June Receives Volunteer Award from Cheshire Wildlife Trust

June Mortazavi (centre) with Felicity Goodey, President of Cheshire Wildlife Trust (left)
and Charlotte Harris CEO of Cheshire Wildlife Trust (right)

At the Cheshire Wildlife Trust AGM on November 26th Wirral Wildlife volunteer June Mortazavi was presented with the Eric Thurston Award. This is the highest accolade for volunteering given by Cheshire Wildlife Trust. It is given to acknowledge the Trust’s most inspirational and outstanding volunteers. Winners are awarded a limited edition of a Roger Stephens print of peregrines circling above Beeston Castle.

Here is a taste of why June was nominated.

June arrived with a burst of enthusiasm on the Wildlife Trust scene in 2017 and has made an impact across several Cheshire Wildlife Trust areas. At New Ferry Butterfly Park, she rapidly got involved in practical habitat management and also as a warden, an active committee member and helping host courses and open days. Her impact is Wirral-wide, being an active and encouraging part of the Wirral Wildlife biological recording team. June started with little plant knowledge but has developed her confidence in carrying out botanical surveys and this year is in charge of her own survey. June is a real support to some over stretched volunteers e.g. helping Dr Hilary Ash by writing up flora records. June has become very adept at deciphering Hilary’s annotations of plant names in Latin!

She was trusted to help the Wirral Wildlife recording team process data and publish a peer reviewed paper on quadrat survey carry out at Thurstaston common for 39 years. That is a lot of data!

June gets out and fights for nature, for example liaising with neighbours over injured hedgehogs found at the New Ferry Butterfly Park. June is also a stalwart of the Friends of Lowfields Wood, Eastham, which was set up by Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Natural Futures programme in January 2019 and continues to flourish. June works beyond Wirral with CWT staff in the Delamere area.

All this tremendous activity and sustained and growing enthusiasm is on top of a part time job.  June has not retired yet and achieves so much for the Trust locally on the Wirral and further afield. June is prepared to both do the spade work in the field and in the digital world with alacrity.

She is a deserving recipient of this Award and we are grateful for her commitment and drive.

Tribute to Eric Fairgrieve Greenwood 1938 - 2022

Eric Greenwood surveying Dipsacus laciniatus (cutleaf teasel)
on the old tip at Bidston, August 2022

A regular attender at Wirral Wildlife events and our ‘go to’ botanist to identify a particularly tricky sedge, grass or orchid, Eric Greenwood died from cancer on 18th October. He was born on 15 Feb 1938 in Preston and as a wartime child helped turn the family garden into a smallholding. This developed into him having his own allotment where he grew prize-winning vegetables and fruit. He was always alert to the plants around him and his first record sent to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) was when he was 12 and spotted mistletoe on a local tree. He was a BSBI member from 1963 and was vice-county recorder for V.C. 60 (West Lancaster) for over 50 years. It is hardly surprising that he graduated in Botany from the University of Durham and later received his MSc from the University of Newcastle.

In 1966, after teaching for a short while, Eric joined the then City of Liverpool Museum as Keeper of Botany. It was here he met his future wife Barbara. When he started at the Museum there was only one temporary display gallery open following wartime bombing, and when he retired in 1998 as Keeper of the World Museum Liverpool it had become a multi award winning National Museum. He was responsible for securing the £35 million Lottery grant which enabled the Museum’s major redevelopment. During his career at the Museum Eric was involved in many aspects of its development including the JASON project from 1993 to 1996. This was an American educational project designed to bring the excitement of live scientific exploration to students via satellite links from expeditions in Mexico, Belize, Hawaii and Florida. Students could interact with the expedition site, operate remotely controlled cameras and equipment, and ask questions of the research scientists. He was responsible for setting up the North West Biological Field Data Bank at the Museum ensuring that local naturalists’ records did not get lost. This eventually led to RECORD and Mersey Biobank, who today do the same work electronically, and pass records to the National Biodiversity Network.

Eric with his wife Barbara on the occasion of him being presented with
the President’s Medal of the Royal Society of Biology in July 2022 

Although not a founder member of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, he was involved from the very early days and served a total of 53 years as either Council member, Trustee or member of its Conservation and Scientific Committees. Even though living in Wirral since 1973 he continued as a very active member of LWT. President of the Liverpool Botanical Society for many years and council member for 56 years, he continued to lead field meetings until 2021.

Eric never stopped his botanical investigations and research. North Lancashire flora was always his passion. In 2012 his ‘Flora of North Lancashire’ was a hugely important new publication, for which he gained the Joint Presidents Award from the BSBI and the Wildflower Society. It is an essential work of reference for the flora and ecology of Lancashire north of the Ribble, both now and into the future. Detailed and exhaustively researched, it represents a unique and indispensable 'snapshot' to act as a baseline for the ongoing analysis of changes in our natural environment. Eric put years of meticulous work into presenting this authoritative 656-page account, which also contains hundreds of distribution maps. This book highlights the world-wide significance of Lancashire's temperate, oceanic deciduous woodland and bog communities, and tries to explain changes including the impact of humans and climate.

In 2016 his book ’Hunting plants: the story of those who discovered the flowering plants and ferns of the North’ was published. During lockdown Eric spent more time researching Wirral’s flora and produced four papers this year alone. Two have already been published and one (on Wirral heaths) is due to be published in January.  In the last weeks of his life he put the finishing touches to his paper on the changing coastal flora of Wirral which will hopefully be published next year.

Eric at the summit of Clougha Pike (416m) on his 80th birthday, 15th February 2018

Eric never slowed down and to celebrate his 80th birthday climbed Clougha Pike in Lancashire with his family. On a cold February day the mist cleared just in time to give extensive views over the Lancashire plain and Morecambe Bay. He was following his illustrious predecessor, Albert Wilson, co-author of the Flora of West Lancashire (1907) who was photographed on the summit of nearby Ingleborough on his 80th birthday in 1942. 

Eric was awarded the President’s Medal of the Royal Society of Biology in 2020 in recognition of his work with the local RSB branch, but was unable to receive it due to Covid restrictions. However Eric was presented with the Medal by members of the North Western branch of the RSB surrounded by friends and family in his Heswall garden this July.

He will be sadly missed.

Cleaver Heath Invertebrate Survey

Cleaver Heath and some of the invertebrates recorded on 6th July.
Photos: The Tanyptera Trust

The Tanyptera Trust is funding a 7.5 year project to promote the study and conservation of insects and other invertebrates in the Lancashire and Cheshire region of NW England. This project is hosted by National Museums Liverpool. Every year, the Trust runs an invertebrate recording day programme to bring together the invert recording community and increase the coverage of invert records on selected important and under-recorded sites.

On July 6th this year, the Trust organised a recording day at Cleaver Heath on the Wirral and a detailed species list obtained has recently been published and can be viewed on their website.

https://www.northwestinvertebrates.org.uk/cleaver-heath/

Summary of number of species by invertebrate order

48 species of spider (Araneae)

51 species of beetle (Coleoptera)

92 species of fly (Diptera)

38 species of true bug (Hemiptera)

18 species of bee/wasp/ant (Hymenoptera)

15 species of butterfly/moth (Lepidoptera)

2 species of centipede (Lithobiomorpha)

2 species of lacewing (Neuroptera)

1 species of harvestman (Opiliones)

1 species of grasshopper(Orthoptera)

1 species of booklouse (Psocoptera)

Notable records in terms of scarcity

Two flies, Helina ciliatocosta and Dolichopus virgultorum - New to VC58 (Cheshire)

A spider, Cheiracanthium virescens - Nationally scarce, only 3rd record for VC58 (Cheshire). On heathland, favours areas with short heather growth.

A true bug Alydus calcaratus  - Nationally scarce.  Very local distribution in the North West, only 3rd record for VC 58 (Cheshire),  one previous Wirral record on Thurstaston Common and  recorded on Cleaver this year prior to this event. Nymphs are ant-mimics and are often found in ant nests.

There were also six separate records of the impressive Emperor moth caterpillars (Saturnia pavonia) on heather and other plants.

Overall a very impressive list of species for a single recording day. Looking through the list, inverts associated with all the main vegetation types such as heather, gorse, wild flowers and birch/oak are evident as well as those found in the ground/litter layer. The former car park, now a nectar-rich wildflower area, was of particular interest for hoverflies and butterflies.

As a general rule regarding the management of lowland heathland for invertebrates, structural diversity across all the vegetation is important to support the greatest range of species and included in this would be the need to create and maintain a range of different age structures within the dominant plant species. These objectives are well accounted for within the Cleaver management plan and are also reflected practically in the work day tasks carried out by the volunteers.

John McGaw, Cleaver Heath Reserve Manager

Review of 2022 at New Ferry Butterfly Park

Common blue butterfly at New Ferry Butterfly Park. Photo: June Mortazavi

New Ferry Butterfly Park is open for visiting from May to mid-September. Now we have reached the end of this year's season, here is a review of what we got up to.

In May, the Butterfly Park celebrated its 27th season of being open to the public with the unveiling of the Silver Jubilee entrance gates. 

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/05/two-new-sets-of-wings-for-butterfly-park.html

The Silver Jubilee gates at the Butterfly Park

Including that Open Day there were 2,453 visitors to New Ferry Butterfly Park this year, which is a good recovery in numbers from the Covid pandemic. There were 16 guided visits this year: 2 schools, 13 uniformed groups (Beavers, Rainbows etc) and 1 adult group of refugees, totalling 366 people. The Butterfly Park also welcomed Bebington Photographic Society and Cheshire Bee Group and Dr Hilary Ash gave two plant identification courses. Over the last 19 years an impressive total of 29,794 visitors have visited.

The new entrance gates have helped with raising the profile of the Butterfly Park and the regular plant stall has been an additional attraction. Thanks are due to Mike Maher for hosting the plant stall every Sunday and to the Wardening Team who all make the Park so welcoming and engaging for our visitors. Wirral Countryside Volunteers have continued to scythe the grassland, lay hedges and physically maintain the site. It is thanks to all these efforts that we were awarded a Green Flag for the tenth year running.

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/08/raising-green-flag-at-new-ferry.html

Raising the 2022/23 Green Flag

Sunday 18th September fell in Heritage Week and was an extra opening date. There were 60 visitors on the day including 30 for the two guided heritage walks.

On Sunday 11th and 18th September nine Eco Art flower sculptures were brought to the park, hence the extra opening on Sunday 18th. Thanks are due to June Mortazavi, John Bateman and Lynn Struve for helping in the logistics of transporting these artworks back and forth. The giant flowers were well received by the visitors.

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/09/eco-art-at-butterfly-park.html

White clover (left), dandelion (middle) and spear thistle (right) sculptures
made by Alison Bailey Smith from repurposed materials

We held an ‘End of Season’ BBQ for volunteers and, despite the heavy rain that afternoon, 22 people turned up. A October workday had 20 volunteers, including some students from Liverpool John Moores University Conservation Society working at the Park. Some apple pressing was expertly organised by John Bateman with 25 litres of apple juice being pressed. Volunteers got a bottle of apple juice to take home.

John Bateman collecting apples for juicing

Mashing up the apples - the start of the process of turning them into juice

Pressing juice from the apple pulp

The resulting apple juice!

We were also pleased to install two new 1000 litre translucent water butts which have now been covered in a carpet to reduce algal growth. In October the 2000 litres of water collected in them was added to the pond which had suffered from this year’s lack of rain and the water level was raised by 5cm. 

We continue to record wildlife in the Park and were thrilled by some unusual sightings. 

In May a dingy skipper butterfly, which has not been seen at the park for over two decades, was photographed.

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/05/two-new-sets-of-wings-for-butterfly-park.html

Dingy skipper. Photo: Roy Lowry

In June, Roy Lowry noticed a fly which struck him as very different. It was confirmed as a locust blowfly - an African species that has been reported more frequently in recent years as a vagrant in the south of England. Definitely a first for the Butterfly Park. Roy is continuing to photograph and identify insects at the Park and has recorded 34 species of hoverflies this season! 

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-most-unusual-visitor-to-new-ferry.html

Locust blowfly. Photo: Roy Lowry

In July Colin Millington photographed a white letter hairstreak butterfly. This species was last recorded at the Butterfly Park on 5th July 2003. We rarely see them as they are feeding on the honeydew in the tree canopy (especially on elms).

https://wirralwildlife.blogspot.com/2022/07/white-letter-day.html

White letter hairstreak butterfly. Photo: Colin Millington

These are a great endorsement of our habitat management for invertebrates at the Park.

We are now looking ahead to 2023 with our Open Day on April 30th. Hope to see you there.

Eco Art at the Butterfly Park

Some of the flower sculptures outside the container at the Butterfly Park

For two Sundays in September, we were pleased to welcome some giant flower sculptures to New Ferry Butterfly Park. They were loaned from the Eco Art In the Park project, a collaboration between Wirral Environmental Network, artist Alison Bailey Smith, Wirral Unplugged and Wirral Council’s Eco Schools programme to highlight the importance of pollinator food plants.

White clover (left), dandelion (middle) and spear thistle (right) sculptures
made by Alison Bailey Smith from repurposed materials

Alison Bailey Smith has created nine giant sculptures of plants made using repurposed materials such as garden hose, food packaging, yoga mats, light fittings and toothpaste tubes. The eight wildflowers and one grass depicted by the sculptures are all found in Wirral. Alison was supported in making the flower bases and welding them by Wirral Met Engineering and Construction Departments.

Sculptures of marram grass (left), poppy (middle) and bluebell (right)

Wirral Unplugged designed a Pollinator Passport, a free activity booklet to encourage learning and play around Wirral’s local plants and the fascinating insects that pollinate them. Students from the University of Liverpool worked on the look of the passport and produced social media posts and newspaper articles to publicise the project.

Devil's-bit scabious (left), rosebay willowherb (middle) and creeping buttercup (right)

Find out more about the artworks and view the Pollinator Passport on the Wirral Environmental Network website. The flower sculptures can also be booked via the website for visits to schools, parks and local organisations, whether for public or private events.

https://wirralenvironmentalnetwork.org.uk/eco-art-in-the-park

Detail of a leaf and petals revealing the source materials

Wirral's Wild 50: September Worksheets

Here are the Wirral's Wild 50 activity sheets for September. Take a look at the autumn leaves, cones, berries, nuts and fruits.

September activities and resources

Things to do in September

● Learn to identify trees from their leaves

● Find out why trees have cones, berries, nuts and fruits like apples

● Find a spider’s web and learn about spider silk

● Discover how bats catch their prey

● Find an acorn and plant it in a pot of soil outdoors

Look for seeds on an autumn walk and made a bat bookmark

Resources

1. nuts & berries

https://www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-07/nuts.jpg

2. berry spotter

https://www.record-lrc.co.uk/Downloads/Berries[21122020].pdf

3. pine cone creatures

https://www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-08/Pine%20cone%20creatures.png

4. video - primary school level - spiders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wux2qqpuyoi

5. craft: nature mandala

https://www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-08/Nature%20mandala.jpg

6. make a spinning dial to identify leaves

https://treetoolsforschools.org.uk/activities/pdfs/pdf_leaf_idial.pdf

Spring/Summer 2022 Prize Quiz: Winner and Answers

Blue John Cavern, the answer to cryptic clue 17.

The entries for the Spring/ Summer quiz have been marked and judged. Congratulations to the winner, Jean Baker of Chesterfield. A £10 gift voucher is on its way to Jean.

Here are the Peak District themed answers to the cryptic clues.

1. House of conversations value. (10). Chatsworth

2. Rock, stock, or turtle perhaps, with twisted lead. (8). Dovedale

3. Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood famously both can do this. (8). Bakewell

4. Fortress heavyweight. (9). Castleton

5. Returning communist took himself to a river. (7). Derwent

6. Lemon salad dressing. (6, 4). Monsal Dale

7. Height of the gold medal... (3, 4). Win Hill

8. .... Height of the wooden spoon. (4, 4). Lose Hill

9. Wire very twisted. (5, 3). River Wye

10. I expect that Faith and Charity can also be found in this vale. (4, 6). Hope Valley

11. As you can hear, I’ll hesitate. (4). Ilam

12. Hotel father didn’t start, wise man! (10). Hathersage

13. This village is in the money, among the wealthiest places in the National Park. (4). Eyam

14. Mother hill, shivering mountain. (3, 3). Mam Tor

15. More benevolent recruiter. (6, 5). Kinder Scout

16. Graduate don’t hurry. (6). Baslow

17. Blanch over June excitedly at this attraction. (4, 4, 6). Blue John Cavern

18. Pulverise the French Fiesta (e.g.) in this village. (11). Grindleford

19. Norse god, pretty excited initially, seen overhead on a hill. (6, 5). Thorpe Cloud

20. S Spain wants revolution. (7, 4). Winnats Pass

21. Yearn, while five hundred finish beer. (11). Longdendale

22. The writer a number place on the scales noisily, starting at 35 and ending in Scotland. (3, 7, 3). The Pennine Way

23. Village in which my Nan lived. She used to say “It is Sing to Nanny time!” and we would have a sing-song before bed. (10). Tissington

24. Village that sounds like the remains after the burning of e.g. £20 pound notes! (7). Monyash

25. Can sixties dance turn the Spanish around in this village? (10). Tintwistle

26. Did biblical patriarch watch angels going up and down these steps? (6, 6). Jacob’s Ladder

27. One that proverbially won’t wait for any man - terrific! (9). Tideswell

28. Madam, pay your respects to the Queen, and be dammed! (9, 9). Ladybower Reservoir

29. Song of Eminem’s Revival, a collector of a car’s exhaust gases. (5, 8). River Manifold

30. Upland area where bicycle seat is of greater value, I’m told. (11, 4). Saddleworth Moor

31. The pram Kyle unfolded became a popular attraction. (4, 4). Lyme Park

32. Roman Catholic follows untamed snake beside Irish lake. (14). Wildboarclough

33. Old garden’s alternatively a village. (7). Edensor

34. Valley of Jonathan (doctor/comedian), Arthur (playwright) or Gina (activist)? (7, 4). Millers Dale

35. Echo glen. (5) Edale

36. Eve C Pallister redesigned this old building. (7, 6) Peveril Castle

37. Deer (maybe white?) in 7th to 14th letters. (10). Hartington

38. Escarpment where Geena staged revolution. 7, 4 Stanage Edge

39. Watch out for adders if you cross the Pennines here. (5, 4). Snake Pass

40. In this village I hear report of Christmas tomb; not that you’ll be sorry. (10). Youlgreave

41. Block up Thermos reservoir. (8). Damflask

42. Are these coarse fish? No. Or abbreviated dirty insect pests? No. They are hills. (3, 7). The Roaches

43. A silence for row with the restaurant worker losing information. (7, 2, 3, 5). Ashford-in-the-Water

44. Place where a mongrel can get a drink? (6). Curbar

45. River where old anaesthetic leads to cry of pain. (7). Etherow

46. Keep this part of the tool sharp! (3, 4). Axe Edge

47. Female cirrus? (3, 5). Hen Cloud

48. Follow the B5053 along northwards until you find this village. (7). Longnor

49. Valley named after HRH of Cambridge? (9, 4). Middleton Dale

50. Ancient site where Anna, Becky, Claire, Debbie, Erin, Fiona, Grace, Helen, and Isobel stand in a ring. Count them! (4, 6). Nine Ladies