We haven’t seen one of these plants locally for 150 years
THERE was much excitement recently at the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. My phone and social media were red hot.
“We have found a white beak sedge on Astley Moss. Very exciting, we haven’t seen one there for 150 years!”
Wow! Now that sounded exciting, but I presumed they had missed a word and they were talking about the white beaked sedge warbler. The sedge warbler is already a beautiful bird, being a sandy brown with a dark, streaked cap and a distinctive white eyestripe.
They sit in reed beds singing a loud and proud song. The male introduces random phrases into its repertoire, never singing the same song twice. He attracts more mates the more phrases his song has. Imagine a member of this bird’s family with a white beak? I was really looking forward to seeing pictures of this bird... but it wasn’t a bird. Forget the warbler bit, the white beak sedge is a plant that is like a grass but has triangular stems and inconspicuous flowers. It grows in wet ground like Astley Moss.
And to look at it, it’s a green sedge with a white tuft sticking out the top and is generally hidden in other grasses, quite difficult to spot.
Our Wigan Reserves manager Mark Champion said: “To our absolute amazement, we stumbled upon two plants of white beak sedge amongst the population of roundleaved sundew.”
So, in my mind, it wasn’t the most exciting plant in that area, as sundew is our superduper, bright orange and red carnivore, which eats insects. Mark explained that this wasn’t just the first white beak sedge to be spotted on Astley Moss for 150 years, it was the first one to be recorded in the whole of Greater Manchester for a century and a half.
In fact, Mark and the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership are actively reintroducing the plant onto Risley Moss, close to Warrington.
It looks as though the plants grew from the seeds of former Astley Moss plants that have been stored in the seedbank, which lies under the soil.
Mark said: “Although we did not see any more than these plants, it is probable that white beak sedge may exist on other, less accessible parts of Astley Moss.”
It proves that the work that Mark and his team do on the mosslands is working if native plants are returning. This is great for local wildlife and is also pretty good for the environment as these areas are brilliant for carbon storage.
To become a member of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust. org.uk.