All the known Sefton sites for the British endemic Isle of Man Cabbage (Coincya monensis ssp. monensis) were visited in late May/early June 2015 and numbers of plants counted. At Crosby Marine Park, where sand was removed from a dune ridge for a 2011 coast protection scheme, 1361 plants were found on the extracted ridge...
A desperately dry month spelt disaster for the few sand-dune wetlands still holding enough surface water to support Natterjack tadpoles and contributed to several large fires in the dunes. On 9th, Patricia Lockwood and I netted and relocated about 2000 tadpoles on the southern section of Birkdale Green Beach to 12cm depth of water. However,...
Nature alert: Nearly one in five bird species in Europe is at risk of extinction according to the European Red List of Birds, compiled by BirdLife International and using data gathered by BTO volunteers. The list makes shocking reading, with illegal killing and land-use change among the factors thought to be driving the declines evident...
Persistent cold winds from the west and northwest were an unwelcome feature of May this year. Although these reduced the variety of migrant birds and slowed the appearance of wild flowers and insects, our coastline still produced plenty of interest. Fortunately, occasional rain meant that what little surface water remained from the April drought was...