The final month of 2022 certainly felt like a magical one where a walk around one of our nature reserves felt like stepping straight into Narnia and a hush descended upon the landscape. 

Morecambe Bay

Wintery walks along the coast have both blown away the cobwebs and offered a place of solace last month.

In December, as part of our nature and wellbeing project, The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery, participants took to the shores and helped to find and record shark egg cases as well as washed-up jellyfish in Wyre. 

Sightings of snow bunting have been reported both in Fleetwood and further along the coast at Southport. These sparrow-sized birds with their pretty winter plumage arrive on our shores from their arctic breeding grounds, adding to the UK's small residential population, found in Scotland.

Lunt Meadows

The owls of our Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve were showing well last month, delighting visitors with their breath-taking displays. 

Lunt Meadows is famous for short-eared owls which hunt in broad daylight, keeping low to the ground, and ghostly barn owls that can be spotted silently quartering the fields.

Another smaller bird of prey, the kestrel, was also a firm favourite at Lunt last month. The kestrel's characteristic hovering flight allows them to survey the ground below for their prey; usually small mammals such as field voles, which are in plentiful supply here. 

Brockholes

Whilst Santa visited the children at the Brockholes Visitor Village last month, his reindeer took a tour of Meadow Lake.

Of course, these reindeer are actually roe deer, during the winter these usually solitary creatures will come together to form small groups. Roe deer can be seen year-round at Brockholes but nothing beats viewing them against a frosty backdrop as Leslie so beautifully captured in the below photo.

Meanwhile, in the woodlands, the trees were decorated with strange and fascinating fungi; wobbling jelly ear, and gelatinous witches' butter. 

What will you spot at our nature reserves this month? Let us know on social media using the buttons below.