From the rolling sand dunes of Lytham St Anne’s to rockpool-rich Half Moon Bay and the fragrant pine woods of Ainsdale, the coasts and beaches in Lancashire and North Merseyside have a special beauty during winter. Here are just a few reasons why we should all learn to love the coast in even the bleakest midwinter.
Unmissable opportunities to spot wildlife
Our regions coasts are some of the best places to spot winter wildlife, particularly birds. Shorelines, saltmarshes, and estuaries like Morecambe Bay fill with huge groups of scampering sanderling, flighty knot, hungry dunlin and noisy oystercatchers taking advantage of the protein-rich mud and sand. As you watch them pull out invertebrates with their long, probing bills you may even catch them murmurating as a peregrine falcon or sparrowhawk swoops in and spooks them into a shimmering cloud.