Ainsdale Sand Dunes And Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserves

Ron Jackson has been busy this week, this time sharing a video of a 'local' Kestrel at our Ribble NNR office.
Cheers Ron!! If you have any pictures or videos that you'd like to share from our reserves please send them across.

A great video from Ron Jackson showing a hunting Hen harrier over at our Ribble Estuary NNR......
https://youtu.be/APEdbE_kW6k
Enjoy!!

Battling Sea buckthorn in the dune slacks.
Once again volunteers and staff from Natural England joined up with gems in the dunes on Wednesday, removing Sea buckthorn from a productive Natterjack toad breeding slack along the NNR/LNR boundary fence.
Sea buckthorn and other scrub vegetation dries out our dune slacks, increases soil development and leads to a loss of valuable open dune habitat.....Removing scrub stops our rare dune flora and fauna being outcompeted and crowded o...ut.
There were 14 of us in total, and we made great progress, as you can see from the before and after photographs.
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250 Herdwick sheep were safely delivered to Ainsdale sand dunes NNR on Wednesday evening, they were brought down from Wasdale in the Lake district and will spend their winter out amongst the enclosures at Ainsdale and Cabin Hill NNR's. Our Shetland cattle have also been moved into the dunes to graze alongside the sheep.
Please keep dogs under control and on leads when near to the livestock.
We are looking for regular volunteers to help check on our livestock and stock fencing... during the winter months at Ainsdale NNR. There will be some walking involved so you would need to have a moderate level of fitness and full training would be given by Natural England staff.
If you can spare a couple of hours per week and are interested in helping please give our office a call on 01704 578 774.
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Natterjack Toads, dune heath and hard work!!
First up this week, Natural England staff and volunteers joined forces with Gems in the dunes and cleared a large area of scrub at Cabin Hill NNR. This follows on from recent dune slack reprofiling and forms part of our joint targeted approach in making the reserve a better place for Natterjack toads. Clearing this large area will now allow us to lower the terrestrial habitat through regular mowing......Good hunting ground for Natt...erjacks!!
Secondly, we worked with Lancashire Wildlife Trust on Thursday and harvested a large amount of heather seed from Freshfield dune heath. By sowing this into an area of Ainsdale sand dunes NNR where conditions are suitable we hope to create a perfect example of dune heath habitat.
Both great examples of working together across the Sefton coast.
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It's that time of year when our sheep make a return to Cabin Hill and Ainsdale, helping keep the vegetation low as part of our conservation grazing strategy.
They are expected to arrive at the end of September and we'll have the usual mix of Icelandic, Hebridean and Herdwicks. After 2 dog attacks resulted in sheep fatalities last year, we urge all dog owners to check information boards and signage around the reserves and ensure their pets are kept on leads when near to the grazing enclosures.
Thanks so much for helping us keep our livestock safe and well.

Don't forget our fungi walk on 22nd September.......book early to avoid disappointment!!

Thanks you Ron Jackson, a #volunteer at #NNRs for sharing this video from #Ribble Estuary of Black-tailed Godwits on Crossens Marsh last week. 3,600 were counted there, newly arrived from Iceland. As Ron suggests numbers are down now but there are presumably in the South and will head North soon. Thanks for sharing Ron.
Do please share your photos, videos, comments about our #NNRs we do like to hear what you have seen, what you have heard.

The last couple of weeks have seen Natural England staff and volunteers working with a PhD student from Loughborough University, carrying out some really interesting scientific research.......Here is some information from Ciara Sugrue on what she's been up to out on the reserve.
'Coastal wetlands provide important ecosystem services including flood protection, pollination and tourism - however these services are all under serious threat from climate change and pollution.
My ...PhD is investigating how coastal wetlands are affected by climate change - and one way to identify, monitor and predict these changes is to study plants. I have spent two summers undertaking plant surveys within the dune slacks at Ainsdale NNR, and the findings of this research will help inform the conservation and management of these nationally important sand dune habitats'.
Valuable research for future management.
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The warm and humid conditions appear to have kickstarted the emergence of fungi around the woodland.........why not join us for our annual search!!
Its a fascinating walk with our local experts.

Some nice footage of waders from the Ribble estuary NNR site......living up to their name in the torrential rain and mud!! Thanks to Ron Jackson for sharing.

Breathing new LIFE into our sand dunes!
Natural England are working in partnership with Plantlife, National Trust and the Wildlife trusts to deliver an ambitious and innovative new project.
The dunelife project will begin soon, enabling us to improve the condition of our sand dune system, and helping us conserve a habitat that is under serious threat - safeguarding the rare species that depend on this unique landscape
... It's amazing news for some of our key species, including sand lizard, natterjack toad and dune tiger beetle. We will keep you updated on the project and advertise volunteer opportunities when they arise.
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Congratulations to Dave Lane who won our first cover photograph competition, next up is Autumn.....Remember, take some pics and keep your images ready for the next competition in November.
Out on the reserve we have had a couple of really interesting birds - A green woodpecker appears to have taken up residence in the slack 29/39 area (near to where the cattle are grazing) and a long eared owl was seen perched on a fence post in the open dunes last Sunday - the green woodpecker is particularly vocal, you'll probably hear it before you see it!!
As usual at this time of year the dune plants are providing outstanding colour, and in the woodland fungi is starting to push its way through....there's something eyecatching no matter where you look.

We've received a couple of pictures for the photograph competition, which is now open for votes!
Entries are attached to this posting and the image that receives the most likes by16th August will become our cover photograph......so get sharing and liking with your friends!!
Please continue to forward any images that you get from our reserves, and keep in mind the Autumnal theme for the next competition in November (hopefully we'll beat two entries!!).

Don't forget that the closing date for entries into our Facebook cover photo competition is 7th August - so you've still got the weekend to capture some amazing pictures of our reserves.
Send us your favourite picture of Ainsdale, Cabin Hill or Ribble NNR as a message via Facebook, we will post all entries on 7th August and the image with the most likes by 17:00 on 16th August will be the winner.
Your picture will then take pride of place as our page cover photo, until the next competition in Autumn.....Thanks to those who have submitted entries so far.

How would you like your favourite photograph of Ainsdale, Cabin Hill or Ribble NNRs to appear as our Facebook cover picture? Then join our photo competition!!
We will run this competition every few months and the theme will be seasonal, so for this quarter try to get a photograph across that sums up the reserve in summer (for me it's dragonflies and damselflies!). It can be wildlife, landscape or whatever inspires you to come along and visit.
Send your image across to us as ...a message via Facebook and on 7th August we will post all photographic entries and the competition will be opened. The picture with the most likes by 17:00 on 16th August will be crowned our cover champion - the result will be announced on 17th August, just a couple of days before World Photo Day.
Get snapping while the weather is good!!
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A video taken by Ron Jackson earlier this month at Pinfold Meadow of Forester Moths. Have you visited Pinfold Meadow? Did you spot any Forester Moths?