Dr Phil Smith
ugust was a persistently warm month, culminating in the UK’s hottest summer since records began over 150 years ago. Thank goodness, the prolonged dry spell, with five heatwaves, broke in mid-month, Atlantic lows bringing desperately needed rain. In Formby, measurable rain fell on 15 days with a total of about 68 mm, according to Rachael Park’s rain-gauge. This was only around 70% of normal but, by the end of the month, road verges and lawns began to green up and the vegetation on our internationally important sand-dunes was recovering. The sand-dune water-table fell by about 5 cm; less than expected.
Wildfires were highlighted all over the country and, although I noticed a few small fires in the dunes, we were incredibly lucky to have only one big blaze. This was at Cambridge Road, Ravenmeols, on 12th, said to be caused by a firework celebrating the partial eclipse of the sun. The fire service did a great job bringing it under control, while the National Trust organised a drone flight that measured just over 3 ha (7.7 acres) of burnt vegetation in the Local Nature Reserve. A week later, I walked over the area, noting that most of the destroyed plantlife was dense ungrazed Marram and Dewberry of limited wildlife value. Some willow and poplar scrub was also torched but two bushes of the nationally rare Don’s Willow were happily unaffected.
Some sand-dune plants suffered severely in the drought. For example, patches of non-native Snowberry at Falklands Way, together with Apple Mint and Canadian Goldenrod at Ravenmeols, almost completely died off, depriving many insects of nectar sources. Fortunately, our amazing dune-slack flora was not too badly affected. One of the Sefton Coast’s specialties, the starry, white Grass-of-Parnassus, provided a delightful spectacle. I estimated at least 5000 of them in the Devil’s Hole, Ravenmeols. The northern section of Birkdale Green Beach had sheets of flowering Common Fleabane and Parsley Water-dropwort, while nearby Queen’s Jubilee Nature Trail again produced the rare Wild Leek, boasting 21 towering flower-spikes. A purple vista of drought-resistant Heather greeted visitors to Freshfield Dune Heath Nature Reserve and the Montagu Road Triangle. It was encouraging to see Heather extending into areas cleared of scrub in recent years. A visit to Hightown dunes was rewarded with the attractive pink-and-white coastal form of Hedge Bindweed, which I first photographed here in 1982.
After 40 years of study, finding a new plant for the Green Beach is a rare event, so a stand of Blunt-flowered Rush was unexpected. This is a lowland plant mainly found in the south and east of England.
Some insect groups, particularly butterflies and dragonflies, prospered under largely sunny skies. Common Blues and Small Heaths were everywhere on the dunes; the latter is Red-listed ‘Vulnerable’ in Great Britain, meaning that it is in danger of extinction. Migratory Painted Ladies were also numerous, though the fresh condition of many showed that they had bred locally. The butterfly highlight, however, was an unprecedented showing of Clouded Yellows. Following reports from Pete Kinsella of these gorgeous butterflies migrating in numbers through Crosby Coastal Park, I headed for the park on 23rd and bumped into Pete staking out their preferred route as they flew south-west. In an hour, we counted 13, including two sparring together. Only rarely did they pause to nectar on flowers of Isle of Man Cabbage – a novel combination! It has certainly been an amazing “Clouded Yellow year”
A clump of Fennel at Crosby Coastal Park proved a big attraction for several nice insects, including the Common Lagoon Fly, a coastal specialist hoverfly with amazing spotted eyes and the infamous Bee Wolf, a skilled hunter of Honeybees. The Fennel also produced a strikingly-marked male ichneumon wasp, a photo of which I sent to various specialists in this difficult group. It came back as “probably” Lissonota picta, a member of a huge genus of 400 species. Two major recording schemes don’t recognise this species but the similar L. cruentator has been identified once before on the Sefton Coast. Another highlight was a Sharp-tail Bee found on Common Fleabane at Falklands Way, Ainsdale. Ben Hargreaves determined it as Shiny-vented Sharp-tail Bee, a solitary bee that parasitises Leaf-cutter Bees. It is relatively rare in the Northwest, there being only one previous Sefton Coast record in 1948.
Dragonflies did not reach the peak seen in July but I was pleased to spot a Brown Hawker on 4th at Alt Bridge, Formby, where there were still three Banded Demoiselles. Sands Lake produced the first of the autumn-flying Migrant Hawkers on 11th, while a nearby well-vegetated scrape had three males of the declining Ruddy Darter and a smart Emerald Damselfly.
All images Phil Smith unless stated otherwise
