Andy Davies 

Top 10 wildlife spots in Pembrokeshire – in pictures

Pembrokeshire's unspoilt coast, waterways and countryside are a wildlife watcher's haven attracting vast colonies of sea birds, seals, puffins and otters, to name a few. Local wildlife photographer and author Andy Davies recommends the best places to see them
  
  


Wales wildlife: Puffin with sandeels in bill, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Skomer and Skokholm: These two islands are world famous wildlife destinations thanks to their colonies of sea birds – puffins, guillemots, razorbills and manx shearwaters. It really is like visiting another world when you step off the ferry and climb the steps with razorbills and guillemots on the ledges just on your right. The puffins have no fear of man and will literally walk over your feet at the Wick - the largest seabird cliff on Skomer. Visit from April to the end of July to see auks and in August porpoise and gannets are often seen in the tidal races around Skomer. September to the end of October, when the ferry stops for the season, is the time to see Atlantic grey seal pups on North Haven.

See welshwildlife.org for accommodation on both islands with members having priority booking. More information at visitpembrokeshire.com Photograph: Andy Davies
Wales wildlife: Otter at Stackpole nature reserve, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Stackpole National Trust nature reserve: This manmade reserve is great to visit at any time of year. In spring, the woods are carpeted in wild garlic, wood anemones and bluebells and in late May the three arms of the lake are covered in lilies. Mere Pool Valley, at the back of the stunning beach of Broad Haven South, is a delight, with several orchid species and over 22 different dragonflies recorded.

Autumn and winter are a great time to see migrating birds; bitterns make regular visits and the robins and blue tits will feed from your hand. The highlight though, is the chance to see otters in the wild, with two families living in the lakes.

See nationaltrust.org.uk/stackpole for further details
Photograph: Andy Davies Photograph: Action images
Wales wildlife: Guillemot colony, Elegug Stacks, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Elegug Stacks and the Green Bridge of Wales: Elegug is the Welsh for guillemot, and two colonies of these birds occupy two limestone stacks on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, the largest just 40 metres from the mainland cliff. The birds arrive in early Spring and have raised their chicks by mid-July. The summits of the stacks are crammed with guillemots with razorbills occupying the narrow ledges below. Other species of interest include razorbill, kittiwake, fulmar petrel, chough and peregrine falcon. Just to the west is the majestic natural limestone arch of the Green Bridge of Wales.

The cliffs are part of the Castlemartin Firing Range (open in the evenings, at weekends and in school holidays). For further information on live firing times, contact 01646 662336 (manned during firing), 01646 662367 (recorded message) or from the gatehouse 01646 662280 (manned 24 hours a day) Photograph: Andy Davies
Wales wildlife: Atlantic grey seals, Traeth Godi'r Coch, Cemaes Head, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Cemaes Head and Traeth Godi’r Coch: At 167 metres, Cemaes Head, in the most northerly part of Pembrokeshire, is the highest sea cliff in Wales. The inaccessible pebbly beach below is the location for the largest Atlantic grey seal haul out – when the seals leave the water – in Pembrokeshire, with up to 200 seals seen at the same time during winter. It is also an important breeding site where many pups are born from late August to December. Ravens, kestrels and peregrines cruise along the cliffs together with chough, an iconic bird with a distinctive call.

Take the cliff path at the end of the road to the west of Poppit Sands, where there is a car park at the farm
Photograph: Andy Davies Photograph: Action images
Wales wildlife: Grassholm Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Grassholm island: Situated 7 miles due west of Skomer, Grassholm is home to more than 79,000 breeding gannets, together with a number of “club birds”, who have yet to reach maturity, bringing the total to nearly 100,000. It is the third most important site for northern gannets in the world, after St Kilda and Bass Rock in Scotland, and is managed by the RSPB. Guillemots also nest on the island and Atlantic grey seals can be seen swimming in the water and on the rocks. Late evening is the time to witness great rafts of Manx shearwaters gathering in St Brides Bay as they wait for the sun to set to return to their burrows on Skomer.

More information at rspb.org.uk Photograph: Andy Davies
Wales wildlife: Blue tit at Westfield Pill, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Westfield Pill: Located along a valley just north of Neyland on the Milford Haven Estuary, this nature reserve is managed by the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales. A 20-acre lake runs along the valley, where the Great Western Railway once ran. Winter is a great time see migrating wildfowl and over half the Pembrokeshire population of little grebe winter here together with goldeneye. Other highlights include a resident otter family and kingfishers. Don’t be surprised if you are surrounded by blue tits, great tits and robins on the bridge at the north in winter months, as many of the locals feed the birds here.

See welshwildlife.org for more information Photograph: Andy Davies
Wales wildlife: Seal, Marloes, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Deer Park and Marloes Mere: The Deer Park overlooks Jack Sound and Skomer Island at the end of the Marloes peninsula. A former Iron Age coastal fort on a grand scale, it was the intention of Lord Kensington to keep deer here but his plan never came to fruition. It is one of the best mainland sites to see Atlantic grey seals – they use the two coves on the headland to raise their young from the end of August to the end of December. It is an enchanting experience to sit on the cliff on a still evening and listen to the cries of the pups echoing around the natural amphitheatre. Chough are invariably seen along the cliffs and Wooltack Point is a great location for viewing porpoise.

More information at nationaltrust.org.uk/marloes-peninsula/
Photograph: Andy Davies Photograph: Action images
Wales wildlife: St Brides, Pembrokeshire, Wales
St Brides Haven: This pretty fisherman’s cove has a delightful sandy beach exposed at low tide bordered by fascinating rock pools. These contain a wide diversity of intertidal marine plants and animals, including a fascinating collection of anemones. Look out for snakelocks, gem, beadlet and dahlia as well as fish such as the shanny. The reef on either side of the cove has a kelp forest which is an excellent snorkelling area – reef fish, such pollack and wrasse, are plentiful swimming among the kelp fronds whereas the rock crevices are full of prawns, crabs and lobsters.

The Puffin bus from St Davids to Milford Haven stops at St Brides
Photograph: Andy Davies Photograph: Action images
Wales wildlife: Minwear, Pembrokeshire, WalesMinwear, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Minwear starling murmuration: The reedbeds on the Eastern Cleddau at Minwear, near Narberth, are used as a roost by hundreds of thousands of starlings in October. The birds arrive in the valley in small flocks that coalesce into a magical whirling shapes formed by thousands of birds seemingly acting as one. The best place to enjoy this spectacle is from the viewpoint on the southern bank of the estuary in Minwear Wood.

There is a carpark at Canaston Bridge Photograph: Andy Davies
Wales wildlife: Ty Canol National Nature Reserve, Pemrokeshire, Wales
Ty Canol This is an ancient woodland that has never been felled – there have been trees here for over 6,000 years. It is special for its boulder-strewn landscape which has an exceptionally rich collection of lichens growing on the stones and trees. Nearby is the impressive Neolithic site, Pentre Ifan Cromlech, and the woodland represents the type of forest that grew here when the tomb was in use around 4000 BC. It is easy to imagine the Welsh druids walking among the lichen-covered boulders and twisted oak trees.

The main access point is via the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park car park at the beginning of the track to Pentre Ifan farm. Please keep to the network of public and permissive footpaths within the Reserve. More information at ccw.gov.uk Photograph: Andy Davies
 

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