Cumbria Wildlife Trust is urging all keen walkers to step out for wildlife on Sunday 1 August. While treading the six to eight miles from Arnside to Kent’s Bank across Morecambe Bay, each mile could be raising money to help save Cumbria's wildlife.

The Trust's sponsored walk is an annual event that is led by Cedric Robinson, the Queen's Official Guide to the Sands, and last year raised over £3000 to support the work the Trust carries out to maintain and restore wildlife habitats.

The walk takes enthusiasts through some of Cumbria's unique habitats, briefly passing Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Grubbins Wood Nature Reserve, just outside Arnside.

Grubbins Wood is a unique sight for Lancastrian whitebeam on Morecambe Bay limestones and grows on the low cliffs above the shore.

The nature reserve is also managed for red wood ants, which build their nests from leaves and other material and feed on honeydew produced by aphids in the tree tops. In fact, this is the most northerly location for these ants.

Heading into the Bay walkers enter the second largest inter-tidal estuary in UK after The Wash!

The tide can fall back an incredible 12km and it is when the tide ebbs that Cedric leads the party across the Bay.

The sand-flats and mud-flats of the estuary are constantly changing, being removed or deposited by tidal currents or wave action.

Those flats that are less disturbed are home to an amazing range of species, including lugworms, ragworms, edible cockles, Baltic tellins and peppery furrow shells.

This variety of species is then added to towards the head of the river estuaries, where the salinity of the water is reduced. Here can be found grazing mud snails and ragworms burrowing through the finer sediments of these mudflats.

 During the walk a number of wading birds van be spotted as the Bay supports the third highest numbers of wintering and passage waders and wildfowl in Britain - that's 200,000 birds!

These birds rely on the abundance of food that the receding tide reveals - worms, shellfish, shrimps and crabs all make tasty morsels. And when they have eaten enough, they roost safely on the fringing salt-marshes, shingle banks and scars that are exposed at low tide.

To sign up for Cumbria Wildlife Trust's sponsored walk across Morecambe Bay, visit www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk to download an information and booking form or call 01539 816300 and we can post one out to you. There is a registration fee of £4.00 for adults and £2.00 for children. Places are limited, so book now! Bookings close on Friday 24 July.

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