Country diary: The strange sight of cattle on sand dunes | Rob Schofield

Sefton, Merseyside: These longhorns will be here till spring, roaming (almost) free, disturbing the ground, creating a foothold for native wildlifeThey're huddled at the entrance to their enclosure: a quartet of broad?backed ruminants contemplating their winter lodgings. They arrived yesterday, when the dunes were under siege from wind and rain. But these are hardy cattle and there are plenty of hollows in which to shelter. This group might be here until April - there's no rush to explore.The council's Green Sefton service has two winter-grazing enclosures over more than 228 hectares of the Ainsdale and Birkdale Sandhills nature reserve. English longhorns, on loan from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, are used for conservation grazing to help manage the sand dune grassland and dune slack habitats. At other times of the year, herpetologists might encounter sand lizards, great-crested newts and natterjack toads. Today I'm visiting to view the cattle up close, to understand this project and its benefits. Continue reading...