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Hale Duck Decoy Invertebrate Recording Day
An afternoon invertebrate recording session at Hale Duck Decoy, Nr Widnes. This is a joint event with Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society.
Hale Duck Decoy is a small reserve within the Mersey Estuary SSSI, owned by the Fleetwood-Hesketh Estate and managed by Halton Borough Council. It covers an area of 3 hectares of Hale Marsh, on the north bank of the River Mersey. The reserve is in the shape of an irregular pentagon, surrounded by a 16 foot wide moat and a continuous clay bank. The centre of the reserve is occupied by the Decoy pond, which has five arms radiating outwards to each corner of the pentagon. Between the arms (which are known as pipes) are five small areas of woodland.
According to RECORD, 105 invertebrate species (excl. leps) have been recorded within the same 1 km as the decoy. Most of these are flies and spiders from recording in 1999 and almost all recent records are of dragonflies, except for some other groups recorded by Tony Hunter and Gary Hedges during an August 2018 visit. The site has much potential for further survey.
Booking essential: Further details regarding parking etc. will be circulated a week before the day. In the event of cancellation due to a forecast of adverse weather, you will notified via email.
Please note this is an afternoon only visit to limit bird disturbance and owing to the site’s small size.
There is no open access to the public. Visits are only possible at certain times guided by the wardens. Please see the Friends of Pickerings Pasture website for more details.
