September 2020
We took advantage of a glorious afternoon (and a helpful drop off) to enjoy the coastline walk from Peppercombe Beach to Greencliff. The whole of the beach from the high to low water mark in Bideford Bay is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to it’s fabulous geology and intertidal rock pools. It is also an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with amazing cliff views, and is part of the protective zone surrounding Braunton Burrows – North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO recognised site, designated for its rare and untouched heathland on rolling sand dune systems. This part of the North Devon coastal path can be quite steep and is very secluded with few points of access on to the beach and it’s very beautiful too. The walk was about one and a half hours, the tide was out, the weather was great and we took our time enjoying the big sky and sea views and resting up on the sunbed. As an added bonus when we got home the boys had cooked supper!
Celebration: My carpenter son made a hedgehog house! Although we have not seen any hedgehogs we wanted to make them feel welcome in case they are out there, but very shy. This time of year they are feeding up and looking for a dry secluded place to hibernate and I hope they find their custom made cosy home – fully furnished with dry leaves and an air vent for their winter stopover. I tried to cover it with sticks, but Ollie dog thinks they are his personal supply and keeps taking them away to inspect and chew. I’ve even bought some hedgehog food, but so far only the slugs are eating it 🙁 If you are interested in helping hedgehogs you can follow @hedgehoghugh on Twitter who has a fabulous campaign (and new hedgehog book out), and download the App: Hedgehog Street where you can add your hedgehog sightings.
During the especially low tide this month we went down to the beach to gawp at the huge expanse of the wavecut platform and out towards the horizon was our first sighting of Greencliff Rock! It is marked on the ordinance survey maps, but we have not seen it before and now have the challenge of swimming out to it! – I’ll have to get in training, perhaps we’ll paddleboard it…….
Wildlife spotted this month include a seal bobbing with the surfers in the bay and a haunting chorus of tawny owls twit-twooing to each other as we fell asleep. I also came across a small brown newt feeding on a rotting fallen apple in the back garden’s grassy bank.
