Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

THE other day a friend rang me to say that he had seen a large flock of barnacle geese near Formby Point.

Many naturalists think that Formby is so close to the River Mersey that not much will be seen there because of pollution.

How wrong they are!

For the past 12 years the Mersey Basin Campaign has been monitoring the river and its tributaries and it is now clean enough to support the occasional salmon.

Octopuses are now seen regularly in Liverpool Bay.

The Croal-Irwell Valley is now an exciting place to discover wildlife, as I found out recently when I saw a kingfisher along the old Bolton and Bury Canal.

On a bright November morning I reached the Formby Dunes.

The tide was in and the golden sands looked as clean as a new pin. Unfortunately, the large flock of barnacle geese had gone but I did find five stragglers. Surprises, however, came thick and fast as a singing skylark made it sound more like spring than autumn. The flowers helped to dispel the myth that everything is dead in November.

Quite a number of yellow evening primrose plants were still in bloom.

It is thought that the evening primrose was brought to North America in the ballast ships importing cotton.

Cotton, as we know, is light and the holds of ships needed some weight to ensure stability. Soil was ideal for this purpose. The seeds of evening primrose were carried in this soil and when it was dumped the seeds germinated and soon began to thrive in the Liverpool and Southport area.

Many years ago the Red Indians used evening primrose oil to treat bruises, broken bones and aches in the joints.

These days the oil is used in the treatment of muscular dystrophy and pre-menstrual tension.

Most naturalists know the value of plants in medicine but we should all take specialist advice before undergoing a course of treatment.

I wouldn't care if the evening primrose had no history and no uses because it is such a pretty plant and adds glorious colour to the dull days of autumn.

Birds show we're not Poles apart

NEWS of the North West's exciting wildlife will be winging its way to Poland after a new colour poster is presented to Richard Kowalski, president of the Anglo-Polish Society in Sefton. Sefton's twinning with Gdansk in Poland is mirrored in the natural world as migrating birds travel between North West England and Poland on their migrations. The RSPB has published the poster Making the Most of the Coast, a guide to the birds and wildlife of the North West.

It includes English and Polish text celebrating the links between Poland and the North West, demonstrated by studies showing that migrating wading birds depend both on the Polish and North West coasts.

RSPB regional education adviser Barrie Cooper, who conceived the idea, is clear about the significance of international links: "The North West coast is internationally important for the survival of migratory birds. Over one million wildfowl and wading birds depend on this coast each year.

"It is important that children and the public are aware of the vital role our coastal wetlands play in terms of international bird conservation. This colourful poster has been produced to stimulate interest, understanding and sheer enjoyment of this amazing spectacle."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.