Tuesday 6 September 2011

Last rays of Summer

Autumn is rapidly creeping in especialy with the weather so far this week, yet on Sunday morning it felt like a Spring day with both Willow Warbler and Blackcap in full song on Greenbank Lane along with a juv Redstart (good local record), together with a soaring Buzzard and Swallows and House Martins, Large Whites, Red Admirals, and Commas it made those early nights seem a million miles away.


The pair of Ring Necked Parakeets whwere still in residence in Greenbank Park on sunday and monday, and continuing the line of escapees a Harris Hawk and 3 Terrapins where also in the park together with a female Tufted Duck.


Quite a late record was a Purple Hairstreak at the junction of Greenbank Road and Stalbridge Avenue last thursday and my first for the Greenbank area.


With a more Autumnal feel Fly Argaric toadstools are appearing under the birch trees in the halls of residence at the top of Greenbank Lane yeasterday.

2 comments:

David Nixon said...

Hello again Danny,

Overcast and blustery today
at Speke Hall.. but lots of House Martins hawking over meadows and the "lake" (large pond). Sadly no Odonata on the wing there, or at those artificial ponds at Estuary Trading Estate entrance.

Highlight of Speke was seeing a hunting Kestrel over a meadow ful of Cornflower and Poppies.

Been keeping up with the Anglican Cathedral Peregrines through August. No hunting behaviour
observed in that immediate vicinity, but was thrilled to find an eviscerated Feral Pidgeon beneath the West Front.

Last definitive Swift sighting over New Brighton was on 8th Augusti- a party of 10 birds way up high on a still evening.

That's all for now. Lets hope we have an Indian Summer.

Regards,
DavidN.

Anonymous said...

I too have also noticed lots of buzzards about merseyside the prolific spread of the wood pigeon has benefited the buzzard greatly not so much as them catching the adults but feasting on fat squabs.Its just abhorrent that the people who have started putting down and shooting pheasants on the hale estates past the light house are also secretly killing raptors, the buzzards that nested in the first small wood for years where shot out and have disappeared,sparrow hawks tawny owls too,i fear for the wintering harriers,is there anyone from officialdom that can go up and look for more evidence of this disgusting wrong doing.Also i read somewhere its a criminal offence to release game birds onto an sssi site {hale decoy} for shooting purposes,why has it been allowed to happen???