2017 new year field trip

Today started cold and fresh on our first field trip of the year which, makes a change from last years rain. With the 2nd in January being a bank holiday it certainly gave lots of us a chance to get out and those that did really enjoyed the day.

This field trip has always been about enthusing and showing how many species can be found in Liverpool and we thought we would be on to break our record of 62.One of our first birds of the day was greenfinch in the trees by the car park followed by goldfinch, blackbird, wood pigeon and kestrel.

As we started to walk towards the estuary 2 mute swans flew out of the river towards town. As it was low tide the exposed mud banks were quite some distance out but telescopes we were able to show, redshanks, curlew, dunlin, oystercatcher, turnstone,mallard, teal, grey herons, cormorant, black headed, herring and lesser black backed gulls.

As we walked back from the shore 2 ravens conked their way into view and a solitary crow helped show off the size difference. We continued the walk checking the estuary as a great black backed gull flew past, but small birds kept flying about. Robins kept jumping about on the path in front of the main group, grey wagtail flew over the back of the group and in the vegetation dunnocks, wrens, reed bunting and a fly over meadow pipit. We stopped as the call of a fieldfare flew into a large shrub.  As we reached the sailing club a local dog walk told us how his dogs had flushed 3 short eared owls on the saltmarsh, we were very excited by this news. 

A single ringed plover and common gull was at the end of the slip way and 4 grey partridges flew off the marsh never an easy bird to see well.   

2 Skylarks flushed out of one of the meadows and a walk up towards the business park helped add more meadow pipits but even better some showy stonechats and 2 common snipe. A few blue tits were in this area with song thrush and mistle thrush but we had failed to see so many common species. The list stood at 40 species.

We walked back to the car to find 4 back windows had been smashed and it really spoilt a wonderful start to the year. Some went one to Sefton Park to try and add more species but the day had been ruined.

Chris Tynan

Leader

Footnote

Several members of the group have contacted various agencies including liverpool council, peel holdings and mps about  the  damage and we await further contact and hopefully progress in making this site  secure for visitors.

(I have to say its not a happy start to the year. I led a walk around the reserve yesterday with 31 other people. We started at 9am and returned to the cars in the car park just after midday.

We returned to find 4 of the groups cars had had their back windows smashed and their boots ransacked. Considering the car park was full of cars it could have been all of them! The car park had lots of glass from other windows which makes you wonder that whatever low life is responsible for this vandalism is there with some degree of regularity.

I really like showing off this reserve to members and the general public but it makes me feel that RSPB Liverpool wont be leading any more walks here until security improves.

All 4 incidents were reported to Merseyside Police. Some of the group have now contacted the local councillors and MP through emails and social media.

I feel I have to let you know of these incidents).

The RSPB’s top three ways to help your garden birds in Northern England this winter

Lard, ping-pong balls and holly feature on birds’ Christmas list

The temperature is expected to plummet over the next few weeks with ice and snow spreading across the country, and birds that have benefited from a mild autumn will begin to struggle as the weather changes. The RSPB is asking people to top up their bird feeders and provide fresh water and shelter for wildlife in their gardens during the frosty weather.

The nature charity says there are three key things that birds will need this winter: food, unfrozen water and shelter.

Blackcap eating fatcake

1) In chilly weather birds will appreciate a variety of food, but fatty food will be especially helpful. For example, fat balls, or homemade bird cakes made with lard and packed with seeds, fruit or dried mealworms are great treats to put out in your garden. Kitchen scraps will work well, and a recipe for successfully feeding birds over winter might include chopped fat from unsalted meat, cheese, dried fruit, and pastry.

Grey wagtail on garden pond

2) Unfrozen water for drinking and bathing may be hard for birds to find when there’s been a frost, but with a simple trick you can help to keep a patch of water ice-free. The RSPB recommends floating a small ball, such as a ping-pong ball, on the surface of the water. Even the lightest breeze will keep it moving and stop an area of the water freezing.

Fieldfare and song thrush on pyracantha

3) You can provide shelter with careful planting by planting dense hedges such as privet or hawthorn, or allowing ivy or holly to grow: these all provide great cover for birds to roost in. Nestboxes can also be good roosting sites. Roofs are also a popular spot for birds trying to keep warm. If birds are getting into a hole in your roof and you need to get the hole fixed, consider putting up a nestbox to replace the gap. Find out more about giving nature a home in your garden here: rspb.org.uk/homes

Chris Collett from the RSPB in Northern England said: “People can make a real difference to garden birds and improve their chances of surviving the winter. Birds don’t need much and by providing a supply of food, a patch of unfrozen water and somewhere to shelter from the elements, you will be rewarded with great views of wildlife in your back garden.”

Chris added: “At this time of year it’s also worth pointing out that while birds need fatty foods, you shouldn’t put out fat from a roasting tin, such as turkey fat on Christmas day, as this runny fat can coat birds’ feathers, making it difficult for them to move or fly.”

The RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch, the world’s biggest wildlife survey, returns on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January 2015. To take part, people are asked to spend just one hour at any time over Big Garden Birdwatch weekend noting the highest number of each bird species seen in their gardens or local park at any one time. They then have three weeks to submit their results to the RSPB, either online at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch or in the post. The Big Garden Birdwatch in 2014 revealed that house sparrows were the most recorded birds despite their falling numbers, and for the first time great spotted woodpeckers appeared in the top twenty. The full results can be viewed online at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

The RSPB offer a large selection of bird food and feeders in their online shop rspb.org.uk/shop

Another Big Garden Birdwatch

So how did your Garden Birdwatch go?

I have to admit to being a little disappointed in my visitors today. Although I don’t appear to have been alone, for many on the RSPB community forums it was a case of the minute the snow went, the bird went with it!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/getinvolved/birdwatch/f/3711/t/95161.aspx

Most of my usual friends were about,  although  some of these were down on expected numbers.

The Garden seemed unusually quiet today. The weather was fine; the heavy snow of Friday evening had thawed. It was windy though and those arriving seemed easily spooked especially by gulls flying over? I assumed there may have been a Sparrowhawk about it, but if it was I didn't see it.

My Count

Starlings    6    (Usual 9+)

Blackbirds  3   (Recent 8+)

Sparrows  16+  (Normal, but difficult to count very skittish).

Blue tit  2     (This year's nestbox pair- female roosting)

Great tit  2    (Another pair for the garden)

Robins  2    (Another pair for the garden)

Dunnock 1   (Usual 2)

Pigeon 1   (Missing the rest of his pesky flock thankfully)

Goldfinch 1  (Recent 7 up to 14)

Coal tit 1     (Normal)

Jackdaw 1   (Infrequent 1/2)

Missing recent daily visitors: Wren, Grey Wagtail, Magpie, Song Thrush, Jay, Chaffinch.

A moment with the ones that stayed away.

Pondside mealworm eater - Grey Wagtail

Water louse on the menu for our pond foraging Wren

A long awaited winter visitor, arrived in the snow on
 21/01/13,  dined on apples.

Monkey nuts, a Jay's favourite  snack

Well that was my day, how about you?
Laura

BTO Garden Birdwatch update

The year-round BTO Garden BirdWatch reports busy times in gardens this autumn. The 40 or so most frequently-spotted garden birds, have been 15% higher this October compared with the previous three. Woodland birds have particularly caught the eye. 

With seed and nut crops in the countryside appearing to be patchy, many woodland species have turned to bird feeders (as have Grey Squirrels) Many householders over recent weeks who have been enjoying watching Coal Tits busily caching food for the winter. This diminutive bird was up 62% in gardens this October compared with the three-year average. 

Winter visitors to our shores, Bramblings, have also been delighting householders. Numbers of this attractive finch in gardens vary annually depending on levels of immigration and food availability in the UK countryside. Normally Bramblings move more into gardens from mid to late-winter, but this year has seen an unexpected early peak. Is this the start of bigger things to come over the next few weeks, we wonder? Also sweeping onto feeders in larger numbers than normal have been Siskins – their numbers four times higher this October compared with the recent average for this month.

Other seed and nut specialists have been taking advantage of offerings provided by householders. These include Nuthatch (up 90% this October), Jay (up 85%) and Great Spotted Woodpecker (up 66%).

 BTO research shows these and several other species are known to make greater use of gardens when natural food in the countryside is scarce. The influx of birds into gardens hints once again at the vital role that gardens play in the wider foraging environment of many birds.

In parts of the countryside, berries also appear to be thin on the ground this autumn. In gardens, however, birds are able to exploit different fruits and berries owing to the presence of many native and non-native trees and shrubs. These are currently attracting several members of the thrush family – most notably Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare – in unusually high numbers. Providing some fruit, such as apples or pears, will help cater for these thrushes, and will also help to sustain visitors such as Blackcap.

Get involved, record your garden visitors:

 http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw

Laura

If you build it they will come

Who remembers the film 'Field of dreams'? My garden is my field of dreams and this winter I'm going for broke to bring in some winter thrushes. Lots of cheap apples and homemade cheap fruitcake litter the lawn. Today I was 'made up' as we say in scouseland, my plan had worked, after wandering the fields of Billinge to look for one, it came to me ... a beautiful Fieldfare, a belligerent fellow chasing away any Blackbird who came close to 'his' apple. l was late for work ,I wanted to stay.. it was toooo dark for the camera, I was willing the sun to hurry up, alas I had to go...but will he/she be back tomorrow? I'm baking more cake.

Laura