Wild Coast: An Exploration of the Places Where Land Meets Sea

Wild Coast: An Exploration of the Places Where Land Meets Sea

Marianne Taylor

Language: English

Pages: 115

ISBN: 1408181789

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


This book is a celebration of the wildlife and landscapes of Britain's most vital wildlife habitats—those that make up our coastline. Sheer limestone crags resound with the voices of thousands of bickering seabirds; endless acres of estuarine mud are packed with squirming invertebrates that sustain thousands of wading birds. In between are the dazzling chalk outcrops of the south coast with glorious floral communities on the clifftop meadows, shingle beaches where terns and plovers hide their eggs among the stones, and dune systems bound together with marram grass and supporting a unique and fragile ecosystem. Rocky shores harbour microcosms of marine life when the retreating tide leaves rockpools exposed for our exploration, and even the rowdiest seaside towns have their own special wildlife alongside the wild nightlife. Grand-scale colour photos bring the wild coast and its inhabitants to life, while the text tells you what you'll see and where, from Land's End to John O'Groats via the scenic route. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and authoritative text, this book is a celebration of the wilder aspects of the UK's coasts.

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Not produce spiralling tendrils like its inland cousins, but instead scrambles along and through the shingle. It thrives best in sandy shingle. It produces very pretty trumpet-shaped pink and white flowers, and its scrambling growth form gives it a low profile which helps it to avoid damage from wind. Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare) This is one of the most striking and beautiful shingle plants. It grows on more established parts of the beach and also occurs inland. Tall and upright, it.

Shallow water. They probe the mud for worms but will also chase insects and even tiny fish. Redshanks are common on estuaries all year round, as well as on other low-lying coastal habitat. Curlew (Numenius arquata) The biggest wader you’ll see on the estuary, this sturdy all-brown bird can give the impression of a very leggy juvenile gull, especially in flight, until you catch a glimpse of its tremendously long, downcurved bill. The bill size varies with age and by sex, with mature females.

May be seen fishing in the mouth of Pagham Harbour, West Sussex. Pagham Harbour on a winter afternoon. Snettisham, Norfolk This RSPB reserve on the north-west Norfolk coast offers some astounding estuarine wildlife-watching if you time your visit just right. It adjoins the Wash, and from the paths around the reserve you can look out over the endless mudflats, and probably find wading birds dotted around, some near and some far. As the tide comes in, the birds are pushed inshore, and on the.

Seen. Rocks Rocky shorelines, too low or too gradually sloped to be defined as cliff-faces, are common in the north and west of the British Isles. However, outcrops of solid rock are a feature of many flatter beaches in southern and eastern areas. There are also ‘boulder beaches’, made of loose, large chunks of rock. All have in common the fact that their substrate is not mobile, unlike the smaller particles that make up sand or shingle beaches. Therefore, rocks provide a solid mooring for sea.

Many Common Limpets live on rocks and artificial structures in the intertidal zone, they are encountered alive as often, if not more often, than their empty shells are found on the beach. The shell is a simple pointed cap shape, with ridges radiating from the centre, though in detached empty shells these ridges quickly wear away, leaving a smooth surface. This shape, with the opening the widest point of the shell, allows the limpet to fix itself very strongly to its ‘perch’, so it remains.

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