Fire Crest
Wildlife by the bucket full!
Throughout the seasons, Churchwood Valley and its surrounding woodlands, pastures, and coastline enjoy an impressive array of flora and fauna. On the park itself, there’s a fantastic range of birdlife, from breeding Tawny Owls whose owlets can often be seen and heard in May, to the more unusual and secretive Fire Crests and the very rare Cirl Buntings that breed in Wembury’s coastal scrubland habitat.
Both stoats and weasels are regularly seen, often chasing the abundant voles, shrews, and wood mice. If you’re lucky you might see a fox, badger, or even a fallow deer bounding through the bushes.
Jersey Tiger Moth
Fans of mini-beasts will find plenty to search for: the shimmering Oil Beetles strutting along in late spring, over ten species of butterflies regularly feeding throughout spring and summer, the awesome Hummingbird Hawkmoths which visit in mid-summer to gorge on the plentiful buddleia, and the beautiful Jersey Tiger Moth with its captivating flash of orange – and many, many more.
If plants are more your thing then we have a huge variety; April, May, and June are the most spectacular months, as the park blooms with a gorgeous display of woodland wildflowers. The astonishing biodiversity, not only in the park but also through the water meadows and the coastal areas is enough to keep any plant-minded soul regularly reaching for their pocket flower guide.
Wembury – rockpool heaven!
Wembury Bay is nationally renowned for its almost unparalleled biodiversity in coastal marine life. Common Dolphins and Grey Seals are often seen from the coast, shoals of feeding fish, including the gargantuan Blue Fin Tuna, pass through the bay throughout the year and a wonderful variety of birdlife is here for all to see. But perhaps the finest example of what Wembury’s coastline has to offer is the rock-pooling, with recent surveys finding species, such as the Giant Goby and the St Piran’s Hermit Crab, that are known to exist in only a handful of locations in the UK.
Wembury Marine Centre
If you want to explore and find out more about this fantastic area of coastline, visit Wembury Marine Centre, it’s virtually on the doorstep! Just up from the beach, the Wembury Marine Centre is the ideal place to learn about the surrounding area and its wildlife.
Have a look at the wonderful video to see what lies beneath the waves…
Run by Devon Wildlife Trust, the Marine Centre organises rock-pool rambles and guided snorkelling safaris to help anyone to find, catch, identify and release a multitude of wonderful creatures, what better place to learn about and experience the extraordinarily diverse ecosystem that our coasts have to offer? The Seashore Code helps explain the part you can play in keeping Wembury special.
Wembury and the surrounding coastline form a Marine Conservation Area (MCA) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and these go some way to shielding it from the human pressures.
A Snakelocks Anenome – it’s amazing what you can find in the rock-pools at Wembury!
For more information on the local wildlife, please get in touch…
Our guests love sending us their photos and we have a gallery on our Facebook page.