Winterton Dunes
Winterton Dunes are an extensive dune system on the east coast of Norfolk, by Winterton-on-Sea and Winterton Ness. The area has been designated as a National Nature Reserve, covering of 269 acres, within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The site is unusual in that it shows greater ecological similarities to the dune systems of the Baltic - which support acidic plant communities - rather than the dunes on the North Norfolk Coast - where the sand is calcareous.
The site supports well developed areas of dune heath, wet 'slacks' between dunes and dune grassland which grades into grazing marsh and birch woodland.
Fauna
Natterjack toads breed in shallow pools within the site. The site, along with the adjoining Horsey Dunes, hosts the largest colonies of dark green fritillary and grayling butterflies in Norfolk. Other butterflies recorded from here in numbers include small copper and common blue.
The ponds among the dunes are home to many dragonflies including the common hawker - which is rare in Norfolk.
Winterton Dunes is also known as the first site in Britain where the southern emerald damselfly occurred (Nobes 2003).
After a count in 2014 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, they found that the dunes are the home to more than 300 pairs of the little tern making it the United Kingdom's largest colony.[1]
Location
- Location map: 52°43’36"N, 1°41’14"E
Outside links
References
- ↑ BBC Norfolk news report Retrieved 4 July 2014
- Nobes, Geoff: 'Southern Emerald Damselfly' Lestes barbarus (Fabr.) - The First British Record': Atropos No. 18 pp. 3–6 (2003)