A time of plenty at Eccleston Mere

Up until quite recently, I used to think that spring was my favourite season, and I still think it takes some beating. However, there is no doubt that autumn is up there, on a par with spring to my mind these days. Yes you could argue that on the calendar at least, there is still a month of summer to go, but in most other respects autumn is here already.



One of the reasons I like spring is because of the flowering of trees and bushes, but right now and for the next couple of months, there is a spectacle of equal magnificence. I heard the other day that English apples are ripening a lot earlier this year, due to the glorious April, and I guess that it must be the same for our wild trees and bushes, because certainly there are a lot of berries about at the moment, and many look ripe already.



There is a lot of bird activity as well. I stood in one small glade at Eccleston Mere for about 20 minutes, with the hazy sun shining through the foliage, and watched a party of tits and warblers foraging for food. Willow Tit (1), Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Treecreeper (1), Willow Warblers (in their almost canary yellow plumage), Chiffchaffs (now in sub-song) and Blackcaps. A magical experience.





A Blackthorn bush with sloes (left) and Hawthorne(right).



I'm told that to make the best sloe gin, you need to pick the sloes in October after the first frost of the autumn. However these looked good to me, and I couldn't resist taking a few and trying my luck early. I'll get some more in October (if there are any left!), just for comparison.





Rowan (left) and Honeysuckle (right)





Guelder-rose (left) and Elder (right).





A nearly 4" long Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar (left) and male Common Darter (right).

Feral Goose flock on Catchdale Moss

The small Canada was on Catchdale Moss this evening, with a huge flock of 503 Canadas, 74 Barnacles, 3 Greylags and 1 Red-breasted Goose.

Cackling Goose Eccleston Mere?

There was a small race Canada Goose at Eccleston Mere this afternoon, with a flock of about 50 Greater Canadas. It was very small, it didn't look much bigger than a Mallard, and unlike it's larger cousins it had a dark breast.



The extreme small size and purply sheen to the breast seem to indicate that this is a Cackling Goose of the race minima, but if anybody would like to offer an opinion I'd be pleased to hear it. We do get the occasional Canada x Barnacle hybrid, but this seems pure Cackling to me.



It was unringed and could fly, despite the dodgy looking wing. It was slightly more nervous than the other Canada Geese it was with, but is still presumably an escape. Worth making a note of though, because the local Canadas often join up with the wild Pink-feet, and can turn up at various goose localities across North West England. The Red-brested Goose from Knowsley Safari park regularly sets pulses racing at Martin Mere in winter.

Big movement of Swifts

A morning working at my computer proved productive. At least 200 Swifts passed the window, in groups of 5-10 birds, all heading south west. I've mentioned before about the frequent passage of birds over my house, always in a south west or north east direction, and this is yet more evidence. If you draw a line on an OS map from the centre of Carr Mill Dam to the centre of Prescot Reservoirs, not only does it go right over the centre of Eccleston Mere, it also goes right through my house, and if you extend it past Carr Mill Dam in the other direction, it goes right over Billinge Hill. Fieldfares, Redwings, terns, gulls, waders, Osprey, hirundines and Swifts, it's amzing how many birds seem to follow this line in one direction or the other. Some I suppose are just moving betweeen the dam, the mere and the reservoirs, but others perhaps are using it as a route to the coast.

Martin Mere

Martin Mere today, a family party of three Peregrines, a juvenile Marsh Harrier, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Barn Owl and a Tawny Owl sitting in the owl box near the United Utilities hide (below).

Formby

August is the best time of year for a visit to Formby Point in my opinion. It's still summer and there are some good flowers to see, but there's a distinct hint of autumn in the air, and the wader passage has begun, with many birds still in full summer plumage, and there are plenty of terns and the chance of a passing skua.


The dune slacks hold many great flowers, including Round-leaved Wintergreeen Pyrola rotundifolia (right).

Grass-of-Parnassus Parnassia palustris is locallly abundant and in full flower at this time of year.


Sanderling (left) and Sandwich and Common Terns (right).

Meanwhile on the beach there are large numbers of waders. I didn't have time for accurate counts today, but as a rough guide I estimate 3000 Knot, 2000 Dunlin, 500 Bar-tailed Godwits, 200 Sanderling, 50 Ringed Plover and 50 Grey Plover, many in summer plumage. Also at least 100 each of Sandwich and Common Terns.

Wasdale, Cumbria

We camped for two nights at Wasdale Head, under the shadows of Great Gable, Pillar and Scafell Pikes, and perhaps more importantly, right next to the Wasdale Head Inn! We had a couple of downpours, but generally the weather was excellent for walking, and thankfully was clear (eventually) on the summit of Great Gable. It was pretty poor for birds to be honest, just the odd Wheatear and Raven, or the occasional unexpected Yellowhammer, but the flowers were quite good. There were scattered patches of Starry Saxifrage and Yellow Mountain Saxifrage, though the latter was almost over for the year, as well as Bog Asphodel, Juniper, Golden Rod, Alpine Ladys Mantle, Eyebright and Wild Thyme.

Bog Asphodel and Starry Saxifrage.

Yellow Mountain Saxifrage

The campsite at Wasdale Head.

Scafell Pikes and Wasdale Head from the summit of Great Gable.