Orchids and Froglets at Soggy Ainsdale

Ainsdale Dunes is one of my favourite sites to visit and in early summer has a tremendous and unique variety of flora, insects and coldbloods. However after weeks of scorching weather things have taken a colder and wetter turn this week and my visit this morning was against a backdrop of ominous clouds and chilly conditions. A network of footpaths range across this large stretch of dunes and into the pine woodlands and dune heath towards Formby and this morning I started out at Ainsdale Discovery Centre and followed the paths through the young dune slacks behind the beach. Normally at this time of year the trails are dry but in 2020 the after-effects of one of the wettest winters in recent times are still being felt and even after the drought of April and May the paths are still flooded in parts and the vegetation as lush as I can recall seeing it here. 

Only a short distance from the car park and already some of the orchids I had been hoping to see were in evidence. The helleborines might be a few weeks from flowering yet but three other species were abundant. The delicate spikes of bee orchid can prove tricky to find until you get your eye in but the bright pinky-purple pyramidal orchids were more obvious, the two species growing in the same areas and whilst the bee orchids had evidently been out for a while the pyramidals were still developing. 

   

Bee Orchid                    Marsh Orchids                Pyramidal Orchid

The most abundant were the marsh orchids and as on previous visits I noticed a subtle difference in the colour between those growing in the dune slacks and those growing further back in the mature dunes. The ones closer to the beach were a richer reddish-purple with cream tinge to the petals - as in the photo above - whilst the ones further inland had the usual appearance as per the photo below.

Before long the path through the slacks hit water and I had to cut back through and over the mature dunes and inland towards the Pinfold Path. The paths are quite overgrown this year with damp marram grass and spiky sea buckthorn making it an uncomfortable journey at times but rewarded with more flowers including the pink and white flowers of the creeping everlasting pea, biting stonecrop, kidney vetch and then valerian and the rich almondy scent of meadowsweet, one of my favourite countryside bouquets. Rosebay willowherb and ragwort were also coming into flower, with one clump of the latter hosting a writhing mass of cinnabar moth caterpillars. 

     

Cinnabar caterpillars        Marsh Orchid                    Everlasting Pea

From this point the path heads over a wooden boardwalk and through sandy scrubland towards the pine woodland. Boardwalks are great areas to explore as they are a favourite basking spot for reptiles but with the sun only thinking about making an appearance - and then deciding otherwise - there were no lizards today. Instead a bramble patch provided shelter for a green lacewing and another moth caterpillar - a yellow-tail. The scrubland was also home to a number of birds with lapwing, whitethroat, reed bunting, linnet and willow warbler all spotted singing or foraging in family groups. No animal says 'up to no good' quite like a magpie and a pair hopping around in the bushes caused alarm amongst the smaller birds whilst a buzzard drifted over being mobbed by some gulls. 

     

Pyrenean Lily                      Inkcap                           Yellow-tail caterpillar

Further on and a striking clump of yellow flowers turned out on inspection to be Pyrenean Lily, also known evocatively as Yellow Turk's-cap. This is a naturalised species which has effectively colonised much of the UK and whilst my guide book describes it as having an unpleasant aroma I found it relatively pleasant - all down to taste I guess. Far less obtrusive was a small sprouting of inkcap fungi which I have tentatively identified as snowy inkcap. 

Rain was now threatening, much to the dismay of a newly-emerged six-spot burnet moth which was hunkering down amongst the grasses, whilst a yellow shell moth was also seen. However the star find on the return journey through the slacks were a number of young amphibians crossing the paths. In previous summers the ponds have long-since threatened to dry up but this year I hope has been a good one for the five species of amphibian which make this area their home. Most of those spotted were common frog, with the tiny froglets capable of prodigious leaps, however there was at least one toadlet - whether common or natterjack I couldn't tell. 

Meanwhile the garden moth trap has taken a battering from the elements this week and Wednesday night's downpour was the heaviest of the lot. But the trap gains some protection from the hedge and once again it produced the goods with the haul including a light emerald, a somewhat world-weary buff ermine and not one but two elephant hawkmoths, always a treat to start the day with these beauties.

               

Elephant Hawkmoths