Asilidae sp. Flesh-fly Sarcophaga sp. were all seen but there were countless others.

Empis tessellata

Yellow Dung-fly Scatophaga stercoraria on sheep dung

Other insects recorded included Green Lacewing Chrysoperla sp. Click Beetle Athous haemorrhoidalis and a distinctive orange and black Beetle that escaped my camera lens as we sat on the seats in the picnic area at the end of the walk that I later identified as a Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus investigator. 

Barbara and co. found a Longhorn Beetle in an upper corner of the Lakeside hide. John Clegg captured it in one of his collecting pots, then let it go on the windowsill of the hide whilst Barbara poised with camera. Harry came along soon after with his Chinery “Collins Guide to the Insects” and the one that most resembled the photo was Rhagium sycophanta.

Harry had also seen a reddish coloured Deer earlier possibly a Sika Deer Cervus nippon which are the predominate deer species inhabiting Gisburn Forest.A few notable Butterflies with a male Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines, a rather washed-out Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas and a few Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus. Red-necked Footman Atolmis rubricollis was the moth of the day with around twenty flying around the tops of the Spruce Trees and a couple of individuals resting up on vegetation.

Red-necked Footman Atolmis rubricollis

The botanists were not disappointed with some Spring species such as Hawthorn, Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta and Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis still in flower. Heath Speedwell Veronica officinalis, Brooklime Veronica beccabunga, Water Forget-me-not Myosotis scorpioides, Common Spotted-orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsia, Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris, Common Bugle Ajuga reptans, Water Avens Geum rivale, Herb Bennet Geum urbanum, Bush Vetch Vicia sepium, Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea, Heath Bedstraw Galium saxatile and Red Campion Silene dioica.

Water Avens Geum rivale

Although no longer in flower Wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella and Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara were identified by their distinctive leaves.Compact Rush Juncus conglomeratus, Ribwort Plantain Plantago lanceolata and plenty of Meadow Foxtail Alopecurus pratensis were also noted.

Ribwort Plantain Plantago lanceolata

Four members met at the Druid’s Inn for an evening meal – David, Alexander, Ann and me. We met two more at the Rainbow afterwards (father and son from Chester, new members, can’t recall your names, sorry.)

Regrettably, despite a long wait into the dusk on the forest path, we neither heard nor saw a Nightjar, although David was sure the black bird which we caught a fleeting glimpse of as we arrived, disappearing into shrubbery by the path, was a Nightjar we had disturbed. David has heard Nightjars at this location on at least three occasions in the past, but not tonight !

We had more luck with bats on the way back to the car park at 10pm.  My bat detector  easily picked up the small bats flitting at head height through the tunnels of trees. They were calling at about 45KHz so were almost certainly Common Pipistrelles. We also picked up something at 20 KHz, which ought to have been a Noctule, but we couldn’t see anything flying higher up.  Nothing at 80 KHz +, which would have been Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bats.

Here are John Clegg’s Walney pictures.

Herring gull at nest

Lesser Black-backed gull at nest

Ringed plover at nest

John commented that this is a rare two-billed Eider, perhaps affected by radioactive emissions from the nearby Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.

Wall Brown butterfly on a sheltered sunny bank.

And here are two views of the obliging Brown Hare which posed for us outside one of the hides.

MNA coach trip with 20 members visiting the South Walney Reserve run by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. The area consists of a shingle island with lagoons where salt, sand & gravel were extracted during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. As our coach driver negotiated the single track road and speed bumps to we had our first sighting of a Cuckoo looking very raptor-like from the coach window. We had been previously warned about the likely attack from the large numbers of Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls that nest on the reserve.

The majority of the breeding colony was now protected behind an electric fence but we still had to run the gauntlet past a few nesting pairs. One pair of Herring Gulls having chosen to nest almost on the track itself!

A few Ringed Plovers were nesting on the shingle close to the track, one bird running off to draw attention away from her nest of three speckled eggs. A few Oystercatchers were running along the waters edge.

Ringed Plover

Oystercatcher

We had seen a number of Greylags on the edge of the Reserve but two more unusual Geese caught our attention. They were Emperor Geese. These are the descendants of captive birds who escaped from Piel Island and have bred successfully here. Another big bird draw was the many Eiders Ducks, the males outnumber the females 10:1 so there is a lot of competition to impress the ladies. A few Eiders were battling the waves caused by the ferocious windy conditions and a large gathering resting on the shingle bank with the atmospheric backdrop of Piel Castle.

I had a wander along the track that runs to the Seasalter Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas hatchery / nursery in the old extraction lagoons and found a few discarded shells.

The tide was heading in as we continued south along the trail. A huge flock of Oystercatchers were resting on the edge of the saltmarsh amongst them was a leucistic bird i.e. one with reduced pigmentation causing some of its normally black feathers to be white. Shelduck and the odd Curlew were out on the marsh and a few Grey Seals were bobbing about in the water. Those that reached the Sea Hide were rewarded with views of Arctic and Sandwich Terns, distant Gannet and Manx Shearwater. A few members watched a dark Peregrine fly in from the sea just as a shower had passed overhead. John Clegg and co. watched a Brown Hare as it came and sat in the thick grass just in front of the hide.

Moths seen included a Magpie Moth Abraxas grossulariata escaping the wind in one of the hides, a Mother Shipton Moth Callistege mi hunkered down in the grass and half a dozen fat and hairy Drinker Moth Caterpillars Philudoria potatoria.

Mother Shipton Moth

Drinker Moth Caterpillar

Plants included Houndstongue Cynoglossum officinale, Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys, Silverweed Potentilla anserina, Common Stork’s-bill Erodium cicutarium and Bird’s foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.

Heavy downpours and Merseyrail engineering works didn’t put off the sixteen members of the MNA / Sunday Nature Group who reached Leasowe Lighthouse for our Spring migrants meeting. We had a good route around the area, wandering along Lingham Lane checking out the fields and along the rubbish littered lane that runs towards Moreton Brickworks pond before retracing our steps to the lighthouse for lunch when the sun eventually broke through the clouds.

We then headed along the overgrown track beside the horse paddocks before turning right towards the seawall for a bit of seawatching before again returning back to the lighthouse. A good bird list with Great Crested Grebe a pair on the Moreton Brickworks pond, Little Egret standing in a field with its head crest blowing in the wind, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot with 2 juvs on the lighthouse ponds, Lapwing a few in the fields and horse paddocks, Feral Rock Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Swift 1 zooming overhead, Skylark 4 singing over the fields, Swallow 14+ flying low for insects, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Northern Wheatear 1 female in the horse paddocks, Blackbird, Grasshopper Warbler 1 reeling close to the railway line, Sedge Warbler plenty scratching away giving occasional views, Lesser Whitethroat 1 performing its bubbling chaffinch-like song in a bush close to the lighthouse which gave brief views before flying to a nearby tree, Common Whitethroat half a dozen or more scolding us from the bushes with a few performing their aerial display flight, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Great Tit one with a beakful of food flying into bushes beside the stream and another pair feeding young in a nest within a rusting signpost, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet the males looking particularly cerise pink, Reed Bunting 1 male. Chris Butterworth also had a Cuckoo perched on a wire close to the lighthouse and a few Stock Doves in one field.

The tide was in during our sea watch with a distant sandbank exposed out from Meols. More star birds with a Great Crested Grebe on the water, Cormorant few on the sandbank, Grey Plover 2, Dunlin small flock of 12+ flying, Bar-tailed Godwit 2, Whimbrel great views of a bird perched on the end of a rock groyne allowing scope views of its stripey head and less pronounced curved bill than the Curlews that were out on the sandbank, Turnstone 2 flying past, Black-headed & Lesser Black-backed & Herring Gulls in good numbers on the sandbank, Common Tern 1 flying past and another Wheatear on the rocky groyne.

Amphibians included a Common Frog and a Dead Toad. Butterflies on the wing included a Large White, a few Small Whites, Peacock 2, Small Heath 2, Cinnabar Moth 1 flying along the bottom of the seawall, no fewer than 16 Common Blues and half a dozen Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars on nettles. St Mark’s Flies Bibio marci, Picture-winged flies Tephritidae sp. and a Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis.

Yellow Flag Iris

Flowers included Yellow Flag Iris Iris pseudacorus, Common Storksbill Erodium cicutarium, Woody Nightshade a.k.a. Bittersweet Solanum dulcamara,  Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca, Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus, Green Alkanet Pentaglottis sempervirens, Oilseed Rape Brassica napa, Jack-By-The-Hedge Alliaria petiolata, Lesser Stitchwort Stellaria graminea, Star-of-Bethlehem Ornithogalum umbellatum.

Star-Of- Bethlehem

Bushes in flower included Hawthorn Crataegus mongyna, Gorse Ulex europaeus, Broom Cytisus scoparius and Dog Rose Rosa canina.   

Broom