Sunday 8 January 2012

Liverpool 'country' walk

Lesser? Canada Goose, Calderstones Park
I was going to go for a walk on the Wirral with the family yesterday but decided against it as it was blowing a gale out there.... fair weather birder! We eventually decided to take a walk around South Liverpool; from our area at Greenbank we walked through Calderstones park and followed the footpath to the East that crosses Allerton Golf Course and into Allerton Towers, then across Woolton Road into the Eric Hardy Nature Reserve, then into Clarks Gardens (including a quick pint in the pub in the park), through Springwood Crem and then followed the footpath alongside the cemetery towards Camp Hill, from Camp Hill we followed the path through the Woolton Woods and finished in Woolton Village; a great walk which I have never done in one go before, for the majority of the walk you could easily have been mistaken for thinking you were in the heart of the countryside!

Lesser? Canada Goose, Calderstones Park
As for the wildlife I managed to catch up with some half decent birds including a Red Legged Partridge, 2 Bullfinches, Goldcrests, Raven, and a Sparrowhawk at Eric Hardy Nature Reserve. Nuthatch and male Blackcap at Clarks Gardens, Buzzard at Springwood Crem, Red Campion in flower in the Golf Course, and in Calderstones Park I found what appears to be a small race Canada Goose; probably parvipes or Lesser Canada Goose; the bird was at least a third smaller than the others and with a slightly darker breast.... although not to spoil the birds credentials it did show clear signs of its primary feathers having been pinioned in the past and thus relegating it to the 'fence jumping' category, yet still an interesting find and I have no idea where it must have come from. Also in the park a strange hybrid Goose which is also new to the area, 9 Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, 20+ Coal Tits, 10+ Goldcrests, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker, and last but not least a calling Green Woodpecker in the line of Beech Trees on the Harthill side of the park adjacent to the walled gardens.

dodgy looking primary feathers
hybrid Goose, Calderstones Park

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