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As the summer crowds of tourists dissipate, the winter crowds of our feathered friends accumulate - autumn is an exciting time for wildlife around the Exe!

The Exmouth Wildlife Refuge, an area marked by a line of yellow buoys spanning from the Imperial Recreation Ground up towards Lympstone, is again active from 15^th September to 31^st December. We ask that everyone including people, dogs and water craft, avoid this area  including the foreshore, in order to allow birds to feed on the eelgrass beds without being disturbed.

Goodbye swallows & hello over-wintering birds - the incredible feat of migration

Ever wondered why some birds travel thousands of miles each year to feed and rest, and then back again to breed? Warden Katie looks at how migration began and why birds still migrate.

Let’s talk about fungi!

Mushrooms are the fruiting body of a much larger, underground network which allows plants to communicate and even look after one another! Warden Imo explains in this article why we should all care about fungi.

What have we been up to?

Summer 2023 was a busy season of events, patrolling the sites at their busiest time of year and making community connections for our team of wildlife wardens. Events our wardens attended this summer included: Lympstone Wildlife Festival, Gone Wild Festival, Devon County Show, Woofstock, Ridgetop Residents Day and Heath Week.

Our first education session with Exmouth Watersports summer camp was a great success, covering topics such as: the differences between parks and nature reserves, the Exe Wildlife Refuges, migration and of course local wildlife!

Are you a school, youth group or watersports centre, which would like our wardens to visit you to deliver an education session?  Please get in touch with us to express your interest: sedwildlife@eastdevon.gov.uk

Dawlish Warren management update

Over the next year, groynes 16 to 19 will be removed from Dawlish Warren sand spit. These groynes are no longer serving their purpose of holding sand in place, and have also rotted, causing a health hazard. If walking near this groynes prior to removal, please proceed with extra caution.

Lower Otter Restoration Project update

Our neighbouring project, the Lower Otter Restoration Project, has recently announced an exciting update. A new 70-metre footbridge has been craned into place and work is commencing to remove 70 metres of embankment, allowing tides to reach a large part of the Otter estuary for the first time in over 200 years!

This project, which is near completion will provide 55ha of habitat for many endangered species including migratory water birds. Do give it a visit if you can, keeping an eye out for their wonderful new signage or perhaps tying the visit into one of our nearby wildlife walks?

What to see this season:

Oystercatcher

The Exe hosts over 2000 of this unmistakable bird each winter. Oystercatcher have a rather chirpy (and noisy!) call which can be heard around the coastal inlets of the estuary around Exmouth and Dawlish Warren. 

Blackberries

Ever wondered why you see less garden birds this time of year? Autumn is a time of abundance of wild foods such as blackberries. These provide an important food source to birds, encouraging them out of people’s gardens and into the more wild areas.  

Dunlin

Despite being a red list species, of utmost conservation concern, dunlin are our most common wintering wader. They are often seen in large flocks feeding on the mudflats and swirling around in synchronized “now you see me, now you don’t” flight. 

Eelgrass 

Ever noticed the slimy green vegetation growing on mudflats in estuaries? Eelgrass, also known as seagrass, is a coastal plant that provides an important food source for waterbirds, particularly brent geese, wigeon and shelduck.