Bladder wrack, Fucus vesiculosus, is a familiar sight to anyone who has wandered our coasts, a member of the brown algae family, it is easily identified by its flattened, leathery fronds that branch repeatedly in a dichotomous pattern, splitting evenly into two like a fork.
Tag Archives: #Morecambe
Gallinago the Bog Drummer
If you’ve ever stood in the reeds of Chat Moss, the wet sheep-pastures of the Ribble estuary, the peat-bogs of Bowland or the rushy fields around Martin Mere on a still April evening, you might have heard a weird, somewhat spooky, sound that you couldn’t quite put your finger on; a bleating, almost goat-like humming that seemed to come from the sky itself, and you may have wondered what made it.
A Lancashire Day Photo Album 2025
A Lancashire Day Photo Album
Northern Coasts: Mermaid’s Purses
If you walk along almost any beach from the Mersey to the Solway after winter storms you may find the curious leathery pouches known as “mermaid’s purses” washed up on the tideline.
Northern Shores: The Common Redshank
Regarding the Redshank, Tringa totanus, its Ecology, Conservation and Occurrence on the Coasts of Northwest England
Northern Shores: The Knots of Morecambe Bay
The vast tidal estuary of Morecambe Bay is one of the most significant sites for birdlife in the British Isles, supporting over 240,000 birds annually. Among its most iconic avian visitors is the Knot, Calidris canutus, a small, stocky wading bird known for its remarkable migrations and mesmerising flock displays. A holarctic species, breeding inContinue reading “Northern Shores: The Knots of Morecambe Bay”
Northern Shores: Chitons, Armoured Knights of the Intertidal Realm
At first glance, Chitons (pronounced “Ki-ton”) don’t demand much attention; grey, unassuming and measuring only a few centimetres in length they usually go unnoticed by the casual passer-by or, at the least, are presumed to be limpets or a part of the rocks they live upon. Yet, like a lot of our wildlife, if youContinue reading “Northern Shores: Chitons, Armoured Knights of the Intertidal Realm”
Northern Shores: Sea Campion
A Study of the Marine Wildflower and its Biology, using Occurrences on the Lancashire coast as an Example Recently my wife and I re-visited a part of the Lancashire coast called Half Moon Bay, which lies between the pretty little village of Heysham and Heysham power station (not so little or pretty.) It’s a partContinue reading “Northern Shores: Sea Campion”
Northwest Nature and History 