Wildlife Wonders of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Trail
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail twists and
turns its way through 186 miles of the most breathtaking coastal
scenery in Britain, from Poppit in the north to Amroth in the
south.
It covers almost every kind of maritime landscape from rugged
cliff tops and sheltered coves to wide-open beaches and winding
estuaries.
Lying almost entirely within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
-Britain's only coastal national park - the trail displays an array
of coastal flowers and bird life, as well as evidence of human
activity from Neolithic times to the present.
- The cliffs, headlands and coastal slopes through which the
Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail passes, support some of the
finest habitats in the UK, such as coastal heath and flower-rich
coastal grassland
- Influenced by the county's mild oceanic climate and the
prevailing south-westerly winds, the huge variety of habitats and
species derives from a combination of the underlying geology, soil
and aspect, as well as exposure to salt, winds and rainfall.
- Cliffs and headlands exposed to salt laden winds are carpeted
in spring with flowers such as thrift, sea campion, sea plantain
and spring squill, joined by bluebells and foxgloves later in May.
Other common species include bird's foot trefoil, kidney vetch and
wild thyme, while grasses such as red fescue form a soft springy
turf.
- The rocky cliffs of the mainland and the offshore islands
support large colonies of nesting sea birds with some of national
and international importance. On the island of Grassholm, for
example, there are around 32,000 nesting pairs of gannets with
puffins and manx shearwaters nesting in large numbers on Skomer and
Skokholm.
- The most familiar birds to be seen from the cliff tops are
razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars and various species of
gull, as well as shags, cormorants and the rarer choughs and
peregrine falcons. The tidal mudflats of areas such as Angle Bay
and Pembroke River host many species of waders and wildfowl.
- Below the cliffs Atlantic grey seals breed in the sheltered
coves in autumn, while dolphins and porpoises can be spotted in the
coastal waters.