Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botanist, Mid-July notes.
First signs of autumn are already with us in the form of ripe blackberries, rowan berries and hawthorn “haws”. Soon other trees and bushes will follow.
Ainsdale NNR: Xylota sylvarum
Confirmed by VC59 verifier Glenn Rostron as the Hoverfly Xylota sylvarum. Recorded at Ainsdale NNR on the 17th July 2018. Incredibly this is only the second ever record for the site the previous being from 1959!
Rob Duffy: Sidewalk Botanist Goes Brookside: A short excursion down Court Hey Brook
Court Hey Brook is some 680 metres long within its Park and is crossed by two footbridges, one in the “middle” and the other at the southern end. It was never a boundary within the Victorian estate which ran uphill to the present Rimmer Avenue and it barely appears on any maps. It is hard to believe that its hydrology was significantly altered about a decade ago (United Utilities); designed to protect the east bank’s back gardens from being undercut by waters that have subsequently failed, the remnant sandbanks seem now arcane relics.
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife Notes June 2018
Reports of Red-eyed Damselflies at new localities in Merseyside led Trevor Davenport and me to visit the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Aintree where this distinctive species can be found perching on Fringed Water-lily leaves. We logged about 25 Red-eyes, including several pairs, as well as four other species of dragonfly in this exceptional month for these ancient insects.