Berry Head National Nature Reserve

'Brix Awards'

2009-03-24T14:19:00.002Z

The 'Brix Awards' were held at the Berry Head hotel last week. Organised by members of the Brixham Youth Enquiry Service, the awards were a celebration of young people's achievements in Brixham.

Samantha Adams, one of our volunteers won an award for her work at Berry Head and The Grove. Sam has achieved over 600 hours of volunteering with Torby Coast and Countryside Trust, and has successfully gained a placement as a trainee ranger at Berry Head, strating in April.

'On the Edge' Forum

2009-03-24T14:14:00.001Z

A Berry Head forum meeting was held in March to update stakeholders on the progress of the ‘on the edge’ project. The new Access Agreement was also approved for Berry Head. This means there will be access for vehicles of disabled, all other access will be restricted to emergency services.
The Friends of Berry Head also met in March for a project update and to discuss events and fundraising ideas for the year.
If you are interested in joining the Friends, to be more involved in Berry Head and to help with its management, please contact:
Emma Reece: 01803 882022 (telephone)
e.reece@countryside-trust.org.uk (email)

The volunteers have been helping at Churston Cove clearing Holm Oak from the steps to start the restoration of the limestone grassland.

Amendments to the site

2009-03-24T14:13:00.001Z

The parking bays in the main car park have been re-lined with the addition of 8 disabled parking bays at either end of the car park.
The bollard is now installed and will be operational at the beginning of April to regulate vehicle access to the site.

Signs of Spring

2009-03-23T20:42:00.003Z

The first signs of spring have been showing on the headland – primroses are flowering, frogspawn is in the heath pond, wheatears have been seen on the headland. We have also been continuing to get very high numbers of guillemots on the cliffs, these are in breeding plumage. There are also pairs of shags coming in and fulmars pairing up. There are also the very bright purple cyclamen flowering on the paths through the woods.

Update: Berry Head

2009-03-23T20:40:00.002Z

The interviews for the trainee ranger programme were held in March; 73 applied and four people were successfully selected for the year long training programme. The Stone Mason contract was also awarded, and local stone mason David Carlisle will be starting the repair work to the Scheduled Ancient Monuments on Berry Head in April. The trainees will be assisting with this work under close supervision; this will be a really unique opportunity to learn the art of lime mortar work.

Beehive Construction have been edging the car park with wooden sleepers. This is so the car park is secure when the bollard is installed at the end of March, this is to restrict vehicle access to the site.

The volunteers have been finishing the last of the scrub cutting on Berry Head; the nesting season is now starting so there will be no more blackthorn clearance until October. They have also been cutting the dead stems of Japanese Knotweed at Sharkham Point, so that the fresh re-growth can be sprayed later in April. This invasive plant grows rigorously and nothing can grow underneath it so we want to try to get rid of it from the site.

Back on Berry Head – speed bumps are going to be put in on the road from the car park down to Shoalstone Pillars. This is a narrow lane, we have had ongoing problems with cars racing through it – particularly at night, causing disturbance to local residents. This will be happening on the 18th march so the road will be closed for one day.

Berry Head Update

2009-02-19T14:33:00.002Z

There have been a few alterations to the Berry Head site this week, in connection with the ongoing ‘On the Edge’ project.
The first of these is the path laying. Three new paths have been laid, one from the South Fort to the North Fort, the second from the car park to the North Fort and the third from the end of the road, past the light house to the end of the Headland. Although these paths are pink, they will weather down to the colour of the existing rock in a few months time.
The turf around the boundary of the car park has been scraped back, so railway sleepers can be put in place at a later date to prevent people driving onto the site.
The volunteers have hung a sign on the gate to the site entrance that acknowledges the sponsors and partners of the project.

South Devon College Students Filming

2009-02-19T14:19:00.005Z

The project with South Devon College media students continued last week with filming of volunteers dressed in Napoleonic costumes. Volunteers from Berry Head and Brixham Heritage Museum were filmed doing cannon drills in the Southern Fort. Dr Armitage the curator of Brixham Heritage Museum was on hand to ensure the filming was in keeping with that era, and that the information about the soldiers daily lives on Berry Head was accurate. The volunteers got into roles being soldiers wives, infantry and other ranks, the students then interviewed them about different aspects of life in the headland. We look forward to seeing the result!

Archeological Investigations

2009-02-10T15:26:00.004Z

Ongoing archaeological work is being carried out at the rear of the Guardhouse by the Exeter Archaeology Unit. Brixham Museum volunteers are assisting with the sifting through the spoil to look for items of historical interest.
A JCB and mini digger are working on the site, under the control of the archaeologists.
Some items of interest have been found including, the corner outline of the Hospital building which has been uncovered and a cobbled path that surrounds the hospital building.
A drainage culvert leaves the building and appears to connect the tunnel systems beneath this area. A further outline of another wall has been found.
Further investigations will be carried out over the next few days, prior to building work commencing on the new cafe in the Spring.

Update: Duke of Edinburgh at Paignton Zoo

2009-02-10T13:48:00.009Z

The Duke of Edinburgh group took their piñatas they had been making for the baboons to Paignton Zoo last week. The zoo mammal keepers talked to the group about how the family groups work, the baboons lifecycles and what they feed on. The groups filled the piñatas with food – and a very excited awaiting group of baboons grabbed the piñatas as soon as they were thrown into the enclosure. It was a real treat to get to be involved in a behind the scenes visit to the zoo and everyone enjoyed watching them feed, especially the very cute babies.
Thank you to the zoo for allowing the group to do this. Back to the usual work on Berry Head next week!

Trainee Countryside Rangers

2009-02-10T13:40:00.003Z

Trainee Countryside rangers are currently being recruited as part of the ‘Berry Head On the Edge’ project. Over the next 3 years there will be a total of 12 trainees, with the first cohort starting this April. The trainee rangers will work alongside the current team carrying out duties such as habitat management, wildlife and vegetation surveys, repairs to the Napoleonic forts, and working with volunteer groups. It is hoped that their work will not only be beneficial to the site, but will also give the trainees the vital ‘hands on’ experience that they need in order to start a career in heritage and nature conservation.
If you are interested in these placements and would like to know more please visit our website, www.countryside-trust.org.uk
Or contact Gemma Parsons at the Berry Head rangers office on 01803 882619.
Closing date- 19 February 2009

Duke of Edinburgh

2009-02-03T14:03:00.004Z

The Silver Duke of Edinburgh group that have been carrying out the service part of their award helping out on Berry Head, have been involved in lots of different projects from building bat boxes and bird feeders, to making steps. However over the last few weeks they have been involved in a different project with Paignton Zoo. The group have been making piñatas for the zoo’s baboons! They have been covering balloons with paper paste layers, left to dry, the balloons are popped and then will be filled with food, and thrown in to the baboons as an enrichment for them at feeding time. Look out for photos of the baboons being fed.

Scrub Clearance Begins

2009-02-03T13:56:00.003Z

Over the last two months the volunteers have been hard at work clearing large rides of scrub out from the car park up to the Southern Fort. There a few reasons for this work – originally when the Southern fort was constructed this would have been a clear grass bank, to enable good views for the soldiers across the site. Over many years hawthorn and blackthorn has taken over forming a dense scrub barrier. In terms of wildlife value it is more beneficial to have a mix of scrub and grassland, the scrub providing cover and food for birds, the grassland being filled with the fantastic array of wildflowers that Berry Head’s limestone soils support. The edge of the two habitats create little pockets of warm sun spots perfect for basking lizard and snakes such as adders, and butterflies feed in these sheltered areas. Therefore we are opening out these areas for historic and nature conservation purposes. It will take a few years of cutting before some areas of the grassland are reinstated, but in the future we will have beautiful spreads of wildflowers through these clearings.

Photos and Memories

2009-02-03T13:50:00.004Z

The new Visitor Centre means we have to collect as much information about Berry Head as possible to then work on telling the story of Berry Head. We are after any photos, postcards and people’s memories of the headland. All pictures can be scanned so you don’t need to worry about parting with special possessions. If you or a family member has ever worked in the quarry on the headland, or have any stories about the headland, maybe it has a special family story for you to share, please get in touch.
Or ... if you are interested in helping us gather this information then please get in touch!

Contact Emma Reece on e.reece@countryside-trust.org.uk or tel: 01803 882022

Berry Head In The Money

2009-02-03T13:35:00.006Z

You may, hopefully, be aware that we have been awarded a £1.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery and Sea Change for a wide range of works on Berry Head NNR. Over the next three years the headland will benefit from a new visitor centre (VC) incorporated into the Guardhouse Cafe building on the headland. The cafe will be renovated and will operate from the rear of the Guardhouse with an extension for seating. The relocation of the VC onto the headland with the cafe, will mean many more visitors will be learning about the wide ranging and fascinating story of Berry Head. Other work will include new toilets in the car park and an indoor facility for school groups. A three year trainee ranger programme will mean four people per year will be involved in all aspects of the sites running, from assisting with repair work on the fort walls, to helping with events and school groups. An extensive programme of repair work will also be carried out to the fort walls and ruins to ensure they are consolidated for future generations to enjoy. A replicated drawbridge will make a visit to the Southern Fort a real Napoleonic experience! Other work includes a programme of scrub clearance, bat and seabird camera’s and a more wide ranging grazing programme across the whole of the site; to maintain the grasslands in a more natural way, rather than cutting with machinery every year. Keep checking the blog for progress of the project.

For further information about the project, visit:

http://www.countryside-trust.org.uk/bhote.htm

Shipwrecked at Shoalstone

2008-10-22T14:00:00.005+01:00

Pupils from Brixhams Eden Park Primary School enjoyed good weather for visits to Shoalstone Beach. These were follow ups to visits in school where the pupils learnt about Shipwreck Survival and ways to live sustainably on a deserted island while they awaited rescue. Pupils learnt about ways to fish, what they could eat and where they could make a shelter.
All the students got really stuck into the visits at Shoalstone, they hunted for plants and animals they would potentially be able to eat if stranded on a shoreline. They found lots of edible crabs, prawns, some very large blennies and gobies and many types of seaweed. Students identified their finds and we showed them some other types of shellfish that would be suitable to eat. They also thought about where to build shelters and gather materials from. A great time was had by all and it was really good to see local children learning so much about the amazing marine life that surrounds us in Brixham. Thanks to their teacher Mr Maine for making it happen.
On a serious note if you want to gather your own shellfish or other food to eat from seashores, be very careful where you collect from, as shellfish accumulate pollution in the flesh you eat. Also make sure you can definitely identify plants and animals before you eat them, some may be rare and protected!

Whats That Bird?!

2008-10-22T13:33:00.006+01:00

Photo: Black Redstart

Staff and volunteers greatly enjoyed a course on Bird Identification last week run by local bird 'guru' and all round wildlife expert Mike Langman. The course involved practical skills in aiding the huge subject of bird ID. Mike taught us simple methods of sketching birds to aid identification, we all found this a really interesting exercise - Mike asked us to draw a sketch of a Puffin from memory then we checked our drawings with an image. This was really effective in showing us the detail required to draw the bird, even though we all knew it well, there were many details in the markings that we were unaware of. Sketching is a great aid in the field to help you identify birds when you get back to a book, it also really makes you look very closely at the markings and colours of the plumage that you might otherwise miss. In the course we also learnt about bird calls, a great way to identify birds at this time of year when all you often see are birds passing overhead without landing, especially on Berry Head. We did plenty of practise out on Berry Head, and everyone went away feeling more confident in their identification skills, and fired up to get out there and enjoy the fantasic array of wild birds seen at this time of year.
Mike is also a very talented wildlife artist, producing artwork for many books and visitor centres please visit his website at www.mikelangman.co.uk

Work With Us!

2008-10-10T16:03:00.002+01:00

We have recently secured funding to allow us to carry out the 'Berry Head On the Edge' project and we are looking for a Project Officer, Trainee Supervisor and Access Officer to work with us on the project.

Berry Head On the Edge is a broad-ranging programme that will conserve the site’s key heritage assets for the future, ensure that visitors have good access to the site and information about it, and involve the local community in its conservation and ongoing management. Under the project we will:

Relocate the Visitor Centre to a central location and combine it with the Guardhouse Café to encourage more people to access information about the heritage.
Convert another building into a Learning Centre for use as a base for school and other groups.
Convert the former Visitor Centre to a Training Base for trainees and volunteers.
Renew interpretation across the site, making it more accessible for all visitors.
Remove landscape eyesores and modern paraphernalia.
Extend the opportunities for people to engage with the site through volunteering, training and events.
Make the site more accessible for people without a car and promote Berry Head more actively to the local community.
Clear invasive scrub that is choking the rare plants and extend a conservation grazing scheme across the whole site, using a primitive breed of sheep.
Repair the Forts and associated buildings, mainly by removing invasive vegetation and stabilising loose stonework.
Install a bridge across the moat into the Southern Fort to demonstrate how it originally functioned.
Install a traffic management system to prevent unauthorised vehicles accessing the site, which is one of the main causes of erosion and disturbs the tranquillity of the site.

The bulk of the capital works in this programme will be carried out over a one-year period from Spring 2009, whilst the community engagement and events will be ongoing.

For more information about each of the positions, and to apply, click here

Stoat! and Weasely Weasel

2008-09-29T16:25:00.006+01:00

A few weeks ago now Mark Darlaston and Mike Langman were treated to some extra wildlife viewing while seawatching off the end of Berry Head. Seated in their usual area at the end of the quarry they were treated to a stoat around their feet - here are a few photos. The stoat has been seen a few times since by Ed Horsted the seasonal ranger and some volunteers, also in the quarry area so keep your eyes open when out on site! Photos courtesy of Mark Darlaston

To tell the difference between a Stoat and a Weasel look out for: Stoats have a long bushy tail with a black bushy tip (see photo!) Weasels have a short tail, uniform in colour with no bushy tip. Weasels also have an irregular margin between the dark back and pale belly area, whereas in Stoats the line is straight. Females of both species are smaller than males. Weasels are also generally alot smaller than Stoats, although there is alot of variation in both species size. They are both voracious hunters adapted to following their prey- small mammals in to their burrows. They also feed on larger prey such as rabbits.(Ref: Stoats and Weasels; Robbie McDonald and Stephen Harris)

Long Distance Travellers

2008-09-09T16:46:00.002+01:00

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).

Butterflies and Bats

2008-08-17T12:38:00.002+01:00

Despite the wet August the events have been going well. We had a great morning for the childrens butterfly walk, an enthusiastic bunch of budding butterfly detectives set off for a walk around Berry Head looking for as many different butterflies as we could see. The keen eyes of the children spotted lots of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers in the meadow, and were treated to a Dark Green Fritillary caught in the butterfly net - fantastic! The walk followed sheltered areas of the site, with some good buddleia bushes to help us they also enjoyed Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Silver Washed Fritillaries and Coma's. They then constructed their own butterflies to take home, out of willow and tissue paper.

The Bat walks have been as popular as ever, with around 40 people on them. The groups have been treated to some great sightings of the Greater Horseshoe Bats as they emerge from their roost, with lots of Pipistrelles aswell, we even got to watch a group of Harbour Porpoise one evening while we were waiting for the bats to emerge!

Splosh! Marine Awareness Project

2008-07-02T16:41:00.002+01:00

Students from Brixham Community College have been enjoying visits to Berry Head NNR and Shoalstone Beach to learn more about the Marine Environment and Climate Change.
90 students have taken part in the Splosh project, carrying out a survey at Shoalstone looking for 'Alien Invaders' and 'Climate Change Indicators' such as Slipper Limpets and Strawberry Anemones. The students then learned more about glocal warming, performing their own imaginary news story of the future representing different groups from businesses and tourism to fishermen and local people. The pupil worked really hard on the visits and showed a really good understanding of climate change and how they could help to minimise their impact on the planet.
A group of up to 15 students will then be chosen to work with local artist Kate Green to create a display from different photographic images for the Berry Head visitor centre and some art work to take home, all inspired by their visit.

Cetacean Watching!

2008-06-25T16:55:00.004+01:00

Last weekend and this weekend coming are part of our National Cetacean Watching Week. So where were you all?!

For those who turned up to help - many thanks, it was great. Early Saturday morning, at 06.10, myself and Sally Lacey had 3 Harbour Porpoise swimming about feeding. They stayed for 1 hour and 5 minutes - we had brilliant views as they were just off the headland.

At 08.12 they returned for ½ an hour and then at 09.30 brought their mates with them too, 6 in all, staying for 15 minutes. Okay, so that was the last we saw of them all day until 17.00, but it was great to see them so close-up. (By they way, it was very wet and we did have some heavy mist, but do not let that put you off).

Sunday, again starting at 6am, was much better as we had helpers and my thanks go to Chris for sharing the dawn with me (and others who filled the morning and early afternoon slots). Harbour Porpoise appeared at 09.45 staying till 11.17. They reappeared at 12.20 till 12.43, closeby feeding and swimming about, but once again that was it. During our watching we had many seabirds, gannets, shearwaters, guillemots, and kittiwakes too.

Come and watch with us this weekend...do a 2hour slot...Saturday 28 6am – 6pm and Sunday 29 6am – 6pm. Give us a call on 01803 882619. See you on the headland!

Nigel Smallbones, NNR Manager

White Rock Rose, Birdsfoot Trefoil & Ox-Eye Daisies

2008-06-25T14:57:00.002+01:00

Our team of dedicated volunteers cleared masses of Blackthorn and Gorse from this area of the headland during Winter - this fantastic display of Spring wildflowers is thanks to their hard work

Early Purple Orchid & Ox-Eye Daisies

2008-06-25T14:46:00.002+01:00

White Rock Rose

2008-06-25T14:44:00.001+01:00