summer wildlife of coast and heath
A relaxed exploration of Dorset’s beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife, with a particular focus on some of the characteristic, charismatic invertebrates of the chalk downs and heathland.
Download leaflet
Contact us to register your interest
Dates
To be confirmed
Leader
To be confirmed
Price
To be confirmed
Included
Four nights accommodation, full board.
Not included
Travel to Kingston. Refreshments. Gratuities. Travel insurance. Covid tests and associated costs.
Group size
Minimum 5, maximum 12.
We will be based near Corfe Castle in the heart of the Isle of Purbeck, the most biodiverse area of its size in the British Isles. The variety of habitats from bright heaths, and pine forests to chalk downland and stunning coastline, provides an idyllic setting to enjoy the county’s wildlife.
Purbeck is best known for its lowland heath, and we will spend a day exploring this wonderful habitat, on the look out for carnivorous plants, rare birds and any of Britain’s six native reptiles. We will also pay attention to the notable invertebrates that make these heaths their home, including Silver-studded Blue, colourful tiger beetles and various interesting bees and wasps.
Further along the coast, we will spend time exploring the other key habitat locally, the chalk downland which opens up in a series of gentle whaleback hills with spectacular views of Poole Harbour, Studland and the Isle of Wight. Wild flowers that should be in flower during our visit include several species of orchid, the flowery meadows attracting in turn a variety of grassland butterflies, including Adonis Blue, Dingy Skipper and Marbled White.
Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, world-famous for their geology, offer the perfect spot to look for the rare and appropriately named Lulworth Skipper, while nearby cliffs at Durlston Head give a great vantage point from which to look for passing dolphins and nesting sea birds.
Download trip report
Please note that holidays change, although sometimes only slightly, from year to year and previous trip reports may not reflect the planned itinerary, or other holiday details, for the current trip. Please ask us if you would like to know of any significant differences.
Day 1 Our holiday starts at our accommodation near Corfe Castle, where we will meet in time for an introduction to the holiday and our first dinner together.
Day 2 We spend our first day exploring the Isle of Purbeck, home to the finest lowland heathland in the country. We will seek out some of the rare inhabitants of the heaths, with a suite of charismatic and rare invertebrates to be found, including Bee Wolf and Silver-studded Blue, amongst others.
Interesting plants found in the area include all three species of British sundew, Dwarf Gorse, Bog Asphodel and Bog Pimpernel. The Purbeck heaths are home to all six of Britain’s native reptiles, including Sand Lizard and Smooth Snake, and we will keep an eye out for them amongst the heather. Dartford Warblers follow Stonechat from gorse to gorse, Woodlark and Tree Pipit sing around the pine trees, and Hobby zip overhead, hunting Swallows and dragonflies. We may even catch a glimpse of an Osprey from the nearby reintroduction project.
Day 3 This morning we head to the coast, to visit, according to Hardy, ‘that Gibraltar of the north’ – Portland. The disused quarries on Portland are home to wildflowers and butterflies: Adonis Blue, Small Blue, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers and Green Hairstreak should all be on the wing during our visit, with Pyramidal and Bee Orchids in flower. Amongst the jumbled rocks, we hope to find Common Wall Lizard, an introduced species from southern Europe which now makes its home on the south-facing slopes here. From Portland we will enjoy panoramic views of Chesil Beach, one of the largest shingle beaches in Britain and at Ferrybridge we will explore the beach and shingle flora. If time allows, we will also stop in at Lodmoor RSPB reserve to look for birds and dragonflies on the wetlands. After dinner, for those who wish to, we will head out again, back to a local heathland where, as dusk falls, we will listen for the churring song and wing-flapping display of Nightjars and squeaking of Woodcock as they display overhead.
Day 4 Today we head west, to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, world famous for its geology, with Jurassic limestones and Cretaceous chalk and clays jumbled together, resulting in the scenically carved coastline. We will visitLulworth Cove and Durdle Door, where as well as the iconic scenery, we will hope for an early Lulworth Skipper amongst the other grassland butterflies. Further east, we will visit Durlston National Nature Reserve, where limestone downland is home to orchids including Common Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchids. Cliff-nesting birds include Guillemot, Razorbill and Kittiwake, which fly back and forth over the sea, and if our luck is in we might catch a glimpse of Bottle-nosed Dolphins offshore.
Day 5 One final breakfast, and then it is time to bid farewell to Kingston and to head home, hopefully taking some good memories of the special creatures and beautiful views of this part of Dorset.
Please note that the itinerary may be changed to suit the weather or other practicalities at the discretion of the leaders.
Our accommodation will be at Kingston Country Courtyard, an authentic character farmstead B&B near Corfe Castle. The rooms are in converted farm buildings, set around two courtyards. All rooms have en-suite bathrooms. Situated on a picturesque ridge amid the beautiful Purbeck Hills, there are spectacular views stretching from Corfe Castle to the distant shores of the Isle of Wight. The main garden provides a tranquil setting to enjoy these views.
Evening meals will be taken at the hotel. Requests for special diets can be accommodated. We will take picnic lunches out with us each day (not included in the holiday price).
Our transport for this trip will be by a small coach/minibus.
Travel to Cromford
The holiday starts and finishes at our accommodation in Kingston.
You can reach Wareham by train, from where a bus can take you to Kingston, a five minute walk from the accommodation.
Kingston Country Courtyard is on the B3069, 2.5 miles south of the village of Corfe Castle.
The English weather is of course anything but predictable. We should expect warm and sunny conditions, although who knows, the weather could be blazing sunshine one day, and cold and wet on the next! We will adapt our itinerary to the weather. It can be ‘breezy’ or even windy on the coast at times. We will not walk for long in hot or adverse weather conditions.
We will be walking for much of the day, each day, albeit at a slow pace and never covering any great distance. In some locations ‘facilities’ are scarce! You therefore need to have a reasonably good level of fitness although none of the walks are strenuous. There are likely to be steps at the hotel.