Last of the summer sunshine?

Two safaris today!

First up was a not too early trip to the seaside. With a north by northwesterly wind there wasn't much about, it would probably have been better yesterday with the gentle southerly that was blowing. All we found was a Grey Wagtail, at least three Wheatears and a Meadow Pipit. Out to sea the only birds seen were two Gannets and a small number of very distant Common Scoters. As the tide came in and the fishermen began to arrive a roost of just over fifty each of Redshanks and Turnstones developed on the wall of the old boating lake. The central pool of this mass of concrete has become a mini salt marsh with grasses and huge patch of Sea Aster which would have been beautiful a couple of weeks ago when in full flower. I had some photos for this section of the blog but managed to inadvertently format the memory card in the camera - - what a numpty!!!!

I hope today's fishermen are tidier than last night's - the prom was a disgrace of discarded line, bait packets, beer cans (empty) and food wrappers - take it home with you please!

Later on with blue skies and balmy temperatures the safari headed the Land Rover northwards up the motorway. The idea was to scout around and see if we could find any Adders basking in the afternoon sunshine. We thought it might be their last chance to get nice and warm and ready for feeding before the weather cools down and it's hibernation time again. We had a good poke around in a favoured area but the Sunday sunshine had brought out ramblers and dog walkers by the thousand so finding somewhere quiet and undisturbed was proving to be difficult. After about an hour we gave up; all we had seen were a few Common Darter dragonflies and a couple of washed out Speckled Wood butterflies. There was no sign of any snakes, not even a Common Lizard so the Land Rover was pointed in the direction of the Otters.

As soon as we were ensconced in the hide by the reedbed a Water Rail showed very well but all too briefly. In the distance a Marsh Harrier snoozed in a bush. Not much was happening but we were there for the waiting game. Two Stoats dashed across the mud right in front of us (right family - wrong species!), their black tipped tails showing they weren't Weasels.

The Marsh Harrier eventually took to the wing and had a short spin round the reedbed before disappearing off over the hill opposite. Later it or a different one was putting the terrors on the local ducks before plunge diving into the reedbed and flushing a Snipe and two Reed Buntings. As the afternoon turned to evening we were treated to a very nice sunset, the colours reflecting beautifully in the water of the lake. The temperature dropped and four Little Egrets came in to roost, but by the time darkness had fallen they had been joined by about another 25 or so making a scene more reminiscent of the Mediterranean than north Lancashire - how times are a-changing.

By now it was too dark to see and the Otters still hadn't appeared so reluctantly it was time to leave.

Was this really the last of the summer sun?

On the way back to the Land Rover a Tawny Owl was heard hooting in the distance and just before we reached the tarmac we flushed what sounded to be 3 or 4 Deer (probably Red Deer) from the reeds just to the side of the path, they crashed through the reeds away from us with much more noise that you normally associate with Deer.

Where to next? You'll have to wait and see - could be anywhere.

In the meantime let us know what you have found in your outback.

Exploring Bispham beach and cliffs

The safari had an very pleasant morning at the seaside. A walk along the cliff top found us studying a patch of 'new' vegetation. The grasslands are registered as a County Biological Heritage Site for their soft cliff grassland vegetation. This patch must have been used a depot for the recent tram track works. The original perennial grassland had been destroyed and in its place was a marvelous patch of wildflowers whose seeds have been waiting in the soil for just such an opportunity to germinate and bloom.

Above is Greater Knapweed, a very scarce plant in the Fylde area. There were a few specimens.
Common Toadflax was quite numerous.

The bee visiting the Borage flowers is Buff Tailed Bumble Bee.

This bee is (I think) a male Red Tailed Bumble Bee - I will check in the field guide and confirm later. It is on Black Knapweed, the much more common of the two Knapweeds in this area. An alternative name for it is Hardheads. They are related to Thistles but do not have spines on the leaves. Both species are visited by bees, butterflies and other nectar seeking insects - as are Thistles which are much more important than their generally held status as 'weeds' suggests.

Below is Birds Foot Trefoil, a common plant of dryish soils and a member of the Pea family. This plant is also known as Eggs and Bacon on account of the red flashes of colour (not shown on this late summer photo) on the yellow flowers. Maybe it should be renamed 'Eggs and Tomato Ketchup'! The 'proper' name comes from the shape of the seed pod - which is like a birds foot - and the clover like leaves which have three leaflets - or foils (Latin/French for leaf). This plant is the foodplant of the beautiful Common Blue butterfly's caterpillars and without it there would be no Common Blues. To tell a Common Blue from a Holly Blue have a look at the underside - patterned - Common Blue; silvery blue with a few spots - Holly Blue. Where did you see it? Low over open grassland with wildflowers including Birds Foot Trefoil - Common Blue; High around the trees and shrubs in parks and gardens - Holly Blue - - usually these rules will hold true.

Coming down off the cliff top and on to the beach we started to look in the pools left behind by the tide. Bispham is unusual along Blackpool's beach as it has large area of pebbles mid beach. We soon found this Common (Edible) Whelk and Common Winkle. The hole in the Whelk is probably where an Oystercatcher or Gull has stabbed through it.

A close up look at the 'mouth' of the Whelk reveals there are no teeth - grooves on the upper (thicker) side of the aperture so it is not Dog Whelk. Things with the name 'Dog' were deemed as useless, e.g Dog Whelk is inedible, Dog Rose has no smell, Dog Wood is not a usable wood - Dogfish is an exception.

These two are Baltic Tellins, a very numerous shell on the beach. One is 'right handed' the other 'left handed'.

Above is a Striped Venus shell. Some shells can be aged, like trees, from annual growth rings. I'm not sure if this is one of those species but it looks like it could be. Anyone fancy counting for us?

An Iceland Cyprina shell was counted to be over 400 years old and thus the world oldest known animal when it was dredged from the seabed.

Amongst the gulls was a lovely adult Mediterranean Gull. Not this one, it had started to moult and lost its black head. It did have a large white ring on its right leg which unfortunately we were unable to read. We could quite get close but not close enough, once we were nearly in range it would, infuriatingly, fly another 20 yards or so down the beach.

You've got to admit they are one of the best looking birds in the book!

We also saw 8 Ringed Plovers scampering about on the beach and three Turnstones picking Barnacles off the rocks. The previous day there had been a Grey Seal reported close in shore but today the wind was stronger making the sea much choppier and we couldn't find him.

Turning back to Base Camp the weather looked like it was going to take a turn for the worse but it did give the opportunity for this rather arty shot of the sun catching the fisherman's lines, glinting green, red and silver.

Where to next?....Could be anywhere!

In the meantime let us know what's in your 'outback'.

The wild Wyre outback

Before we start the main news I have managed to identify the small fish mentioned in the blog of 10th August as a Sand Smelt....on with the show....


The safari ventured up in to the wild headwaters of the river Wyre this weekend. There were some specific target species in mind. The path winds its way along the river bank through an interesting damp woodland, although there is a massive invasion of the pernicious Japanese Knotweed which shades out the native wild flowers. Keeping our eyes glued to the floor due to the rough nature of the path we saw a good number of deer slots (footprints) probably from Roe Deer, but although it was early evening and very quiet unfortunately we didn't see any of them.

Some of the trees are real old beauts. Many are multi-stemmed from being coppiced in the past. Coppicing means trees are cut down and allowed to grow again. The timber being used for all sorts of things such as fencing, tool handles, furniture making, building. Allowing the trees to regrow meant that in a few years time another crop was available. The length of time between cuts depending on the species of tree and the size of wood required. The word coppice comes from the French 'couper' - to cut.

The tree below is a Beech, a good wood for burning and chopping boards and wooden spoons.

This next tree is a Small Leaved Lime and the single straight trunk shows that it has not been coppiced.

The following picture shows a Hazel coppice. Hazel was very important. The thin branches grow quickly and are very springy. It was used for hedging stakes when hedges were laid to keep animals in the fields, it was woven in to hurdles, ie fencing panels, pegs for the washing line, tool handles, and fighting sticks such as those used by Little John, Robin Hood's right hand man.

Below is a Rowan, or somewhat incorrectly Mountain Ash. It has Ash like leaves but is not related, so Rowan is the better name for this tree. Amongst its most important properties is its ability to keep witches, ghosts and ghouls at bay. If you are troubled by any of those be sure to plant one in your garden. Not being a very large tree they are suited to urban situations. This one is a particularly large and venerable specimen as can be seen from the size of the two rotten stumps on either side. I would not like to guess how old this tree might be.

Finally we have an Alder, not to be confused with Elder from which Elderberry wine is made. Alder is the typical tree of Lancashire river valleys and wet areas, and supplied the clog soles for the millions of mill workers in the Victorian factories of industrial Lancashire. When freshly cut the wood turns a beautiful orange colour. Alder is one of the few deciduous trees which has cones but these aren't quite the same as the cones from a conifer tree.

The last tree picture is of a small species of fungus growing out of the moss which is gowing on a Sycamore. I am no expert on fungi nor mosses so can't tell you what they are. Over to you readers, can anyone out there help?

Sycamore has been maligned over the years by conservationists as not being a native species and having the tendancy to overrun native woodland. Its 'helicopter' seeds spread easily and germinate and grow quickly when light is available on the woodland floor, for example when large trees are cut or blown down. It also supports far fewer insect species than native trees such as Oak, Hawthorn, or Willow. However, a single tree can have a population of Greenfly numbering tens of thousands, an important food item for a large variety of predatory insects including Ladybirds. It does have one very impressive saving grace though, because it does not splinter it was traditionally used for loo seats!

At the end of our safari is this spectacular weir. Here we had brief views of two of Britain's most colourful birds, Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker. To the side of the dam is a Salmon ladder to allow the king of fish to pass upstream to the spawning 'redds', shallow gravel patches in the small mountainside tributaries. We watched from the bridge but did not see any Salmon jumping up the rapids or starting the long exhausting climb up the ladder.

The recent heavy rain and high water levels shouldn't have posed any problems for the Salmon but the water is very peat stained as you can see. If the upland drains were stopped up the peat bogs would absorb more water and there would be less erosion preventing this heavy colouration from happening. It also makes the water acidic which can have an adverse effect on the invetebrate life downstream which obviously has consequences for fish and the rest of the food chain.

Enough of the ecology lesson, what were the target species mentioned at the start, and did we see them? Well one was the Salmon, which we didn't see. neither did we see any of the very elusive Otters known to be present in the area. despite not getting the target species we saw huge selection of interesting wildlife culminating in the Kingfisher and had a trip to one of Lancashire's (almost) hidden gems.

Where to next? I can feel a beach safari coming on.

In the meantime please let us know what you have found in your 'outback'.

Sticklebacks and more pictures from Poland

Yesterday a pack of Cubs and Beavers had a go at pond dipping at the Solaris Centre and managed to find the queen of the Sticklebacks - she's a whopper, almost the full width of a Flora margarine pot!

I have just had some more pics from my mate in Poland of our trip sent through the 'ether'.

Common Toads were numerous in the garden of the place we stayed. In the forest we found a Slow Worm on one of the sandy tracks.

Whilst this photo of the young Grass Snake was being taken there were two Golden Eagles soaring about 100 feet above my head!

We searched for an adult snake but had no luck, these Yellow Bellied Toads were probably its prey whever it was.

This Leaf Cutter Bee was a lucky find at the hill top view point at Zakopane and the only wildlife of note we saw up there at 'Blackpool on the hill'.

Back at the base for our trip the garden and surrounding trees held a White Stork roost each evening. A few blogs back (the Zakopane post) I showed a photo of my mate taking a picture of a stork on a post - here is his result...not bad!

This Fox cub was very inquisitive, one night we were on the patio and it was sniffing around the wood pile. With a bit of encouragement it became a bit tamer over the next couple of evenings and posed for a photo.

When I left I suggested that with a bit of patience they would be able to tame it and it would have a basket by the fire next time I visited...that was supposed to be a joke!

Where to next? This coming Sunday (17th) we will be Rock Pooling again at South Beach, Blackpool. Meet at 4.00pm at the Mirror Ball. Bring your buckets, pots and wellies.

In the meantime don't forget to let us know what you have seen in your 'outback'.