Saturday 22nd November 2014 - Woolston Eyes

A dozen snipe as well as the usual wildfowl.

Michael Laurent

Thursday 20th November 2014 - Sale Golf Club

A plague of harlequin ladybirds covered clothes and hair  of several people. 

A carrion crow played with my golf ball and then flew off with it in its beak!

Pat Hill

Thursday 20th November 2014 - Sale Garden

Jays seen in the garden.

Pam and Phil Grundy

Sunday 16th November 2014 - Leighton Moss

Specialities seen included an otter, a great-white egret, 2 little egrets and 2 kingfishers.

Michael Laurent

Monday 3rd November 2014 - Davyhulme Millenium Nature Reserve

Spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus) fruit.

This almost hidden reserve next to the Manchester Ship Canal is popular with local dog walkers, but worth a visit to see what you can find. We found these spindle trees with their brilliant pink fruit capsules, enclosing bright orange seeds. We had not seen them before.

Spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus) fruit.

Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus)

There were also some wonderful specimens of shaggy inkcap fungus.

Cathy and Mike Pettipher

Saturday 1st November 2014 - Sale Moor

Mistletoe (Viscum album)

Mistletoe was seen growing wild in a hawthorn tree in the centre of Sale Moor. We believe this is the first recorded sighting in this area.

Britain is the northern edge of  the distribution in Europe and within Britain, Mistletoe is found mostly in the south, particularly in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, in the lowlands around the river Severn and its major tributaries. However recent evidence suggests its distribution may be spreading further east and north, perhaps in conjunction with climate change factors.

Mistletoe (Viscum album)

The distinctive white berries are distributed only by a few bird species, particularly the mistle thrush, which usually swallows the berries and excretes the seeds still in sticky slime that will stick on to twigs and braches. The blackcap is another mistletoe specialist, but they swallow on;y the berry skin and pulp, wiping every seed off their beaks individually, potentially directly on to a host tree. The number of overwintering blackcaps has increased in recent years in southern Britain, perhaps from climate change and this may well have resulted in an increased distribution.

For further information about mistletoe, see the very informative web site run by Jonathan Briggs: http://mistletoe.org.uk/

Maurice Lees