Trip reports

Hobbies and dragonflies at Whixall Moss

Saturday, 9 June 2007

A glorious Saturday morning in June saw thirteen intrepid explorers receiving their final instructions before stepping out into the great unknown of Whixall Moss. Fully briefed on what to do if bitten by an adder, how to avoid being sucked into a peat bog, and not to fall victim to sunstroke, we ventured forth.

We had been requested by English Nature to take note of not only what bird species we saw, but where they were on the Moss, as a help towards their overdue survey of wildlife. This provoked much discussion. With the English / Welsh border crossing the Moss, and with different reports needed for both countries, were they Welsh birds flying into England, or English birds in Wales, and do adders hiss bilingually?

For many of us, the ultimate goal was to sight a hobby. We had been told to look for a swift-like bird in flight, with peregrine looks. We were in luck almost immediately, with our one and only hobby-spot of the day, watching as it quartered its territory, and then rose out of sight on the thermals.

With a wide variety of birds spotted, the ones causing most discussion were stonechats, reed buntings and tree pipits, which were around in abundance. It wasn't until Mr and Mrs Stonechat obligingly sat on an adjacent bush to Mr and Mrs Reed Bunting, that we were finally able to observe more clearly the differences, and distinguish between the two species with more confidence. Likewise, once we knew it was tree pipits we were watching, their different habits to meadow pipits became far more apparent. The noisiest birds were the curlews, with their calls resonating far out across the Moss.

For insect lovers, there were plenty of dragonflies and damselflies around, and for the botanists, a sighting of what appeared to be a pitcher-type plant in bloom, though with none of us expert on carnivorous species, we have yet to identify which one. The one thing we did all agree was that we had never seen anything quite like it in this country before.

The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all and our many thanks go to Roger Nutter for organising and expertly leading the outing.

LNR & PB