I’ll give this a little bump, just in case there is any interest out there.
Today we were on Shoreham beach (head pretty much due south from London 'til you hit the sea). At the seaside, Sunday afternoon, early August, peak summer holiday season - it’ll be packed for sure, right?
For reference, we’re looking east, and that’s Brighton in the far distance.
OK, so it was blowing a gale. But it’s a strange (and pleasing) thing just how quiet the beach usually is - which is good, because it’s a nature reserve.
https://www.fosbeach.com/our-local-nature-reserve-2/
In June 2006 Shoreham Beach was declared a Local Nature Reserve (LNR). This is due to its unusual vegetated shingle habitat. There are a few other vegetated shingle beaches in the South East of England, and even fewer in New Zealand and Japan. Making Shoreham Beach a rare habitat worldwide…
…Vegetated shingle is characterised by specialised plants that have adapted to survive in harsh coastal conditions where lack of fresh water and nutrients are compounded by fierce winds and impacted by waves. Shingle habitats are also particularly important for invertebrates and for some breeding. They are globally rare because most coastal shingle is too mobile to support plant communities.
Well, there’s been no lack of water this summer; round these parts it’s been the wettest for years (by a distance). As a result the tussocks of sea kale have thrived and look remarkably lush and verdant.
From my perspective, wall lizards are the most interesting thing the beach has to offer - they seem to live under the boardwalk, and we’ve seen them several times this year. There ain’t a lot of reptile species in the UK, and any sighting is a bit of a treat.
j