Wildlife notes August 2024 Dr Phil Smith Despite the opinion of many, August was a dry month, England having 62% of average rainfall. That is comparable to the 48.5mm measured by Rachael Parks, which was about 64% of normal August rainfall for Formby. It was a windy month, including a named storm on 22nd-23rd, but…

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July was the season of the Ragwort, which, with Wild Parsnip and Wild Carrot, proliferated on the Sefton dunes to an extent I have never previously witnessed in over 50 years. “Ten-thousand saw I at a glance” was more appropriate to Ragwort than to Wordsworth’s Daffodils. Ragwort has the popular reputation of being poisonous to…

The Met Office reports that June was dry, cool and sunny. Persistent northerly winds meant temperatures averaged about 2oC below normal, while UK rainfall was 29% lower than usual. This fits quite well with Rachael Park’s rainfall measurements. She had 39mm of rain on 12 days in her Formby garden, about 40% below average. Thankfully,…

According to the Met Office, May 2024 was the warmest on record, mainly due to high overnight temperatures. It was also the hottest spring overall. Rainfall in England was above average, though the Met Office maps show that the Sefton Coast bugged the trend, having roughly normal rainfall. This was confirmed by Rachael Parks’ rain-gauge…

An unusual April – no drought! Rachael Parks tells me there were 19 days with measurable rainfall in Formby, totalling about 55mm, which is around average for the month. Nationally, there was about 55% more rain than usual, including a named storm from 6th to 9th. The latter coincided with very high spring tides (10.2m…