‘Bickershaw Country Park is a developing nature reserve located between Bickershaw village and Westleigh on the former Bickershaw Colliery site. It is a 247-hectare haven for wildlife, comprising of extensive grasslands, woodlands, and scrubland. The country park contains a number of large water bodies including recently created wetland areas devoted to natural flood alleviation schemes funded by the Environment Agency’. 

Recorders: Leanna Dixon, Richard Dawson, Gary Hedges, Belinda Nixie, Clive Washington, Rob Zloch

Notable Records:

• Skullcap Leaf Beetle – Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata – Probably new for VC59, associated with skullcap.
• Weevil – Curculio rubidus – New for VC59, associated with Birch
• Water Stick Insect – Ranatra linearis – Three adults caught in a pond net. Has spread North in the past 25 years but remains scarce in North West England although it has reached the Lake District.

Download Bickershaw Species List & Raw Data [Excel spreadsheet] last updated 22/06/2021

A key for the ‘Conservation status’ column is available in the above download.