Réserve naturelle nationale de Caerlaverock

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Caerlaverock est une réserve naturelle nationale (NNR) couvrant une partie des vasières et du littoral du Solway Firth sur environ 10 km au sud de Dumfries, dans le comté de Dumfries and Galloway, en Écosse. Elle se situe entre la rivière Nith et la rivière Lochar et se compose d'une variété d'habitats humides, notamment de la boue et du sable, des prés-salés et des marais, et est bordé de prairies du côté terrestre.

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Location

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Nearby Places

Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve

Caerlaverock is a national nature reserve covering parts of the mudflats and shoreline of the Solway Firth about 10 km south of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies between the River Nith and the Lochar Water, and consists of a variety of wetland habitats including bare mud and sand, merse and marshes, and is fringed by neutral grassland on the landward side. A nature reserve was designated in 1957 at the instigation of the Duke of Norfolk. The NNR covers an area of 82 square kilometres and is an internationally important wintering site for waterfowl and wading birds. The NNR is now managed by NatureScot, but remains under private ownership, being managed by SNH under lease agreements. As much of the reserve is intertidal, Crown Estate Scotland are one of the major landowners. Management of the site seeks to balance the human activities with those of nature.

Landmark National Park

Caerlaverock

Caerlaverock is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The parish was historically in Dumfriesshire. The area includes: Caerlaverock Castle, a 13th-century castle, located 11 kilometres south of Dumfries, Scotland Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve, a National Nature Reserve in the Solway Firth, south-west Scotland WWT Caerlaverock, a Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust nature reserve, located 12 kilometres south of Dumfries, Scotland

Landmark National Park

WWT Caerlaverock

WWT Caerlaverock is wetland nature reserve in southwest Scotland, one of ten reserves in Britain operated by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust founded by Sir Peter Scott. It covers a 587 hectares site at Eastpark Farm, on the north shore of the Solway Firth to the south of Dumfries. It is a wild nature reserve with a network of screened approaches and several observation towers. There is a visitor centre. The site received 16,105 visitors in 2019. Caerlaverock is home to one of only two UK populations of the "living fossil" Triops cancriformis, the horseshoe shrimp. It is also home to the UK's most northerly population of the natterjack toad. Almost the entire Svalbard population of barnacle goose overwinters in the Solway Firth area, with many of the birds often at Caerlaverock for part or all of the winter; their protection by the reserve has enabled the population to recover from just 500 birds in the 1940s, to over 25,000 now. In 2016 the peak count on the reserve was 15,980 in October. Other high counts of wildfowl that year included 221 whooper swan, 2,457 Northern pintail, 3,000 Eurasian teal, 1,230 Eurasian wigeon and 150 greater scaup. These numbers attract raptors such as peregrine falcon, common buzzard and hen harrier. Vagrant birds recorded on the reserve include common crane, long-billed dowitcher, red-breasted goose, snow goose, ring-necked duck and white-tailed plover. In January 2002, a new visitor centre was officially opened by King Harald V of Norway. The webcams on the website show the badgers or the Whooper Pond where the whooper swans and other migrating birds spend their winters.

Landmark National Park

Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle first built in the 13th century. It is located on the southern coast of Scotland, eleven kilometres south of Dumfries, on the edge of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Caerlaverock was a stronghold of the Maxwell family from the 13th century until the 17th century, when the castle was abandoned. It was besieged by the English during the Wars of Scottish Independence, and underwent several partial demolitions and reconstructions over the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th century, the Maxwells were created Earls of Nithsdale, and built a new lodging within the walls, described as among "the most ambitious early classical domestic architecture in Scotland". In 1640 the castle was besieged for the last time by the Protestant Covenanters army, and was subsequently abandoned. Although demolished and rebuilt several times, the castle retains the distinctive triangular plan first laid out in the 13th century. Caerlaverock Castle was built to control trade in early times. The castle, which is protected as a scheduled monument, is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, and is a popular tourist attraction.

Castle Historic Site

Lochar Water

Lochar Water is a stream located in Dumfries and Galloway. It flows for about 10 miles or 16 km, mainly in a southerly direction, roughly parallel to the River Nith to the west and the River Annan to the east. It is formed by the confluence of Park Burn and Amisfield Burn, and skirts the eastern side of the town of Dumfries, and flows through an extensive low-lying area and former raised peat land known as Lochar Moss, before flowing into the Solway Firth. Bankend Bridge, part of the B725 road, crosses Lochar Water on the east side of Bankend village. The tidal limit is about 1 km below that. It shares its name with an electoral ward of the Dumfries and Galloway council

Bridge Landmark

More nearby places... Discovery

Une réserve naturelle a été désignée en 1957 à l'instigation du duc de Norfolk, elle couvre une superficie de 82 kilomètres carrés et constitue un site d'hivernage d'importance internationale pour les oiseaux aquatiques et les échassiers. Le NNR est désormais géré par NatureScot mais reste une propriété privée. Comme une grande partie de la réserve est intertidale, Crown Estate Scotland est l'un des principaux propriétaires fonciers. La gestion du site cherche à équilibrer les activités humaines (pêche, gibier d'eau et intérêts agricoles) avec celles de la nature.

Écologie

La quasi-totalité de la population d'oies nonnettes du Svalbard (environ 38 000 en 2015) hiverne ici. Plus de 140 000 échassiers, dont des oies à bec court, des sarcelles, des garrots à œil d'or, des bécasseaux variables, des pluviers argentés et des pluviers dorés, ont été recensés en hiver. De plus, des milliers d’oiseaux s’y arrêtent lors de leur migration. Durant l'été, environ 45 à 50 espèces d'oiseaux se reproduisent à Caerlaverock, notamment des tadornes de Belon, des chevaliers gambettes, des courlis et des huîtriers pies. Caerlaverock abrite également la population de crapauds calamites la plus septentrionale du Royaume-Uni, qui vit dans des mares peu profondes du côté terrestre de la réserve. Le SNH estime que Caerlaverock (et ses environs) pourrait abriter jusqu'à 10 % de la population reproductrice du Royaume-Uni. La réserve naturelle nationale de Carerlaverock fait partie des Upper Solway Flats and Marshes, qui est un site Ramsar et une zone de protection spéciale de l'Union européenne pour l'avifaune, et s'étend à travers le Solway jusqu'à Cumbria. Le NNR fait également partie de la zone spéciale de conservation de Solway Firth et se trouve en partie dans la zone panoramique nationale de l'estuaire de la Nith. La NNR est classée comme zone protégée de catégorie II par l'Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature. Il existe d'autres réserves naturelles nationales de l'autre côté du Solway Firth, en Angleterre. La réserve était autrefois incluse dans les réserves de biosphère de l'UNESCO. Le site a été désigné dans les années 1970, mais par la suite, l’accent du programme de l’UNESCO s’est déplacé de l’idée d’environnements naturels isolés vers une idée permettant l’interaction avec l’homme en termes de vie durable et d’éducation. Après que de nouveaux critères pour les réserves de biosphère ont été convenus en 1995, Caelaverock a été l'un des quatre sites écossais retirés de la liste.

Visiteurs

NatureScot a mis à disposition deux parkings et plusieurs sentiers pour permettre aux visiteurs d'accéder à la réserve. Le réseau de sentiers relie le WWT Caerlaverock, un centre géré par l'association caritative de conservation Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust et la propriété voisine du Historic Environment Scotland du château de Caerlaverock.