Return (Ticket) to Nature

Return (Ticket) to Nature
Usual Warning: still under construction

Return Ticket to Nature?

This is a web-site for people who enjoy the North Devon countryside but don't want to use a car.

Over the past couple of years I've been taking my digital camera on public transport around the Ilfracombe area. This is a record of some of the places, walks, wildlife that I've seen (or not seen) on those walks.

Most of these trips have been day trips. The walks aren't aways circular, this is an advantage to using public transport - you don't have to return to your car. This allows some open ended walks. As long as you have a good timetable you can change destinations as the mood takes you. To date these day-trips have taken me as far north as Swansea and the Gower Coast; as far south as Paignton; as far west as Lundy Island; and as far east as Porlock.

One disadvantage about not owning (or using a car) is that you can't cover as wide a variety of habitats in a day. But, with a bit of planning, you cover a good range of habitats in two or three day trips.

Sandy Coasts - Woolacombe, Croyde & Saunton.
Rocky Coasts - Everywhere else.
Estuarys - Two Rivers Estuary (Taw & Torridge), Exe Estuary.
Rivers - These range from the lazy (Taw & Torridge) to the excitable (East & West Lyn).
Lakes and Reservoirs - There are no major lakes in the area but there are a few reservoirs to make up for it (Wistlandpound is the only one I've visited so far).
Woods Combe means wooded valley - need I say more? Some the best are: East Lyn, Heddon Valley, and RSPB Chapel Wood, Porlock
Heath and Moor
Marsh Porlock
Towns and Parks
Islands - Lundy Island
Sea - Bristol Channel

Any comments: grantus4504@yahoo.co.uk

Return to the Isle of Puffins

This web site is very much a work in progress. It aims to be a tool for those interested in Lundy's seabirds. It aims to do this in three ways. Firstly to provide a record of previous studies of Lundy's sea-birds. Secondly, to cross reference those studies to work at other colonies. And finally, to suggest directions for future research.

The Birds of Lundy Tim Davis & Tim Jones

"This new book documents the birds of Lundy from the earliest fragments of historical information, through the first more detailed accounts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the formation of the Lundy Field Society in 1946 and the instigation of regular ornithological recording that continues to this day.

Published jointly by Devon Bird Watching & Preservation Society and Lundy Field Society, the book will contain some 300 pages. In addition to a colour map of the island and 20 colour photographs of Lundy’s principal bird habitats and landscapes, the Systematic List will feature almost 100 line drawings by Devon wildlife artist, Mike Langman. Former Lundy warden and internationally renowned ornithologist Hugh Boyd has contributed the Foreword."

(2/11/06) Videos

I've just bought myself a video camera. I want to record Guillemots feeding their chicks next summer. I was watching them through my telescope this year, but I couldn't follow it all. Their nest ledges are very active places - lots of interactions between pairs, between adults are their chick, and between neighbours. Hopefully in 2007, I will get some good records that can be analysed for different types of behaviour.

Puffin falls off cliff, Lundy Island

Puffin Chick (Puffling), Lundy Island

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Seal pup slumber, Lundy Island

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No Return Ticket I've got a job on Lundy Island! I'll be working in the Marisco Tavern from April to October 2006. More soon...

(15/5/06) Updates Not So Soon... I've got to change my web hosting. At the moment I can't update my tiscali pages from Lundy. tiscali will only let me update from Ilfracombe. So soon it will be goodbye tiscali... I'll try to get this sorted in the next couple of months. But first I've got to count some Guillemots. See you soon.

(15/8/06) Updates... I've finally changed my web hosting. I've now got Virtual Linux hosting from www.easily.co.uk. This means I can show you my pictures of puffins:

Do you need to find a walking partner?

The Ramblers Association have a forum called 'Find walking companions'. I hope you find this useful.

BBC Springwatch

Bill Oddie, Kate Humble, and Simon King return to Devon and our TV screens. Springwatch is broadcast from Fishleigh Estate, an organic farm near Hatherleigh.