Jumbles CP, Bolton and the Manchester Museum.

At the weekend I took another trip up North, to visit some freinds and check out an open day at Lancaster University. Although proper wildlife watching opportunities were relatively few, due to a full social schedule (Cheers guys!) my mate Vince and I went to Jumbles Country Park on the outskirts of the sprawling and lively town of Bolton, Lancashire.

The Jumbles Reservoir

We went up there on the afternoon of March 19th, a Monday, and walked down into the woodlands. This site also takes the form of a wooded valley, with a substantial reservoir at one end. We didn't see any rarities, but a goldcrest entertained us from some pine trees, set in a natural theatre provided by an outcrop of the local sandstone. Long-tailed tits, apparantly unharmed by the breif cold snap in february, were present in good numbers, as were Coal Tits. It was good to see these species still thriving at these latitudes, especially as I hadn't actually caught sight of a Coal Tit this year before these couple of excursions, and because goldcrests, long tailed tits, and other small bodied birds do not thrive in cold winters, such as those of 2010/11 or 2009/10.  A Grey Heron was seen flying above the trees on its way to the Jumbles reservoir.

Poser Great Tit

In one end of the park sits the Jumbles reservoir, a substantial body of water, bordered by woodlands and only partially open to the public. Among the emerging daffodils were notices warning of the dangers of swimming in the reservoir. Not much chance of that, despite a blue sky a chill wind was blowing. We had our lunch in a sheltered spot near the waters edge, and a great tit breifly alighted in the flowering blackthorn shrubs, kindly posing for a photograph. On the water a pair of great crested grebes were swimming. They seemed to be relaxed together and wore their full summer plumage, evidence that soon perhaps small grebes, stripy headed, will be about, taking rides on their parent's backs. Canada Geese were there in numbers, as were plenty of mallards including a few which looked like farmyard escapes. Mallards are extremely common, of course, and with that being the case it is easy to forget how smart they look, and we enjoyed the graceful arrival of several on the water. Of the Canada geese, one, swimming alone, appeared to be a hybrid between a Canada goose, and perhaps another species.Looking at the photograph it may actually be a partially leucistic Canada Goose. Any thoughts?

Curious Canada Goose?

It was a breif visit and soon it was getting dark, and we had to make our return to Vince's house, for curry night, but not before we had spotted a few greenfinches in the waterside trees, been entertained by a busy wren, and seen a couple of Nuthatches in one of the twisted oaks. The country park is not quite the wild moorland of Lancashire I hope to visit on my next trip up, but nontheless it was interesting to visit another suburban wildlife site in a different part of the country.

Now I usually confine this blog to wild animals, but the following day I met up with Natalie in Manchester city centre and we visited the museum of Manchester, with its fascinating exhibitions of fossils and stuffed animals. We saw the skeleton of Confusciusornis, a bird fossil showing the continued evolution of birds from their dinosaur ancestors, with the beginnings of a bird's beak, still with reptilian teeth in its mouth however, and with imprints of the feathers which would have allowed this early bird to fly. We were also impressed by the collection of live animals, which included beautiful, tiny, jewel like Poison Arrow frogs from the Amazon, and by the opportunity, having fortuitously timed our visit with feeding time, to see a chamaeleon eating. The Madagascan Panther Chamaeleon extended it's thick, sticky tongue, slowly at first, before hurling it like a dart out of it's mouth at the unfortunate locust the museum employee placed in front of it. It chomped on the bug a couple of times before swallowing it. Having seen my fair share of Chamaeleons, in the wild and in zoos, it intrigued me to know that a captive chamaeleon was required for an encounter like that.

Panther Chamaeleon, the Vivarium, Manchester Museum.

We walked back down the canal and to the coach station. There was little wildlife in the city but we did see a Canada goose apparantly sitting on a nest beside the canal, opposite busy and bustling Canal Street near Manchester's main bus station.

Canada Goose nesting by Canal Street.