Tony West
In the spirit of all things active and autumnal, we asked staff what their favourite reserves were for a peaceful walk.
As we drift into autumn so many wildlife spectacles await us, none more so than amazing birds of prey soaring above our nature reserves in Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside.
Look for the deep magenta, star-shaped flowers of Marsh cinquefoil in marshes, bogs, fens and wetlands in the north, west and east of the UK.
As its name suggests, the Marsh violet likes damp spots, such as marshes, bogs and wet woods. It is a low-growing plant with kidney-shaped leaves and pale lilac flowers.
The Marsh helleborine is a beautiful orchid of fens, wet grassland and dune slacks. Growing in profusion in places, look for reddish stems and white-and-pink flowers.
The bright blue, trumpet-shaped flowers of the marsh gentian contrast deeply with the pinks and purples of the wet heaths it inhabits. The New Forest holds a large population of this late-…
The large, golden flowers of marsh-marigold look like the cups of kings, hence its other name: 'kingcup'. It favours damp spots, like ponds, meadows, marshes, ditches and wet woodlands…
Despite its name, the marsh tit actually lives in woodland and parks in England and Wales. It is very similar to the willow tit, but has a glossier black cap and a 'pitchoo' call that…
The courtship of the marsh harrier is certainly a sight to behold - wheeling and tumbling through the sky, male and female partners lock talons in mid-air. Look out for this rare bird over…
This is probably the most widespread and commonest of the marsh orchids.
This beautiful butterfly is one of our rarest, now mostly restricted to the western parts of the UK.
