Wildlife
The Ribble Estuary and sands of St Annes and Lytham are an Important Bird Area, mainly as a feeding ground for waders during winter and spring. There are flocks of thousands of red knots, dunlins, sanderlings, bar-tailed godwits and other waders; over 100,000 birds winter there. Flocks of pink-footed geese are commonly seen in winter as they fly over St Annes between their feeding grounds around Southport and Over-Wyre. Many pintails and other ducks feed and rest in the estuary.
There are 80ha of sand dune habitat on the coast of Lytham St Annes which is home to a wide variety of rare and interesting plants and wildlife communities. The Lytham St Annes Nature Reserve has around 250 different plant species include internationally rare plants not found outside the UK. Common Lizards are found across the dune system and it is an important habitat for various breeding birds including stonechat, skylark, linnet and reed bunting. The Grayling butterfly, which is a coastal specialist, is also found on the dunes.
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