Wildlife Notes

Jun

13

2018

Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife Notes May 2018

By BDeed

The Met. Office reckoned it was the warmest and sunniest May on record; it was also dry with measurable rainfall on only eight days. Forecasts of torrential thunder-storms came day after day during the last week but all we got were a couple of brief showers on 30^th and 31^st. The duneland water-table therefore fell rapidly, the Newest Green Beach at Ainsdale with 1000+ small Natterjack tadpoles on 2^nd having completely dried up by 13^th. Fortunately, tadpoles at several other sites, including the Devil’s Hole, survived until at least the end of the month.

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).

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

20

2018

Hugh Harris: Lunt Meadows and Wetlands Nature Reserve, SD3402

By BDeed

Lunt Meadows is an entirely new 77 ha wetland nature reserve, located along the River Alt floodplain, owned by the Environment Agency, in North Merseyside. It is sited adjacent to an area of raised bank suspected to be the first point of overtopping in a flood event. In July 2010 the River Alt bank did breach in this location and an area of 80 ha was inundated to a maximum depth of 1m. Developing habitats include wet grassland, reedbed, fen and open water. The site is managed primarily for breeding waders and water vole.

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”.

Apr

03

2018

Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife Notes March 2018

By BDeed

With a few snow flurries at times, and a “mini-beast from the east” on 17^th, March was certainly colder than average, while measurable rain on 17 days kept the water-table topped up. The Devil’s Hole at Ravenmeols was impressively flooded, though well below levels seen in 2008, 2013 and 2016. Despite the low temperatures, a few Common Frogs and Common Toads were out and about from about 10^th but peak activity was much later. On 21^st, I counted 70 batches of frog spawn and the first spawning of Common Toads at Birkdale Green Beach. Earlier, Cabin Hill produced a few Common Toads but no Common Frogs or spawn were seen, probably because the water was too deep to explore effectively. Two pairs of Lapwings were displaying over the fields behind the reserve, their characteristic “pee-wit” call bringing back memories of my childhood when these now uncommon breeders were ubiquitous

Mar

26

2018

Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botany Report January-March 2018

By BDeed

The year kicked off with the New Year Survey of flowering plants of the Liverpool Loop Line, which didn’t yield much, but what was quite inspiring on a cold, wet, afternoon, to this relative fern novice, was the abundance of Soft Shield Fern shuttlecocks (Polystichum setiferum), in the Broad Green “dell”. I posted a photo of these on the “Friends of Liverpool Loopline” facebook page, hoping the cyclists and litter picking team would wax enthusiastic.

Mar

19

2018

Setting the Stage

By BDeed

The Andrena clarkella mining bees at Court Hey Park are indeed now active! At the moment there appear to only be a few burrows open and i only saw males so i suspect they have only recently started to emerge, perhaps stalled by the drop in temperature again.

Wildlife

spring

Wildlife Notes

Mar

05

2018

Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife Notes February 2018

By BDeed

There was measurable rain on 10 days in the first three weeks of the month – about average – after which the “Beast from the East” set in, with exceptionally cold dry easterly winds from Siberia. This unusual weather pattern was due to warm air and high pressure over Canada and Greenland, leading to a blockage of the North Atlantic Jet-stream which should bring us rain-bearing fronts in February. Researchers have linked this to a warming trend in the Arctic, itself a consequence of rapid climate change.