Wildlife of the Cliffs

The Purbeck Marine Wildlife reserve extends to the cliff tops and so contains a considerable variety of terrestrial habitat. The calcareous clifftop grasslands are rich in flowers and butterflies, the cliffs themselves provide nesting sites for birds and the bays provide havens during migration and in the winter. In common with much of Purbeck, the coast of the reserve contains habitats for many species of butterfly. The clay cliffs of Kimmeridge are generally poor except for the occasional migrant.

The limestone and chalk cliffs further west however, provide a home for many species. The great prize of this coast is the Lulworth Skipper (shown above) which can be found in August on the chalk and limestone downs.

The large and small skippers (shown right) are fairly widespread whereas the dingy and grizzled skippers are rarely seen.

Most of the common white butterflies are widespread and both brimstone and orange tip (shown below) occur. During times of migration the reserve's coast can provide a good hunting ground for species such as the clouded yellow.

The blue family are well represented in the area with brown argus, common, chalkhill and Adonis blue (shown below) all occurring on the calcareous cliffs. The small copper is more widespread and holly blue is confined to Tyneham Valley.

Red admiral (shown below), painted lady, small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies occur regularly in varying numbers but commas are generally less common. Other widespread species include speckled wood, wall, marbled white,gatekeeper, meadow brown and small heath.

The largest mammals are roe deer, which can sometimes be seen on the clifftop grassland and even on the Gad. undercliff. Both foxes and badgers are widespread although the fox is more likely to be seen during the day. Weasels and stoats are present, but rarely seen.

The only other mammals likely to be seen are rabbits, grey squirrels and bats. Rabbits are widespread and common, grey squirrels are restricted to the woods in Tyneham Valley and bats may occasionally be seen in sheltered places where the most likely species is the pipistrelle.

Next Page>>