Summer 2018 at Cleaver Heath

Summer 2018 at Cleaver Heath

Alan Irving, our Volunteer Reserve Warden at Cleaver Heath nature reserve has some updates from the reserve.

The TESCO Bags of Help grant is now making an impact on site.  This grant, along with Natural Futures funding has provided help with new signage, an interpretation board, a proper northern gateway, and some approved gritstone to reinforce the vulnerable main path through the heather.

Last week, some kind Cheshire Wildlife Trust volunteers helped lay down the first load of gritstone.

Gritstone and volunteers c. Alan Irving

Gritstone c. Alan Irving

It turned out to be the hottest day of the year. However, this hard work should make a real difference, turning what can be a mud bath in winter (below left) into an attractive path (below right), which will encourage visitors to respect the fragile heathland all year round.

Cleaver heath path before and after c. Alan Irving

Cleaver heath path before and after c. Alan Irving

The grant will also provide us with signage to identify the recommended route to maximise visitors’ enjoyment of the reserve and its stunning views.

No wildlife or visitors were harmed during these activities although I almost ran over a common lizard with my wheelbarrow full of stone!

Holy blue butterfly c. Alan Irving

Holy blue butterfly c. Alan Irving

Summer has now really arrived.

We have had a continuous sequence of flowering plants and shrubs - from the oxeye daisies, red campion and ragwort in our ‘insect nursery’ (ex-car park) to the common heather (Calluna) and western gorse out on the reserve.

The bell heather (both plants!) bloomed defiantly in June and then lapsed back into obscurity. The common heather is now starting to turn from white to purple.

The small butterfly shown here is a male holly blue. This has a blue underwing with black spots. It was photographed during a brief rest period in the stoning!  There were plenty of common blue butterflies on the wing as well.

We were also surrounded by swallows and house martins which were feeding low over the heather, showing just how productive the heathland is in summer.

Swallow c. Alan Irving

Swallow c. Alan Irving

Swallows in flight are very hard to photograph for us amateurs, as the accompanying photograph demonstrates. What with humming bees, swarms of insects, fluttering butterflies and swooping swallows, the reserve seems very alive following several weeks of warm weather. The downside of course is that some of the vegetation is visibly starting to wilt.

A new beetle for me this summer has been the swollen-thighed beetle seen here on both red campion and oxeye daisy. The shiny green colouring is quite striking and the name perfectly describes it.

The buff-tailed bumble bee on the fox glove is of course more familiar.  

Cleaver heath flowers and insects c. Alan Irving

Cleaver heath flowers and insects c. Alan Irving

Blue tit nest box at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

Blue tit nest box at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

There have been spectacular displays of foxgloves around the woodland path edges providing a popular source of nectar. Foxgloves like the disturbance associated with paths.

The nest boxes installed last winter seem to have been used. I had firm sightings of blue tits (right) and great tits using at least 6 of the 10 boxes. No sign of occupancy at the tawny owl box however.

This year’s Common Bird Census took place between 5 April and 11 June. The overall numbers were down on 2017 probably due to the poor weather in the early breeding season.

The linnets were here again this year – possibly 2 pairs? Both mistle and song thrush (below right) bred. We had the usual warblers holding territory – chiffchaff, blackcap and willow warbler. I am not sure if the willow warblers actually bred. They seemed to disappear at the end of May but returned in late June. I even heard one singing in the last week of July!

Birds at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

Birds at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

Butterfly sightings have picked up after a slow start – the Cleaver to Thurstaston survey numbers are now running at roughly double those to the same point in 2017: 800 up from 400.

Butterflies at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

Butterflies at Cleaver Heath c. Alan Irving

Top left is a rare (for me) photo of a male orange tip at rest. These were quickly replaced by the other small whites then meadow brown and gatekeeper (top right) and other smaller things such as the small and large skipper (bottom left) and the blues.

The speckled woods have been present throughout the surveys. We have had the odd small copper, peacock and red admiral and a few commas, but still no painted ladies (as of end July).

Our species count for the transect this summer remains stubbornly at 15.

 

We now hope to get some of the new signage infrastructure installed in the autumn.

Looking ahead to the monthly workdays, there is plenty to be done. We need to check and clean out the bird boxes, tidy up some path work, remove some non-native shrubs and saplings, start on the annual birch control work using the new pull or cut and treat methods. The first date is Sunday 2 September from 10am.

This year’s  ‘Beauty of Heswall’s Heathland’ guided walk will take place from 2pm to 4pm on Sunday 19th August. More details on the Wirral Wildlife web pages at or on the Cheshire Wildlife Trust site.