Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve
Encyclopedia
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
near the village of Dawlish Warren
Dawlish Warren
Dawlish Warren is a small seaside resort near the town of Dawlish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon in England. Dawlish Warren consists almost entirely of holiday accommodation and facilities for holiday-makers especially caravan sites....
in south Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. It is part of the Exe Estuary
Exe Estuary
The Exe Estuary is an estuary on the south coast of Devon, England.The estuary starts just to the south of the city of Exeter, and extends south for approximately eight miles to meet the English Channel...
Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
, and sits on a sand spit which runs across the mouth of the estuary.
The Dawlish Warren nature reserve provides a major roosting site for wading birds and migratory waterfowl, and serves as a habitat for the endangered petalwort plant. It is also one of only two sites in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
where the Sand Crocus (Romulea columnae) grows. A large number of rare vagrant bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s have been recorded at Dawlish Warren, including Elegant Tern
Elegant Tern
The Elegant Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It breeds on the Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico and winters south to Peru, Ecuador and Chile....
, Lesser Crested Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
The Lesser Crested Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae...
, Long-billed Murrelet
Long-billed Murrelet
The Long-billed Murrelet is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is an unusual member of the auk family, often nesting far inland in old growth forests...
, Greater Sand Plover
Greater Sand Plover
The Greater Sand Plover, Charadrius leschenaultii, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as "Greater sandplover", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater sand plover"....
, Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Plover
The Semipalmated Plover is a small plover.This species weighs and measures in length and across the wings. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband...
, Cream-coloured Courser
Cream-coloured Courser
The Cream-colored Courser, Cursorius cursor, is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae.Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.These coursers are found in...
and Great Spotted Cuckoo
Great Spotted Cuckoo
The Great Spotted Cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals....
. Some Sand Lizards have also been spotted at the reserve, as a result of re-introductions.
A rare dune grassland habitat can also be found in the nature reserve, and as a result is a candidate Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
. The Nature Reserve also contains one of the main tourist beaches in Teignbridge
Teignbridge
Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot.Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Dawlish and Teignmouth...
. Despite the emplacement of considerable quantities of protective rock armour at its lower end, the warren has been subject to erosion by the sea for over a hundred years.
The Teignbridge District Council owns and manages the seaward parts of the Nature Reserve, which is open to the public, while the Devon Wildlife Trust
Devon Wildlife Trust
The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural and marine wildlife and its...
maintains the Inner Warren and the saltmarsh, which are not open to the public. The Inner Warren is leased to the Warren Golf Club.