Читать книгу Walking on the Gower. 30 walks exploring the AONB peninsula in South Wales онлайн

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Maritime heath is found on the headlands and is a typical feature of the exposed Atlantic coast of Wales. Heather and western gorse grow together to form a dense habitat that turns purple and yellow with summer flowers. Patches of bare rock, grassland and bracken combine to make this a diverse habitat and a suitable home for many species of insects and scrub-nesting birds such as linnet, whitethroat, stonechat and yellowhammer. Stonechats are resident all year round and are frequent companions, darting from perch to perch from where they give their distinctive call. Other notable species include skylark, raven, chough, kestrel and peregrine falcon. About 200 to 300 guillemot and razorbill breed on Worms Head together with fulmar, shag and cormorant. Kittiwakes have decreased on the Worm but have populated Mumbles Pier.

Rhossili Bay and Worms Head from Spaniard Rocks (Walks 20 and 23)

Chough were absent for many years but returned to breed here in 1991 and are now a common sight, often announcing their presence by their call before they are in view. They like to feed on the closely cropped cliff-top turf, as do green woodpeckers. In 2001 a pair of Dartford warblers were discovered breeding near Port Eynon Point and they can now be found on the coastal cliff slope along south Gower. It is unusual among British warblers in that it is resident all year round; it is particularly fond of young gorse bushes as these contain an abundance of insects on which they feed.