Andrew
Cooper has been a wildlife film-maker since 1979.
He has made no less than 30 natural history films, all shown on
BBC television.
Extracts from his book "Secret Nature of the Channel Shore"
will be featured by BBC Devon Online over the coming months.
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Life
on the Edge - around Devon's cliffs
The history of the
earth's formation is held within its rocks, and there are few places
where it can be seen more clearly than in the towering face of a sea
cliff.
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The
white rock-rose is virtually confined to the sea cliffs of South
Devon and Somerset
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But as ancient as
these rocks are, they are steadily losing their endless battle against
the sea and constantly, often spectacularly collapsing into the waves.
But such instability
brings benefits. Few landowners consider disturbing the clifftop land,
and that allows unrivalled opportunities for flora and fauna to develop.
Between the River
Axe and Lyme Regis, in the dense ash forest known as the Undercliff,
primroses, orchids and a multitude of insects find a natural home protected
from cold northerly winds, and with a sunshine record well above average.
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Fulmars
are relative newcomers to the cliffs of South Devon
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To the west, softer
sandstone cliffs make an ideal home for sandmartins, which use their
tiny feet to dig a tunnel up to a metre long. And Britain's rarest breeding
birds, the cirl bunting are confined to a narrow strip here, making
the most of warmer winters and the cliff-edge stubble fields which offer
annual gluts of food.
These smaller birds
face many hazards nesting around sea cliffs, not least the raucous colonies
of scavenging gulls,
who will eat everything from crab and fish offal to young chicks, including
their own kind.
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Berry
Head provides a unique environment for birdlife
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But birds on the
sea cliffs have other needs ... ledges to provide firm footholds, shelter
from the glare of the midday sun and protection from the prevailing
winds. One such site is Berry Head, a 60-metre-high promontory south
of Torquay.
This limestone headland
is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, an Area of Special Protection,
a Local Nature Reserve, and home to many adders. But their hours spent
basking in the warm sun leave them vulnerable to attacks from the headland's
birds of prey. These include buzzards, kestrels and peregrine falcons,
which still survive in their eyries in this unique environment.
Life on the Edge is an extract from Andrew Cooper's book "Secret
Nature of the Channel Shore.
Previous
extracts:
Turn
of the Tide - The Exe Estuary
Slapton Ley - Pure
Lagoon
