Since these notes began over 12 years ago, extreme weather and its effects on wildlife has been a constant refrain Now the Met. Office tells us that we had the warmest July since 1884, the UK’s record highest temperature being broken on 25th, while subsequent heavy rain led to flash flooding in the Pennines. Here, July began with drought conditions, virtually no rain falling until 19th. Thereafter, it rained on eight days, though we missed the torrential downpours elsewhere. A pulse of warm air from the continent produced a short-lived heatwave late in the month.
The warmth helped many duneland insects. The Ringlet colony at Ravenmeols spread to the nearby Range Lane pasture, while the Hightown scrapes still had up to four Red-veined Darters on 3rd and 7th, presumably survivors from the June influx. They were accompanied by the usual Black-tailed Skimmers, Broad-bodied Chasers, Emperors and Common Darters. A totally unexpected find nearby was a patch of spectacular white Madonna Lilies in full flower. There was no sign of them being planted, though that origin seems likely. A visit to Ainsdale National Nature Reserve with Trevor Davenport was rewarded with good views of a Purple Hairstreak (found by others). Trevor also spotted a rare Forester moth on Ragwort.
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After one of the driest winters and springs in living memory, twelve days with measurable rain in June were riches indeed. While some parts of the country were flooded, we had just enough to reverse earlier drought conditions. There was even some late spawning by Natterjack Toads, though the tadpoles are unlikely to complete their development. The extent to which our wildlife is impacted by weather condition was graphically illustrated. Rainfall in the first half of the month had a spectacular effect on the sand-dune flora with orchids appearing in fantastic abundance. Pyramidal and Bee Orchids were everywhere. Joshua Styles reported driving past Bee Orchids on a Southport roundabout, so Trevor Davenport and I braved the traffic to count a remarkable 210 flower-spikes. Green Sefton’s John Dempsey arranged for mowing to be delayed so they could set seed. Ironically, however, a letter to the local newspaper complained about grass being uncut on a roundabout – you can’t please everyone!
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Gardenwatch, one of the most ambitious citizen science projects to take place in the UK, was launched during BBC's Springwatch 2019. This collaboration between the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), BBC, and the Open University leaves no stone unturned to help find out just how important gardens are for wildlife. This is the first time that such information has been collected on this scale.
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As part of a project to discover what might be driving the decline in UK Cuckoo numbers, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has fitted four of these iconic birds with satellite tags. These tags will enable BTO researchers to follow the Cuckoos as they make their way to the Congo rainforest, where they winter, and back again next spring.
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It’s becoming repetitive, but May 2019 was yet another dry month in Sefton. Only eight days had measurable rainfall, none of it heavy or persistent. Like last year, duneland vegetation was looking parched by mid-month, attempts to find our rare clovers on road verges at Ainsdale and Hightown being thwarted as the plants were dried up.
However, drought conditions could not prevent May on the Sefton Coast producing a wealth of wildlife as usual. Altcar Training Camp proved a case in point. This large (620 acre) estate is normally off-limits for security reasons but, each spring and summer, a series of popular guided walks and research visits is arranged by kind permission of the Commandant, Col. Gordon Black. Altcar’s amazing Green-winged Orchids have featured annually in these notes. This time, Steve Cross counted about 24,500; fewer than recently but still one of the largest populations in the country. As well as rare colour-forms of salmon-pink and white, I found a few orchids with strange variegated flowers. Although about 430 higher plants have been listed for the estate, we still found several new species, including the uncommon Knotted Clover, Spring Vetch and Rat’s-tail Fescue. Specialists from Liverpool Museum’s Tanyptera Project recorded a new parasitic wasp for Britain, the Bordered Shieldbug which was new to South Lancashire and Merseyside and no fewer than 111 beetles!
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Despite two days of Storm Hannah, it being our first year and a fairly laid back approach... the results are in..
And you did yourselves and the Liverpool City Region proud! Here are some of the stats from the 4 days;
The LCR 3 key stats are;
Observations: 12,326
Species: 1,075
Observers: 121
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