NATURE NOTES

Johnny’s Animal Magic

2009
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June
I recently saw a TV gardening programme, which featured a garden with its own Bluebell Wood. I think it was somewhere in the south-east and the owners said that people travelled for miles to see it. They also said that this year is a particularly good year for Bluebells. Well, if like me, you have been walking anywhere in the local woodlands in the first half of May, you will have to agree that it is a particularly good year around here too. It has been dazzling but I guess by the time you read this it will be pretty much over.

Other common wildflowers that have caught my attention have included Wood Sorrel. This is, apparently, one of several wildflowers that people commonly refer to as shamrock. I have also spotted Wood Anemone, Greater Stitchwort, Cow Parsley, Bugle, Common Dog Violet, Pink Campion and Common Bistort. But really I’m out of my depth here. Can anyone tell me what this wildflower is? It is very common along our lanes at this time of year and is a very upright, quite tall, slender plant with quite large toothed heart-shaped leaves and it has clusters of rather insignificant small white flowers at the top. Please let me know via phone or e-mail – a prize if you can get to me before Judy Weeks or Janet Brightmore!

Steve Plimbley phoned me to say that he had seen a large bird going to roost late on 11th May and the next morning an unmistakeable female Marsh Harrier flew low towards him and over his garden. This is a spectacular sighting for Heaton. On a more mundane level, I saw my first Swift in Wincle on May 9th. And when Stuart Goodwin asked me “Where have all the greenfinches gone?”, as far as I was concerned they hadn’t gone anywhere. But, on reflection, there do seem to be less of them about this spring. On the other hand there are plenty of Goldfinches about and on May 13th I saw a charm (what an appropriate description) of at least eight near the Millennium Stone.

Most people love bird song. Everybody who has heard it considers the dawn chorus one of the wonders of nature. All the books say the Nightingale is the greatest singer in Europe and many people I know have a great liking for the common thrushes. Bird song has inspired great music from ‘The Lark Ascending’ (Vaughan Williams) to ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Sherwin and Maschwitz) to ‘Blackbird’ (The Beatles) and many others. Not all birds produce sounds which humans find musically appealing. I know people who are really irritated by the repetitive cooing of the Collared Dove. And the calls of gulls, corvids and pheasants are generally grating and raucous. But most are vocal and many bird-watchers use calls and songs as a key element of identification. In fact, if the bird isn’t singing you have to be a real expert to separate a Willow Warbler from a Chiff Chaff. These common, delicate leaf warblers are virtually identical to look at.

But what is this ‘noise’ really all about? Well, the first thing I have to say is that birds rarely, if at all, sing for pleasure in the way that people do. They sing predominantly in the breeding season. Once the young have left the nest the woodlands are relatively quiet and late summer into early autumn is a difficult time for birders. A few species such as the ubiquitous Robin and Mistle Thrush can be heard year round but this is unusual. The vast majority of singing and calling is done by males and it has three main purposes:

(a) It is to other males saying, “I am establishing or I have established a territory here so keep away!”
(b) It is to females saying, “Here I am - come and get it!”
(c) It is to its mate (and others of its own kind) saying, “Look out!” and signalling the approach of a cat, hawk, crow, stoat or another of the many possible dangers to themselves, their eggs or their young.

However, I don’t suppose for one moment that knowing this makes the sound of a Curlew or an Eider or a Yellowhammer any less pleasing to our ears.

May
Jill Coulson of Rushton kindly sent me a comprehensive list of birds seen in her garden or around Rushton in 2009. Most interesting to me are the Mute Swan that occasionally visits the Feeder (that runs through the garden!) and sightings of Redpolls. Jill says this is the first time she’s seen these small finches in the area. They are by no means rare, although I don’t see them often. Already this year I have also had reports from Keith Brightmore and Kate Brough (who sent me photos) and have seen a couple myself. They can easily be confused with Linnets which are more common in these parts but are very rarely seen in gardens. Alison Weston sent me a funny snap of a Sparrowhawk ‘waiting for tea’ on a feeder. Jill describes the Sparrowhawk as a ‘real nuisance in the spring and summer’.

Here’s a sample of the many migrants that have arrived or passed through at the time of writing. I have seen and had several reports of Curlew and at least one Lapwing was investigating the fields between Top House and Wincle Grange late in March. I saw my first Swallow behind Bagstones Farm on March 31 and had several other reports that week. ‘Postman’ Lee and I watched a Spotted Flycatcher outside The Ship Inn on April 13 – this is an early arrival. The previous day I heard a Willow Warbler in Bosley.

I had a fantastic and lengthy view of a Stoat exploring the banks of a small stream at Tittesworth reservoir on April 2. It was totally oblivious to my presence and my dog, which was off lead, was surprisingly not interested in it. On this day and earlier at Tittesworth, along the Dane feeder and in other damp spots, I have seen quite a lot of Butterbur in flower. I am always taken by the way this plant flowers before its huge rhubarb-like leaves appear, although I don’t suppose many would describe it as pretty. Finally, on 9 April we had a family trip to Chatsworth and, as well as seeing Oystercatcher, House and Sand Martins by the river, Kay ‘fished’ a Ladybird out of my hair – it really is spring now!

April
How many times have you seen a mole in your life? Not many, I bet. I’ve seen a few dead ones in fields and on roads and a few have been delivered home the cat. But I can’t recall seeing a live one. Sue Norgrove tells me that she has a lawn that is more molehill than grass and I recently saw two farmers digging around, presumably, setting traps. So these small black mammals have been very active underground in late February and early March. They have spade-like forelimbs with fierce-some claws for digging and eat ‘animals’ in the soil, predominantly earthworms. They live below ground most of the time but do occasionally venture above and are “solitary, quarrelsome and good swimmers”. In reality, the mole is considered to be a pest by many farmers and gardeners and not the loveable creature featured in ‘The Wind in the Willows’. Males are boars and females are sows. Moles can be found almost anywhere in North America, Europe and Asia (apart from Ireland – why is that?) and they are a protected species in Germany.

Derek Riley was telling me about the considerable income he received from farmers in the 1950s for trapping moles. He used to put traps in the runs and I know that various ‘gassing’ techniques have been used over the years too. Mole trapping is obviously a real mix of art and science and has a considerable history. Computer users who find this at all interesting should visit www.guildofbritishmolecatchers.co.uk - it’s absolutely fascinating.

On Sunday 1st March, I heard a bird call in the early evening that I didn’t recognise and I couldn’t locate the bird. Three days later I heard the same call in Stratford-on-Avon and looked up to see a Grey Heron in flight. On Saturday 7 March I had a long conversation about birds with Steve Plimbley, who wrote these articles before I took over. He has obviously seen far more than I have in far more exotic places than I have. But he still gets excited at this time of year by the flush of new life and appearance of the first migrants.

March
During some real winter weather, I’ve seen far more Redwings than in recent years and lots of Dippers but nothing particularly surprising. Fortunately, I have been deluged with unusual sightings by other Link readers.

I exchanged e-mails with Julian Ruddock (and conversations with others) about House Sparrows and Blackcaps. House Sparrows have declined in recent years but Cheshire is one of their strongholds and I get them in my garden quite often. Julian and Enid have never seen them in their garden but had a pair of birds in January, which they are 99% sure were Blackcaps. These are summer visitors from Africa and the Mediterranean with about 13,000 recorded in Cheshire in 2004/05. On average about 60 visit Cheshire in the winter from Germany and Austria.

Kate Brough sent me an excellent photo of a Treecreeper on a nut feeder. This is not a rare bird and this is a good time of year to see them. But I’ve never heard of them visiting nut feeders. In fact, I always thought they only ate small creepy crawlies - with spiders being their favourite snack.

Guy Milner had an unusual bird ground-feeding outside his kitchen on 3rd February. He spoke to me and someone at the RSPB. He is certain that it was a bunting and fairly sure it was a Lapland Bunting. This would be pretty unusual but by no means impossible with the very strong easterly winds we had experienced. Unfortunately, when I visited the next day the most exciting thing was the constant fighting between the Blackbirds! As well as discussing the birds, Guy also told me about a Stoat taking a rabbit.

Chris and Alan Wych saw an unusual bird on the same day very near to Guy’s house. I am convinced that what they saw was a Whinchat. This is another summer visitor, which according to my new Cheshire bird bible has only been recorded here in the winter 3 times in the last 20 years. Do keep me informed of your sightings and, if you can, keep the birds till I get there - oh, but don’t let the twitchers know or we’ll be swamped with them!

February
These days, it's possible to find out everything about everything from the radio, TV and The Internet. There's no need for newspapers or books anymore. But there's something very special about a good book that doesn't translate to the airwaves or screen. So I am thrilled to have bought myself a fantastic bird book in November and received another one for Christmas.

The one I bought is the very recently published "Birds in Cheshire and Wirral" (Liverpool University Press and Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society). This is an extensive study of breeding and wintering birds during the years 2004 to 2007. It contains a wealth of interesting information and quite academic analysis and is the sort of book that you can't help but 'dip into' regularly. The gift is "Consider The Birds" by Colin Tudge (Allen Lane). This is a very serious read of about 460 pages, which I am nearly a third of the way through. It looks at the evolution of birds, their classification, and every aspect of their lives. Both these books are definitely for the serious naturalist. The first bird book I ever bought was "The Mitchell Beazley Birdwatcher's Pocket Guide" published by Mitchell Beazley and The RSPB. I have had several field guides since but I would still recommend this to anyone who is a complete novice or who knows a little bit about birds and would like something that is comprehensive and easy to carry with you. It is a gem.

In Link 55, I wrote about list keeping. If you go to Paul Woodcock's website www.cleulow.com/Wood Cottage Bird List and you will find a list of 63 different birds that Paul has seen on or flying over his property in the 18 months that he has been there. Although this is extremely impressive, there are a few birds that are fairly easy to see in The Link area, which he hasn't recorded. These include Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Chiff Chaff, Treecreeper, Bullfinch and now Barn Owl. I saw all of the latter three in Wincle or Swythamley in January. Good nature watching in 2009 and do please keep me informed of your sightings.

January
You might want to put some violin music on for this one. I've had a pretty good life on the whole. I grew up in Alsager, spent many happy years in Brighton and a few good ones in Bristol before moving to wonderful Wincle. However, during the last two mostly damp and rarely sunny summers I have sometimes wondered about the benefits of living in the country. Then, at the end of November and start of December I was reminded by Mother Nature just how fantastic it is to live here. A mix of low temperatures, atmospheric mists, spectacular sunsets, a light snowfall and beautiful frosted spiders' webs and foliage all made me realise that the idea of ever being a 'townie' again is just not on.

During this period I saw 100s, if not 1000s, of Fieldfare in Wincle and Swythamley, a Pochard and three Little Grebes on Ridgegate Reservoir and a Merlin near Tolls Farm. Whilst walking round Tittesworth reservoir, I spotted Goldcrests, Long-tailed Tits and Redwings. At the dam end of the water, I came across a sizeable group of 'twitchers'. They were looking at a small wader that I identified as a Common Sandpiper. This is always a nice bird to see but would be no 'big deal' to these people. So I asked them what they were excited about and was told that it was a Spotted Sandpiper. Apparently, this is a very occasional vagrant here from North America. I was relieved when they told me that this bird is virtually indistinguishable from a Common Sandpiper at this time of the year but gets its name from the spotted breast of its breeding plumage.

And now a sad story. What would you do if you found a young bird on the ground or any injured bird? All the literature says that generally the best thing is to leave it alone and let nature take its course because: (1) in the case of young birds the parents are usually close by and will feed it and try to encourage it to safety, and (2) injured birds rarely recover if rescued by people. But this is easier said than done. On the 1st December, I found a Little Owl sitting in the road near my home. It seemed alright but was obviously not safe where it was, so I picked it up and placed it on a low fence post. It immediately fell off onto the grass. I took it home and examined it. There was no obvious injury, its wings spread easily and it clung tenaciously to my glove. But it made no attempt to fly or walk away, so I put it in a box and phoned the RSPCA. They advised me to take it to the vet in Old Mill Street, Macclesfield. The next day the vet phoned to say that, although she could find no injury, the owl had not improved and was constantly falling onto its face. She decided, therefore, that the best thing to do was to put it to sleep.

2008
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December
By now all of our summer visitors will have long gone and our winter migrants will have mostly arrived. Here are a few birds you can look out for between late October and March:

* Fieldfare and Redwing, the winter thrushes, feed in large mixed flocks on farmland. When trying to identify the different thrushes look at their 'armpits' in flight - MistleThrush and Fieldfare = white, Song Thrush = buff, Redwing = red. I have already seen a few Fieldfare and The Malkins reported a large flock on 5th November.
* If you visit any large body of water look out for winter ducks such as Pochard, Goldeneye, Wigeon and Teal, resident Great Crested Grebe and Little Grebe and waders such as Dunlin, sandpipers, Snipe and godwits.
* Bramblings are very close relatives of Chaffinches. They are fairly common winter visitors in woodland and are particularly fond of beech masts. I find that tiny residents, such as Long-Tailed Tits (often seen in 'family groups'), Siskin and Goldcrests, are easier to spot at this time of year too. Josie Hambleton of Rushton Spencer reported Brambling and Siskin feeding in her garden and Dave Mullins saw a Goldcrest in his, both during the first week of November.
* Various species of geese and swans, most of which breed further north, spend the winter in the UK and in autumn and spring some of them fly over our area in V-shaped skeins. Paul Woodcock saw Bewick's Swans and Pink-Footed Geese on 2nd November.

On 23rd October, I was privileged to see Bob Fox and Stu Luckley perform superb traditional folk music at Graham and Vanya's house. And, by happy coincidence, that evening I met Janet Brightmore's brother who is the dragonfly recorder for the whole of Cheshire. I told him about Anne Bailey's find (Link 57) and he said it was probably not a Brachytron Pratense (Hairy Dragonfly). He thought it was much more likely to be a Southern or Common Hawker. You can see wonderful pictures, distribution maps, flight graphs etc of these and many more at: www.brocross.com/dfly/dfly.htm

November
Too many people to name (but including Bob Foot and the Lightowlers) have reported sightings of woodpeckers. For clarification, there are three different woodpeckers resident in the UK, all can be seen in our area and all the males have a red patch on the top or back of their heads. They are all fabulous! The Green Woodpecker is a fairly large green bird, with a spectacular lime green rump in flight. It feeds mostly on the ground and is very partial to ants. The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is a medium-sized black and white bird, which visits garden nut feeders frequently and bird tables occasionally. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a smaller version of the Greater Spotted with distinctive black and white stripes on its back. It is the most elusive of the three, although I now know of three gardens in Wincle and Swythamley that they visit from time to time.

The climate has been exceptionally unpredictable in recent years and this clearly affects wildlife. Soon after my last report, Anne Bailey from Rushton called me to say she had found a 'dopey' dragonfly and wondered if this was unusually late. She had looked it up and thought it was a Brachytron Pratense. It does seem to be a bit late from my research but not spectacularly so. On October 10th I saw what I am pretty sure was a Lestes Sponsa damselfly close to Danebridge Fisheries. Kim Crossland gave me a cutting from a national newspaper about an influx of a large number of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies into southern England during the better weather in September.

On 6th October, Kate Brough photographed a small lizard or amphibian on her doorstep. She kindly sent me her excellent snapshot and I am convinced that it is a female Smooth (or Common) Newt in its 'terrestrial stage'. If anybody wants to argue don't hesitate to get in touch - as I have said before, writing these articles is extending my knowledge beyond birds and I do not consider myself an expert! Finally, during the second week of October Ed Stubbs and I both heard stags bellowing in the woods along the Dane.

October
Both pairs of Barn Owls reported previously have successfully reared 3/4 young respectively and the nests have been visited and recorded by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. Hopefully the parents will return next year and the young birds will find somewhere in our area to breed when they are ready. Sarah Allen tells me she saw a 'white owl' in the first week of September.

Sue Bradbury phoned me to say she has seen Common Blue butterflies near The Wild Boar Inn and Winston Blythe found an infertile Spotted Flycatcher egg in his garden. Alison Weston rescued a distressed young Tawny Owl from the roadside in Sutton and cared for it for a few days but, after improving well, it sadly died. Lee Whittaker and I have regularly seen Green Woodpeckers near to Bagstones and Paul Woodcock told me he saw a family of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers feeding at Whitelee in late July and early August. Paul and I both had sightings of a single Wheatear near Wincle Grange. This handsome summer visitor is fairly common on the higher ground around Buxton, but it is unusual to see one in these parts.

During the rare moments of sunshine since mid- August, the Buddleias beside Wincle Church and in my garden were visited by many butterflies - Peacock, various whites, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. In early September, I noticed some large bracket fungi on trees between the Swythamley Lodges and saw many, differently coloured (white, cream, yellow, orange, brown, red) mushrooms in Wincle and Swythamley and on Gun Moor.

I recently learnt that slugs and snails like hiding in box hedges and bushes. And all gardeners know how much they love feeding on hostas. A few years ago we planted a small box hedge and a group of hostas close to each other. No wonder I've had such problems with my hostas in the last two wet summers. But is this a wildlife observation or a gardening tip?

August/September
People are always writing lists. Shopping lists, DIY lists, things to do at work lists, holiday lists. Naturalists are mad about lists and most birders have lists for their garden, local 'patch', county, Britain, Europe and the world - and each of these are put into year and life lists!

Late in July, I spotted a small butterfly in a Wincle hedgerow. Trying hard to remember every detail of the under-wing (having only seen the wings open for long enough to say it was definitely blue) I rushed home and grabbed my insect guide book and logged on to the Internet. I am 95% sure that what I saw was a Common Blue. I can't remember ever seeing a blue butterfly in Wincle before and two other local nature lovers can't remember seeing one either. So that's a first for my local butterfly list. I also identified Barred Yellow and White Plume moths in our garden. I have probably seen these before but it is thanks to writing these articles that I am paying greater attention to creatures other than birds.

About a week earlier, I had a very pleasant walk on the roads around Bearda. I saw several varieties of white and brown butterflies, a Spotted Flycatcher (I have seen them regularly again this year), a Pied Flycatcher (the second I have seen this year) and a Kingfisher flew at head height less than 10 feet in front of me. As if that wasn't exciting enough, I then saw a bird that has eluded me for years - a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Several people have told me they have seen this bird in various places around the UK, including in The Link patch. But it has always been my bogie bird. At last, I can add it to my local, British and life lists.

I have been allowed extra space to tell you about some of the things that members of my growing 'team' have reported to me. Thanks go to everyone, too numerous to name, for their interest.

Staffs Moorlands DC has introduced a new policy for the cutting of the grass verges, which in upland areas will not be done until September to allow wild flowers to seed. At the end of July, in the verge opposite Isle Farm at Gun End there were lots of common orchids going to seed and lower down the road many bog asphodels were in bloom. Hopefully, we will see lots more wild flowers at the roadside. So far, I have been unable to get a clear view of the policy in Cheshire.

I have previously told you about two pairs of Barn Owls being very active in our area throughout June and July. I can now report that two chicks were seen on 4 August - THIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS! Ravens have been seen regularly since January, definitely nested and recently four flew over Bagstones Farm. Early in August, 12 Goosanders were seen on the Dane in Wincle. The next day I met a fisherman who said that "large numbers" of these 'sawbill' ducks had been reported further downstream.

I have been assured that the large bats I saw at Bartomley Farm in June and Snipe Cottage in July are Brown Long-eared Bats. Very early in August, a Sparrowhawk flew down the road outside The Ship (photo of one at Allmeadows this spring), a Spotted Flycatcher took a small butterfly (probably a Meadow Brown) in a Swythamley garden and the House Martins had already left their nests at Chapman's Row. I have also been told about a site along the Dane between Rushton and Congleton where it is possible to see Sand Martins.

And finally, not exactly local but totally fascinating, my attention was drawn to reports in the national media about the nocturnal Malaysian pen-tailed tree-shrew that drinks fermented nectar (up to 3.8% alcohol) from the bertam palm. Researchers have found that after the equivalent of 9 glasses of wine these tiny creatures remain steady on their feet and never get a hangover. Lucky &%##ers!

July
You may recall that I reported a Polecat sighting in Wincle in December last. Shortly after writing my last article I received a report from Mary and Norman Belfield that they had seen one in their garden on 17th June. And, following even more reports of sightings of Barn Owls, I saw individual birds on three different occasions in mid-July at two different locations in Heaton and Swythamley. I am pretty sure breeding is taking place at both these sites. As a result I have been frantically reading the owls sections of my bird books. Two things I have learnt are that females are larger than males (as they are in most birds of prey) and that barn owl numbers are largely determined by vole numbers - and voles have a three year breeding cycle with the population being much higher every third year.

I have to thank Kim Crossland who, although he can't tell a Kingfisher from a Woodpecker, has been regularly giving me newspaper cuttings about wildlife since I started writing these articles. Recently he gave me one summarising an RSPB survey which showed that House Martin numbers are down dramatically this year. A few days later, I was walking beside the Dane when I saw literally 100s of them taking insects low over the meadows and river. I thought, "If the RSPB are right, I better enjoy these whilst I can". And then I stood in a really deep cow pat.

There are three wildflowers which are all common in most of Great Britain, can easily be identified and I am sure are familiar to most Link readers. They are all tall in growth and have pink to purple clusters of flowers. These are Purple Loosestrife (flowering June to August), Rosebay Willowherb and Foxglove (both flowering June to September). Purple Loosestrife is not too keen on acid soils but the latter two are very common in our area and have helped to brighten up my recent invariably grey, and frequently wet, daily walks.


Johnny Morris
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The landscape
Wincle sits in hills that rise out of the Eastern edge of the Cheshire plain. Farms, barns and dry stone walls are all built out of the same harsh millstone grit that make up the surrounding slopes.
The mixed landscape includes farmland interspersed with deciduous woodlands along the sides of the river valley, rising to heather moorland on the high ground.

Sir Philip Brocklehurst, one of the areas landowners in the late eighteenth century described the area as follows- “Few English Districts are more interesting to those who study nature in her wildest and fairest states…. valleys, rivers, rocks and hills lie mingled in profuse variety; the purple heather blends with the green moss and toppling crags rise out of verdant woods”.

Clearly not much has changed since then and a recent review article described the area as “ Conveys a feeling of being totally divorced from the rest of the country. Here rugged heather-clad moorland, swift flowing streams, turbulent rivers, scattered farms and tiny hamlets nestling in the folds of the hills” (Cheshire Life February 2003)

On a clear night, the sky can be particularly beautiful in Wincle. Far enough away from the street lights of the neighbouring towns for a good number of stars to be visible, on a cloudless, moon-free night the Milky Way can be seen and occasionally a shooting star.

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Wildlife
The varied landscape of Wincle and the surrounding area provides a rich habitat for many species of wildlife, including badgers, foxes, stoats, rabbits, hares and field mice.

Bats are often seen on dusky evenings in summer, emerging from their tree roosts to hunt for insects. Owls can be heard throughout the night, both barn and tawny owls. Little owls can sometimes be seen during the day, tucked into a tree or sitting on telegraph wires.

Birds regularly sited include kestrels and sparrow hawks hunting over the open fields, and woodpeckers, nuthatches and tree creepers in the woodlands.

The distinctive cries of curlews and lapwings can be heard over the meadows, particularly in summer. Swallows and house martens are regular visitors, nesting in local barns. Pied flycatchers also arrive in the spring, to make their homes in ivy on the house and farm fronts.

On the Dane, white breasted dippers can often be seen perching on rocks and bobbing in their distinctive way or skimming the water as they speed off to their next spot.

Garden birds might include wrens, goldfinches, tits, greenfinches, collared doves, robins, thrushes and blackbirds.

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