by Dr. Cathy Horsley, Senior Project Officer for the West Country Buzz project Braunton Burrows in North Devon is four square miles of spectacular sand dunes, and home to a rich variety of plant and animal life. It is extremely important for bumblebees and holds Devon’s last remaining large population of the nationally declining Section 41 Priority … Continue reading Braunton Burrows Bumblebee Blitz
Nature’s Tonic Project Officer – Job opportunity
Are you passionate about North Devon’s nature, coast and countryside and could help more adults to get outdoors to enjoy it and connect with nature? We need an experienced and enthusiastic project officer to work across Barnstaple, Braunton and Ilfracombe to matchmake local groups with the green and blue spaces around them for low key … Continue reading Nature’s Tonic Project Officer – Job opportunity
Scrub Clearing on Braunton Burrows
Braunton Burrows facebook site published the following: It’s that time of year down on the Burrows when scrub clearing works are taking place. Christie Estates works with Natural England to agree areas that are in need of management. They are carried out in the Autumn to avoid disturbing nesting birds. This year the most intensive … Continue reading Scrub Clearing on Braunton Burrows
COASTWISE NORTH DEVON: Autumn Talks Programme
Something different for the weekend?
Stepping Out Picture By Jim Wileman – Stepping Out, Northam, North Devon. Celebrating the estuary of the Taw/Torridge River through walks, performance and sound recordings Stepping Out is a programme of distinctive, fun and captivating outdoor performance in towns and rural areas around the Taw/Torridge Estuary. Through these experiences, we aim to encourage people to come … Continue reading Something different for the weekend?
Butterflies and moths are out and about
Many butterfly species are on the wing now such as common blue, meadow brown, ringlet, gatekeeper, grayling, small copper and painted lady. Large numbers of the six spot burnet, a day flying moth, can be seen on the wing and great green bush crickets can be heard and sometimes seen among the taller dune grassland … Continue reading Butterflies and moths are out and about
First spotting on Braunton Burrows since 1985 of the Ruderal Bumblebee!
The bumblebee was sighted during the Bumblebee Blitz event on the Burrows between 12/14 august. We’ll have an update and a map of sightings from that event when they’re available.
“Oh, the smell of the wild thyme…”
Henry Williamson’s “The Pathway” remembers just one of the scents that fill the Burrows at this time of year. The low mat forming aromatic foliage of Thyme (thymus polytrichus), with its tight clusters of purple flowers, used to carpet vast areas of the dune turf, formerly created and maintained by rabbits eating down the grass … Continue reading “Oh, the smell of the wild thyme…”
Life on Braunton’s Verge
On 4 July a group led by Jo Pullin of Tarka Country Trust, accompanied by Dr Phil Sterling from Butterfly Conservation.Org and Mary Breeds, local botanist from the Braunton Countryside Centre, inspected the verge created by the Braunton group of Life on the Verge. The site is beside the old railway line heading towards Ilfracombe, … Continue reading Life on Braunton’s Verge
Looking for a Braunton Countryside Activity Agent
In the context of the InterReg European initiative to encourage EcoTourism in the North Devon Biosphere we are looking for one, or maybe two, contractors to develop this capacity using the Countryside Centre as the hub. Specifications for the contract are shown below: closing date for applications is 18 July 2019. http://www.northdevonbiosphere.org.uk/news/invitations-to-quote