Wildlife To Find On The British Coast
February 3, 2010 by Sarah Van Rensburg
Filed under Travel
If you take one of the many fairly cheap cruises along the British coast line you will have an opportunity to view dozens of species of wildlife and hundreds of panoramic and scenic spots which are definitely photography material. There’s something very special about this island, something that has made it worth fighting for since people first settled here long before the coming of the Romans, Saxons and Normans.
Even the animals of Great Britain have established a foothold that makes it very difficult to shake them off, though there are those we’d like to see gone. There is no place more evident of this than along the coastline where the diversity of wildlife is perhaps the greatest in all of the country. Wildlife refuges and national parks like Bempton Cliffs and Gibraltar Point offer views of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and various species of bugs and butterflies that you enjoy the sight of but would prefer to not have as daily companions.
Foremost among this unwelcome wildlife are the mosquitoes of the wetlands, a species you’ll see plenty of while touring the marshes of the coast. It may seem hard to believe but they do actually serve a purpose in nature, keeping the balance and providing a source of sustenance to other more developed creatures that contribute to nature’s grand design. Many of those beautiful birds you see and hear prey on these mosquitoes and removing them would result in their disappearance from the coastline.
Along the east coast from Newcastle upon Tyne down to Sunderland and Eastbourne don’t be surprised to see a few Muntjac or Roe Deer grazing peacefully among the sheep and goats, their domesticated mammalian cousins. If you’re watching from the deck of a cruise ship, don’t expect them to look up for you to take a picture, though. If you catch them gazing anywhere it will be inland where any threat may come from, like fox, or stoat, or weasel, all carnivores and all residents of Britain also.
Gulls and other seabirds populate the west coast as you come around the horn and head north to Swansea, Liverpool, and Southport. The coastline here offers much of the same that you see on the east coast with perhaps a slightly higher percentage of green space and parks that harbour wildlife. Every port of call is a worthwhile stop and every city has a park or forest nearby where you can observe nature at work. It’s all around you here, all the time.
Sarah Van Rensburg is a travel lover and avid writer, focussing on a range of travel topics particularly Cruise holidays.
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