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.
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 in many once familiar species.
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 kept topped up. Therefore Natterjack tadpoles on Birkdale Green Beach survived throughout the month, though their growth rate was slower than normal.
An almost constant refrain in my April notes since 2007 has been drought conditions in the dunes. Persistent high pressure meant no measureable rain fell between 4th and 25th April. This pattern is now well established, analysis of spring rainfall data from the Ainsdale National Nature Reserve weather station revealing a statistically significant decline since 2000.
Merseyside BioBank is the Local Environmental Records Centre for North Merseyside. Opened in 2007 the initial project focused heavily on establishing community and education outreach. Designing a building and resources that could be used by schools and new recorders through to experienced naturalists. The legacy of this work still exists today through our local network of naturalist groups, expert recorders and material resources.
A pattern of dry spring months has been evident for over a decade, March having only 65% of normal rainfall in England and Wales. An unexpected deluge came on 12th-13th but a small recovery in the height of the dune water-table in mid-month was subsequently lost. The ponds at Freshfield Dune Heath Nature Reserve remained extremely low but still attracted lots of Common Frogs.
Welcome to the new development website for Merseyside BioBank LRC. This site is not yet live so please don't be surprised when things break!
This development is meant to ensure that MBB has a continued web presence and that our presence is manageable within the resources available to the LRC staff. We also want it to better fit the needs of our North Merseyside naturalists, volunteers and recorders as well as to the staff and organisations that work with and support us.
Salix × doniana on Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve,
October 2013
Philip H. Smith, Patricia A. Lockwood & David Mercer
There are three main ways for MBAN members to get involved with Butterfly surveying and recording in North Merseyside this year.
Grayling monitoring
Website content is licensed by Merseyside BioBank / Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.