Our LEMUR trainee ranger Jenny Gellatly has been busy with a project on the bird migration that draws many visitors to the headland at this time of year. Here is word from Jenny:
Wishing you were somewhere warmer? As you read this, many of the birds at Berry Head are departing on an inceredible journey to warmer African climates and this year we're counting them before they go! I've extended the display in the Artillery Store to include more information on our migratory birds and we've encouraged people that visit the Reserve to let us know what they've seen - to give us a greater understanding of bird migration at Berry Head. We regularly update the numbers of the birds seen on the boards in the Artillery Store and Visitor Centre.
During the rare sunny patches that we've had, visitors have enjoyed flocks of up to 200 swallows darting and chattering in the sky above, excited about the journey ahead. Departing between September and the end of October, swallows fly at speeds of up to 35mph and cover a distance of 200 miles per day - that's from Berry Head to London every day! Six weeks later, having crossed France, Spain, Morocco, the Sahara Desert and the Congo Rainforest, the Swallows will arrive at their destination 6,000 miles away.
With your help we can do much more! To get involved in helping us to keep a log of migratory birds at Berry Head contact us on 01803 882619 / email: berryhead@countryside-trust.org.uk
If you visit the site regularly remember to add your sightings to the log book (VC or Bungalow).
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The view from Berry Head National Nature Reserve.
This site gives regular updates from the Rangers at Berry Head on wildlife sightings, events, projects, ways to get involved and anything else that comes to mind.
Berry Head is a limestone peninsula rising 200’ (65m) from the sea, forming the southern arm of Tor Bay in South Devon. It is a 100-acre National Nature Reserve, holding nationally rare plant and animal species and is also a Country Park that forms the main recreational area for the nearby town and port of Brixham (population 16,000).
The site holds two well-preserved Napoleonic War-era Forts and important Second-World War heritage and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and on the South West Coast Path.
The rare plants that grow on its thin, dessicated limestone soils form a community that is not found anywhere else in the UK. A colony of Greater Horseshoe bats lives in caves in the limestone, a species that is protected by international statute because of its rarity and the steep decline in its numbers across the UK.
The colony of Guillemots breeding on the cliffs is the largest on the Channel coast and the most southerly in the UK. At the same time the Head is hugely popular with walkers, day-trippers, fishermen, rock-climbers, naturalists, historians and picnickers, making it one of Torbay’s top ten most visited attractions.
To find out more visit www.countryside-trust.org.uk
Berry Head is a limestone peninsula rising 200’ (65m) from the sea, forming the southern arm of Tor Bay in South Devon. It is a 100-acre National Nature Reserve, holding nationally rare plant and animal species and is also a Country Park that forms the main recreational area for the nearby town and port of Brixham (population 16,000).
The site holds two well-preserved Napoleonic War-era Forts and important Second-World War heritage and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and on the South West Coast Path.
The rare plants that grow on its thin, dessicated limestone soils form a community that is not found anywhere else in the UK. A colony of Greater Horseshoe bats lives in caves in the limestone, a species that is protected by international statute because of its rarity and the steep decline in its numbers across the UK.
The colony of Guillemots breeding on the cliffs is the largest on the Channel coast and the most southerly in the UK. At the same time the Head is hugely popular with walkers, day-trippers, fishermen, rock-climbers, naturalists, historians and picnickers, making it one of Torbay’s top ten most visited attractions.
To find out more visit www.countryside-trust.org.uk