Follow the path leading east down off the ridge.

The heath is ablaze with colour, yellows and purples, especially in late summer. Three types of heather grow on the Common, common heather (ling), bell heather and crossed- leaved heath, along with gorse and bilberry, but notice that much of the area is now dominated by birch scrub. Without control measures - cutting, spraying and grazing by Herdwick sheep - the whole area would disappear under scrub and bracken, so constant management is required to maintain the heath and associated wildlife.

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Common lizards, also known as the viviparous lizard (as they give birth to young rather than lay eggs), are still found here, though we have lost the much rarer sand lizard.

Silver-studded blue butterflies were reintroduced to the area from Shropshire in 1994 but are struggling to survive. It is the only colony in Cheshire and Merseyside. The adults are on the wing between late June and early August, but only live for 4 or 5 days. Watch out for them flitting around on hot summer days, drinking nectar from bell heather and laying eggs on ling.

Spangle and Artichoke Galls

The heather is also very good for bees. You can watch for honey bees collecting pollen and nectar to take back to nearby hives (local heather honey is the tastiest you can get), or the larger, hairier, bumble bees visiting flower after flower. Older workers learn to detect the 'smell' of other bees and so avoid wasting time at flowers already visited. Bumblebees are disappearing, so take time to watch their industry - they are essential in the pollination of many plant species.

Bell heather

Nightjar, another heathland specialist, has also been lost from Thurstaston within living memory, but there are still plenty of other birds to see. Swallows hawk for insects overhead, long-tailed tits and wrens nest in the gorse, yellowhammers sing 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' all summer, linnets and goldfinches twitter around, and all try to avoid the hunting sparrowhawks and kestrels.