Wildlife in North Cornwall

From the lane next to Park Farm, two footpaths run down to the valley floor and Trebarwith Nature Reserve (Cornwall Wildlife Trust). Within about half an hours's drive are the following nature reserves:

Nature reserves on Bodmin Moor

• At the Golitha Falls National Nature Reserve, the River Fowey cascades through a pretty valley covered in a mixture of ancient woodland and a beech avenue. A circular path of about 1km runs around the reserve. There is also a shorter paved route of about 400m.

  In Spring, the valley is carpeted with bluebells and in Autumn the trees are vivid colours. In Summer look out for woodland butterflies such as the orange and black silver-washed fritilliary; the males are attracted to orange items including car indicators and sainsburys' carrier bags!

• On the other (north) side of the A30 from Jamaica Inn is Priddacomb Downs (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - a reserve of over 200 acres of open moorland lying with views of Brown Willy and Roughtor.
• To the south of the A30, the Loveny nature reserve is an important ornithological site which includes Colliford Lake (Bodmin Moor's largest Reservoir) and surrounding moorland. It is jointly owned between the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society.
• At Siblyback Lake (South West Lakes Trust) to the west of Minions there are miles of walks and some excellent bird watching. There is a hide though it's quite old so you're more likely to find birds inside it.
• Lavethan Wood (managed by the Woodland Trust) lies just south Blisland on the North-facing slopes of a river valley. It is designated a Planted Ancient Woodland Site and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Nature reserves near Bodmin

• Bodmin beacon (more info)
• Hawke's Wood (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - situated on the south side of the Camel Valley between Wadebridge and Dunmere. Here there is an abandoned quarry in a mature woodland of predominantly Sessile Oak (also known as Welsh Oak - the acorns have no stalks).
• Rosenannon Downs (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - over 250 acres of Woodland and heath support a wide range of habitats and species
• Tregonetha - 110 acres of wet heathland and marshy grassland
• Helman Tor, Breney Common and Red Moor (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - over 500 acres of wetland spreading from the slopes of Helman Tor
• Cabilla and Redrice Woods (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - one of the largest and possibly finest ancient woodlands in Cornwall. 190 acres of mixed woodland with ancient oak and hazel coppice as well as river and wetland belts
• Cardinham Forest contains over 250 hectares of mixed woodland set within a complex series of impressive steep valleys and narrow ravines. It is a wildlife refuge for deer, buzzard, otter and even kingfisher.

Nature reserves near Bude

• The undisturbed history of Millook Valley woods (now owned by the Woodland Trust) and location in a sparsely populated area of the north Cornish coast offers visitors a sense of stepping back in time. The broad-leaved woodland is criss-crossed by footpaths with some great views over the valley. There are bluebells in Spring and loads of blackberries and sloes in Autumn. Other interesting occupants include dormice, otters and smooth snakes. It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, an Ancient Woodland Site and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• Bude marshes is the fourth largest area of reed in the county and provides valuable habitat for wintering migrant and breeding birds.
• Maer Lake - Owned jointly between the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society - 25 acres of wetland meadow with open water provides an internationally acknowledged resting and feeding site for migrating birds. Note there is no access inside the reserve - viewing is strictly only from the private road above the reserve.
• Lower Tamar Lake (South West Lakes Trust) was built by the Bude Canal Company in 1823 to act as the feeder reservoir for the Bude Canal System. Good for waterfowl and there is a bird hide here. A pair of Great Crested Grebe usually breed on the lake.
• Phillips Point (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) is a small reserve off the Widemouth to Bude coast road with magnificent vertical and slumping high cliffs with spectacular views to Hartland Point and Widemouth. A good spot for seals. Very close by is Upton Meadow (also Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - a small reserve on side of a steep valley above a small stream, alongside which a small woodland grows
• Marsland Valley (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - two large, steep-sided valleys with mixed oak woodland, bracken slopes, traditional hay meadows, wildflower meadows and coastline covering over 450 acres.
• Lower Lewdon (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - an 11 acre mosaic of culm grassland and woodland, crisscrossed with rides and paths containing the pretty, blue-flowered devil's-bit scabious, an essential food plant for the larvae of the rare marsh fritillary butterfly.
• Greena Moor near Week St Mary (Cornwall Wildlife Trust) - culm grassland with some broadleaved woodland, scrub and streams. Jointly owned with Plantlife.

Nature reserves near Launceston

• Windmill Hill (Woodland Trust)
• Howard's Wood (Woodland Trust)

Birds of Prey

There are more than 20 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons along the coast from Bude to Padstow. In Spring and Autumn they can be seen doing aerial courtship displays.

Seabirds

The exposed coast in North Cornwall has plenty of rock ledges that make good nesting sites for seabirds. The stretch of coast between Tintagel and Boscastle has a number of offshore rock stacks which host seabird colonies. Guillimots and razorbills can be seen on The Sisters between Bossiney and Willapark near Tintagel, either from the coast path with a telescope/telephoto lens or by sea kayak from Boscastle. Fulmars can also sometimes be seen around this stretch of coast and also around Port Isaac. Two of the best places to see puffins are Long Island near Trevalga and The Rumps off Pentire Point near Polzeath. Again sea kayaking is a great way to get a closer view.

Migrating birds

Swallows are very common in Cornwall, and usually can be seen (and heard) darting above most of the lanes and footpaths particularly where there are old barns such as the lane to Trenale from Park Farm and around Trebarwith Village and Trevalga.

The Camel Estuary is a good place to see migrating birds, being particularly good for wildfowl, waders and gulls. There is a hide alongside the Camel Trail near Wadebridge (in the Padstow direction).

Davidstow is another good place for migrating birds, particularly the disused WW2 airfield, Crowdy Reservior and the surrounding woods. There is a hide at Crowdy Reservior. There are often Nearctic waders in autumn and spectacular flocks of starlings around Davidstow in the winter.

Some other good spots are the Walmsley Sanctuary near Wadebridge, Maer Lake near Bude, Loveny at Colliford Reservior and Sibliback Lake on Bodmin Moor.

More information about birds

• Cornwall Birding
• Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society
• County bird list
• Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society reserves and hides
• More info about Puffins in Cornwall

Grey Seals are one of the rarest seal species in the world and the biggest land breeding mammal in the UK. Roughly half of the world population of grey seals is found in Britain, a large proportion of which are found in Cornwall. Common seals are also found along the Cornish coast. A good place to see seals is the large colony at Bukator cliff close to Beeny near Boscastle just south of The Strangles beach.

The rugged coastline of North Cornwall has some of the finest rockpools in the country. Some good places at low tide are: the right hand side of Trebarwith Strand, the left-hand side of Polzeath, the right-hand side of Daymer Bay, the left side of Crackington Haven, the left side of Port Gaverne. The rocky ridges along the sides of Widemouth and Sandymouth near Bude create large numbers of small rockpools.

If you go snorkelling you can see loads of marine life. You're pretty much guaranteed to see bass, pollock and wrasse in forests of kelp and on reefs rising up out of the blue. In Summer and early Autumn you may encounter mullet, garfish or shoals of mackerel. See our snorkelling section for some good places to go.

Sunfish can sometimes be seen on hot summer days basking on the surface. Sea kayaking is a good way to see them.

June and July are the best months to see basking sharks before migration takes them further north in August. Record numbers were spotted of the coast in 2009. Here is a video of someone swimming with basking sharks off Newquay at the end of June 2009.

A pod of dolphins taken up residence around Camel estuary - boat trips on the Jubilee Queen from Padstow often encounter them. Here's a video of them following the lifeboat out of Padstow.

More information about marine wildlife

• Fact sheet on grey seals
• BBC article on seals in Cornwall
• Rockpooling in Cornwall
• Shoreline Activities in Bude run a beach ecology course
• Photo gallery of some Cornish marine life
• Books:
  • Pocket Guides: Collins Gem, Green guide or Pocket nature
  • Guide to marine animals

On the opposite side of the road from Park Farm, a track runs up to Trewarmett Downs. This provides some great habitat which is rarely visited by people. Deer, foxes, stoats, weasels and badgers can often be seen on a walk and rabbits and butterflies are everywhere. All the animals on the right were seen on a one hour morning walk on Trewarmett downs.

Minster church in Boscastle and surrounding countryside is the largest maternity roost of Greater Horseshoe bats in Cornwall with an estimated 200 individuals. They can be seen emerging just after sunset on Summer evenings.

Something you may not expect to encounter - North Cornwall has a naturalised population of stick insects.

More information

• Cornwall Mammal Group
• Mammal identification guides
• Cornwall Butterfly Conservation
• Cornwall Moth group

• Tamar Otter Wildlife Center near Launceston
• The National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow are aiming to create a sustainable shellfish fishery in Cornwall by providing a predator-free environment for lobsters to grow past the zooplankton stage where they normally mostly perish. There is a Visitor Centre there where you can find out more about what they do and meet the lobsters.
• The Cornish Birds of Prey centre near Newquay rescues many species of birds (article on BBC website).
• The Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay which includes a display of the fish and crustaceans you're likely to see if you go snorkelling in Cornwall. There is a nursery of baby fish, seahorses and cuttlefish where captive breeding programmes are being pioneered.
• The National Seal Sanctuary in Gweek is a centre for the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of seals. Most seasons they rescue over 40 pups and occasionally the Sanctuary's facilities and expertise are called upon to aid in the rescue of other marine creatures such as Dolphins and Turtles. It is home for several different types of resident seal and sea lions who cannot be released into the wild and some otters. If you book online you can get a discount.
• The Woolly Monkey Sanctuary near Looe is devoted to the continued care and management of the woolly monkey colony originally all rescued from zoos and the pet trade in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Newquay Zoo specialises in captive breeding of endangered species.
• Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital & Sanctuary is a sanctuary and hospital for approximately 1500 birds a year needing care with the aim of returning healed birds to the wild
• The Tortoise Garden near St Austell is a sanctuary for the rescue, care and conservation of all breeds of Tortoises
• Screech Owl Sanctuary set within the Goss Moor nature reserve near St Columb provide care and rehabilitation for sick and injured wild owls in Cornwall

• Cornish wildlife trust
• Wildlife events
• Cornwall butterfly conservation
• Cornwall nature features on the BBC website
• Cornwall wildlife gallery on the BBC website