Carpet of Colour to Bad Hare Day

Tuesday 27th March I was helping lead a guided walk on Brockholes LWT reserve. We were given our usual welcome by the skylarks who never seemed to stop singing all day. Canada geese and mute swans glided past on Meadow Lake as chaffinches and reed buntings had their lunch at the feeder hopper.There were several more coltsfoot in flower and as we reached the river bank we were delighted to see the recently arrived sand martins. We walked to Boilton Wood and enjoyed the increased number of bluebells showing. At one spot the variety of flowers was awesome. Bluebells, lesser celandine, saxifrage, wood anemone and dog mercury all together in a small area. I also saw wood sorrel for the first time, bringing my challenge to 270

We carried on our walk and as we did four common buzzards, mewing above us, showed their aerial skills. On the large lake and the island lapwings, cormorants, tufted ducks, oystercatchers, teal, mallards and a great crested grebe seemed to be enjoying the warm sun This made the temperature more like June than late March. In the children's play area some strange shapes were taking form. It was an art display that reminded me of an episode of "The Prisoner".   I am sure we will soon discover what it is supposed to mean

Wednesday 28 March was a day to do my Brown Hare survey. If you want to learn more check out this link  http://www.merseysidebiobank.org.uk/BrownHare/  I was fortunate to have the canal pass through the centre of my survey square which meant it was easy walking and good views both left and right. The ubiquitous mallards and Canada Geese greeted me as I commenced. A flock of grazing Canada Geese were just across the canal and a pair of grey wagtails were startled by an approaching narrow boat.

                          

Several clusters of violets added their colour to the yellows of celandine and dandelion. A small tortoiseshell butterfly and two bumble bees were taking advantage of the supply of nectar. In the hawthorn bushes some long-tailed tits and a coal tit were scolding me for getting too close. As I was leaving I spotted a buff-tailed Bumble Bee (bombus terrestris) It was an enjoyable walk except for the absence of brown hares. I guess we need to know where they are not present as well as where they are. 

My first migrants from the South

On Wednesday 21 March, I took a  walk round the Kem Mill area of Cuerden Valley Park. Someone had reported mink but I saw no sign of this voracious predator. I was able to note  ivy leaved speedwell, heard about four chiffchaffs. These were my first summer visitors of the year. A lone toad hiding in the grass seemed to be making her way to the river Lostock. Two dippers flashed past but I could not see where they had their nest. They did not disturb three more pairs of toads that were mating. I also saw  lots of  Small Tortoiseshell butterflies also in pairs, as in the photo below. Finally for this day two pairs of coot were noted occupying their nests

Sat 24th saw Cuerden Watch group checking buckets of wood chip we had buried in September 2010. It is an experiment we borrowed from The People's Trust for Endangered Species, checking for whether stag beetles have moved into the area. No Stag Beetles discovered but we did have millipedes, centipedes, wood lice, and the biggest worm I have ever seen. Chiffchaffs today had increased to 6 individuals singing in the area of Cuerden we visited. It was a beautiful sunny day with small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies in abundance.  A wood mouse hiding near a wood pile increased my total to 260.

Two hundred and Fifty not out

Monday 12th March a school visited Cuerden Valley Park for river studies. We had two groups in the morning and another two in the afternoon. The afternoon groups were privileged to see a roe deer in the field next to the main path to the river. Kick sampling discovered Water mites, lots of cased caddisfly larvae, mayfly nymphs, a bullhead, lots of blood worms. I saw a new water beetle and cowslip out for the first time.

On Thursday March 15 I travelled to Southall for the regular 6 monthly A Rocha UK staff meeting at Minet Country Park. I went for a paper at 0700 and as I did I saw a ring necked parakeet flying over a London Plane tree. Lots of the local inhabitants were looking at me obviously wondering " Why is this man walking around in a short sleeved shirt when it is so cold?" One of the other teams took a walk round Minet later in the day and saw sweet violet. I shall have to search for it near Leighton Moss

On Sunday18th March I was helping on a walk in Cuerden Valley Park. We were looking at the geology and learning how the valley had been formed. A wonderful sunny day meant that the celandine, coltsfoot and daffodils were really showing off. I did notice some butterbur out for the first time as we passed over the wooden bridge. This was the only addition to my challenge list

The rest of the week was mainly delivering our Victorian Experience to schools from the local area. It did mean I was able to add bank vole bombus terrestris and dove's foot cranesbill as my list got to 251. 

Don't forget to donate http://www.justgiving.com/David-Beattie2

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Spring is busting out all over

Check out the video first

Monday 5March. Went checking the newborn lambs on Cuerden. Buzzard over scramble track, mistle thrushes getting together in pairs, all ponds heaving with frog spawn, lesser celandine in abundance. OOPS. There was a power cut just as I finished writing that last sentence. I could not do anything on my laptop so I went to Brockholes. Warm sunshine skylarks singing, magpies pairing up, oystercatchers calling and flying over with a curlew bubbling its call all combined to give the day an early spring feel to it. There was a knot and a ringed plover on No 1 pit and a few tree sparrows, goldfinch, blue tits and great tits on the feeding station. The blaze of yellow flowers that also mark spring were also in evidence. I saw primrose, lesser celandine, hedge mustard and colt's foot.

     

As I entered Boilton Wood another colour caught my eye. It was a hint of blue. A small number of bluebells, just at the entrance to the wood were emerging in the afternoon sunshine. I look forward to when they look like the second photo in this selection

I needed to buy some new waterproof trousers so on Friday March 9 I went to the Freeport at Fleetwood. It also happened to be high tide. I saw about 40 sanderlings and 6 turnstones. 

On Sat 10 March I went to Heswall on the Wirral for a walk on the edge of the Dee estuary. It was part of a weekend at St Mary's Upton where Peter and Miranda Harris were visiting for the weekend. I arrived early since I thought we started at 10 rather than 10.30. Skylarks singing and curlews giving their unique call were a taste of what was to come. There seemed to be quite a large gathering from St Mary's with other visitors from Altrincham and Crosby. Our initial walk was towards Parkgate and although at that time birds seemed shy, I did notice a few flowers announcing that spring really is here. Coltsfoot, lesser celandine, blackthorn, daffodil, speedwell, fumitory and a "life tick" for me, Alexanders, photographed using my phone.

 We also had to carefully avoid stepping on a seven spotted ladybird. A warm day was made even brighter as a small tortoiseshell butterfly fluttered past. We did not quite get to Parkgate but the bird life was excellent. Harlequin ladybird was one creature that we were disappointed to see. No-one saw all the birds but members of our party saw the following: Shelduck, teal, mallard, wigeon, kestrel, buzzard, hen harrier, crow, redshank, meadow pipit, cormorant, black-headed gull, greater black-backed gull, herring gull, little egret, short eared owl and right at the end of our walk a single peregrine perched on a post gave wonderful views through the telescope. Not only was it a superb day, but it brought my total to 235

I also passed Ted Jackson the chair of trustees for Lancs WT on the walk. To see him and be with the founder of A Rocha was a reminder of the beneficiaries of my challenge. Don't forget to use the Just Giving link

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March on

St David's day, March 1st marked the return of education  work on Cuerden Valley Park. It was a sunny dry if slightly cool day and we were delivering River Studies. We usually divide into two groups so that one can look at the geography and the other the biology. I usually take the young folk to discover biology. We use a kick sampling method and then examine our catch in the trays.

We managed to catch water mites, mayfly nymphs, cased caddisfly larvae, a bloodworm and a bullhead.

Sat March 3rd I decided to look for some geese round the Pilling moss area. The tide was out when I got to Lane Ends but there were still hundreds of pinkfooted geese on the saltmarsh. I then went towards Pilling village and passed some Whitefront geese feeding in a field nearby. Then being so close to Knott End I decided to look for the black redstart that has been there all year. It was very confiding, constantly flitting from the building site to a small boat upturned on the shore. There was also some coltsfoot in flower at this site. 

Total now 223

Last week in February

Not all my sightings are on special trips, in fact most will be when I am surveying round Cuerden Valley Park or  other tasks with the various charities for whom I volunteer. These are A Rocha UK, Lancs Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Lancashire Badger Group and I keep a record of flowering dates for Chorley Natural History Society. Saturday 25th Feb was the morning I led Cuerden Watch/Wildlife Explorers group. We were searching for animal tracks in the valley. At the start it seemed mainly dog tracks until we went to a more secluded part of the Park. One of the Junior Leaders found some interesting tracks under the bark of a piece of wood found on the ground. I have discovered it is almost impossible to identify which beetle grub made these.

We then saw some roe deer tracks and poured some Plaster of Paris into the print so we had a permanent record. On our return journey I saw a primrose in flower and also some Dog's Mercury.
Tuesday 28th I had to go to Mere Sands Wood and took advantage of the visit to have a look round. At Rufford hide there was a crowd of folk with cameras. The reason was the presence of two bitterns quite close to the hide. On my way home I called at a private site and was rewarded by the sight of two short-eared owls. Finally as I was getting back into the car I spotted both opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage and common mouse-ear. The picture is of the Golden saxifrage and was taken by my brother.

Total now 214

West of Wells Feb 17 - 24

The day starts with the short trip from Wells-next-the-Sea to Holkham. The fields near the entrance to Holkham gap are unusually bereft of geese so a brisk walk took us to the beach. A walk Eastwards towards the sand dunes initiated our search for shore larks. They have been in short supply this year but after about a twenty minute careful search we saw the four birds not too far from the dunes. There had also been some Lapland Buntings reported the previous day, but no success for anyone this day for these birds. On returning to the woodland we heard firecrest in an oak, which turned out to be Holm Oak and another to add to my list. We then saw some goldeneyes, some Canada geese, a few little grebes and a muntjack deer

Our next port of call was the Hawk & Owl Trust reserve at Sculthorpe Moor. This is a small reserve but I would encourage anyone who visits North Norfolk to pay a visit. As we arrived someone had just seen Golden Pheasant but that was not our privilege. On our way to the woodland hide we did see and hear both willow and marsh tits as well as the more common species. Consuming lunch in the hide ensured we had good views of red legged partridge and a great spotted woodpecker. They have another hide overlooking a scrape where a very obliging water rail comes to feed every 25 minutes. He shot back into cover when a grey Heron flew too close. We returned towards the visitor centre and as we got closer someone waved to us to hurry to where they were standing. They had spotted the Golden Pheasant. It does not look real, and how such a brightly coloured bird can be so hard to spot is one of life's mysteries. I managed one shot

From a small reserve to a large one. Welney WWT reserve is some distance, but within reach. The day continued to be dry and sunny helping us to see lots of hares and avian game. I continued to decline the pheasants' invitation to run them over. At the reserve wildfowl were in abundance with Whooper swans, pintail, wigeon, tufted duck, gadwall and of course mallards. I asked one of the folk there was there anything about but his reply "Nothing" made me feel disappointed for him. There were all the birds I had just mentioned as well as a couple of hares and four roe deer. The day I don't get excited about blue tits or house sparrows, is the day I cease to be a naturalist. A walk northwards to the furthest hide enabled us to see a few Bewick swans just flying in. The other thing I noticed here as at Cley, was the shortage of water. I think all of us need to mange our water use better, think of more ways to save water and those of us who believe in prayer, pray that more rain will come to the South and East.  Tichwell RSPB reserve was the next destination. We were trying to catch the high tide. Part of our journey took us through Brancaster Staithe and we were delighted to see a rough legged buzzard. There had been several reported in the area. After parking up at Tichwell, we glimpsed another Arctic Redpoll and another obliging water rail

They have built a new hide since I was last here and I was impressed by it. The volunteers were very good as well, even though one of them upstaged me by saying he had his 30 year volunteering badge, as opposed to my only 20 years. Brent geese, lots of gulls, which included two Mediterraneans, pintail, gadwall, redshanks, avocets and the ubiquitous coot were good to see. Continuing to the shore we passed a spotted redshank feeding in the brackish lagoon.

Once on the beach, the telescope came into play. Scores of gulls flying past were just the preliminary act to the stars of the show. There was a small raft of common scoter and suddenly, right by them a red-throated diver. It was stunning, and so close to shore. Another group of birds approached but with the ocean swell, identification was a problem. Fortunately they too came very close and we enjoyed seeing five long-tailed ducks - fantastic !! Dusk was making viewing difficult so we headed back to the hostel. We were not surprised to see another barn owl right by the edge of the road. This meant I have seen more barn owls this year than I have house sparrows. The last three blogs have been a condensed version of my week's visit that brought my Challenge total to 205