Cricket, Garlic, Ravens; and not much else!

I recently found this clump of Honey Garlic at Greenbank Park in the wooded area, this was a first for me and quite an unusual find; I am led to believe. A striking plant standing about 3ft high and with multiple flower heads. Jackdaws, Grey Wagtail, Mistle and Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Chiff Chaff, Blackcap, are all either nesting or on territory in the park, along with the Mute Swans still sitting on eggs and 3 pairs of Coots nesting. A pair of Grey Wagtails nesting on the front of the Brookhouse Pub, Smithdown Road at the moment regularly come into Greenbank Park to feed also.

I visited Liverpool Cricket Club to watch Lancashire vs Yorkshire on Wednesday (Lancs eventually won on Saturday) and apart from the cricket I saw 2 Buzzards (with one bird mewing), Kestrel (not a common bird anymore in the area), Sparrowhawk, Swift, Swallows, and a Chiff Chaff on territory.

Goldcrests singing and Three-Cornered Garlic flowering off Mill Lane Wavertree on Thursday as was Wood Anemone until recently.
Yesterday over the house I had a Raven heading west and a pair of Swifts (they are really thin on the ground this spring), and a Peregrine over the City Centre.
3 pairs of Blackcap and a nesting pair of Pied Wagtails in Wavertree Mystery.



A pair of Raven on Stanley Road Bootle today as was one last Sunday.

Time realy hasnt been on my side of late...................two more weeks of hectic schedule and then some free time at last! I am sick of missing things..................Broad Billed Sandpiper, Citrine Wagtail, Black Headed Wagtail, Red Rumped Swallow; just to name a few!

Conwy Valley

Me and a mate went for a great long walk (17 miles) on Thursday in the Conwy Valley. It has become quite a skill of mine to spot wildlife whilst trying to keep up with an 'OUT AND OUT' walker, and involves a lot of running to keep up! You really do realise that many walkers don't take in any of their natural surroundings! But I am slowly trying to convert Trev! Do any birders actualy go on decent walks too? We started off from Trefriw village and climbed up the 'steepest road in Wales' past the cemetery and up onto the tops, past Llyn Cowlyd resevoir, over the Pen Llithrig Y-Wrach ridge and down the into Ogwen Valley and on to Capel Curig, then past Llyn Crafnant and Llyn Geirionydd and back to Trefriw village.
I managed to connect with some decent species, including; a male Honey Buzzard , female Merlin, 5 Pied Flycatchers, 20+ Wood Warblers, 10+ Redstarts, Garden Warbler, 50+ Siskins, male Ring Ouzel (singing), Lesser Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Red Breasted Mergansers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 12+ Common Buzzards, 5 Little Egrets, Pearl-Bordered Fritilary, Orange Tips, Butterwort, and woodlands full of bluebells.

Danger From Below

A visit to Greenbank Park late afternoon yesterday produced the 2 Red Eared Terrapins I found at the park last week; although I am laid back to a certain degree about introductions, this particular introduction to the park can only cause havoc with the breeding wildfowl. In a better habitat this species can co-exist pretty well with our native wildlife, as on the continent with the similar European Pond Turtle, but in this park, with its obvious lack of cover, young wildfowl stand no chance against these preditors. But alas they are here and I guess here to stay. Did I mention that there favourite sunning spot is the raft which also hosts the Mute Swans nest...........young Swans, now that would make a tasty treat for a Terrapin or two! Other birds in the park included a Swift heading east, Blackcap, Chiff Chaff, Grey Wagtail, and 3 Buzzards circling

Purple Haze

I took a wander down to the Speke/Garson coastal reserve yesterday late morning with the family. I have said it before but I will say it again; this really is a great site and well worth a visit. There was a good number of passerines on the reserve including 2 reeling Grasshopper Warblers, 7 Sedge Warblers, Blackcap, 2 Chiff Chaffs, 22+ Whitethroats, Swallow, complete with loads of singing Linnets, Skylarks, and Reed Buntings. Other highlights included a Buzzard, 3 Grey Partridges, 3 Pheasants, and a Raven which flew in from across the river and was mobbed by another local Raven. The shore was pretty quiet due to an incredibly low tide, yet small flock of Dunlins, Ringed Plovers, Curlews, and Sheldrakes aggressively pursuing the females with impressive aerial maneuvering! Holly Blue, Small Tortershells, and Peacocks also on the reserve. The best sighting was of a Little Ringed Plover that flew in low over the reserve from the shore, gained height and flew north over the city.

In Speke Hall the main attraction was the superb display of Bluebells in the woodlands behind the moat, it really is amazing to see something as spectacular as this in an urban area..........a real purple haze. 2 Buzzards, Raven, Garden Warbler, Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Treecreper, Goldrcrests, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, House Martin, Swallows, Holly Blue, Brimstone, and Cowslips all put in a display around the hall, gardens or moat areas. But the best of all was a calling Green Woodpecker briefly heard from the gardens coming from the vicinity of the moat area woodland. See recent posts as this bird or another was recently sighted on the coastal reserve

Ring Necked Parakeet

Last week Mike Brown informed me that he had been lucky enough to find a Ring Necked Parakeet at the Old English Garden, Caldestones Park; if this wasn't enough he told me that John Warren a local parks gardener and birder had seen a pair in Greenbank park/Sefton Park throughout the winter. If it wasn't for the report coming from John I would never have believed it as Greenbank Park is literally 100 yards from home and as my posts show I am forever in there with the boy! You can usually hear these critters screeching from half a mile away! But sure enough as I was riding through on Friday I stopped to listen to an unusual call (like a toy trumpet!), not at all like the loud calls Ive heard from this species in the past.........see January posts, the bird was in the trees above the west side of the lake and was soon disturbed and flew towards Greenbank Lane. I wonder if there are still 2 around, and weather they are a breeding pair? I will keep my ears and eyes peeled.

2 Redpolls flew NW over my house and a male Orange Tip through my back yard was a nice surprise. Mute Swans are still sitting tight on eggs at Greenbank Park and the male Grey Heron has returned after only 8 weeks away (that must have been its breeding season!).

National Wildflower Centre

We took Dylan to the National Wildflower Centre, Bowring Park, Roby, on Friday. What a place this is and a real hidden gem. If you are looking to brush up on your wildflower ID or just looking for an easy way to photograph British species; a number of visits during the year will undoubtedly be rewarding, and if you have a young one in tow like myself it is also a great place for them to learn and play. Although the site cannot boast a huge bird list, it can boast a great wealth of invertebrates including breeding Hummingbird Hawk Moths.

During our visit we found massive numbers of the nationally declined Cowslips, Primroses, Snakes-Head Fritilaries, Water Avens, Marsh Marigolds, and my first ever Oxslip; with just one clump of this rarity at the site I was lucky to find it, yet unlucky as it had already finished flowering........one for next year maybe.

Singing Blackcaps, Chiff Chaff, Treecreeper in the park too, with a Grey Heron over Heathfield Road Allerton.

On Saturday I found Ramsons Wild Garlic, Primrose, and Chiff Chaff on Ullet Road. Brimstone, Green Veined White, Small White, Comma, Small Tortershell, Willow Warbler, and 2 Blackcap in Sefton Park.

A Common Sandpiper flew over the house in the afternoon and headed in the direction of Greenbank Park lake, along with a Grey Wagtail also.

On Sunday I had my first Holly Blue of the year on Trinity Road, Bootle, singing Blackcap and Great Spotted Woodpecker too.

Morning in Greenbank

I had a good old mooch around the local area on Thursday (accompanied by Dylan), with lovely weather and plenty of migrants moving through it proved to be a decent morning. We started by watching the displaying pair of Sparrowhawks over Greenbank Drive, as they prepare to nest in the area again. We moved on to the woodland sandwiched between the two allotments; this held at least 15 Chiff Chaffs, 6 Blackcaps, Willow Warbler, Treecreeper, Nuthathatch, Green Veined Whites, Tonnes of Ramsons Wild Garlic and flowering Bluebells, and a Fox den (which delighted Dylan).

In the woodland adjacent to Sefton Park Cricket Club we found Primrose, 2 Blackcaps, Chiff Chaff, Marsh Marrigold, and the loud din of a flock of Lesser Black Backs mobbing a large raptor over the wood sent the pulse racing.......however I only managed a brief glimpse through the trees (and I mean brief) as it dissapeared behind the Cricket Club, cant win them all! Greenbank Park also held Chiff Chaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Swallow over, the nesting pair of Mute Swans, and 2 Red Eared Terrapins (one large and one small); I have no idea where these have came from as they where not here last summer! I fear for the newly hatched Coot Chicks.

Later in the day we had Buzzard, Brimstone, 4 Chiff Chaffs, 4 Blackcaps, Willow Warbler, Primrose, Snowflake, and Ramsons in Croxteth Country Park (with a friend of mine who works at the site recently seeing a Roe Deer in the park).

Great Day

The day started well yesterday with an Osprey circling high over Greenbank Park at 9:40am before drifting East, I wonder if it was thinking of having a fish in the lake.....that would have been something! Nuthatch, Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper, nesting Mute Swans, 2 Grey Wagtails, Small Tortershell, male and female Sparrowhawks in the park also.

Later on at around 2:00pm a Wood Warbler was singing in woodland area between the two allotments on Greenbank Drive, with Willow Warbler, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, and Chiff Chaff there too. This is the first Wood Warbler I have had in the area so it was a great find for me. Later on I had both Peregrine and Sparrowhawk over Sefton Park lake, Cormorant, 2 Little Grebes, Swallow, nesting Mute Swans, 67 Lesser Black Backed Gulls around the lake too.

Elsewhere in the park I found a Orange Tip Butterfly, 2 Willow Warblers, Chiff Chaff, 3 Nuthatches, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Ramsoms Wild Garlic, Colts Foot, Grey Wagtail, and five pairs of nesting Coots.

On Monday I had great views of a male Fox in Wavertree Mystery (as always I had no camera on me..........I must purchase an emergency pocket camera!). They have a number of dens in the relative safety of the railway embankment in the park. regular Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps, and Willow Warblers have been moving through this site over the last week coupled with a constant passage of Mipits.

Willow Warblers and Chiff Chaffs have also been regular at Greenbank Park and still very small numbers of Redwings have been seen there.

Odds and Sods

I spent last Friday at Leasowe Castle at a friends wedding (I was the best man!), before the booze took hold I managed to see a Whitethroat, Northern Weatear, and a Peregrine. On the Saturday we decided to go for a meal at Sheldrakes (Heswall shore) I managed 7 Little Egrets, Chiff Chaff, and ring-tail Hen Harrier, without the use of binoculars.......not bad.

Migration time

Migration is well and truly underway again, I had a quick look around a few sites today, all of which held newly arrived birds. The Riverside Drive area of Otterspool held a singing Willow Warbler, 5 Chiff Chaffs, 5 Mipits, and a male Sparrowhawk (complete with its prey). The shore adjacent to this site held small numbers of Redshanks and Curlews, with a female Merganser flying downriver being the highlight. The Japanese Garden in the Garden Festival compound, currently being refurbished looks amazing (a least when peering through the fence); I cant wait to have a look around, but its still a shame that this could only happen as part of a building contractual agreement! St. Michael's In The Hamlet wood held Blackcap and Chiff Chaff, and flowering Lesser Celandine accompanied by tonnes of (soon to be flowering) Ramsons (wild Garlic). The surprise of the day was yet another male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling along the Western flank of Sefton Park lake (near the Cedar of Lebanon) although by the time I got around the lake to it, it had shut up! This was around 11am, but again I heard it as I was coming back through the park at 12:30 pm; further North along the lake near to the tunnels. Although I have had Lesser Spots in the area during the early Spring before (annually), this year has been especially good, and it seems that their are indeed at least two male birds in the Sefton Park/Greenbank areas, yet a large part of the geographical area is in private land and these birds are mostly overlooked it seems. A Common Buzzard drifted high East and seemed to be migrating rather than a local bird, also:- 5 Cormorants, 2 Little Grebes, nesting Mute Swans, 5 Coot nests, 6 Nuthatches, 3 Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Grey Wagtails, and large numbers of Mipits overhead. Lesser Celandine, 2 Grey Wagtails, Cormorant, 2 Nuthatch, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in Greenbank Park too.

Waxwings again

I was surprised to find 19 Waxwings today at 4:20pm perched on TV Ariels in Lidderdale Road, off Smithdown Road; this is a really strange place to find them and I have no idea where they must be feeding (treeless terraced streets) unless they where just passing through. I will have a search tomorrow, fingers crossed. Cant believe I am still tripping over these things, I have never known a winter like it for them! Lots of Mipits and Wagtails moving over Liverpool University today and Colts Foot in flower on Brownlow Hill/Metropolitan Cathedral.

Chiff Chaff must be Spring

Had my first Chiff Chaff of the Spring today; a singing male In the northern end of Greenbank Park, also there a calling male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker again, this was in the adjacent large wooded gardens. A Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 15 Redwings, female Sparrowhawk, Grey and Pied Wagatails in the park also. On a sad note, the Cormorant pictured on the previous post was seen freshly dead on one of the rafts, hopefully not but possibly the work of the local anglers. Spring has definitely sprung with all the daffodils in full swing, Coots nesting, Swans courting, and Greenfinches in their lovely song flights.........its only going to get better! Mistletoe in the Lime Tree above the Penny Lane sign on the corner of Penny Lane/Greenbank Road, this is a really rare sight in the city now and it would be interesting to hear of any others around. Sparrowhawk over the Liverpool Womens Hospital today also.

Its been a while!

I have been really snowed under lately, as the lack of posts show! I managed to briefly catch up with the Waxwings (55 in total) on Aigburth Road at 9:00 AM today, as they where perched up amongst the canopy and soon took flight and headed NE towards Allerton. I had a scout around, Sudley, Brodie Avenue, Rose Lane etc........ but no sign. These birds have been present since the beginning of February and I have tried to catch up with them on a couple of occasions, with no success; so finally finding them this morning was rewarding. 2 Cormorants on Greenbank Park lake was unusual also, along with Nuthach, nesting Coot, the pair of Mute Swans (male constantly tyring to drive off the Geese). I have seen a pair of Peregrines over the last couple of weeks in the Hope Street area, and a pair of Mistle Thrushes nesting in the UoL Campus. 6 Waxwings South over Hoole Road, Chester last Sunday morning at 11:15 AM.

Waxwing 12

I was working in Bootle on Sunday morning from about 5:30 am, by about 7.00 am a flock of around 25 Waxwings flew out of their roost in the tall Leylandii trees at the back of the large car park opposite Merton House, Stanley Road, and flew off low North. This may well have been a regular roosting site for them as they have been in the area in varying numbers since December. Also 10 Cormorants over.

85 Redwings on Wavertree Mystery yesterday.

Odds and Sods

It has been relatively quiet due to work/Uni/Family commitments! Yet I managed to see a few goodies in between; last Sunday I had a flock of about 10 Waxwings over Stanley Road, Bootle which seemed to go down behind the magistrates court, Grey Heron and a hunting Peregrine there too. On Monday a Sparrowhawk displayed over UoL at Brownlow Hill. The yellow ringed female Pintail is still at Greenbank Park along with calling Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, pair of Mute Swans, and a Grey Wagtail. On Thursday afternoon a female Peregrine was around the Metropolitan Cathedral, and a singing Blackcap on Mossley Hill Drive, Sefton Park, along with singing Song Thrush, Robin, Dunnock, Nuthatch, and Redwing; Spring is nearly Sprung!