The Wildlife thread.

[Paul D]

That's interesting that, maybe that's what has happened here, you never know? When I first went over to it I thought I'd found a Penguin, I was looking at its head the wrong way.

[the golden vision]

Great find anyway.

[BeeGee]

Woodpecker at breakfast - apologies for the quality, through a double glazed window.

[BeeGee]

And some followers.

[BeeGee]

Mother was keeping a watchful eye then walked them through the garden to the pond on the golf course.

[the golden vision]

Nice pics BG, I see a Greenfinch lurking there as well

[BeeGee]

Don't know what the plant is but the local bee population love it. It's on a westerly wall and in the afternoon there can be up to four bees on each flower - some taking a snooze!

[the golden vision]

Seaforth Nature Reserve

As the demise of Seaforth Nature Reserve due to port expansion approaches,I popped down there yesterday.
Seaforth Dock pools was my first local bidwatching patch. I visted the dock from the late 1970's until the mid 1980's. It wasn't a reserve then, in fact, access was by trespass it was part of the dock estate, a hole in the fence was the way in. I would usually have the place to myself, occasionally a couple of other birdwatchers woud appear, one of which would later become the first warden of the reserve.

The main attraction at Seaforth back then, were the winter visitors, diving ducks, gulls, mergansers etc. Hardly any birds bred there, although the ringed plover was present even then, nesting on the shingle next to the radar tower.
Today, seaforth is a stronghold of not just the ringed plover but also the nationally rare, little-ringed plover. The reserve is also home to a colony of common terns as well as to other less common birds, the reserve is a huge success.
So, it will be very sad to see this go, but, to try and be positive one of the possible alternative sites for a new reserve, the mouth of the river alt at Hightown, 3 miles north of seaforth, has potential.
This would certainly be my preferred new location. Again, remaining positive, access at Hightown should be a lot less restrictive than at present(port security) and be accessible to a wider public instead of being exclusive to members of a particular organisation, which is the current set-up with the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.


My old stomping ground yesterday. I made a clandestine visit(yes I'm still trespassing ) The air was alive with sound of screaming swifts(luckily caught one in shot) and terns.

[Paul D]

I didn't realise there was little-ringed plover there aswell, did you manage too see any?

[the golden vision]

No, I was only on there for five minutes. I know the little -ringed plover bred regularly up until 2002 at least.

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by the golden vision

No, I was only on there for five minutes. I know the little -ringed plover bred regularly up until 2002 at least.

Thanks I didn't know that.

[the golden vision]

[Paul D]

Sefton red squirrels recover from pox 'nose dive'

Red squirrel Almost 90% of Sefton's red squirrels were killed by squirrel pox in 2008

Merseyside's red squirrels, which were nearly wiped out by squirrel pox, have "bounced back" to repopulate the area.

A Red Squirrels Northern England report found the Sefton population, which fell to about 150 after the 2008 epidemic, was around 1,000.

It also found the animals had created small but viable populations in nearby areas of Lancashire.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust's Fiona Whitfield said the increase was the third highest since monitoring began.

She added that the figures "reinforce the conclusion drawn over the past couple of years that the red squirrel population in the coastal pine woods is continuing to recover".

A spokesman for the trust said Sefton had about 1,500 red squirrels before the outbreak of the virus in 2008 and saw almost 90% of the population killed.

He said it was "fantastic" that the number had gone back up to about 1,000.

The red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) was once the only squirrel in Europe until American grey squirrels were introduced in the 1800s
They are solitary animals, and usually only come together to mate
Red squirrels build nests called dreys which they may share with related squirrels to keep warm during winter
Females usually have litters of 2-3 kittens, but only between 20 and 50% of young survive into adulthood

Ms Whitfield said: "These results reinforce the conclusion drawn over the past couple of years that the red squirrel population in the coastal pine woods is continuing to recover."

Sefton's red squirrels live predominantly in the Ainsdale National Nature Park and the National Trust's Formby reserve, but investigations of "buffer zones" had found they had moved into adjacent areas.

The study found small populations in Ince Blundell, Little Crosby, Scarisbrick, Halsall Moss, Shirdley Hill and Crosby.

A sighting of red squirrels at Knowsley Park was also confirmed, but a significant population could not be confirmed in the area.

The findings have come as part of a wider process of mapping the presence of red and grey squirrels across the north of England by Red Squirrels Northern England.

[terryb]

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[terryb]

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[terryb]

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[terryb]

Down the pine woods most mornings.still not many around, morning i took photo's there were about six, soon as you get your camera out they are up the trees .think Ainsdale still have a problem.

[Pobbie]

Nice pictures.

It's great to hear the red squirrel population has recovered so quickly. I honestly thought that pox outbreak would finish them off in this part of the country.

It's also nice that they seem to be spreading outside the vicinity of Formby, though most woodlands I go to have an abundance of greys, so they may struggle to get a foothold (unless they've developed an immunity to the virus carried by the greys).

[the golden vision]

I didn't know the Red Squirrel population had fallen that drastically, good to see they've recovered. I'm not quite sure what they mean in that report when they say they have spread to other areas. They probably mean re-populated, there has always been (30 years at least) a small population of Reds at Ince woods.

I've got say there's a touch irony about the conservation of the Red Squirrel locally. It was only introduced to the area in the 1940's, specifically to the newly planted conifer plantation at Formby, from where it gradually spread to Knowsley, Crosby etc. It was imported from eastern europe, and I'm sure I read once some were actually American Reds ! Is anyone else aware of this ? Anyway, there's a consensus that there is a British sub-species of the European Red Squirrel, the native British species which has been here since the last Ice Age. So the population at Formby are recent immigrants, which means the American Greys have more claims to be being British having been here longer

[Paul D]

No I didn't know that, I doubt many will.