Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Bank Holiday visitors

Lee and Karen have both emailed to let us know that they spotted a porpoise and a group of seals in the River Mersey at Otterspool on Bank Holiday Monday. Thanks! If you spot anything interesting, let us know on info@merseybasin.org.uk

Porpoise spotted on Bank Holiday Monday

Thanks to Paul who has emailed to let us know that he spotted three porpoise at Pickering Pasture, swimming upstream towards Runcorn Bridge. Good spot Paul. If you see any interesting wildlife on or around our waterways, let us know by emailing info@merseybasin.org.uk

Three rare warblers appear in Wigan

Three rare warbler species have turned up this autumn on the Wigan Flashes Local Nature Reserve

In September, a Yellow-browed Warbler was spotted on the reserve after seemingly taking a wrong turn on it's way to Asia from Russia! It is now mingling with long-tailed tits feeding on insects in the willows and sycamores opposite Scotsmans Flash. Another Yellow-browed warbler was spotted more recently at Poolstock Lock near Westwood.

Two Firecrests, the smallest British birds (by weight) were found by Mark Champion at Wellham Road next to Hawkley High School. This species is normally found in Scandanavia.

The Cettie's Warbler has also been spotted (and heard singing) in the newly managed reed beds. It is unusual to see this species as it doesn't normally migrate. First bred in Kent in the 1970's it seems this bird is spreading it's wings and moving 'oop north'!

The sightings of these birds is showing that conservation works taking place at Wigan Flashes is having a positive impact and proving to be an attractive location for birds. Let's not forget that bitterns have also been found on the site following habitat improvements!

Beavering away at Martin Mere

Four European beavers have been released in an enclosure at WWT Martin Mere.   
It is believed the Eurasian Beaver became extinct in Britain in the 1500s and by the end of the 1800s only a few hundred beavers remained in Europe. The beaver display at Martin Mere will not only be the only attraction in the North West where visitors can watch beavers in their natural habitat, but the first time they have been resident in Lancashire for 500 years.

More information

Good sign for the Valley Brook

Volunteers from Wistaston Conservation Group had an unexpected reward whilst out Balsam Bashing yesterday.  They were clearing Himalayan Balsam from the Joey the Swan area of Valley Brook Nature Park, and were lucky enough to spot a kingfisher following the course of the Valley Brook.  This is a great sign as it indicates that the water quality in the Brook is good.  Malcolm Bellis from Wistaston Conservation Group said that it made the hours of Balsam Bashing worthwile.

 

Shhh! The others are asleep....

Pictures by Adrian Dancy

What have I told you about skateboarding outside Urbis?

Pictures by Adrian Dancy

Fantastic feathered foursome...

A little while ago we blogged about the peregrine falcons whose day-to-day life is being broadcast to the inhabitants of Manchester via the BBC Big Screen in Exchange Square. Well, since we last wrote about the birds, four new chicks have hatched, and have been named by viewers of BBC North West Tonight.

John, Paul, George and Ringo? Not in this city. The chosen names were: Sora (Japanese for 'sky'), Perry, Phoenix (to mark the rebuilding of Manchester after the bombing, and Eggwin (as in Eggwin van der Saar). Eggwin is the youngest chick, and was still inside his egg when the competition began.

The chicks should take to the skies above the city in the next couple of weeks - and keep watching the screens to see how Mr and Mrs Falcon are coping with new parenthood......

Look out for an interview with one of the project's information officers in the forthcoming edition of MBC's SourceNW magazine.

featherfield!

Is Big Brother in your nest?

Forget the battling Duckies of Weatherfield, a new couple is taking over the Manchester soap scene this week - a pair of peregrine falcons who are nesting at a top-secret location in the city centre - dubbed Featherfield by the M.E.N. Starting yesterday, images from the nest are being beamed onto the BBC Big Screen in Exchange Square every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 11am and 6pm.

Luckily for the non-ornithologically minded, experts from the RSPB are on hand in the square to explain what's going on. Hopefully later in the summer we'll be able to see the couple's offspring hatch and fly the nest - let's hope they're less trouble than that Terry Duckworth.

The soap's all part of the RSPB's Aren't Birds Brilliant initiative, a series of projects giving you the chance to see some of the UK's most exciting birds. Thanks to Lesley from Action Ribble Estuary, I've found this information about the project in that area, too.

Fortunately for the soft-hearted, romantic Mancunian viewers, our city centre falcons are very much an item, but spare a thought for Albert, a lovesick Albatross who's spent the past forty years fruitlessly searching for a mate on a Scottish island miles from his natural habitat. If you can bear to read the heartrending story, visit the BBC's site.

Perhaps Albert will soon be following in the soapy talon-prints of our own a-list birds, maybe with a groundbreaking new series of 'Celebrity Love Island'?