Discover the Wildlife of the Avon Gorge and Downs
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Gorgeous plants Marvellous meadows Brilliant birds From the Peregrine Watch point you may be From Observatory Hill and Seawalls you can In summer why not come to the Downs for a lucky enough to catch sight of a peregrine enjoy stunning views of the Avon Gorge. Just picnic? At this time of the year the meadow falcon. For the best chance of seeing one of their below, rare wildflowers grow on the craggy ledges. areas are brimming with wildflowers. Many spectacular aerial displays visit in May and June. Over 30 different kinds of rare plant grow here, different kinds such as orchids, scabious, Pick up a copy of the Peregrines of the Avon Gorge making it one of the top botanical sites in the UK. harebell and wild thyme all thrive here. leaflet to find out more. After the plants have had time to flower and We’ve counted 35 species of bird breeding It’s particularly famous for its whitebeam set seed we cut the meadows to make hay. trees, some of which grow wild here and on the Downs. Look out for unusual residents nowhere else in the world! Amongst these are Why not use the Downs meadow trail such as bullfinches and green woodpeckers whilst you’re here. the Bristol, Wilmott’s, Houston’s and Leigh leaflet to find out more? Woods whitebeams. Many other birds also come here to feed. Big The Gorge is also home to the delicate Bristol flocks of rooks, carrion crows, jackdaws and rock-cress and lollipop-like Bristol onion. gulls can be seen probing the football pitches This is the only place they grow in the UK. Bugs and beasties for juicy worms and grubs. Why not use the Downs bird trail leaflet to In the winter you may see dare-devil The Gorge and Downs are teeming with conservationists working from ropes on the amazing insects and other invertebrates. find out more? cliffs below. These specially trained workers One of the rarest is the silky wave moth. protect the rare plants by clearing invasive It’s only found on two other sites in the UK. scrub and non-native weeds. Mammal magic 27 species of butterfly live here. On a sunny In the Gully we’ve introduced a small herd of summer’s day look out for marbled whites, An early morning stroll or jog might reveal goats. They’re here to restore wildflower-rich common blues and meadow browns. In the some of our more secretive animals. Foxes, grassland by munching woody species like Gully you might also spot a rare small blue hedgehogs and weasels have all been seen. bramble and scrub which, if left unchecked, or a chalkhill blue. shade out and kill the rare plants. Endangered lesser and greater horseshoe bats also roost in the Gorge’s caves and roe Photography: The Downs (Simon Muir) | Common blue, goat in the Gully (Helen Hall) | Dog walking deer are sometimes seen swimming across the on the Downs, Enjoying Observatory Hill (James Barke) | Common spotted orchid (Su Lees) | Bristol whitebeam (Nicholas J. Wray) | Herb-Robert, Wilmott’s whitebeam, Bristol onion, knapweed, harebell river. The easiest mammals to spot, however, (Phil Jearey) | Bristol rock-cress (John Martin) | Conservation work (Angus Tillotson, Rope Works) | Small scabious (Denice Stout) | Marbled white (Kelly Thomas) | Meadow brown, peregrine falcon, are acrobatic grey squirrels. bullfinch, green woodpecker, fox, grey squirrel, hedgehog (©iStock) | Small blue (Hugh Welford) dandicreative.co.uk. Printed with vegetable-based inks on revive silk 100% recycled paper. recycled 100% silk revive on inks vegetable-based with Printed dandicreative.co.uk. Design: (©iStock) Fieldfare | Wray) J. (Nicholas whitebeam Bristol | ) Cottrell/NWBCC Ray ( Jackdaw | Jearey) (Phil onion Bristol squill, Autumn | Wills) (Emma Bluebell | Stout) (Denice rattle yellow lichen, raven, falcon, peregrine rock-cress, Bristol • Education | Hall) (Helen Goat | Conservation) Butterfly Parsons, (Mark moth wave Silky poster: Inside (AGDWP). watching Peregrine | Hall) (Helen Goat | (©iStock) falcon Peregrine | Photography: Photography: Jearey) (Phil onion Bristol | (©zedphoto.com) Gorge the of View cover: Front • Habitat management Habitat print and audio CD. Tel: 0117 9030609 0117 Tel: CD. audio and print • Wildlife surveying and monitoring and surveying Wildlife This leaflet is also available in large large in available also is leaflet This Hedgehog squirrel Grey Fox Small blue Small brown Meadow white Marbled Gully the in Goat work Conservation onion Bristol roles: three have We roduction of this leaflet was funded by the Downs Committee. Committee. Downs the by funded was leaflet this of roduction P the Downs. Downs. the Gorge and the Friends of the Downs and Avon Gorge. Avon and Downs the of Friends the and Gorge manage part of Leigh Woods on the North Somerset side of the the of side Somerset North the on Woods Leigh of part manage and Gorge Avon the of side Bristol We are also working in partnership with the National Trust who who Trust National the with partnership in working also are We was set up to look after the wildlife of the the of wildlife the after look to up set was The Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project Project Wildlife Downs and Gorge Avon The Caring for wildlife for Caring The Project is a partnership of: partnership a is Project The .facebook.com/avongorge www | .avongorge.org.uk www it’s free! it’s [email protected] E-mail: 9030609 0117 Tel: The Learning Department, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3HA BS8 Bristol, Clifton, Gardens, Zoo Bristol Department, Learning The Bristol. What’s more it’s open all year round and and round year all open it’s more What’s Bristol. , , Officer Education Biodiversity Downs & Gorge Avon Leivers, Mandy of the most exciting places to enjoy wildlife in in wildlife enjoy to places exciting most the of of our school and playscheme sessions please contact: please sessions playscheme and school our of Just two miles from Bristol city centre, this is one one is this centre, city Bristol from miles two Just details or programme, events or leaflets trail nature our of copies For Contacting us Contacting picnic beside wildflower meadows. wildflower beside picnic stroll, play football, fly a kite or enjoy a perfect perfect a enjoy or kite a fly football, play stroll, Close by are the Downs where you can go for a a for go can you where Downs the are by Close nesting peregrine falcons. peregrine nesting home to rare wildflowers, beautiful insects and and insects beautiful wildflowers, rare to home the Avon Gorge’s wild and rugged rock faces are are faces rock rugged and wild Gorge’s Avon the With stunning views and awe-inspring geology, geology, awe-inspring and views stunning With and Durdham Down Durdham and Avon Gorge, Clifton Down Down Clifton Gorge, Avon the to Welcome follow the map below. map the follow Road: By . details further or call call or www.nationalrail.co.uk Visit for for 7484950 0845 10 minutes walk from the Downs. Downs. the from walk minutes 10 s whitebeam whitebeam s ’ Wilmott Green woodpecker Green Bullfinch falcon Peregrine Harebell scabious Small Knapweed rock-cress Bristol whitebeam Bristol the nearest train station is Clifton Down Station, Station, Down Clifton is station train nearest the Train: By or call Traveline on on Traveline call or www.traveline.info visit . 2002233 0871 Avon Gorge and Downs and Gorge Avon and and 586 54, 41, 40, 9, 8, 1, . For further information information further For . 587 By Bus: Bus: By the following services all run past the Downs – – Downs the past run all services following the Discover the wildlife of the of wildlife the Discover How to get here get to How Discover the wildlife of the Avon Gorge and Downs Silky wave As the crow flies Unique to the In late June and early July, look out The Downs are a great place for the rare silky wave moth. It’s for spotting members of the Gorge only found on two other sites in crow family. Look out for Four types of tree, Bristol, the UK. ravens, rooks, carrion crows, Wilmott’s, Houston’s and Raven Silky wave moth jackdaws, magpies and jays. Leigh Woods whitebeams, are endemic to the Gorge (i.e. they grow naturally here and nowhere else in the world). You can see some Goats in the Gully Bristol whitebeams here. Look out for our small herd of goats here. These ‘hairy conservationists’ are helping to make room for rare Jackdaw wildflowers by eating invasive woody plants like scrub and bramble. Goat Bristol whitebeam DURDHAM Super speedy DOWN Peregrine falcons have bred in the Gorge since 1990. These spectacularly fast falcons can often be seen from the Peregrine Watch point. Why not pick up a copy of the Peregrine leaflet to find out more about them? Peregrine falcon Water Tower Fieldfare Ladies Mile Bird café Seawalls River Avon Many birds come to the Downs to feed. In winter keep your eyes peeled for flocks of migrant The redwing and fieldfare. They Gully particularly like berries on the old hawthorn trees around the Downs. Main Meadow CLIFTON Leigh Woods DOWN This side of the Gorge is managed by the National Trust Bluebell and the Forestry Commission. Peregrine Lovely lichens Watch Winter is the best time to spot strange and beautiful lichens growing on trees. Why not pick Bristol Zoo Gardens Ramalina farinacea up a copy of the Downs lichen Famous flora trail leaflet to find out more The Avon Gorge is home to about them? over 30 different kinds of rare plants. For at least 450 years plant lovers have been finding rarities such as honewort, Autumn squill autumn squill, spiked speedwell and little robin AVON Meadow magic on its craggy ledges.