.scot www.nnr
Male stonechat Male
Bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose
cliffs, along with peregrine falcons. peregrine with along cliffs,
Fulmars nest on sheltered nooks towards the top of the the of top the towards nooks sheltered on nest Fulmars
like desert cacti. cacti. desert like
is easily recognised by its fl eshy leaves, which store water water store which leaves, eshy fl its by recognised easily is
with white cascading sea campion, while white stonecrop stonecrop white while campion, sea cascading white with
Sea pink, or thrift, forms low cushions in crevices, together together crevices, in cushions low forms thrift, or pink, Sea
soils and unreliable water supplies, can survive. survive. can supplies, water unreliable and soils
place where only specialist plants that can cope with thin thin with cope can that plants specialist only where place
Today they form the backdrop to the Reserve and are a a are and Reserve the to backdrop the form they Today
around 8,000 years ago, they were left high and dry. and high left were they ago, years 8,000 around
the sea battered these cliffs and then, when the ice melted ice the when then, and cliffs these battered sea the
formed 375 million years ago. During the last ice age ice last the During ago. years million 375 formed
The cliffs at St Cyrus are all that remains of vast sea cliffs cliffs sea vast of remains that all are Cyrus St at cliffs The
frequently basking in the sand dunes. sand the in basking frequently The cliffs The
whitethroats. Common lizard can also be seen seen be also can lizard Common whitethroats.
birds too, such as stonechats, yellowhammers and and yellowhammers stonechats, as such too, birds Towering cliffs Towering
of invertebrate life attracts large numbers of insect eating eating insect of numbers large attracts life invertebrate of
grasshopper species on the Reserve. This huge diversity huge This Reserve. the on species grasshopper
have all been sighted offshore. sighted been all have
too. If you’re lucky you can see all four of Scotland’s Scotland’s of four all see can you lucky you’re If too.
porpoise, minke, humpback and killer whales killer and humpback minke, porpoise,
The abundance of plants encourages invertebrates encourages plants of abundance The
banks at the mouth of the river, while dolphin, dolphin, while river, the of mouth the at banks
grey seals, which occasionally bask on the sand sand the on bask occasionally which seals, grey soils produced by the volcanic rocks. volcanic the by produced soils
You may also be lucky enough to see common and and common see to enough lucky be also may You and eastern England but grow here thanks to the fertile fertile the to thanks here grow but England eastern and
more common on chalk and limestone soils in southern southern in soils limestone and chalk on common more
the lack of fruit and vegetables on board ships. board on vegetables and fruit of lack the
Others such as meadow saxifrage and hairy violet are are violet hairy and saxifrage meadow as such Others
C, which is why sailors used to eat them to make up for for up make to them eat to used sailors why is which C,
The fl eshy, oval leaves of scurvy grass are rich in vitamin vitamin in rich are grass scurvy of leaves oval eshy, fl The absolute extreme of their northern range. northern their of extreme absolute
owers of night-scented Nottingham catchfl y, at the the at y, catchfl Nottingham night-scented of owers fl
buffet them. buffet
here, with many, such as the delicate pinkish-white pinkish-white delicate the as such many, with here,
high tides, drying winds and stinging sands continually continually sands stinging and winds drying tides, high
More than 300 different plant species have been found found been have species plant different 300 than More
have amazing staying power when you consider that that consider you when power staying amazing have
owered scurvy grass. These strand line-hugging plants plants line-hugging strand These grass. scurvy owered fl from the wind. the from
beach are the lilac fl owering sea rocket and white white and rocket sea owering fl lilac the are beach with the cliffs and sand dunes providing vital shelter vital providing dunes sand and cliffs the with
Among the fi rst plants to grab a place at the top of the the of top the at place a grab to plants rst fi the Among Plants and insects are superbly protected at St Cyrus, St at protected superbly are insects and Plants
The beach The What makes St Cyrus so special? so Cyrus St makes What
Getting there The Reserve is 4 miles/6.4km north of Montrose, off the A92, and some parking is available. Welcome to St Cyrus National Nature Reserve, There is a bus service from Aberdeen and Montrose to St Cyrus managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. nearby St Cyrus village. At the end of Beach Road, past National Nature Reserve With its breathtaking displays of wildfl owers and the church, a steep path leads down to the Reserve. unbelievable variety of insects and birds, St Cyrus The Visitor Centre, housed inside the old lifeboat station, is one of the richest and most diverse nature reserves has toilets and is open daily from April to October, and in Britain. Monday to Friday, from November to March. Set at the mouth of the River North Esk, the Reserve Need to know sweeps around the sandy shore of the Aberdeenshire Please give wildlife a fi ghting chance by making sure you coast, just north of Montrose. From its towering volcanic don’t trample on plants or start fi res. At certain times of the cliffs, to swathes of beautiful beach, set off by an ever- year parts of the Reserve may be closed to protect changing landscape of sand dunes and fl ower-rich breeding birds. Please keep dogs on a short lead or under grasslands, this is a stunning landscape. close control at sensitive times, and respect any notices you see. Owners must clear up after their dogs at all times. For more information please contact: The Old Lifeboat Station, Nether Warburton, St Cyrus, Montrose DD10 0AQ. Tel: 01674 830736 www.nnr.scot Support this NNR at www.nature.scot/donate-nnr VISIT
Scotland's National Nature Reserves
0 9 i A Alford A944 ABERDEEN A939 Aboyne A93 Ballater Banchory Braemar Stonehaven
Inverbervie
3 Edzell A92 A9 A90 St Cyrus Beautiful beach Brechin NNR Montrose Kirriemuir
A90 Photos by Lorne Gill/SNH. ISBN: 978-1-85397-892-0. © Scottish Natural Heritage 2015. MLG2K0916
200347_St_Cyrus.indd 1 05/05/2016 14:15
.scot www.nnr
Male stonechat Male
Bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose
cliffs, along with peregrine falcons. peregrine with along cliffs,
Fulmars nest on sheltered nooks towards the top of the the of top the towards nooks sheltered on nest Fulmars
like desert cacti. cacti. desert like
is easily recognised by its fl eshy leaves, which store water water store which leaves, eshy fl its by recognised easily is
with white cascading sea campion, while white stonecrop stonecrop white while campion, sea cascading white with
Sea pink, or thrift, forms low cushions in crevices, together together crevices, in cushions low forms thrift, or pink, Sea
soils and unreliable water supplies, can survive. survive. can supplies, water unreliable and soils
place where only specialist plants that can cope with thin thin with cope can that plants specialist only where place
Today they form the backdrop to the Reserve and are a a are and Reserve the to backdrop the form they Today
around 8,000 years ago, they were left high and dry. and high left were they ago, years 8,000 around
the sea battered these cliffs and then, when the ice melted ice the when then, and cliffs these battered sea the
formed 375 million years ago. During the last ice age ice last the During ago. years million 375 formed
The cliffs at St Cyrus are all that remains of vast sea cliffs cliffs sea vast of remains that all are Cyrus St at cliffs The
frequently basking in the sand dunes. sand the in basking frequently The cliffs The
whitethroats. Common lizard can also be seen seen be also can lizard Common whitethroats.
birds too, such as stonechats, yellowhammers and and yellowhammers stonechats, as such too, birds Towering cliffs Towering
of invertebrate life attracts large numbers of insect eating eating insect of numbers large attracts life invertebrate of
grasshopper species on the Reserve. This huge diversity huge This Reserve. the on species grasshopper
have all been sighted offshore. sighted been all have
too. If you’re lucky you can see all four of Scotland’s Scotland’s of four all see can you lucky you’re If too.
porpoise, minke, humpback and killer whales killer and humpback minke, porpoise,
The abundance of plants encourages invertebrates encourages plants of abundance The
banks at the mouth of the river, while dolphin, dolphin, while river, the of mouth the at banks
grey seals, which occasionally bask on the sand sand the on bask occasionally which seals, grey soils produced by the volcanic rocks. volcanic the by produced soils
You may also be lucky enough to see common and and common see to enough lucky be also may You and eastern England but grow here thanks to the fertile fertile the to thanks here grow but England eastern and
more common on chalk and limestone soils in southern southern in soils limestone and chalk on common more
the lack of fruit and vegetables on board ships. board on vegetables and fruit of lack the
Others such as meadow saxifrage and hairy violet are are violet hairy and saxifrage meadow as such Others
C, which is why sailors used to eat them to make up for for up make to them eat to used sailors why is which C,
The fl eshy, oval leaves of scurvy grass are rich in vitamin vitamin in rich are grass scurvy of leaves oval eshy, fl The absolute extreme of their northern range. northern their of extreme absolute
owers of night-scented Nottingham catchfl y, at the the at y, catchfl Nottingham night-scented of owers fl
buffet them. buffet
here, with many, such as the delicate pinkish-white pinkish-white delicate the as such many, with here,
high tides, drying winds and stinging sands continually continually sands stinging and winds drying tides, high
More than 300 different plant species have been found found been have species plant different 300 than More
have amazing staying power when you consider that that consider you when power staying amazing have
owered scurvy grass. These strand line-hugging plants plants line-hugging strand These grass. scurvy owered fl from the wind. the from
beach are the lilac fl owering sea rocket and white white and rocket sea owering fl lilac the are beach with the cliffs and sand dunes providing vital shelter vital providing dunes sand and cliffs the with
Among the fi rst plants to grab a place at the top of the the of top the at place a grab to plants rst fi the Among Plants and insects are superbly protected at St Cyrus, St at protected superbly are insects and Plants
The beach The What makes St Cyrus so special? so Cyrus St makes What
Getting there The Reserve is 4 miles/6.4km north of Montrose, off the A92, and some parking is available. Welcome to St Cyrus National Nature Reserve, There is a bus service from Aberdeen and Montrose to St Cyrus managed by Scottish Natural Heritage. nearby St Cyrus village. At the end of Beach Road, past National Nature Reserve With its breathtaking displays of wildfl owers and the church, a steep path leads down to the Reserve. unbelievable variety of insects and birds, St Cyrus The Visitor Centre, housed inside the old lifeboat station, is one of the richest and most diverse nature reserves has toilets and is open daily from April to October, and in Britain. Monday to Friday, from November to March. Set at the mouth of the River North Esk, the Reserve Need to know sweeps around the sandy shore of the Aberdeenshire Please give wildlife a fi ghting chance by making sure you coast, just north of Montrose. From its towering volcanic don’t trample on plants or start fi res. At certain times of the cliffs, to swathes of beautiful beach, set off by an ever- year parts of the Reserve may be closed to protect changing landscape of sand dunes and fl ower-rich breeding birds. Please keep dogs on a short lead or under grasslands, this is a stunning landscape. close control at sensitive times, and respect any notices you see. Owners must clear up after their dogs at all times. For more information please contact: The Old Lifeboat Station, Nether Warburton, St Cyrus, Montrose DD10 0AQ. Tel: 01674 830736 www.nnr.scot Support this NNR at www.nature.scot/donate-nnr VISIT
Scotland's National Nature Reserves
0 9 i A Alford A944 ABERDEEN A939 Aboyne A93 Ballater Banchory Braemar Stonehaven
Inverbervie
3 Edzell A92 A9 A90 St Cyrus Beautiful beach Brechin NNR Montrose Kirriemuir
A90 Photos by Lorne Gill/SNH. ISBN: 978-1-85397-892-0. © Scottish Natural Heritage 2015. MLG2K0916
200347_St_Cyrus.indd 1 05/05/2016 14:15 The sand dunes Only a few plants, like spiky marram grass and grey- Reserve boundary green sea-Iyme grass are able to cope with the extreme Bird breeding area — conditions of the sand dunes, their roots helping to bind no access April to August the sand together. Visitor centre Other plants gain a roothold once the sand has Parking stabilised, such as purple spring vetch, which you’ll Toilets see near tracks and among the rabbit warrens, along Bird hide with the pastel blues of early forget-me-nots and wall Tyrie Trail speedwells, which provide a burst of colour in the spring. Footpath/steep section dston oo Burn Main road To Stonehaven W Minor road Nether Woodston Track Woodston Woodland Cliffs
St Cyrus Church BEACH ROAD
s
A92 u Clustered bellfl ower r
y The grassland C Unsuitable for t The grasslands also benefi t from the shelter of the long vehicles S Montrose cliffs and the dunes, making them warmer and f allowing wildfl owers to thrive. Graveyard o Bay To A90 Visit in summer and you’ll fi nd a riot of colour, from the s
Scotston of d deep violet of clustered bellfl ower to the delicate maiden Kirkside n Kirkside pink. Over 400 species of butterfl ies and moths have Fishing a been recorded feeding on this fl oral feast, including Station S some rare ones that rarely venture this far north. Kirkside Watch out for red and black six-spot burnet moths fl itting over purple knapweed heads and common blue butterfl ies dancing in the lee of the gorse.
Nether Warburton
Access for long vehicles
sk th E Nor Six-spot burnet moths er Riv Viaduct To Montrose
© Ashworth Maps and Interpretation Ltd 2012 Common blue butterfl y Based on material from Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright. All rights reserved Scottish Natural Heritage 100017908 2012. Tyrie Trail There are several paths across the Reserve, some of which are steep in places. The Tyrie Trail is a 1.5km/0.9 mile walk around the Reserve, suitable for most abilities (not wheelchairs).
Leaflets are available at St Cyrus.
Waterfall
www.nnr.scot
200347_St_Cyrus.indd 2 05/05/2016 14:15