Heading for the beach, tourists, day-trippers, holiday makers at the Natural Trust Nature Reserve Beach at Freshfield, Formby, to enjoy summer holidays. A popular seaside tourist spot for holidaymakers, summertime fun, people, summer vacation, sea, holiday, water, coast, young, lifestyle, outdoor, nature, leisure, person, fun, together, shore, happiness, man, coastline, outdoors, sun, sunny, child, tourism, resort, family, couple, kid, seashore. A coastline pathway leads you to the main stretch of Formby's sand dunes, which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve is a 508-hectare site on the Sefton Coast and comprises rare sand dune, beach and woodland habitats. There are around 10 kms (6¾ miles) of way-marked footpaths to follow, and so tranquil and wild is the place that it is easy to forget that you are surrounded by one of the most urban areas in England. There is plenty to see - come at the right time, and you might see a host of stunning butterflies like painted ladies, dark green fritillaries, commas, peacocks, red admirals and meadow browns. Pay a visit to the ponds during the summer and you could find the area around them alive with glittering, jewelled dragonflies. The Reserve is also home to mammals, including foxes, hedgehogs, rabbits and shrews, and a vast array of spectacular wildflowers such as common restharrow, hound's tongue, bird's foot trefoil and a variety of orchids. The Reserve received its designation as a National Nature Reserve in 1965. Aside from the more common species of plant, mammal and insect, the Reserve is also home to a diversity of rare, special and beautiful species that you might not recognise as such - or even notice. There is the rare, mainly nocturnal natterjack toad, whose astonishing chorus during the month of April earns it the local nickname of 'Birkdale Nightingale'. There is the great crested newt, Britain's most protected species of amphibian, whose numbers are on the increase on the Reserve. Another rare species found on the Reserve is the sand lizard, a secretive, shy reptile that is rarely actually seen. Rare wildflowers found on the Reserve include the dune helleborine, seaside centaury and yellow bartsia. As Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve is a legally designated Reserve, public access is restricted.
Size: 3600px × 2400px
Location: Southport, Merseyside, UK.
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
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