RSPB Liverpool on Nature Watch, BBC Radio Merseyside, 23rd May 2020

Although things are quiet on the RSPB Liverpool events front due to the coronavirus, Chris has still been contributing to BBC Radio Merseyside in his role of nature watcher. Most recently, as well as answering listeners’ questions, he discussed a number of nature-related topics with Helen Jones, including:

·         Screaming swifts and how to help map them (https://www.swiftmapper.org.uk/). 

Common swift – photo from Wikimedia: AlexeySokolov1971/CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

·         The RSPB’s Big Wild Sleepout Lockdown Edition, which took place on Saturday, 23^rd May.

·       #NoMowMay, which some councils have participated in this year, leaving grassy areas uncut so that wildflowers can emerge, supporting pollinating insects such as bees and hoverflies. Bees are one of our most important pollinators, and we rely on their hard work for much of what we eat. They pollinate the flowers that produce some of our vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, and help to spread colour through our landscape. Bees are vital in keeping up the health of our ecosystems, so we need to give them the biggest chance possible to thrive.

Protected verge, Northants – photo from Wikimedia: Michael Trolove, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13472961

·         What to do if you find a baby bird on the ground:

If it looks healthy and well, like the young linnet in the photo below, leave it alone.

Fledgling linnet on the ground at Garston Coastal Reserve – photo by @birderjack

If it’s being fed by a parent bird, like the young stonechat in the photo below, leave it alone.

Fledgling stonechat being fed by parent bird, Garston Coastal Reserve – photo by @birderjack

If it’s in the nest being fed or looking healthy and well, like the baby song thrushes in the photo below, leave it alone.

Song thrush feeding young in the nest – photo from RSPB Images

However, if it is definitely injured, seek advice from the RSPCA or a local wildlife charity.

·         Looking ahead, we should shortly be seeing some of our beautiful native orchids in flower – species such as the pyramidal orchid and the bee orchid.

Pyramidal orchid, Formby – photo by Chris Tynan

Bee orchid – photo from Wikimedia: Henry Hemming/CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

All of the above can be found in our local area, without having to make a long trip to see them, and one of the few good things to come out of the coronavirus situation has been the increase in sightings – and thus knowledge about – of what we think of as ‘uncommon’ species around Merseyside. For example, eider ducks have been spotted flying along the Mersey and then roosting on a sandbank, then bobbing on the river; a cuckoo was seen flying along the river – no doubt using it as a navigational aid; local fields have provided a brief stopover for other birds on their way to their breeding grounds, etc. Without the eyes and ears of keen local naturalists who are currently unable to wander further afield, the presence of some of these species might have passed unnoticed.

If you would like to record your sightings, Merseyside BioBank has a link to an excellent resource, iRecord (https://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/). Submitted, verified records are available to national recording schemes and societies, Local Environmental Records Centres, and other individual records and organisations, thus building up a crucial map of areas of importance for the wildlife that calls this island home, or which visits for a brief period.