Eccleston Mere

Buzzard 1
Tufted Duck 4
Mute Swan 2 adults


Hemp-agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum and Square-stalked St. John's-wort Hypericum tetrapterum.


For those of you that know your plant communities, this is a nice bit of fen in the south-west corner of the mere. It's community S28b and has the following species:

                                        Domin score
Alnus glutinosa                         1
Angelica sylvestris                    2
Anthriscus sylvestris                 1
Arrhenatherum elatius              2
Cardamine flexuosa                  2
Carex acuta                              9
Chamerion angustifolium          2
Epilobium hirsutum                   4
Equisetum arvense                   1
Galium aparine                         1
Holcus Mollis                             2
Iris pseudacorus                       4
Juncus effusus                          2
Persicaria amphibia                   4
Phalaris arundinacea                 4
Rumex obtusifolius                    2
Salix alba                                  1
Scutellaria galericulata              1
Solanum dulcamara                   4
Stachys palustris                       2
Typha latifolia                           4
Urtica dioica                              2

The most interesting thing about this community is that it is dominated by the sedge Carex acuta (Slender Tufted Sedge), which is unusual for two reasons. The first is that the sedge here grows in tussocks, and the second is that it is very unusual for this sedge to dominate a community as it does here.