It was another eventful month for nature on the Sefton Coast. One of the main attractions was the amazingly diverse strandline flora that developed on the shore between Ainsdale and Birkdale; I can’t remember seeing anything like it before.
Phil Smith: Strandline vascular plants at Ainsdale
I thought I would spend a couple of hours on 3rd September 2021 recording the variety of strandline plants north of Ainsdale-on-Sea.This habitat is the best I have seen for at least ten years.
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife notes August 2021
My month with nature started well when Joyce and David Jarvis showed me two flowering Broad-leaved Helleborines at Ainsdale National Nature Reserve. I hadn’t seen this orchid on the Sefton Coast since 2008. Other notable plants during the month included a small colony of Whorl-grass that I found on a freshwater seepage zone on Hightown...
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife notes July 2021
Extreme heatwaves and prolonged spring and summer droughts are a predicted consequence of climate change. Fortunately, most of our sand-dune specialist flora and fauna seem able to cope at present, being adapted to life in harsh conditions. A loud hum preceded the arrival of two enormous, tropical-looking insects that crashed into the grass a few...