Ainsdale National Nature Reserve

Ainsdale Sand Dunes NNR forms part of the Sefton Coast - the finest dune system on the north-west coast of England. The area is part of a Ramsar site and part of the Sefton Coast Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The dunes are home to over 450 plant species including 33 that are locally or regionally rare like petalwort, seaside centaury, yellow bartsia, round-leaved wintergreen, dune helleborine and pendulous flowered helleborine. Sand lizards and great-crested newts are found here together with a large population of natterjack toads. Inland, areas of pine woodland are home to red squirrels.


In the early 1980s I was fortunate enough to be a voluntary warden at Ainsdale National Nature Reserve. The job entailed wandering the Reserve for a day each fortnight (or more frequently for those who could spare the time) and making sure that the public kept to the pathways and anyone off the beaten track was in possession of a valid licence to study there. We also kept our eyes open for fire hazards and other problems. The volunteer wardens were in touch with the full-time warden by means of a short wave radio but it only worked sporadically as there were a number of dead spots on the reserve.


The job occasionally proved hazardous; a couple of times I was a lone volunteer telling a gang of poachers with lurchers and guns to go away - not an enviable task but I survived OK and the compensations were enormous.


To have a whole nature reserve virtually to oneself is a wonderful experience - whatever the weather.


The sand is bound together by the long-rooted Marram Grass.


Occasionally a storm would bring a whole dune flowing inland, burying everything in its track. When a ‘blow-out’ like that occurred is was as well to be nowhere near it.




There is also woodland - mainly pines but also some Birch and mixed woodland.



As one goes inland the dunes give way to slacks and areas of standing water.




The opportunity to be there all year round gave me scope for pictures in the snow and ice. (The tracks are those of my friend the fox.)


And in the summer sun.


There were, of course, days when I got soaked through but even those were something special and a joy to be remembered (in hindsight).


The flora of the area is very varied as is the wildlife. I have already blogged about a Fox which befriended me. One day I’ll show some more of the wildlife I found there.

Beetles

I’m not sure how many beetle species have actually made it onto my ‘life list’ over the years but the one in the left-hand column is a basic one with most the main species I have seen.


It adds up to about 94 species but equally interesting to me are the various forms of ladybird of which I have photos of 13 species but dozens more forms of those species.


Many people think of beetles as boring black creatures but they are anything but boring and even the black ones often have wonderful hues of violet, blue or green on their wing cases.

Bugs

Although the term 'bugs' is used by the general public as a synonym for insects or small invertebrates generally it has a specific meaning to the entomologist - insects in the order Hemiptera. In order to clarify the meaning, members of the order are sometimes referred to as True Bugs.


Bugs are small to moderately large insects with a large, horizontally held head which is generally visible from above. In most species the forewings are partly chitinous and the hindwings membranous but may be absent. They possess a sucking or stabbing proboscis. Bugs have widely differing shapes and habits and some confusion with beetles, cockroaches and psocids is possible.


My favourite bugs are the shield bugs – 11 species seen and photographed so far - which have a fairly distinctive shape and are comparatively easy to recognise as adults. As nymphs, especially in their early instars, they are a lot less easy to recognise but it all adds to the fun. My least favourites are the aphids and as yet I haven’t tried to list the individual species seen.

Moth list

The first list of species I ever compiled was butterflies. The second was British macro-moths and moths remain one of my major interests. It really infuriates me when I find, or attract to my moth light, a species that I am unable to identify. This happened earlier in the year at GB’s where I caught a few carpet moths of the same species to which I couldn’t put a name. I have some reasonable photos so hopefully I will manage to identify it before too long. In the meantime my life list of macro-moths stands at 262. I have photos of the majority of these.


I apologise to anyone who is seeking a logical order in my lists on the left of the page. In some cases they are in alphabetical order; in some they are in families; and a couple are in an order used only by me!



The Moth species are listed accordingly to family and then sub-family / tribe, etc.- from the most primitive to the most developed. I concluded there were too many to make a separate alphabetical list.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

 

The number of species of dragonflies and damselflies that I have seen has only had one addition in recent years – Keeled Skimmers near Llithfaen on the Lleyn Peninsula in July 2003. However, I am constantly improving the photos that I have taken of the various species.


Even in Helen’s garden in September this year I got better photos of Migrant Hawker and Golden-ringed Dragonfly than I had previously taken.


So far only one species has ventured into the garden (and the house!) at The Willows - the Southern Hawker. But I live in hope.


The list currently stands at 7 species of damselfly and 13 species of dragonfly (with the addition of Highland Darter – a subspecies of the Common Darter - taking it to 14). I have also seen an Emerald dragonfly but I don't know which species.