Hugh’s News – 2 October 2025

Following on from the white butterfly in August’s article, there followed some debate on its i.d. I requested comments on social media and the consensus was that this was a Large White, albeit not a well-marked individual. Certainly there were plenty of Large White caterpillars on the march on my next walk at Thornton Hough. The Butterfly Conservation sent me a diagram of the 3 main UK butterflies’ identification (Large, Small and Green-veined) plus the newly found Southern Small White. Whites never seem to settle for long, they are always very mobile. This makes separation more difficult – well, that’s my excuse!

Back to birds, and waders are returning in increasing numbers. Peter took some nice images at Hoylake of both Oystercatchers and Curlew in flight. Peter also found a flock of Redshanks roosting over the high tide.

On a walk along Meols prom, I watched several Black-headed Gulls in varying stages of moult into their non-breeding plumage. And a couple were enjoying a bath in one of the beach pools.

A Carrion Crow and a juvenile Herring Gull both perched nicely on the sea wall.

The regular wintering flock of Black-tailed Godwits can be viewed at Caldy Wildfowl Collection over high tides. It is wonderful to see large numbers relatively close up.

Finally, a bird joke! People sometimes ask what is the difference between a Raven and a Carrion Crow. Well, a Raven wing has 17 primary, flight feathers, also known as pinion feathers. A Crow has only 16 pinions. So, the difference between a Raven and a Crow is only a matter of a pinion!

Thank you to Peter and Hugh for the images.

Hugh