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Wildlife Review of 2009
By Ranger Matt Thomas
Now is the time to look back and reflect on 2009 and what it brought us wildlife wise. It was a busy year! January started cold and got colder! The big freeze lead to an increase in numbers of Teal on the Dee as they moved off frozen ponds to find food on the mudflats. A flock of 12 Twite loitered on the beach into February and numbers of Pintail remained between 800 and 1,000 for most of the month.
The first butterfly of the year was a Comma, spotted along the Wirral Way on a mild March 18th. A merry band of Redwing and Fieldfare lingered around the Dungeon throughout March and the early part of April. As they left for Scandinavian breeding grounds the first Swallow arrived, being seen on the 11th, three days later than 2008.
April was very warm and produced the first damselfly of the year on the 27th Then a Large Red was seen by the Nature Ponds. Wild flowers put on a good show in May and June with many orchids around the ponds and on Dawpool. July was wetter than normal which meant another poor season for butterflies. There were just a handful of sightings of Common Blues. Fingers crossed for 2010!On July 14th we were visited by a wayward Terek Sandpiper. A vagrant from Siberia lost on migration; this is possibly the only record of this species for the Park. It was well watched by many “twitchers”!
Our Barn Owls laid 6 eggs, all hatched and 4 fledged – a good result! During August a juvenile Kingfisher hung around the Nature Ponds adding a bit of tropical colour to the place. Passage migrants started to pour through the Dee estuary with good numbers of Curlew Sandpiper, a few Spotted Redshank and just one Little Stint recorded during September.
Into October and as the leaves turned we had a spectacular day of “visible” migration. Wednesday 28th saw a torrent of Redwing and Fieldfare streaming through the Park. By midday upwards of 4,000 had gone over with a few dropping in to feed on the abundant berries of the Wirral Way.
2009 was a great year for sloes, the fruit of the Blackthorn. Blackbirds and Song Thrushes gorged on them while certain amongst us helped ourselves to a few for some Sloe Gin (it went down very well over the Christmas period!).
November was wet and windy and storms brought us 3 juvenile Snow Buntings on the 20th, but they only stayed for an afternoon. Soon Pintail numbers were back up to January levels and wader numbers were picking up.
Flocks of up to 1,200 Black-tailed Godwit are present as I type this with up to 7 colour ringed birds in that number. A total of 21 different ringed birds have been seen on Thurstaston Shore in 2009. As 2010 looms we can start to wonder what the Park’s wildlife has in store for us. If you want to see some of it come on one of our many guided walks or join our team of surveyors in the Recording Group!
If you would like further information regarding any articles related to this newsletter then phone 0151 648 4371 or e-mail jameslocke@wirral.gov.uk: WCP Rangers