Field Trips 2022
Croxteth Country Park, Liverpool 9/4/2022, Sankey Valley, Saint Helens 23/4/2022,
Rivacre Country Park, Ellesmere Port 14/5/22, Clock Face Country Park 11/6/22,
Formby Raven Meols Dunes to Devil’s Hole 16/7/22,
Birkdale (Queens Jubilee Trail and Green Beach) 13/8/22, Hoylake Beach 10/9/22, Rimrose 8/10/22
Croxteth Country Park, Liverpool 9/4/2022, Sankey Valley, Saint Helens 23/4/2022,
Rivacre Country Park, Ellesmere Port 14/5/22, Clock Face Country Park 11/6/22,
Formby Raven Meols Dunes to Devil’s Hole 16/7/22,
Birkdale (Queens Jubilee Trail and Green Beach) 13/8/22, Hoylake Beach 10/9/22, Rimrose 8/10/22
Croxteth Country Park, Liverpool
Saturday 9th April 2022
Leader - Dave Earl
Ten members and friends had a look round this Liverpool, urban set, country park (based on the old Earl of Sefton Estate) looking for early flowering plants. The weather was cool at first with hailstones, though it did brighten up later and it was busy in some locations around the tunnel, hall, and cafe, though there is plenty of room in its five hundred acres.
Highlights were at least seven plants of Goldilocks Ranunculus auricomus at a slightly different location to those found in 2015 (our last trip to the site), a rare plant in this area. Also of interest were Blinks Montia fontana near the Training College and a rarely recorded alien Honeywort Cerinthe major, with its purple drooping flower, which had escaped cultivation at a hedge base. American Speedwell Veronica peregrina was round the back of the Hall. A Stoat carrying prey was only briefly glimpsed by some of the group.
From the car park we headed through areas of grassland, woodland, and more ornamental exotic plantings of introduced shrubs, trees, and bulbs near the Hall. We saw Scots Pine, Beech, Elm, Holly, Oak, Norway Maple (in flower), Ash, Birches, Yew, Hazel (including one with both green and purple leaves) and Bird Cherry, as well as exotic species such as Monkey Puzzle, Lawsons Cypress, Lombardy Poplar, horse-chestnuts (including a grafted Red Horse Chestnut) and Dawn Redwood.
Woodland plants included Cuckoo Pint or Lords and Ladies Arum maculatum (including the spotted form), Wood Avens, Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Wood Dock (both var. viridis (normal form) and a nice, red-veined garden form var. sanguineus), Lesser Celandine (verna with bulbils), Primrose and Wood Anemone.
Exotic shrubs had various Berberis species, Rhododendron (ponticum and a big tree species already in flower), Aucuba japonica, Mahonia aquifolium, Cherry Laurel and Flowering Cherries. Yellow Buckeye Aesculus flava. Two species of bamboo Sasa palmetta and Pseudosasa japonica were naturalised in a plantation near the Hall. Native shrubs included Elder, Ivy and Atlantic Ivy (H.helix and H.hibernica) and the bramble Rubus rufescens.
Bulbs included various Narcissus (including Pheasants-eye Daffodil N. poeticus), Muscari armeniacum, Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) and Crocus cultivars and species; both Bluebell and hybrid Bluebell were also present.
The Long Pond had Pendulous Sedge, Remote Sedge Carex remota, Brooklime Veronica beccabunga, Duckweed Lemna sp., Hemlock Water Dropwort and Meadowsweet.
Round the gardens the weeds included Hairy Bittercress, Wavy Bittercress (in a damp patch), Shining Cranesbill, Petty Spurge, Thale Cress, Henbit and Cut-leaved Dead Nettles and Herb Robert. Grassland species included Field Woodrush and Springy Turf Moss Rhytidadelphus squarrosus. Plants of garden origin included Stinking Iris (with its beefy Bovril smell), garden form of Wood Forget-me-not, Tutsan, lemon-scented Balm, Himalayan Balsam, and Fritillary.
Birds included Nuthatch, Mallard, Coal Tit, Chiffchaff, Common Buzzard, Jay, Song and Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail and Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Invertebrates were Woodlice Oniscus asellus, Holly Leaf Miner, Buff-tailed and White-tailed Bumble Bee Queens, Drone Fly Eristalis tenax and Honeybee. A fascinating pattern of eaten algae on a metal pipe holder were made by a slug or snail feeding, you could see the pattern that the radula (teeth) made (see photo below).
Tony Carter found twelve fungi species despite the very dry ground conditions including a little Grey Asco Tapesia fusca, a crust fungus under a fallen log Subulicystidium longisporum. In the damp lawn by the hall were Turf Mottlegill Panaeolus fimicola and Ribbed Bell Galerina clavata. Rusts included Puccinia phragmitis on Docks Rumex and Ramsons Rust Puccinia sessilis on Ramsons (though it can occur on Arum too) and Mycosphaerella hedericola was on Ivy leaves.
Steve Cross
Photos by Steve Cross and microscope fungus photos by Tony Carter
Saturday 9th April 2022
Leader - Dave Earl
Ten members and friends had a look round this Liverpool, urban set, country park (based on the old Earl of Sefton Estate) looking for early flowering plants. The weather was cool at first with hailstones, though it did brighten up later and it was busy in some locations around the tunnel, hall, and cafe, though there is plenty of room in its five hundred acres.
Highlights were at least seven plants of Goldilocks Ranunculus auricomus at a slightly different location to those found in 2015 (our last trip to the site), a rare plant in this area. Also of interest were Blinks Montia fontana near the Training College and a rarely recorded alien Honeywort Cerinthe major, with its purple drooping flower, which had escaped cultivation at a hedge base. American Speedwell Veronica peregrina was round the back of the Hall. A Stoat carrying prey was only briefly glimpsed by some of the group.
From the car park we headed through areas of grassland, woodland, and more ornamental exotic plantings of introduced shrubs, trees, and bulbs near the Hall. We saw Scots Pine, Beech, Elm, Holly, Oak, Norway Maple (in flower), Ash, Birches, Yew, Hazel (including one with both green and purple leaves) and Bird Cherry, as well as exotic species such as Monkey Puzzle, Lawsons Cypress, Lombardy Poplar, horse-chestnuts (including a grafted Red Horse Chestnut) and Dawn Redwood.
Woodland plants included Cuckoo Pint or Lords and Ladies Arum maculatum (including the spotted form), Wood Avens, Ramsons (Wild Garlic), Wood Dock (both var. viridis (normal form) and a nice, red-veined garden form var. sanguineus), Lesser Celandine (verna with bulbils), Primrose and Wood Anemone.
Exotic shrubs had various Berberis species, Rhododendron (ponticum and a big tree species already in flower), Aucuba japonica, Mahonia aquifolium, Cherry Laurel and Flowering Cherries. Yellow Buckeye Aesculus flava. Two species of bamboo Sasa palmetta and Pseudosasa japonica were naturalised in a plantation near the Hall. Native shrubs included Elder, Ivy and Atlantic Ivy (H.helix and H.hibernica) and the bramble Rubus rufescens.
Bulbs included various Narcissus (including Pheasants-eye Daffodil N. poeticus), Muscari armeniacum, Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) and Crocus cultivars and species; both Bluebell and hybrid Bluebell were also present.
The Long Pond had Pendulous Sedge, Remote Sedge Carex remota, Brooklime Veronica beccabunga, Duckweed Lemna sp., Hemlock Water Dropwort and Meadowsweet.
Round the gardens the weeds included Hairy Bittercress, Wavy Bittercress (in a damp patch), Shining Cranesbill, Petty Spurge, Thale Cress, Henbit and Cut-leaved Dead Nettles and Herb Robert. Grassland species included Field Woodrush and Springy Turf Moss Rhytidadelphus squarrosus. Plants of garden origin included Stinking Iris (with its beefy Bovril smell), garden form of Wood Forget-me-not, Tutsan, lemon-scented Balm, Himalayan Balsam, and Fritillary.
Birds included Nuthatch, Mallard, Coal Tit, Chiffchaff, Common Buzzard, Jay, Song and Mistle Thrush, Pied Wagtail and Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Invertebrates were Woodlice Oniscus asellus, Holly Leaf Miner, Buff-tailed and White-tailed Bumble Bee Queens, Drone Fly Eristalis tenax and Honeybee. A fascinating pattern of eaten algae on a metal pipe holder were made by a slug or snail feeding, you could see the pattern that the radula (teeth) made (see photo below).
Tony Carter found twelve fungi species despite the very dry ground conditions including a little Grey Asco Tapesia fusca, a crust fungus under a fallen log Subulicystidium longisporum. In the damp lawn by the hall were Turf Mottlegill Panaeolus fimicola and Ribbed Bell Galerina clavata. Rusts included Puccinia phragmitis on Docks Rumex and Ramsons Rust Puccinia sessilis on Ramsons (though it can occur on Arum too) and Mycosphaerella hedericola was on Ivy leaves.
Steve Cross
Photos by Steve Cross and microscope fungus photos by Tony Carter
Stanley Bank Wood (Sankey Valley), St. Helens
Saturday 23rd April 2022
Leader – Peter Gateley
A look at the Spring flowers of the Sankey Valley at Stanley Bank Wood.
Photos by Steve Cross
Saturday 23rd April 2022
Leader – Peter Gateley
A look at the Spring flowers of the Sankey Valley at Stanley Bank Wood.
Photos by Steve Cross
Rivacre Country Park, Ellesmere Port
Saturday 14th May 2022
Leader – John Crowder
Photos and text by Steve Cross
Twelve members and friends toured the woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands of Rivacre Country Park. As is customary we first searched around the carpark and found Wild and Bird Cherry, Pear, Field Maple, Yew, and Coralberry. Also here were Common Vetch, Red Campion, Meadow Vetchling, Wood Forget-me-not, and Hedgerow Cranesbill.
The pool by the visitors centre had Yellow Iris, Cuckoo Flower, Great Willowherb, Duckweed, Meadowsweet, Greater Spearwort and both Water Mint and Spearmint.
Round the back of the visitors centre Blackthorn had galls of Phyllocoptes eupadi, on hawthorn leaves the rust fungus Gymnosporangium clavariiforme, also here were Bush Vetch and Common Figwort. We could compare and contrast Creeping and Meadow Buttercups, Germander, Thyme-leaved and Slender Speedwells. Also, present was Silverweed and for a little while the leaves of Wild Carrot perplexed us.
Trees and shrubs of note included Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana which was just coming into flower, Norway Maple and a big patch of Many-flowered Rose Rosa multiflora which was indeed covered in flower buds.
Under the trees by a path was a patch of Pignut and we also saw Lesser Celandine, Wood Dock, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Yellow Pimpernel, Wood Anemone, Wood Speedwell, Wood Millet, all in the north part of the woods at Well Wood. The path along the Rivacre Brook produced Three-nerved Sandwort, alien Himalayan Balsam; Wild Angelica, Wood Avens and Pendulous Sedge.
Along the waterside were Hemlock Water Dropwort, Pendulous Sedge, and in an open patch at SJ28147786 we had Greater Stitchwort, Pink Purslane, and the Variegated or Garden Yellow Archangel ssp. argentatum. Further south again we found Remote Sedge Carex remota, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Wavy Bittercress and Meadowsweet.
Fairways Meadow had Bulbous Buttercup, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Tall Fescue, Sweet Vernal Grass, Meadow Foxtail; Field Woodrush; Hairy and Glaucous Sedges. At the ponds were Yellow Iris, four Water Avens, Brooklime, Common Spotted Orchid, and Hard Rush.
Monocots of interest included native Bluebell, Ramsons, Lords and Ladies (or Cuckoo Pint) Arum maculatum. Non-natives included Three-cornered Garlic Allium triquetrum and Hybrid Bluebell Hyacinthoides x massartiana. We had five fern species – Bracken, Hartstongue, Broad-Buckler, Male and Scaly Male Ferns.
Birds singing include Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. Nuthatch and Stock Dove were also heard plus we saw Common Buzzard and a Little Egret flying over. Three Grey Squirrel were seen.
Insects of note – Alder Leaf Beetle everywhere, not just on Alder; a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee Queen was having a long rest; beetles Byturus ochraceus were abundant on the buttercup flowers, and Sailor Beetle Cantharis nigricans.
Butterflies included Holly Blue, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White and Speckled Wood.
Lower Plants included Mosses Mnium hornum, Orthotrichum affine, and the Liverworts Conocephalum conicum and Forked Veilwort Metzgeria furcata. Lichens noted were the common Physcia adscendens and Xanthoria parietina.
We had a previous visit here on 20th April 2013 and the photos are at 2013 Field Trips (weebly.com) and the Friends of Rivacre have further information on the site at Friends of Rivacre Valley | Local Nature Reserve | Ellesmere Port (forv.co.uk)
Further west in the valley on way to and from meeting Steve C also found Arum italicum ssp. italicum Purple Norway Maple, Japanese Maple Acer palmatum , Manna Ash, Comma Butterfly, and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Saturday 14th May 2022
Leader – John Crowder
Photos and text by Steve Cross
Twelve members and friends toured the woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands of Rivacre Country Park. As is customary we first searched around the carpark and found Wild and Bird Cherry, Pear, Field Maple, Yew, and Coralberry. Also here were Common Vetch, Red Campion, Meadow Vetchling, Wood Forget-me-not, and Hedgerow Cranesbill.
The pool by the visitors centre had Yellow Iris, Cuckoo Flower, Great Willowherb, Duckweed, Meadowsweet, Greater Spearwort and both Water Mint and Spearmint.
Round the back of the visitors centre Blackthorn had galls of Phyllocoptes eupadi, on hawthorn leaves the rust fungus Gymnosporangium clavariiforme, also here were Bush Vetch and Common Figwort. We could compare and contrast Creeping and Meadow Buttercups, Germander, Thyme-leaved and Slender Speedwells. Also, present was Silverweed and for a little while the leaves of Wild Carrot perplexed us.
Trees and shrubs of note included Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana which was just coming into flower, Norway Maple and a big patch of Many-flowered Rose Rosa multiflora which was indeed covered in flower buds.
Under the trees by a path was a patch of Pignut and we also saw Lesser Celandine, Wood Dock, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Yellow Pimpernel, Wood Anemone, Wood Speedwell, Wood Millet, all in the north part of the woods at Well Wood. The path along the Rivacre Brook produced Three-nerved Sandwort, alien Himalayan Balsam; Wild Angelica, Wood Avens and Pendulous Sedge.
Along the waterside were Hemlock Water Dropwort, Pendulous Sedge, and in an open patch at SJ28147786 we had Greater Stitchwort, Pink Purslane, and the Variegated or Garden Yellow Archangel ssp. argentatum. Further south again we found Remote Sedge Carex remota, Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Wavy Bittercress and Meadowsweet.
Fairways Meadow had Bulbous Buttercup, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Tall Fescue, Sweet Vernal Grass, Meadow Foxtail; Field Woodrush; Hairy and Glaucous Sedges. At the ponds were Yellow Iris, four Water Avens, Brooklime, Common Spotted Orchid, and Hard Rush.
Monocots of interest included native Bluebell, Ramsons, Lords and Ladies (or Cuckoo Pint) Arum maculatum. Non-natives included Three-cornered Garlic Allium triquetrum and Hybrid Bluebell Hyacinthoides x massartiana. We had five fern species – Bracken, Hartstongue, Broad-Buckler, Male and Scaly Male Ferns.
Birds singing include Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. Nuthatch and Stock Dove were also heard plus we saw Common Buzzard and a Little Egret flying over. Three Grey Squirrel were seen.
Insects of note – Alder Leaf Beetle everywhere, not just on Alder; a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee Queen was having a long rest; beetles Byturus ochraceus were abundant on the buttercup flowers, and Sailor Beetle Cantharis nigricans.
Butterflies included Holly Blue, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Green-veined White and Speckled Wood.
Lower Plants included Mosses Mnium hornum, Orthotrichum affine, and the Liverworts Conocephalum conicum and Forked Veilwort Metzgeria furcata. Lichens noted were the common Physcia adscendens and Xanthoria parietina.
We had a previous visit here on 20th April 2013 and the photos are at 2013 Field Trips (weebly.com) and the Friends of Rivacre have further information on the site at Friends of Rivacre Valley | Local Nature Reserve | Ellesmere Port (forv.co.uk)
Further west in the valley on way to and from meeting Steve C also found Arum italicum ssp. italicum Purple Norway Maple, Japanese Maple Acer palmatum , Manna Ash, Comma Butterfly, and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Clock Face Country Park, St. Helens
Saturday June 11th
Leader - Barbara Allen
Eleven members and friends visited this reclaimed Colliery site with a range of habitats - woodland, grassland, and wetlands, mostly planted up with native species.
The car park area provided Cut-leaved Cranesbill, Tutsan, Hemp Agrimony, Hedge Woundwort, Beaked Hawksbeard, Weld, Wavy and Hairy Bittercress, Hemp Agrimony, Wall and Thyme-leaved Speedwells and Springy Turf Moss Rhytidadelphus squarrosus. Eleven Bee Orchid were in flower by the entrance and nearby dropped bird seed mix produced Bread Wheat, Oat, Sunflower, and Two-rowed Barley Hordeum distichon. Here too were the aliens Dotted Loosestrife, Lesser Swine Cress and Pineappleweed.
Highlights of the grasslands included Birdsfoot Trefoil, Lady's Bedstraw, Hedgerow and Meadow Cranesbills, both Hairy and Smooth Tare, Tall and Rat-tailed Fescues. There were at least seven impressive three-metre-tall Hemlock plants.
Woodlands had Quince Cydonia oblonga, Aspen, Common Alder, Hazel, Juniper, Scaly Male Fern, and Yellow Pimpernel.
The wetlands hosted Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata, Southern Marsh Orchid and possible hybrids with Northern Marsh Orchid, Lesser and Greater Spearworts, Ragged Robin, Meadowsweet, Changing Forget-me-not, False Fox Sedge, Yellow Iris, Sweet Flag, Marsh Foxtail, Osier, and Common Fleabane. By Gorsey Lane were Dames' Violet and Common Figwort.
Birds of note were singing Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. Also found were Swift, House Martin, Jay, Nuthatch, Linnet, Mallard, and Coot. Grey Squirrel was seen.
Butterflies included Speckled Wood and Common Blue. Other insects of note were Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, nymphs of Red-legged (or Forest) Shield Bug Pentatoma rufipes, Dolichopid flies included Poecilbothrus nobilitaus, Pellucid Hoverfly Volucella pellucens, Azure Damselfly, a Plume Moth and fly Mines on dock of Pegomya solennis.
Other invertebrates of note included Zebra Spider on the picnic table as we had lunch. Galls found included Aceria nalepai
and Eriophyes laevis on Alder, Iteomyia capreae on sallow and Oak Apple Gall Biorhiza pallida.
Fungus of note included Rose Rust Phragmidium mucronatum, Gymnosporangium clavariiforme on hawthorn leaves, Melampsora rust on willow, rust Puccinia sessilis on marsh orchids, Puccinia caricina on False Fox Sedge and one Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica. Tony Carter's notes of the visit are at MykoGolfer (fungus.org.uk)
Photos and Notes by Steve Cross
Saturday June 11th
Leader - Barbara Allen
Eleven members and friends visited this reclaimed Colliery site with a range of habitats - woodland, grassland, and wetlands, mostly planted up with native species.
The car park area provided Cut-leaved Cranesbill, Tutsan, Hemp Agrimony, Hedge Woundwort, Beaked Hawksbeard, Weld, Wavy and Hairy Bittercress, Hemp Agrimony, Wall and Thyme-leaved Speedwells and Springy Turf Moss Rhytidadelphus squarrosus. Eleven Bee Orchid were in flower by the entrance and nearby dropped bird seed mix produced Bread Wheat, Oat, Sunflower, and Two-rowed Barley Hordeum distichon. Here too were the aliens Dotted Loosestrife, Lesser Swine Cress and Pineappleweed.
Highlights of the grasslands included Birdsfoot Trefoil, Lady's Bedstraw, Hedgerow and Meadow Cranesbills, both Hairy and Smooth Tare, Tall and Rat-tailed Fescues. There were at least seven impressive three-metre-tall Hemlock plants.
Woodlands had Quince Cydonia oblonga, Aspen, Common Alder, Hazel, Juniper, Scaly Male Fern, and Yellow Pimpernel.
The wetlands hosted Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata, Southern Marsh Orchid and possible hybrids with Northern Marsh Orchid, Lesser and Greater Spearworts, Ragged Robin, Meadowsweet, Changing Forget-me-not, False Fox Sedge, Yellow Iris, Sweet Flag, Marsh Foxtail, Osier, and Common Fleabane. By Gorsey Lane were Dames' Violet and Common Figwort.
Birds of note were singing Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. Also found were Swift, House Martin, Jay, Nuthatch, Linnet, Mallard, and Coot. Grey Squirrel was seen.
Butterflies included Speckled Wood and Common Blue. Other insects of note were Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, nymphs of Red-legged (or Forest) Shield Bug Pentatoma rufipes, Dolichopid flies included Poecilbothrus nobilitaus, Pellucid Hoverfly Volucella pellucens, Azure Damselfly, a Plume Moth and fly Mines on dock of Pegomya solennis.
Other invertebrates of note included Zebra Spider on the picnic table as we had lunch. Galls found included Aceria nalepai
and Eriophyes laevis on Alder, Iteomyia capreae on sallow and Oak Apple Gall Biorhiza pallida.
Fungus of note included Rose Rust Phragmidium mucronatum, Gymnosporangium clavariiforme on hawthorn leaves, Melampsora rust on willow, rust Puccinia sessilis on marsh orchids, Puccinia caricina on False Fox Sedge and one Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica. Tony Carter's notes of the visit are at MykoGolfer (fungus.org.uk)
Photos and Notes by Steve Cross
Minera Quarry, Denbighshire
Saturday 25th June 2022
Leader - Barbara Allen
Limestone plants.
Saturday 25th June 2022
Leader - Barbara Allen
Limestone plants.
South Stack, Anglesey - MNA coach trip
Saturday 2nd July 2022
A sunny but breezy day with highlights of Chough (at least twenty-eight including flock of 24), Puffin (just four seen by me), Raven, Rock Pipit, masses of Guillemot, a fair few Razorbills, and a brief glimpse of a Common Lizard. Rose Chafer Cetonia aurata.
Plant wise of note were Rock Sea Lavender, Golden Samphire, Western Gorse, Wild Carrot, Wild Angelica, Wild Thyme, Sea Campion, Sea Pink, Sheep's Bit, English Stonecrop, Bell Heather, Tormentil, Woodsage, Sea Plantain and Rock Spurrey,
Other notable birds included Shag, Cormorant, Kittiwake, Gannet, Manx Shearwater, Stonechat and on the journey Kestrel, Buzzard, and a lovely brief sighting of a Red Kite.
Photos by Steve Cross
Saturday 2nd July 2022
A sunny but breezy day with highlights of Chough (at least twenty-eight including flock of 24), Puffin (just four seen by me), Raven, Rock Pipit, masses of Guillemot, a fair few Razorbills, and a brief glimpse of a Common Lizard. Rose Chafer Cetonia aurata.
Plant wise of note were Rock Sea Lavender, Golden Samphire, Western Gorse, Wild Carrot, Wild Angelica, Wild Thyme, Sea Campion, Sea Pink, Sheep's Bit, English Stonecrop, Bell Heather, Tormentil, Woodsage, Sea Plantain and Rock Spurrey,
Other notable birds included Shag, Cormorant, Kittiwake, Gannet, Manx Shearwater, Stonechat and on the journey Kestrel, Buzzard, and a lovely brief sighting of a Red Kite.
Photos by Steve Cross
Formby Raven Meols Dunes to Devil’s Hole
Saturday 16th July 2022
Leader - Steve Cross (and Phil Smith for Devil's Hole)
Highlights included three Helleborine Orchids (Marsh, Dune and Green-flowered), Common, Sticky, and probable hybrid Storksbills, Hungarian and Orange Mulleins, Blunt-flowered Rush Juncus subnodulosus, Small-fruited Yellow Sedge Carex oederi, a dozen willows (including hybrids) and best of all Intermediate Centaury Centaurium intermedium - unique to the Sefton Coast and nowhere else in the world!
Photos by Steve Cross
Birkdale (Queens Jubilee Trail and Green Beach)
Saturday 13th August 2022
Leader – Peter Gateley
Highlights included three species of Centaury (Common, Lesser and Intermediate, the Sefton Coast endemic) in addition there were some that were probably hybrids too; the masses of Strawberry Clover and Parsley Water Dropwort and the Saltmarsh Flat Sedge Blysmus rufus and Frog Rush on the shore were also good finds.
In the slacks we had Common Eyebright, Knotted Pearlwort, Grass of Parnassus, Brookweed, Marsh Pennywort, Gypsywort, Meadowsweet, Purple Loosestrife, Yellow Iris, Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Helleborine Orchid (gone to seed), Marsh Bedstraw and the smell from the Water Mint pervaded these areas.
The dunes produced Yellow-wort, Rest Harrow, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Kidney Vetch, Smooth Hawksbeard, Gorse, Broom, Sand Sedge, Bugloss, Umbellate Hawkweed, Common, Sticky and Hybrid Storksbills and lots of Red Bartsia along the tracks.
The Green Beach beyond Weld Road had masses of Parsley Water Dropwort, Strawberry Clover, Wild Angelica and Common Fleabane. Also here were Galingale, Brookweed, Toad and Frog Rushes, Sea Radish, Wild Celery, Fools Watercress, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea Mayweed, False Fox Sedge, Sea Plantain and Sea Milkwort.
Back along the Esplanade we found a rare hybrid willow; also here were Black Horehound, Wood Avens, Early Goldenrod, Shining Cranesbill; the wall produced Wall Speedwell, Black Spleenwort and Wall-rue Ferns.
There was of course the usual quota of aliens - three Evening Primroses, Asparagus, Soapwort, Sea Buckthorn, Montbretia, Japanese Rose, Michaelmas Daisy and Galinsoga sp.
Also, of note on the day were Viper's Bugloss, Weld, Wild Mignonette, Curled Dock (littoreus), Silver and Early Hair Grasses, Musk Mallow, Common Toadflax, Yellow Rattle, both yellow Melilots, Agrimony and the hybrid Des Etang's St. John's Wort (H. x destangsii - perforatum x maculatum).
An excellent eleven species of butterflies were seen - at least one hundred Common Blue, 6 Wall Brown, 1 Peacock, 4 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, 5 Small Heath plus Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and the three Whites. Other insects of note included Six Spot-Burnet Moth, Cystiphora sonchi Fly Galls on Sonchus, Knopper Gall on Oak plus Common Green and Common Meadow Grasshoppers. A Rabbit, Jackdaw, and Oystercatcher were also present.
The only fungi were the rust Phragmidium violaceum on Dewberry, Tar Spot on Sycamore and mildews on Sycamore and Goat Willow.
Saturday 13th August 2022
Leader – Peter Gateley
Highlights included three species of Centaury (Common, Lesser and Intermediate, the Sefton Coast endemic) in addition there were some that were probably hybrids too; the masses of Strawberry Clover and Parsley Water Dropwort and the Saltmarsh Flat Sedge Blysmus rufus and Frog Rush on the shore were also good finds.
In the slacks we had Common Eyebright, Knotted Pearlwort, Grass of Parnassus, Brookweed, Marsh Pennywort, Gypsywort, Meadowsweet, Purple Loosestrife, Yellow Iris, Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Helleborine Orchid (gone to seed), Marsh Bedstraw and the smell from the Water Mint pervaded these areas.
The dunes produced Yellow-wort, Rest Harrow, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Kidney Vetch, Smooth Hawksbeard, Gorse, Broom, Sand Sedge, Bugloss, Umbellate Hawkweed, Common, Sticky and Hybrid Storksbills and lots of Red Bartsia along the tracks.
The Green Beach beyond Weld Road had masses of Parsley Water Dropwort, Strawberry Clover, Wild Angelica and Common Fleabane. Also here were Galingale, Brookweed, Toad and Frog Rushes, Sea Radish, Wild Celery, Fools Watercress, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea Mayweed, False Fox Sedge, Sea Plantain and Sea Milkwort.
Back along the Esplanade we found a rare hybrid willow; also here were Black Horehound, Wood Avens, Early Goldenrod, Shining Cranesbill; the wall produced Wall Speedwell, Black Spleenwort and Wall-rue Ferns.
There was of course the usual quota of aliens - three Evening Primroses, Asparagus, Soapwort, Sea Buckthorn, Montbretia, Japanese Rose, Michaelmas Daisy and Galinsoga sp.
Also, of note on the day were Viper's Bugloss, Weld, Wild Mignonette, Curled Dock (littoreus), Silver and Early Hair Grasses, Musk Mallow, Common Toadflax, Yellow Rattle, both yellow Melilots, Agrimony and the hybrid Des Etang's St. John's Wort (H. x destangsii - perforatum x maculatum).
An excellent eleven species of butterflies were seen - at least one hundred Common Blue, 6 Wall Brown, 1 Peacock, 4 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, 5 Small Heath plus Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and the three Whites. Other insects of note included Six Spot-Burnet Moth, Cystiphora sonchi Fly Galls on Sonchus, Knopper Gall on Oak plus Common Green and Common Meadow Grasshoppers. A Rabbit, Jackdaw, and Oystercatcher were also present.
The only fungi were the rust Phragmidium violaceum on Dewberry, Tar Spot on Sycamore and mildews on Sycamore and Goat Willow.
Hoylake Beach
Saturday 10th September 2022
Leader - Robert Freeth
From the Lifeboat Station area along North Parade (SJ217897).
This area of beach left unsprayed and unraked since only 2019 has had a “green beach” of saltmarsh and dune plants grow since. Over 210 plants have been found including around thirty of conservation significance. There is a controversy between those who want to retain the “golden sands” by intervention and those who think this should be left to be natural as it is a SSSI and in the North Wirral/ Dee Estuary Special Areas of Conservation. More information at Hoylake Beach The Evidence Hoylake Beach - the evidence | Facebook
The twenty-two members and friends covered the section from RNLI Lifeboat Station to King’s Gap. Compared to the Green Beach at Ainsdale-Birkdale it is a very flat area with no hummocks, but there are many species in a small area. A strange mix of plants from different habitats - freshwater, saltmarsh, strandline, dune as well as aliens!
Common Saltmarsh Grass dominates the mid and outer sections. Other salt marsh plants included plenty of Sea Aster, Sea Arrow Grass, plus some Sea Milkwort Lysimachia maritima, Sea Club Rush, and a few Sea Plantain, Purple Glasswort Salicornia ramosissima, Salt Marsh Rush Juncus gerardii, Lesser Sea Spurrey, and Reflexed Saltmarsh Grass. The local Scurvy Grass is still a cause of discussion amongst botanists to which species actually occurs here.
Common Cord Grass Spartina was very thinly and patchily spread with just a few isolated clumps, though this species is the “bogeyman” of those who want their golden sands back and is supposed to be “a plague “here. It is way too sandy here for this species to become dominant.
The drainage problems from the Promenade and nearby housing is the reason behind the substantial number of freshwater margin plants. These included Trifid Bur-Marigold, Gypsywort, Typha, Hemlock Water Dropwort, Common Fleabane, Water Cress, Tufted Forget-me-not, Toad Rush and Marsh Woundwort. The near-threatened Marsh Arrowgrass was abundant. Sedges included False Fox and Long-bracted (Carex otrubae and C. extensa). There were also two small patches of Common Reed and Reed Canary Grass. Grey Club-rush is seemingly rare on Wirral, and we found two plants (out of the three known).
The strandline flora was rich and included four oraches (Spear-leaved, Grass-leaved, Babington’s and Frosted), quite a lot of Ray’s Knotgrass, Curled Dock littoreus, Sea Radish, Sea Mayweed, Sea Sandwort, Sea Beet, Sea Milkwort, Frog Rush and a few Annual Sea-Blite. Single plants of Sea Fern Grass Catapodium marinum and Sea Hard Grass Parapholis strigosa were also found.
Sand Dune plants are found in the sand that is building up just below the promenade and around the Lifeboat Station and included Lyme Grass, Sea Sandwort, Sea Holly, Sand Sedge, Lesser Hawkbit and Buckshorn Plantain.
The promenade wall and edge held Pellitory of the Wall, Common Poppy, Rape, Wall Barley, Common Whitlow Grass, Annual Wall Rocket, Annual Meadow Grass, Red and White Clovers, Common Mallow, Shepherd’s Purse, and Common Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha ssp. ruderale etc. The base of the prom wall and slipways was rich with willow saplings (Goat, Grey, Osier, and Hybrid Crack), Wood Avens, Great Willowherb, Creeping Buttercup, Teasel and Cocksfoot Grass amongst others. In this habitat were most of the Aliens. From the Americas - Orange Balsam Impatiens capensis, Beggarticks Bidens frondosa (frequent by the slipways and spread here via the canal network from the Midlands), Michaelmas Daisy Symphyotrichum sp., Canadian and Guernsey Fleabanes; from Asia – Japanese Rose, Pineappleweed and Buddleia and from Europe – Borage, Hoary Mustard, and Annual Wall Rocket.
Buttonweed Cotula coronopifolia has its origin in South Africa; locally it is found here and at Southport (Marshside). Flax Linum usitatissimum, Oat and Sunflower probably originated as bird seed from nearby garden feeders.
For some plants there was good direct side by side comparison the oraches, saltmarsh grasses and the three Knotgrasses - Common, Equal-leaved and Ray’s (which was surprisingly frequent). Debris from the sea was rare with just a few Ray egg cases, Sea Wash Balls (Whelk egg cases), Heart Urchin (Sea Potatoes) and a few shells.
Insects of note included Large White butterfly eggs on Sea Radish leaves. Single adult Common Blue, Small White, Large White butterflies. Honeybees and Eristalis hoverflies were frequent on the Sea Aster flowers.
Wading birds included at least 650 Oystercatcher, 60 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 90 Dunlin,30 Ringed Plover, however without a telescope we couldn’t find any Curlew Sandpipers that have been here. Other birds comprised gulls, 12 Sandwich Tern, a few Cormorant, 10 Crow, 2 Pied/White Wagtail, a flock of 90 feeding Starling and 12 Linnet feeding on Sea Arrow Grass seeds.
Ergot Claviceps purpurea was on the Reflexed Saltmarsh Grass. Mildews were found on Common Knotgrass, Dandelion, Great Plantain and Smooth Sowthistle.
Text and photos Steve Cross
Saturday 10th September 2022
Leader - Robert Freeth
From the Lifeboat Station area along North Parade (SJ217897).
This area of beach left unsprayed and unraked since only 2019 has had a “green beach” of saltmarsh and dune plants grow since. Over 210 plants have been found including around thirty of conservation significance. There is a controversy between those who want to retain the “golden sands” by intervention and those who think this should be left to be natural as it is a SSSI and in the North Wirral/ Dee Estuary Special Areas of Conservation. More information at Hoylake Beach The Evidence Hoylake Beach - the evidence | Facebook
The twenty-two members and friends covered the section from RNLI Lifeboat Station to King’s Gap. Compared to the Green Beach at Ainsdale-Birkdale it is a very flat area with no hummocks, but there are many species in a small area. A strange mix of plants from different habitats - freshwater, saltmarsh, strandline, dune as well as aliens!
Common Saltmarsh Grass dominates the mid and outer sections. Other salt marsh plants included plenty of Sea Aster, Sea Arrow Grass, plus some Sea Milkwort Lysimachia maritima, Sea Club Rush, and a few Sea Plantain, Purple Glasswort Salicornia ramosissima, Salt Marsh Rush Juncus gerardii, Lesser Sea Spurrey, and Reflexed Saltmarsh Grass. The local Scurvy Grass is still a cause of discussion amongst botanists to which species actually occurs here.
Common Cord Grass Spartina was very thinly and patchily spread with just a few isolated clumps, though this species is the “bogeyman” of those who want their golden sands back and is supposed to be “a plague “here. It is way too sandy here for this species to become dominant.
The drainage problems from the Promenade and nearby housing is the reason behind the substantial number of freshwater margin plants. These included Trifid Bur-Marigold, Gypsywort, Typha, Hemlock Water Dropwort, Common Fleabane, Water Cress, Tufted Forget-me-not, Toad Rush and Marsh Woundwort. The near-threatened Marsh Arrowgrass was abundant. Sedges included False Fox and Long-bracted (Carex otrubae and C. extensa). There were also two small patches of Common Reed and Reed Canary Grass. Grey Club-rush is seemingly rare on Wirral, and we found two plants (out of the three known).
The strandline flora was rich and included four oraches (Spear-leaved, Grass-leaved, Babington’s and Frosted), quite a lot of Ray’s Knotgrass, Curled Dock littoreus, Sea Radish, Sea Mayweed, Sea Sandwort, Sea Beet, Sea Milkwort, Frog Rush and a few Annual Sea-Blite. Single plants of Sea Fern Grass Catapodium marinum and Sea Hard Grass Parapholis strigosa were also found.
Sand Dune plants are found in the sand that is building up just below the promenade and around the Lifeboat Station and included Lyme Grass, Sea Sandwort, Sea Holly, Sand Sedge, Lesser Hawkbit and Buckshorn Plantain.
The promenade wall and edge held Pellitory of the Wall, Common Poppy, Rape, Wall Barley, Common Whitlow Grass, Annual Wall Rocket, Annual Meadow Grass, Red and White Clovers, Common Mallow, Shepherd’s Purse, and Common Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha ssp. ruderale etc. The base of the prom wall and slipways was rich with willow saplings (Goat, Grey, Osier, and Hybrid Crack), Wood Avens, Great Willowherb, Creeping Buttercup, Teasel and Cocksfoot Grass amongst others. In this habitat were most of the Aliens. From the Americas - Orange Balsam Impatiens capensis, Beggarticks Bidens frondosa (frequent by the slipways and spread here via the canal network from the Midlands), Michaelmas Daisy Symphyotrichum sp., Canadian and Guernsey Fleabanes; from Asia – Japanese Rose, Pineappleweed and Buddleia and from Europe – Borage, Hoary Mustard, and Annual Wall Rocket.
Buttonweed Cotula coronopifolia has its origin in South Africa; locally it is found here and at Southport (Marshside). Flax Linum usitatissimum, Oat and Sunflower probably originated as bird seed from nearby garden feeders.
For some plants there was good direct side by side comparison the oraches, saltmarsh grasses and the three Knotgrasses - Common, Equal-leaved and Ray’s (which was surprisingly frequent). Debris from the sea was rare with just a few Ray egg cases, Sea Wash Balls (Whelk egg cases), Heart Urchin (Sea Potatoes) and a few shells.
Insects of note included Large White butterfly eggs on Sea Radish leaves. Single adult Common Blue, Small White, Large White butterflies. Honeybees and Eristalis hoverflies were frequent on the Sea Aster flowers.
Wading birds included at least 650 Oystercatcher, 60 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 90 Dunlin,30 Ringed Plover, however without a telescope we couldn’t find any Curlew Sandpipers that have been here. Other birds comprised gulls, 12 Sandwich Tern, a few Cormorant, 10 Crow, 2 Pied/White Wagtail, a flock of 90 feeding Starling and 12 Linnet feeding on Sea Arrow Grass seeds.
Ergot Claviceps purpurea was on the Reflexed Saltmarsh Grass. Mildews were found on Common Knotgrass, Dandelion, Great Plantain and Smooth Sowthistle.
Text and photos Steve Cross
Rimrose Valley
8th October 2022
Leader - Steve Cross (with help on fungi from Tony Carter)
15 members and friends attended, and we did a circular walk of about one mile. We looked at three parts on walk - flowers, remains of old plants and fungi including mildews. The weather was breezy but sunny and mild.
We saw and named some 98 plants, 37 trees and shrubs, 9 lichens, 1 moss, 6 galls, 15 insects, 9 birds and 52 fungi (thanks to Tony Carter).
Fungal highlights included the Bluefoot Bolete Xerocomus cisalpinus, lots of White Fibrecap Inocybe geophylla including the violet form Lilac Fibrecap var. lilacina, tiny Yellow Mascara Disco Belonidium sulphureum on dead stems, Bowl Hoodie Calyptella capula, Lachnella villosa, Sooty Milkcap Lactarius fuliginosus, Clustered Domecap Lyophyllum decastes, Sticky Scalycap
Pholiota gummosa, a large group of the large Blushing Milkcap Lactarius controvesus, several clumps of Stump Puffball Lycoperdon pyriforme, Splitgill Schizophyllum commune, Peziza micropus, White Brain Exidia thuretiana and Scaly Earthball Scleroderma verucosum. We also looked at the smaller rusts and mildews of the many plant species; knowing the plant means you are well on the way to identifying the mildew.
Sixty-one plants were still in flower including Portuguese Laurel Prunus lusitanica, Goats-rue Galega officinalis, Water Forget-me-not, Gorse, and Common Toadflax. Still going in the flower meadow were Cornflower, Corn Marigold, Sunflower, Borage, Wild Carrot and Viper’s Bugloss. Most of the trees and shrubs were full of berries and fruit including Hornbeam by the car park and the Sycamore with purple underside to leaves was form purpureum.
We also looked at plants that had gone over finding Gypsywort, Clustered Dock, Fringed Water Lily, Galingale, Red Bartsia; old heads of Crow Garlic Allium vineale, and Hairy Sedge Carex hirta. We compared the two Goldenrods - Canadian and Early Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea.
Insects included four species of butterflies, a Dock Bug Coreus marginatus on my boot and a few Migrant Hawker dragonflies. Kestrel and Grey Wagtail were also seen.
For a full species list and list in sequence of the walk see attached documents.
8th October 2022
Leader - Steve Cross (with help on fungi from Tony Carter)
15 members and friends attended, and we did a circular walk of about one mile. We looked at three parts on walk - flowers, remains of old plants and fungi including mildews. The weather was breezy but sunny and mild.
We saw and named some 98 plants, 37 trees and shrubs, 9 lichens, 1 moss, 6 galls, 15 insects, 9 birds and 52 fungi (thanks to Tony Carter).
Fungal highlights included the Bluefoot Bolete Xerocomus cisalpinus, lots of White Fibrecap Inocybe geophylla including the violet form Lilac Fibrecap var. lilacina, tiny Yellow Mascara Disco Belonidium sulphureum on dead stems, Bowl Hoodie Calyptella capula, Lachnella villosa, Sooty Milkcap Lactarius fuliginosus, Clustered Domecap Lyophyllum decastes, Sticky Scalycap
Pholiota gummosa, a large group of the large Blushing Milkcap Lactarius controvesus, several clumps of Stump Puffball Lycoperdon pyriforme, Splitgill Schizophyllum commune, Peziza micropus, White Brain Exidia thuretiana and Scaly Earthball Scleroderma verucosum. We also looked at the smaller rusts and mildews of the many plant species; knowing the plant means you are well on the way to identifying the mildew.
Sixty-one plants were still in flower including Portuguese Laurel Prunus lusitanica, Goats-rue Galega officinalis, Water Forget-me-not, Gorse, and Common Toadflax. Still going in the flower meadow were Cornflower, Corn Marigold, Sunflower, Borage, Wild Carrot and Viper’s Bugloss. Most of the trees and shrubs were full of berries and fruit including Hornbeam by the car park and the Sycamore with purple underside to leaves was form purpureum.
We also looked at plants that had gone over finding Gypsywort, Clustered Dock, Fringed Water Lily, Galingale, Red Bartsia; old heads of Crow Garlic Allium vineale, and Hairy Sedge Carex hirta. We compared the two Goldenrods - Canadian and Early Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea.
Insects included four species of butterflies, a Dock Bug Coreus marginatus on my boot and a few Migrant Hawker dragonflies. Kestrel and Grey Wagtail were also seen.
For a full species list and list in sequence of the walk see attached documents.
| full_species_list_rimrose_81022a.docx |
| rimrose_oct_22.docx |
Following photos by Tony Carter
