Eccleston Mere

Sand Martin 4
Willow Warbler 1 singing
Chiffchaff 5 singing
Blackcap 1 singing
Mute Swan 1 ad
Linnet 80 in field at the end of the stream

Eccleston Mere

Sand Martin 6 (at last!)
Blackcap 3 singing
Chiffchaff 2 singing
Teal 4
Mute Swan 1 ad
Buzzard 2
Kestrel 2

Billinge Hill

Willow Warbler 1 singing in bushes on the left of the road, just a bit up from the horse paddocks.
Chiffchaff 1 singing

Eccleston Mere

Tufted Duck 6

Still no Sand Martins. My earliest ever Sand Martins at the mere were on 15th March 1993, the average date for the first arrival at the mere is 27th March, and this is the only the second year in the past 20 that I have failed to see a Sand Martin in March. No sign of any other migrants today either.

Crank

Wheatear 2 males in horse paddocks

Billinge Hill

Grey Partridge 2
Chiffchaff 2 singing


I don't know of many sites in St Helens where you can find Wood Anenome. I think that there are a few at Carr Mill Dam / Goyt valley, but even so, it was nice to see this small patch at the side of a stream running down from the hill.

Carr Mill Dam

Willow Tit 1
Great Crested Grebe 32
Chiffchaff 3 singing
Buzzard 1
Kingfisher 1




Marsh Marigold

Garlic close up

Today I was at a Botanical Society of the British Isles workshop at Edge Hill University. It was about plant anatomy for using vegetative keys, and was based around using The Vegetative Key to the British Flora by Poland and Clement (2009). It was all very interesting stuff, and the photos are of a couple of slides I took of the stomata of a Garlic (Ramsons) leaf which I collected from Eccleston Mere a couple of days ago.


Quite close.....


Very close!!

Apologies for all of the ignored comments

Sorry if you have posted a comment recently but I've not replied. I'm supposed to get an email when I have a new comment waiting, but I seem to have stopped getting them. It's nothing personal, I just need to work out what's going wrong!

Old Coach Road

Wheatear 1 Clare's Moss
Shelduck 2
Oystercatcher 2
Chiffchaff 7 singing

Eccleston Mere

Mute Swan 3 (ad & 2 juv.s)
Chiffchaff 3 singing
Blackcap 1 singing