Philips park, Waterdale, Mere clough, dam and River Irwell. 9.15a.m. to 12.45p.m.
Dragonflies and damselflies: Common Blue damselflies Brown Hawkers Southern Hawkers Migrant Hawkers Common Darters and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly near the river (the first time I've seen one here).
Butterflies: Small White Peacock a pair of Brimstones feeding on Michaelmas daisies Speckled Woods everywhere.
a few finds in the clough were common hemp nettle, soapwort, toad rush, remote sedge, common sedge and Japanese knotweed.
in the neglected gardens around the site of the old house two good size maidenhair trees (Ginkgo biloba), Midland Hawthorn, Highclere Holly, Persian ivy, Royal Fern, English Yew, the Gunera and possibly a Tulip Tree but leaves not quite right. These are so called specimen trees placed in gardens such as Fletcher Moss botanical garden and shows in its day this must have been a local mini version of that at Phillips Park. Other stuff has been found in the past includes sweet chestnut so other stuff should also be there. Clifton Park also boasts a similar collection including Sawara Cyprus and a Redwood..
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Saturday 23rd of August 2014 12:40:45 AM
Damshead Lodge Emperor Dragonfly, Brown, Southern & Migrat Hawker, Four Spotted Chaser, Blue, Azure and Blue Tailed Damsel probably the best small lodge for these in bury. Much the same on Kingfisher Lodge. Waterdale Common Fleabane Upright Hedge Parsley, Water Mint Sewage Works Meadow Cranesbill, Common Century, Canadian Goldenrod, Vipers Bugloss, Sea Mayweed (Much reduced) Sea Raddish, Salad Burnet, Great and Lesser Knapweed, Lady's Bedstraw Clifton Aqueduct Small Copper, Peacock Large White, Common Blue, Speckled wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown Weld and a huge Vetch Type plants with white and blue flowers that need to ID and is goats rue Galega officinalis about 12 plants
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Tuesday 29th of July 2014 12:58:38 AM
In flower Primrose, Blackthorn, Lesser celandine, Alternate Leaved Golden Saxifrage lots of frogs and frogspawn, grey squirrel, wood mouse and three types of ground beetles including nicely marked Bembidion tetracolum.
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Saturday 8th of March 2014 07:00:21 PM
Richard Buxton's was a Prestwich Working Class Naturalist who penned 1849 The Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, and Algæ, Found Indigenous Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester. It's a gem listing his travels and locations of plants he found from the pre industrial world. In Mere Clough you still find Wood Sorrel, Ramsons Wood Anemone, Great Bitter Cress. In the Mersey Valley his Adder Tongue Fern is still present. Reading I noticed he reported 'In the reservoir attached to the Bleach Works Mere Clough Potamogeton Crispus Curled Pondweed and Potamogeton Rufescens Reddish Pondweed. His buddy Grindon in his 'Manchester Flora' 1859 listed the former for the same location. Went to test the chances of these still existing in the same lodge. Potamogeton Crispus Curled Pondweed although common was found. Looked for the other but no luck. I did however fing a bank of Dog's Mercury and Yellow Pimpernel. He also lists Potamogeton lucens or Shining Pondweed 'in profusion' at one pond in Dunham Massey. This was also confirmed some years ago. Unfortunately his Thyme Leaved Sandwort on Clifton Aqueduct is long gone.
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Monday 12th of August 2013 12:29:21 PM
Sewage Works Greater Knapweed, Sea Mayweed, Wild Parsnip, Mallow, Vipers Bugloss, Common Centaury, large flowered evening primrose, wild carrot, poppy, kidney vetch, heath bedstraw, wood aven, marsh and Hedge woundwort, Meadow Cranesbill Common Storksbill ladies Bedstraw, Wild Radish. wood mouse
Waterdale Common Fleabane, Common Spotted Orchid, Meadow Sweet, White Water Lilly Water Mint, Gypsywort, Marsh and hedge woundwort Emperor Dragonfly, Green Shieldbugs
Drinkwater Park Fringed Water lily in huge swathes, Water Soldier, Frogbit (These Plants seem to be always in the vicinity of even if filled in or in the Bury Bolton Canal , Here, Elton and Darcy Lever) Marsh Woundwort Gypsywort and Hemp nettle
Large small skipper, gatekeepers, meadow browns, speckled wood
A Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) visited my garden today, it was showing a lot of interest in a patch of Cleavers
growing in a flowerbed. I'm guessing it was looking for it's food plant Bedstraw which looks similar. I ran in the house and got my camera
and managed to get a few shots of it before it was chased off by a Sparrow (I hope it didn't get it).
flickr site under AlanF17.
Red, Azure, and Common Blue Damsel, Four Spotted Chasers, Common Newt & Frog, four Common Pond Scators feeding on stranded Bumble Bee, Lesser Water Boatmen, Duckweed Moth, Cuckoo Bee Nnomada Flava, Nettle Weavel lots of Carp Basking some big ones, and Orange Tipped Butterflies among more common things Yellow Pimpeernel, Red and white Campion, Hop Trefoil, Great Bitter Cress, Blue bell, Ramsons, Alternate Leaved Golden Saxifrage, Kydney Vetch, Birds Foot Trefoil, Dames Violet, Ragged Robin, Black Medic, Herb Robert, Smooth Vetch Bush Vetch, Common Sorrel Common Bistort, White and Red Clover, Salad Burnet, Water Cress, Flag Iris, Oxeye Daisy, Comon Cranesbill, White Dead nettle curled dock and lesser Burdock all in flower
including Philips Park, Waterdale and Thirteen arches. 10.00a.m. to 12.30p.m.
Weasel ran across path near dam Toad tadpoles and Smooth Newts in small wildlife pond Lots of Orange-tip and Green-veined White Butterflies on Lady's smock flowers few Peacock butterflies. No sign of any Damsel or Dragonflies yet.
Done two visits for invertebrates Sewage works and much to ID but one thing of note
Sea Mayweed on some hard standing where most of the wild carrot and vipers bulgloss is flowering. Can't find the Sea Rocket yet. On the shell beds blackberry, willow trying to establish itself.
Had another visit things growing apace and the site has changed many new invasive spacies, common nettle, broad leaved dock cleavers, many others appear to be and definately missing corn cockle, corn flower, sea mayweed, wild pansy, prickly lettuce others have moved to other gravelly hardstanding or edges of site and much reduced Wild Carrot, Vipers bulgloss. Some still doing well Oxeye daisy that is widespread, kidney vetch. others colonising the wider area like Wild Raddish doves foot cranesbill. Others hanging on like greater knapweed and poppy. Difficult to say if sea radish still present as key diagnostic is seed case and many have been eaten. Few found were wild radish. Succession!
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Tuesday 26th of June 2012 09:09:10 PM
Its been a really odd year but to date but ave not seen any sea plants to date but this place only really started 2 weeks ago withthe first oxeye daisies and salad burnet. Stuff clearly still comming through such as wild carrot but it does seem more verbage which could be the rain. Wils and Sea Radish can look similar apart from key differencs in pod and flower both of which are being gobbled up by something or not setting. Stil looking out for corn cockle sea mayweed heartsear etc and hopefully some good bugs
This is a about a football pitch size site of dumped shell material and in part assumed seeded but has in the past produced likes of Sea Mayweed Things just starting
Meadow Cranesbill Vipers Bugloss Common Storks Bill, Kidney Vetch, Poppy Wild Radish, Lesser Burdock, White Dead nettle, OxEye Daisy Birdsfoot trefoil, Curled Dock, Salad Burnet, doves Foor Cranesbill, Beaked Hawksbeard, White & Red Clover, Field Speedwell Colts foot, Broom, common vetch, Bush Vetch Tufted Vetch Garlic Mustard, Figwort, blackmedic, Red and white campion, butterbur
Some bugs Ground Beetle Bradycellus verbasci, amara aenea common sun beetle, notiophilus germinyi all waste ground type beetles
Other Beetles Rhagonycha limbata, Sitona regensteinensis on Broom,Phyllobius pyri weevil,Phyllobius pomaceus nettle weevil, Gastrophysa viridula Dock Beetle, seven, Harlequin and ten spot ladybird, Oedemera lurida
Common Carpet Moth - Epirrhoe alternata Silver-ground Carpet - Xanthorhoe montanata Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae,. Peacock, Common Blue
Flies Empis tessellata Snipe Fly, Nephrotoma appendiculata Crane fly, Tephritis neesii took a bit to ID but pretty little fly who cycle is linked to Oxeye daisy
Two Roe deer in river Irwell. Dogs Mercury in flower outwood trail Marsh marigold in flower drinkwater park. 3 Brimstone butterfly Drinkwater Park Lower Prestwich Clough area. Painted ladies and peacocks butterfly around and came accross a stoat chasing a wood mouse. The mouse stopped 3 feet from me and didn't move. The stoat stopped in its tracks and was unsure what to do. Then retreated and peered over a log stood on its back feet. Mouse still didn't move. Stoat shot off and mouse vamoused. Update later with bugs.
-- Edited by Ian Boote on Friday 23rd of March 2012 06:14:24 PM
Mere Clough Rode Deer Buck Velia caprai, water cricket Lesser Celandine Primroses in flower quite a few clumps Great load of Cuckoo Bees on a pile of earth will ID and update more later
