Rainford Mosslands

Swift 20+
House Martin 30 +
Swallow 10+

All over Clare's Moss, Old Coach Road.

Rainford Mosslands

Lapwing 70 Dairy Farm Road
Corn Bunting 1 singing Dairy Farm Road
Yellowhammer 2 singing Dairy Farm Road
Goldfinch 20 Dairy Farm Road

Eccleston Mere

Buzzard 1
Tufted Duck 4
Mute Swan 2 adults


Hemp-agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum and Square-stalked St. John's-wort Hypericum tetrapterum.


For those of you that know your plant communities, this is a nice bit of fen in the south-west corner of the mere. It's community S28b and has the following species:

                                        Domin score
Alnus glutinosa                         1
Angelica sylvestris                    2
Anthriscus sylvestris                 1
Arrhenatherum elatius              2
Cardamine flexuosa                  2
Carex acuta                              9
Chamerion angustifolium          2
Epilobium hirsutum                   4
Equisetum arvense                   1
Galium aparine                         1
Holcus Mollis                             2
Iris pseudacorus                       4
Juncus effusus                          2
Persicaria amphibia                   4
Phalaris arundinacea                 4
Rumex obtusifolius                    2
Salix alba                                  1
Scutellaria galericulata              1
Solanum dulcamara                   4
Stachys palustris                       2
Typha latifolia                           4
Urtica dioica                              2

The most interesting thing about this community is that it is dominated by the sedge Carex acuta (Slender Tufted Sedge), which is unusual for two reasons. The first is that the sedge here grows in tussocks, and the second is that it is very unusual for this sedge to dominate a community as it does here.

Roadside flowers

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, it's not due to lack of effort, I just haven't seen much worth reporting in the past couple of weeks. I have however noticed lots of beautiful roadside flowers on my bike rides around the mosslands.

I suspect that most or all of these plants are only there because they were sown in a batch of widlflower seed at some time, but does that matter? I'm not sure, I can think of good arguements for and against, but one things for sure, they're a spectacular sight at the moment.


Chicory Chicorium intybus growing along the East Lancs between Windle Island and Knowsley.


Field Scabius Knautia arvensis growing at the side of the Rainford bypass between the bypass and St Helens road.

 
Nettle-leaved Bellflower Campanula trachelium, a single plant growing next to the East Lancs, and Perforate St. John's-wort Hypericum perforatum also growing at the side of the East Lancs. The latter differs from the more common (in St Helens) Square-stalked St. John's-wort Hypericum tetrapterum in many ways, but perhaps most notibly in its round stems and petals with black dots on the edges.

Bird on the mosslands are few and far between at the moment, but there were a few:

Corn Bunting 1 singing Dairy Farm Road
Great-spotted Woodpecker 2 Old Coach Road
Buzzard 2 Old Coach Road
Tree Sparrow 2 Old Coach Road

Queens Park

Raven 1 flew over

Rainford Mosslands

Corn Bunting 1 singing Inglenook Farm, 1 singing Catchdale Moss, 1 singing Reed's Moss, 1 singing Dairy Farm Road
Yellowhammer 1 singing Dairy Farm Road, 3 singing Old Coach Road
Lapwing 100 Dairy Farm Road


Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris, a scarce plant of the mosslands.


I know of only one site on the mosslands for the orchid Marsh Helleborine Epipactis palustris, but as you can see, it grows in profusion at the site. The butterfly is a Gatekeeper, best seperated from Meadow Brown by the two white spots in the larger dark spot on the upper wing. It's also generally smaller and brighter.

Eccleston Mere

Kingfisher 1