| Page 8 | Merseyside BioBank

Jun

05

2018

Odonata in North Merseyside

By BDeed

The Beautiful Demoiselle, Calopteryx virgo, is a Damselfly native to the UK and occurs in Cheshire and Cumbria. However, there are currently no verified records of this species for North Merseyside (see The LCFS 'The Dragonflies of Lancashire and North Merseyside', 2015 for further info).

All Odonata (Dragonflies and Damselflies) are considered local conservation priority species particular where there are locally significant breeding sites.

Odonata

Atlas

NMBAP

Jun

01

2018

Red-veined Darters

By BDeed

Information and photo credit Dr Phil Smith,

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) have been spotted at Ainsdale Sandhills Local Nature Reserve not farm from the Ainsdale Discovery Centre.

This species is found infrequently. Largely considered a migrant but with some breeding populations in the UK, considered unstable by the British Dragonfly Society.

Jun

01

2018

Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botanist gets close and personal with a saxifrage and illustrates the tribulations of using

By rob.duffy

I borrowed BioBank’s copy of “Poland” to try and resolve the mystery of its identity from a
fragment I had taken - comprising fully intact leaves- and found myself keying out Saxifraga
umbrosa (Pyrenean saxifrage) , or Saxifrage nivalis (Alpine saxifrage). I was really attracted to the
latter because “Poland” refers to “the long wavy cilia near the base” (of the petiole).

Jun

01

2018

Hugh Harris: Asparagus Trail, Formby Point NT. SD280065

By Beagle

Formby Asparagus (also the name of the variety) is white at the base and green through the stem with a purple tinged tip. New asparagus crowns are grown from seed which is saved from the old plant. After the first year, the crowns are transplanted into a 20cm deep trench and a ridge 8cm high is piled up around them. The first cutting can be taken in the third year. While tractors are now used to manage the land, the crop is cut by hand.

May

31

2018

Hugh Harris:WILDFLOWERS WORK – The National Wildflower Centre @The Eden Project

By Beagle

Objectives:

Fifteen months after the closure of Landlife and National Wildflower centre in Knowsley, to raise awareness of the opportunity to build upon this charitable legacy, the wildflower fields and harvests and the projects, and a new future with Eden Project.
To launch new partnerships which have the potential to build on the grass-roots nature of the work and to make wildflowers more of an integral part of urban planning and peri-urban sites, bridging rural divides, with environmental justice.
To engage people in support of the Northern Flowerhouse and the National Wildflower Centre, charting a forward-looking vision for creative conservation in Merseyside and across the North. Linking Northern and Southern energies.
To inspire forward-looking thinking in what is meant by green infrastructure.
To make clear links between environmental action and social justice.
To celebrate wildflower landscapes and to openly thank those who have stood by the ethics and have supported the past work and charitable purpose of Landlife and the National Wildflower Centre.

MBAN

Hugh Harris

Landlife

National Wildflower Centre

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May

11

2018

Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botanist - Side-walk Botanist goes Walkabout

By rob.duffy

The plants in the cracks of the pavements and brickwork begin to lose their fascination with the arrival of those early harbingers of summer –the Swifts (May 9^th)- and thoughts of trips farther afield come centre stage.

May

03

2018

Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife Notes April 2018

By BDeed

April 2018 really broke the mould. Since the millennium, we have got used to prolonged droughts, with April showers a distant memory. This month, measurable rain fell on 12 days and, although it was mainly colder than average, there was a heatwave from 18^th to 21^st with the highest April temperatures (in London) since 1949. Remarkably, the dune water-table actually rose by 4.5cm during the month. The result was the best Natterjack Toad activity for several years. For the first time, these rare amphibians spawned in the youngest section of the Green Beach at Ainsdale. Although usually nocturnal, some amorous male Natterjacks started calling during the afternoon of 9^th and I found three pairs as well as ten Smooth Newts, while Skylarks were singing their hearts out overhead and 18 migratory White Wagtails foraged on the shore.

Apr

24

2018

Sefton Coast: Aegialia arenaria

By BDeed

I saw several of these tiny (4mm) dung beetles recently at the Green Beach and Devil’s Hole. I thought they were an Aphodius sp. but Gary Hedges sent them to the national dung beetle expert and, despite my dreadful photographs, they came back as Aegialia arenaria. This is fairly common and widespread but largely coastal on sand. I hadn't noticed them before.

Sefton Coast

Beetle

Observation

Apr

20

2018

Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botanist - Early Spring Notes

By rob.duffy

Last Saturday, the 14^th, was the warmest day (at 14 degrees celcius) in nearly 5 months and an excursion across the Roby fields and ponds was a positive pleasure. Beyond the M62 bridge, a huge field of young winter wheat covers a kilometre in length and somewhat less in width; within it a series of ponds are enclosed by hawthorn hedges, ditches run with clear water and here and there are alder and willow “carr”.