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Reserve

Teignbridge District Council – 01626 361101 01626 – Council District Teignbridge

Dawlish Warren National Nature Nature National Warren Dawlish

Dawlish Warren Green Spaces Rangers – 01626 863980 01626 – Rangers Spaces Green Warren Dawlish National Nature Nature National

National Nature Reserve Nature National , TQ12 4AD TQ12 Abbot, Newton

Forde Road Offices, Forde Road Forde Offices, Road Forde

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Office address Teignbridge District Council District Teignbridge address Office

Welcome

Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve Nature National Warren Dawlish Dawlish Dawlish

When to Visit All ability access For those keen to see birds, the timing of your A route from the main car park to the promenade visit is all important. Come close to high tide for and the Visitor Centre is available for those with the best views as the birds will be closer. Please wheelchairs and push-chairs. There is soft sand observe signs to avoid causing disturbance over much of the rest of the site which makes to roosting flocks. Midwinter has the greatest access difficult. number of birds, with spring or autumn providing Visitor Centre the biggest variety. Open every weekend 2pm to 5pm and some weekday afternoons from April to the end of Schools and groups The Teignbridge rangers offer an education August. Please check for winter opening. service for schools, colleges and groups carrying Sorry, there are no toilets at the out studies of the reserve and its wildlife. They Visitor Centre. also provide public events and opportunities for volunteering. Please contact the rangers for more information. No public access

Bird Hide

No public access

Visitor Centre No dogs at any time Dogs on leads at all times Car Park No dogs 1st April - 30th September No Public Access

No camping No collecting No fires or No metal All Ability Access to Visitor Centre driftwood barbecues detecting Through the seasons at Common Summer Centaury Dawlish Warren Rainbow Palette Dawlish Warren has recorded over 600 species of plant, some, such as Southern Marsh Orchid, Marsh Helleborine, Sea Bindweed and Evening Primrose, are hard to Spring miss while others need a keener eye, such as Lesser Centaury or Strawberry Clover. Marsh Helleborine Miniature Marvels Early Forget-Me-Not In Spring look out for some Warren Crocus Songs and Sounds of Dawlish Warren’s rarest, Listen out for hard-to-see species, like Reed Warbler, and tiniest, wildlife. In late March look for Sand (or Warren) Little Grebe around the pond, Chiffchaff or the Crocus, Early Forget-Me-Not and Upright Chickweed in the short dune beautiful Blackcap song in the woods, while Common grasslands. While smaller still, the tiny, but internationally rare, Petalwort Whitethroat will sing from patches of scrub. From July can be found in some dune slacks, but you will need a hand lens and luck! the harsh tones of Sandwich Terns or more tuneful Sandwich Tern calls of Whimbrel or Curlew may draw your attention. New Arrivals A time for arrivals, departures and those just visiting. Great Green Bush Cricket Legs & Co Wading birds and wildfowl will depart, heading north Striking invertebrates during March, but Wheatears, Chiffchaffs, Common Common Whitethroat such as Tiger Moths, Great Whitethroat and terns will arrive, either on their way Green Bush Crickets, Wasp to breeding grounds elsewhere or to summer at the adr Spiders and Dragon and Damsel lo yuen .r.o. u flies bring colour while Sand Warren. rA rl n Ad a l.l. Wasps can be seen hunting or e Oystercatcher . y Just Awake y e carrying prey if you are lucky. Warmer days will see ll a r Wasp Spider the emergence of both A r Common Lizard and Sand Lizard o

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. d . Dunlin . Teal and Brent Geese to be seen, particularly in a period of 2 to Amazing Journeys 3 hours either side of high water. These birds are joined by smaller Autumn marks the start of some numbers of Sanderling and Turnstone around the Warren’s shores, incredible journeys as birds move from while out to sea or in the estuary look for Grebes, Common Scoter, breeding to wintering grounds. Some, such Whimbrel Red-breasted Merganser and Divers. as Arctic Terns move from one end of the earth to the other each spring and autumn, Late Colour & Surprises Redshank Late season butterflies like Beach Wrecks others have come from above the Arctic Winter storms can result Red Admiral and Peacock Circle and are looking for somewhere in ‘wrecks’ of Starfish, can be seen surprisingly late warmer to spend the winter be that at the Mermaids Purses, into the year, before they look Warren or further south. Cuttlefish, Sea Mice, for somewhere to hibernate. In September look for Curlew Heart Urchins and a range Autumn Lady’s Tresses, a small Sanderling Sandpipers or Little Stints of shells like Pelican’s at high tide alongside other orchid whose white flowers Foot, Common, Netted Eco Mowers wading birds like Dunlin, Ringed spiral around a central and Dog Whelk, Helping to keep the grasslands in and Grey Plover, Knot and spike, are common Otter Shells, and shape, ponies are used in Bar-tailed Godwit which are during September in the Scallops. The egg mass the winter months to help produce likely to spend the whole winter dune grasslands. of Common Whelk is a ideal conditions for rare flowers and here. A passing Osprey will Migration time Pelican’s Foot Shell common find along the invertebrates. These cause excitement for birds for birds can Ringed Plover foreshore. are ‘working’, wild and birders alike: watch and listen for large lead to surprise animals, so DO numbers of birds taking to the air at once. finds of rare birds, NOT feed them or Remember autumn bird watching can so with luck a really try to stroke them. be confusing, with birds in breeding unusual bird could be Tower Shell plumage, wintering plumage, about, so expect the Dartmoor pony somewhere in between and unexpected! youngsters all together! Red Admiral Formation and History Made of estuary sediments and sand, the Warren These changes have, at times, produced tidal Dune systems are, by their nature, dynamic and has been in existence for 7,000 years. Its creeks and islands as well as the sand spit we the Warren we know today is likely to continue to shape and form has changed repeatedly under see today. There is evidence that a civil war fort evolve in the years to come. the influence of storms, currents and available existed here, as well as houses that were used sediment, with periods of erosion and rebuilding until the 1930s, on parts of Warren Point that (accretion) occurring. have since been lost to the sea.

Yellow Dune Dune Embryo Fixed Dune Woodland Dune Grassland Beach Dune Grassland Salt Marsh Slack Estuary Copyright - Bird photos - all John Lee, Bottlenose Dolphins - Mark Darlaston, Tower shell and Pelicans Foot shell - Ella Chambers Dartmoor Pony, front cover, Common Centaury, Marsh Helleborine, Wasp Spider - Matt Twydell Sand (Warren) Crocus, Early forget-me-knot and Sand Lizard - TDC Great Green Bush Cricket - Simon Thurgood