Great progress on winter works
ONE of several sites enjoying the benefits of scrub clearance this winter has been Birkdale Local Nature Reserve.
The Green Sefton winter works programme is always a busy one, thanks to the efforts of staff, volunteers and lotteryfunded projects like Dynamic Dunescapes, which aims to improve sand dune habitats across the country. Regular readers may have already seen my report on the work in the frontal dunes at Birkdale, south of Weld Road, where large amounts of Rosa rugosa (aka Japanese Rose) have been removed by contractors, but Birkdale LNR is a large reserve and other areas have been receiving attention too.
The inland section of the reserve, which lies between and beyond Hillside and Royal Birkdale Golf Clubs is an area of fixed dunes with woodland parcels that opens out into a clearer dune landscape, fenced and grazed with cattle as part of the conservation management of the site in winter. This year work has been carried out to tackle scrub and invasives that are choking large areas of the site - volunteers, staff and contractors have been clearing areas of Gorse, Sea Buckthorn and invasives including raspberry!
With the site so close to suburban gardens it is not that much of a surprise that alien species are able to make the short journey as the seed blows, to colonise the dune system, but they must be controlled. If scrub and invasives are left unchecked habitat diversity quickly declines.
The majority of visitors arrive at the site from the car park beside Royal Birkdale Golf
Course - and here removal of Sea Buckthorn should be obvious at the site entrance.
Popular with dogwalkers Green Sefton asks visitors to remember to keep their pets under control, clean up after them and avoid damaging or disturbing wildlife.
This includes keep pets out of pools and flooded areas which the site’s amphibians and dragonflies rely on. At this time of year the site may appear quiet, but is has a few surprises for the observant and quiet.
Many visitors are surprised to learn that it is the best site on the coast to encounter Common Crossbill in early spring - this big red and green finch with a distinctive pair of pliers for a beak can often be found sitting quietly in the treetops here.
While more familiar as a bird of the coniferous forests of Scotland, Crossbills occur in varying numbers along the Sefton Coast (as a migrant and a breeder) and use areas around the main path into Birkdale Local Nature Reserve to drop down to drink from puddles and flooded channels.
Their remarkable bills are designed to extract seeds from pine cones, so it is hardly surprising they get thirsty after wrestling with pine resin all day! Redpolls are unobtrusive and sadly declining little finches but can be found along the path and you may hear the mournful single note call of a Bullfinch as you walk along.
Our smallest bird, the Goldcrest, often makes an appearance along the track too their high-pitched voices betray them as they flit amongst the branches, long before these tiny creatures with bright yellow crown-stripes dart into view.
John works for Green Sefton, the Sefton Council service that brings together the coast & countryside, parks & green spaces, flooding & coastal erosion, risk management and grounds maintenance teams for a joined-up approach to the vital management, development and oversight of Sefton’s beautiful coastline, parks and green spaces. This column looks at the flora, fauna and history of the coastline, and the work carried out to protect it.