Volunteering at Cleaver Heath - Summer 2026

The highlight of the summer at Cleaver was the appearance of new heather growth within both the experimental regeneration area where seed containing heather shoots were spread last October, and across the main areas of the reserve that were badly damaged by fire in August last year. Gorse, birch, bracken and grass regrowth has been vigorous across the burnt areas since the fire so it is very gratifying to finally see the new heather growing from both seed and underground shoots of mature heather whose rootstock survived the heat. 

New heather growth at Cleaver Heath

Within the regeneration area, despite the clearance of significant amounts of bracken rhizome by the contractors, and subsequently by the volunteers, regrowth of bracken occurred, especially around the edges of the area and volunteers have been kept busy pulling the fronds away from the new underlying heather.

Clearing bracken from the heather regeneration area

Volunteers also worked hard to clear bracken from those areas of the main heather panel which thankfully were spared by the fire last year. Even before the fire, bracken clearance within this part of the heath been an annual task for many years and while never completely eliminating bracken, it has seen bracken growth become significantly less vigorous over time.

More bracken clearance!

Graham from CWT has been strimming very vigorous bracken regrowth across the burnt areas of the lower sloping heath and the volunteers raked off the cut fronds to help any new underlying heather growth.

The new heather growth across the reserve coincided with the UK's hottest summer on record according to the Met Office so it has been a challenge for it to survive especially across the burnt areas where the exposed surface soil has become visibly cracked and parched. While some of it has suffered and turned brown in the heat, significant amounts of new heather have survived, helped by the recent rains. Unfortunately the hot weather does not seem to have adversely affected the growth of birch and gorse seedlings and bracken!!

Cracks in the very dry ground during the hot summer

It is always a pleasure to take a break from the physical work during task days and explore the wildlife of the heath. Interesting observations include a common lizard within a burnt area among some dead gorse, a buff-tip moth caterpillar munching on a young birch seedling, many nursery-web spiders and webs on gorse, heather and grasses and an ant-bug (Alydus calcaratus) a dry heathland specialist, so-called because young nymphs resemble ants and may develop within ant nests of which there are many on Cleaver!

Common lizard and buff tip moth caterpillar

Ant bug and nursery web spider

On a particularly hot day in July it was unusual to see a very white, gilled fungus growing out from the base of a mature birch tree in the wooded area surrounding the heath. It seems to fit the description of the pale oyster mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius) which tends to favour warmer conditions for growth compared with other Pleurotus species. 

Oyster mushroom

Alan Irving's annual butterfly transect count for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) from Cleaver to Thurstaston, has revealed a bumper year overall with 16 species recorded at Cleaver dominated by speckled woods, small whites, green-veined whites, holly blues and gatekeepers.

Below is a photo of a gatekeeper feeding on ragwort within the wildflower area at Cleaver which was originally a car park for the old hospital.

Gatekeeper butterfly on ragwort

Acknowledgement to all the volunteers who contributed photos for this update.

John McGaw
Volunteer Warden, Cleaver Heath

Small Coppers Surveyed at New Ferry Butterfly Park

Small copper at the Butterfly Park

At the conclusion of the transect recording season for 2026, Yan recorded a total of 41 Small Copper butterflies at New Ferry Butterfly Park, marking the highest count achieved to date. While favourable weather conditions undoubtedly contributed to this abundance, population success is also highly dependent on the availability of larval host plants. 

Sorrels - specifically Sheep’s Sorrel, Common Sorrel, and occasionally Broad-leaved Dock -serve as the primary food sources for Small Copper caterpillars.

Female Small Copper butterflies lay their eggs on the upper surface of leaves. Upon hatching, the larvae consume the foliage before moving in search of more food plants until they are ready to pupate. 

Over the past decade, approximately 200 Sheep’s Sorrel plants have been grown at her home and planted by volunteers at the Park to support the population.

Sheep’s Sorrel thrives in nutrient-poor, well-drained acidic soil. As a historic coal goods siding, the Park benefits from extensive ground patches featuring a thick layer of coal beneath the turf. 

Recently, more sorrels were planted after removing turf and loosening the underlying coal-soil substrate. Protective signage will be installed to mitigate foot traffic across the patch, ensuring that the Small Copper butterfly population continues to thrive at the Butterfly Park.

Sorrel planted at the park

A September Photo Tour of New Ferry Butterfly Park

After an incredibly dry August, the September rain has restored the pond to its normal level.

The dragonflies soon returned.

Male common darter. Photo: Roy Lowry

Signs of autumn are everywhere and there are still flowers in bloom and some butterflies on the wing.

Berries on a rowan tree

Blackberries on the brambles

Aster

Ragwort

A pair of small copper butterflies. Photo: Roy Lowry

There are elegant looking seed heads.

Teasel

Wild carrot

Cow parsley

Here's the view down the steps near the Brick Pit Pond.

The Pupa sculpture by Karon McGunigall

Rotting logs provide another important habitat.

The area where the industrial artefacts were stored has recently been cleared.

They are now in the crane base near the Imago Hut where a new display will be created.

Work in progress for a new display of industrial artefacts

The compost bins are full.

And the woodchip pile will be added to over the winter.

The new container has a system to collect rainwater from the roof.

Work continues through the autumn.

We are extremely grateful to the volunteers who grew then sold plants on Sunday afternoons. Also to those who bought the plants and in so doing raised over £900 for Butterfly Park funds.

The plant sale area

The opening season ended on September 13th and the volunteers met up for a barbecue.

The end of season barbecue for volunteers

Our next event will be Apple Afternoon on October 11th, 2 - 4pm. Do come and join us!

Spring/Summer 2026 Prize Quiz: Winner and Answers

The source of the River Aire (the answer to clue 43 in the quiz)
Photo: Trevor Littlewood, www.geograph.org.uk

Very many thanks to everyone who entered our spring/summer quiz, which had the theme of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Your support is very much appreciated! 

As ever, thank you also for the money sent in entrance fees, and we are especially grateful for the additional donations we received.

We received a total of 137 entries, of which 40 were all correct. We had a random draw to select the winner, who is Liz Gibbins of Shipston-on-Stour. Congratulations Liz!

Here are the answers to the clues:

1. This hamlet sounds (a bit) like the higher badger’s den. (9). Appersett

2. This village has part of an orchard and part of a candle. (13). Appletreewick

3. In the beginnings, a red kite, exploring Northern glens and ravines, tried hunting down a large earthworm. (14). Arkengarthdale

4. Pose a question to actress Diana in this village. (7). Askrigg

5. Last flash, Gary – surprisingly a popular attraction. (8, 5). Aysgarth Falls

6. Village where you can cross a French bath? (10). Bainbridge

7. Fasten upon fly-fisher’s action, the Spanish go back to this building. (6, 6) Bolton Castle

8. Is this village a good place to hide away your dollars? (7). Buckden

9. Reduces everything to ashes. (8). Burnsall

10. Pouts acutely at this waterfall. (7, 5). Cautley Spout

11. But you won’t find a busy railway junction in this village… (7). Clapham

12. … nor will you find Chester or Balmoral on this waterway. (5, 3). River Dee

13. This valley could be over-laced. (9). Coverdale

14. Two illegal drugs, a damaged ceramic, or an eccentric. (8). Crackpot

15. Damaged metalwork. (4). Dent

16. Is this where Vulpes preaches to his Friends? (4, 6). Fox’s Pulpit

17. Pothole, place where something is missing, in children’s horse, unwell. (6, 4). Gaping Gill

18. Drags ale up this valley. (8). Garsdale

19. Building near 24 sounds like a windmill suited to very strong wind! (5, 4). Gayle Mill

20. God! Real cars wrecked in this popular beauty spot. (7, 4). Gordale Scar

21. Telling tales about little Anthony?  Not unknown in this village. (11). Grassington

22. Large one who gives a cold shoulder met his downfall on this mountain. (5, 7, 4). Great Shunner Fell

23. Unyielding uncooked strength of this waterfall. (7, 5). Hardraw Force

24. Lake District reservoir dried up? (5). Hawes

25. Bend he straightened for this village. (6). Hebden

26. The chairman of Dibley Parish Council finds himself in the valley of 42. (6, 2, 11). Horton in Ribblesdale

27. I often wonder how Gill solved the problem of concealing these hills. (8). Howgills

28. Town where they sell fireplaces? No, it’s a mountain! (12). Ingleborough

29. Ms Street-Porter’s initially formed one short sentence to describe this feature. (6, 4). Janet’s Foss

30. Want a cup of tea?  You’ll find the equipment in a deep hole in this village. (10). Kettlewell

31. At this popular climbing spot, noisy grackle was disturbed, without love. (7, 4). Kilnsey Crag

32. Death? All strong here where 44 flows. (14). Langstrothdale

33. Is this village an extension to the North End? (4, 7). Long Preston

34. River draining from a level, uneven plateau. (4). Lune

35. Badly cured pork in this village. (6). Malham

36. This village, in the United Kingdom European Referendum (UKER), produced results typical of rural areas in the North of England. (5). Muker

37. A penny wine will go far. (7, 3). Pennine Way

38. Welsh head of the Belgian city is on this mountain. (3-1-5). Pen-y-Ghent

39. Black bird’s colouration with variable lead in this village. (14). Ravenstonedale

40. Conflict reversal for those people by the river. (7). Rawthey

41. This village’s name suggests a tribute to the deceased. (5). Reeth

42. I had an accident near this river, leaving me with a broken rib, bleeding from my head, and concussion. (6). Ribble

43. Re Riviera: is this waterway Yorkshire’s version? (5, 4). River Aire

44. You might expect to find boats tied up by this waterway! (5, 6). River Wharfe

45. In the NW of the Park, the man in Lincoln green is serious. (5, 5, 5). Robin Hood’s Grave

46. Is this the edge brush I hear you lost in this town? (8). Sedbergh

47. Is this a good valley for tobogganing? (8). Sleddale

48. Wednesday, hell with no high definition, spent in this valley. (11). Wensleydale

49. That woman’s identity is hidden at the four compass points on this mountain. (9). Whernside

50. Savage male animal took a tumble on this mountain. (4, 4, 4).  Wild Boar Fell

Here are some notes of the ones that seemed to cause the most difficulty:

7.  BOLTON CASTLE – There was a bit of confusion here.  Bolton Castle is located in the village of Castle Bolton, but the clue requires a building.  Castle Bolton would not conform to alphabetical order either.  To add to the confusion, there is the village of Bolton Abbey and the building called Bolton Priory, which are also in the National Park.

12.  RIVER DEE – On page 1 it is stated that the clues, with one exception, are in alphabetical order of the answers.  This clue is that one exception.  This River Dee flows through Dentdale and joins the River Rawthey.

16.  FOX’S PULPIT – In 1652, George Fox preached here to about 1,000 people.  This was one of the meetings that brought about the Quaker (Society of Friends) movement.  It is located very close to the National Park Boundary, on Firbank Fell.

17.  GAPING GILL - This is one of the best-known limestone caves in the National Park.  It is on the southern slopes of Ingleborough.

19.  GAYLE MILL – This is a Grade II* listed cotton mill, in Gayle, a hamlet close to Hawes in Wensleydale.

23.  HARDRAW FORCE – We could not accept Hardraw Falls as it doesn’t account for the “strength” in the clue.

26.  HORTON IN RIBBLESDALE – Gary Waldhorn played the part of David Horton, chairman of the parish council in the BBC sitcom “The Vicar of Dibley”.

27.  HOWGILLS – Both the clue (“these hills”) and the letter count require the plural.

32.  LANGSTROTHDALE – Anagram “Death all strong”.  This is the valley where the upper stretch of the River Wharfe runs.

33.  LONG PRESTON – The North End gives you Preston, as the city’s football team is Preston North End.

35.  MALHAM – Several people gave Masham as the answer, but Masham is outside the National Park, although it is in Wensleydale.

36.  MUKER – This is a village in Swaledale.  Some people did not notice it, hidden in the clue: 

“… Referendum (UKER), produced …”.

39.  RAVENSTONEDALE – This village is near Kirkby Stephen on a tributary of the River Eden.  “Black bird’s (Ravens) colouration (tone) with variable lead (dale) …”.

40.  RAWTHEY – The River Rawthey is a tributary of the River Lune.  It runs through Sedbergh.

41.  REETH – Several people put Ripon here.  But Ripon is not in the National Park, and is a city, not a village.

45.  ROBIN HOOD’S GRAVE – Robin Hood’s Bay and Robin Hood’s Butts are both in the North York Moors National Park; Robin Hood’s Chair is in the Lake District National Park.  Robin Hood’s Stone is in 

46.  SEDBERGH – The unusual spelling of this name caught a lot of people out.  Nine people would have had full marks had they not written “Sedburgh” here.  The words “I heard you lost” in the clue were meant to prevent this error, by removing the U in the anagram.

47.  SLEDDALE – This dale runs south from Wensleydale.  It terminates when its beck joins the River Ure near Hawes.  Several people gave Sledmere as their answer, but this is a village in the Yorkshire Wolds, not the Dales.

Most of the other answers that were not accepted were typos or spelling mistakes.

Turn Your Wildlife Photos Into Citizen Science

iNaturalist is a Citizen Science platform to record sightings of flora and fauna - anything from an amoeba to a whale - to build a biodiversity database for use by the research community. For the past decade I have been photographing at New Ferry Butterfly Park and over the past five years I have been converting the images into wildlife observations. Initially I used the iRecord platform but now I almost exclusively use iNaturalist. I am not alone. There are currently over 2000 observations of nearly 500 species from the Butterfly Park on iNaturalist posted by 54 observers, which may be seen at:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/new-ferry-butterfly-park-howell-road-new-ferry-bebington-wirral-uk

An increasing number of people are taking photographs of the wildlife at the butterfly park, and it would be great to see the resulting images developed into wildlife observations. To facilitate this, I’ll now describe how I convert my photographs into iNaturalist observations.

After a photo session, I download the image files from the camera onto a computer and go through them deleting anything substandard. The remainder, usually about a third, are processed using Photoshop. Conversion to observations requires logging into the iNaturalist website (https://www.inaturalist.org) which opens at the ‘Dashboard’ page.

The dashboard page on the iNaturalist website

Pressing the ‘Upload’ tab on the top right of the page opens the ‘Drag & drop some photos or sounds’ page onto which one or more image files for each observation may be copied. If there are multiple images for an observation they may be merged by dragging them onto the master image.

Drag & drop some photos or sounds

The next job is to populate the ‘Species Name’ and ‘Location’ fields for each observation, adding any plaintext you wish to the ‘Notes’ fields. Clicking in the ‘Species Name’ box offers a range of possible names using iNaturalist’s AI-based analysis of the image. If you see the correct name then select it. Otherwise, choose the suggestion at the top of the list (probably a genus) to provide a starting point. If your camera has GPS then the ‘Location’ field may have been automatically populated from the EXIF data. If not, click inside the box to open an interactive map window.

Select the location of your observation using the interactive map

I usually enter ‘New Ferry Butterfly Park’ into the ‘Search Location’ field which zooms the map into the area of interest. Click the map where you took your photo and make the resulting circle larger or smaller to set the spatial accuracy. By default, the Geoprivacy is set to ‘Open’. Please don’t change this or your observation will be useless to science. I also standardise the ‘Locality notes’ field to ‘New Ferry Butterfly Park’ to make it easier to discover observations from the reserve. Press ‘Update Observations’ when all the required information has been entered.

Once all the observations have had their names and locations populated the ‘Submit observations’ button is pressed to upload and publish them. This opens an ‘Edit Observations’ Page, which may be used to document the observations with annotations.

The Edit Observations Page on iNaturalist

Whilst this is optional it increases the scientific value of the records. For example, it provides a mechanism for researchers interested in butterflies from getting caterpillar observations. Clicking on an observation species name, such as ‘Common Crimson-and-gold Moth’, opens that observation in edit mode.

A view of the page for one of Roy's observations

I usually populate the ‘Alive or Dead’, ‘Life Stage’, and (if I know it) ‘Sex’ attributes. The ‘Life Stage’ attribute is particularly important for insects as it allows separation of larvae observations from adult observations. Once populated (there’s no save to be pressed) the next observation can be selected using the green circular arrow symbols or the ‘Dashboard’ can be reached using the circular button to the right of ‘Upload’.

A published observation will be viewed by many ‘iNatters’, some of whom join the community identification process by commenting on, changing or refining the ID field. This process usually works very well with prompt, constructive input from experienced identifiers significantly enhancing the observations. Sometimes, nothing happens because there are no experienced identifiers for the species observed and occasionally, things can go awry when people identify beyond their competence and get it wrong. In my experience other members of the community help when this happens. Once two members of the community have confirmed the identification the observation is elevated to ‘Research Grade’ and made available to researchers.

This blog post describes the way that I work and is intended to provide an initial pathway for camera - as opposed to phone - users who wish to start wildlife recording using iNaturalist. It is not intended to be a users’ manual. There are many features that I haven’t mentioned and no doubt many other ways to do what I do that others may prefer once they get to know the package. For phone camera users iNaturalist provides an App but I can’t help with this as I have never used it. The Cheshire Local Environmental Record Centre, Record LRC, run field days giving practical training using the App. These are usually in the weeks before the City Nature Challenge bioblitz in April or May and are advertised on the Record web site.

Roy Lowry

From Hong Kong to New Ferry Butterfly Park

Wirral Chinese Christian Church members on an outing to the Butterfly Park

On 24th July 2026, New Ferry Butterfly Park received a group of visitors with Chinese heritage background, 15 adults and 3 children, from Wirral Chinese Christian Church (WCCC). They came from Hong Kong about 4 or 5 years ago and have settled down and started their new life in Wirral and other parts of the country.

It was their first time visiting the Park. They were amazed with the history of this urban nature reserve, the wildlife it supports and the time many volunteers have invested in it. They were curious about butterflies in the UK. Each time they saw a butterfly, they would look at the butterfly identification chart and learn its name. One of the visitors also shared her photo of a beautiful moth from Hong Kong.

A gatekeeper spotted during the group's visit

The life in the UK can be different in many ways from that in urban Hong Kong where they had spent most of their adult life. They are adjusting to their new life well, thanks to the support from the WCCC and other local community groups. Still there are many things that they are trying to make sense of; what should I do with my garden, would my neighbour take me to court if I don’t mow the lawn regularly enough, do foxes attack people… and how come the toilet in the Park is not smelly, nor having flies without using water!

Speckled wood also made the sightings list

They were delighted to hear about Plantlife’s conservation campaign “No Mow May” and “Let It Bloom June” for supporting wildlife, as well as taking off the pressure of mowing! Being environmentally friendly in gardens was generally agreed, and the group was keen on learning how to make this happen.

Due to the gloomy weather, we only manged to see Gatekeepers, Speckled Woods, Green-veined White, and Holly Blues. Most importantly, the visit was enjoyed by all, and one individual instantly express her interest in becoming a volunteer to the Park!

A green-veined white, looking a bit worse for wear

Yan Wang, New Ferry Butterfly Park volunteer

Quintessentially English: Open Garden Event at Poulton Hall

The herbaceous border at Poulton Hall

Caroline and Scirard Lancelyn Green of Poulton Hall, Bebington, hosted an open walled garden and parkland event on 4th July to allow others to see the gardens with their quirky features and a biodiverse meadow. The meadow is enclosed by a species rich hedge which was laid by Wirral Countryside Volunteers. This was a National Gardens event which benefits many charities including Wirral Wildlife and New Ferry Butterfly Park. This is the fifth time that this event has been assisted by Wirral Wildlife and the best so far, as the event grows a little each year.

The Oriental Garden

There were the customary attractions of the walled garden, honeybee demonstrations, have-a- go at hedge laying, making newspaper pots and sowing seeds, tours of the meadow, storytelling, and Samaritan plant sales, all delightfully topped off with a cream tea served on china crockery.

Crowds at the Wirral Countryside Volunteer stall

Wirral Beekeepers

The Wirral Countryside Volunteers stall was much improved with their own branded gazebo, giving a very professional look, so guests could see what the stall was about at a distance. Wirral Archaeology CIC came with fascinating finds, all found within three miles of Poulton Hall. They had found a small knife blade which they thought Roman but turned out to be much older, being from the Bronze Age. The Wirral Wildlife and New Ferry Butterfly Park joint stall were making pretty patterns from flowers hammered on to a white folded sheet. There were strolling archers, Maid Marian and Robin Hood, and witches to welcome you into the magical world of the walled garden via the wardrobe.

Making pretty patterns from flowers on the Wirral Wildlife and Butterfly Park stall

The Story Garden

A carved figure in the garden

Additional attractions were the Wirral Barn Owl Trust and the Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, along with Maypole dancing. The Wirral Barn Owl Trust had a very impressive display and a large team of volunteers. They have installed a barn owl box on the edge of the meadow outside the hall, the meadow providing a valuable hunting ground for the barn owls. The Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers were spinning and weaving from various natural and manufactured materials. You were encouraged to feel all the different materials from a source sample to finished product. There was the fun of Maypole dancing complete with band and caller.

Cheshire Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers stall

Wirral Barn Owl Trust stall

Two volunteers were going round with a wheelbarrow with a tea pot to bring hot drinks and homemade cake for all the volunteers on the stalls and parking duties, it took an hour to get round them all.

Car park attendants enjoying a refreshment break

Thanks to Caroline and Scirard Lancelyn-Green, the Poulton Hall Estate Team and the twenty volunteers who supported this event on the day, those who worked behind the scenes transporting gazebos and woody materials or baking cakes for the volunteers and those who came tidying up on the Monday. With all these attractions it does make a great afternoon out. Look out for more of these garden openings on the Poulton Hall web page

The gazebo assembly team