Tufted Duck 1
Swift 300 (at 4:30am)
House Martin 50
Buzzard 1
Kingfisher 1
Chiffchaff 1 feeding young
Whitethroat 4 singing
Lesser Redpoll 2
Pied Wagtail 2 adults with 7 juvs
Coot 24
It's gone a bit quiet for birds at the moment, with most species concentrating on rearing young. However, that doesn't mean that there is no interest at the mere.
The fields adjacent to the mere are a superb habitat and look wonderful at the moment. They are full of buttercups and orchids (mainly Southern Marsh). They are still very wet and there is a decent population of Reed Buntings. These are the same fields which held up to 42 Snipe and at least 1 Jack Snipe in the winter, and the same fields which Barn Owls regularly hunt over.
Invertebrates are well represented, and today I was delighted to find this Longhorn beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens, which also has the English name Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn . What a beauty! It was about 18mm long not including the antennae, and it's sitting on its preferred foodplant, hogweed Heracleum sphondylium. This a south eastern species, with no records anywhere near Merseyside according to the NBN Gateway.
These fields need protecting.......
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