Earlier this year, I found myself in a car with a couple of Trust colleagues, sandwiched between two container lorries, queued up at port security. Not the usual way to enter a Lancashire Wildlife Trust nature reserve! Having signed in, we travelled around an industrial estate and what we found when we parked up was a hidden gem. We had come to Seaforth Nature Reserve hidden within the Port of Liverpool. 

The reserve was created in the 1960s as part of the building of Seaforth Dock and consists of two lakes, one seawater and the other freshwater. The lakes are divided by a dyke and are an unusual setting for a nature reserve, originally surrounded by infill and rubble which is now grassed over. This is not though reflected in the extent of the birds and other wildlife that can be found there. Its setting at the mouth of the River Mersey acts as a magnet for many different bird species. 

It is a major roosting site for waders and sea birds, large numbers of ducks in winter and nationally important for gulls. The April sightings board listed sandwich tern, arctic tern, yellow legged gull and Caspian gull, among others. Of the waders, common sandpiper, spotted redshank and greenshank had all visited, and there were many more too. One of the highlights of the visit for me was the sight of my favourite duck, the shelduck – so beautiful in all its colours. However, we were most excited to see if the common terns had returned to breed.  

When we visited, Andrew was still waiting for the common terns to arrive to breed. Sadly, it is thought that about half of the colony of common terns have died from Avian flu over the last 12 months, so we were all anxious to see what would happen. The latest news since my visit is much more positive. Three rafts went out in early May and a further three went out a couple of weeks later. Andrew reports that the terns were on them in minutes, and the first rafts already have eggs on. We are all keeping our fingers crossed for a successful breeding year! 

I visited the reserve as part of a trustee away day. The council of trustees oversee the running of the Trust on behalf of our members and supporters, and it's important for us to visit reserves and to talk to our officers and colleagues to get to understand some of the challenges the reserve's management teams face.  

I came away thinking about how vitally important our Step up for Wildlife appeal is for Seaforth. Our reserve officers have plans and conservation strategies in place to ensure the reserve is upkept and maintained, but this year they need some help. An incredible £50,000 has already been allocated to Seaforth thanks to our wonderful supporters who have donated to our Step up for Wildlife appeal. However, we still need help to raise an additional £10,000 to reach £60,000- the total amount Seaforth needs to ensure it can carry out the work and reverse the decline of the tern colony that suffered so heavily during the Avian flu outbreak. Could you donate today and support our efforts to bring back the terns to Seaforth? All funds raised contribute to our overall appeal goal of raising £300,000. 

The marvellous work at our reserve is led by amazing, dedicated and knowledgeable officers and without your generous support - whether you are a member, choose to volunteer or have donated to our Step up for Wildlife appeal - it wouldn't be able to continue without you. Thank you from myself, the Trustees and all at the Trust for your support.