Natural Heritage of Causeway AONB
Wild Flowers
From late April through to July, many of the wild flowers that flourish along the Causeway Coast add colour to the rocky coves and headlands. With a pocket guide to wild flowers you can identify a dozen or more common species, including scurvy grass, sea pink, sea campion, kidney vetch, devil's bit scabious and silverweed, as well as some coastal heath plants such as common heather (ling) and bell heather. Even the familiar bluebell likes to be beside the sea in places.
Marram grass, strong yet flexible, is the anchor that holds the dunes in place. It thrives in this dry and abrasive habitat, putting down deep roots that bind the loose sand. In dry weather, the long narrow leaves curl inwards to prevent water loss by evaporation, but open again in more humid conditions. Looking closely at he leaves might confirm the weather forecast! Marram grass can be weakened when undercut by waves to expose its roots, and if washed out, the dunes become mobile again, the wind forming blow-outs and ridges of pure sand. Too much human trampling can also damage the marram grass.
A conspicuous plant along the edges of the cliff-top path is gorse, often called furze or whin in Ireland. In spring its bright yellow flowers add vivid colour to the landscape. Gorse is very useful along these exposed cliff tops, acting as a barrier to discourage you from going too close to the dangerous cliff edge. It also provides insect food and shelter for small birds.
Insect life
Insect life within the AONB includes a wide range of butterflies, crane flies, beetles and weevils. The burnet moth, green with red spots, lives among the marramgrass. It is common in summer when the adult moths hatch from cocoons attached to the grass stems. The grove snail lives in the marram grass too, its shell usually striped brown on a pale background. Grove snails which inhabit more open ground have plain green or pinkish shells. The camouflage may be good, but it does not fool the hungry song thrush. It bashes the snails open on isolated stones known as thrush anvils. The Giant's Causeway National Nature Reserve supports the only known population of narrow-mouthed whorl snail in Northern Ireland.
Woodland
This is a harsh coast for trees but they do survive in sheltered valleys or hollows. In these areas ash, hazel and blackthorn add some softness to the otherwise stark coastline. Other groups of trees, mostly sycamore and sitka spruce, have been planted as shelter belts around farms and houses. Slightly inland, at Bushmills, the Dundarave estate has large and attractive woods that have been skillfully planted using a great variety of trees.
Scrub, heath and bog occur on rocky or poorly drained soils throughout the area but especially on the higher ground of Lannimore Hill above Ballintoy and to the east towards Ballycastle. Such unimproved land adds variety and natural irregularity to the often rectangular field patterns.
Animal life
Animal life is not lacking. Rabbits, many of them black, are still plentiful in the bays. The Irish hare is common and the badger is also an inhabitant and indeed one bay, Portnabrock (east of Bengore Head), is named after him. The fox may be seen occasionally and the Atlantic grey seal is a frequent visitor to the more remote bays.
Seabirds
Not surprisingly, the Causeway Coast is a good place for seabirds, many nesting on its rugged cliffs and offshore islands and feeding in the rich waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Channel. Most spectacular are the crowded and noisy seabird breeding colonies at Rathlin Island off Ballycastle, or Carrick-a-Rede and Sheep Island, both near Ballintoy. Seabirds that can be found around the Causeway Coast include fulmars, guillemots, kittiwakes, shags, razorbills, puffins, eider ducks and choughs.
The chough, named after its ringing call, is one of Northern Ireland's rarest birds. This glossy black crow with a curved red beak and red legs, is a bit larger than a jackdaw and may be seen only on Rathlin. The bird is a specialist feeder, probing for insects in soil and among short pastures. In healthy populations, it is a sociable bird, the pairs forming a close bond and remaining together throughout the year. Their decline in numbers prompted the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in consultation with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the National Trust to set up a scheme to encourage farmers, through payments and advice, to reduce intensive farming practices and to provide suitably grazed short swards attractive to choughs in areas where the few remaining birds are known to breed and feed.
Shorebirds
The River Bush supports a wide variety of birds including sanderling, ringed plover, turnstone, purple sandpiper, dunlin, redshank, whimbrel, lapwing and golden plover. From April to September, the aerobatics of the little sand martins will amaze you as they hunt insects on the wing over the River Bush and fly rapidly below the footbridge. These agile brown and white birds migrate for the winter to Africa. A much shyer bird is the colourful kingfisher. You may glimpse it occasionally as a streak of blue darting rapidly across the water.
Raven and peregrine falcon are neighbours on the Causeway cliffs. Listen for the deep croak of the ravens as they soar and perform aerobatics over the cliffs. The peregrine falcon, the fastest and fiercest bird of these cliffs, can be heard shrieking from the cliff-bound bays. Peregrines hunt other birds, snatching these as the falcon plunges towards the earth in a dive - called a stoop - when it can attain speeds in excess of 100mph (160km/hr).
Freshwater eels
There is two way traffic of freshwater eels in the Causeway Coast rivers such as the Margy at Ballycastle, the Bush and the Bann. The tiny young eels, known as elvers, arrive in April after a two to three year drift as larvae across the Atlantic from their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea, east of the Bahamas. Swimming upriver, they spend from about seven to at least twenty years growing to maturity in rivers and lakes before returning to the Atlantic as fat, silver adults on dark autumn nights. They swim back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.
Marine Life
The turbulent waters cause overfalls and upwellings that concentrate small organisms and fish near the surface, attracting feeding seabirds and cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). Whales are not easily visible from the land unless you are prepared to sit for long periods scanning the sea through binoculars or a telescope. Sometimes a chance observation while out on a fishing boat or on a ferry will bring a rush of excitement as you see a fin and a round back breaking the surface. This is most likely to be a porpoise or one of the dolphins, but occasionally larger whales pass by, such as killer and minke whales.
Seals spend most of their time closer to the shore than whales and have favourite sites where they will come ashore and rest. The large Atlantic grey seal and the smaller common seal can both be seen around the coast. They are often attracted to salmon nets in summer, a habit which has made them unpopular with the fishermen.
The hugh and harmless basking shark, which can be up to 40ft (12m) long and weighs around 3.5 metric tonnes is a rare summer visitor. It swims along slowly, close to the surface with its enormous jaws open wide, filtering tiny plants and animals of the plankton from the water. Other marine life that can be found along the Causeway Coast include sponges, sea squirts, sand eels, crabs, scallops, small fish, shrimps, prawns and sea anemones.
Wrack is seaweed washed up on the shore or the living weed exposed at low tide. It was an important resource for coastal residents in Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when it was gathered by men, women and children. The seaweeds were dried and burned in kelp kilns to form a sticky toffee-like substance, which eventually hardened to form kelp. Kelp was used by the Ulster linen industry for bleaching. Kelp was also useful in the manufacture of soaps. Seaweeds were also collected to spread as manure on the land.
Beaches
There are stretches of sand at Portrush's East Strand and White Rocks, at Bushfoot Strand in Portballintrae and at White Park Bay. The highest Atlantic waves break at Bushfoot Strand and, coupled with rip currents, make this the most dangerous beach in Northern Ireland for swimming. White Park Bay also has rip currents and swimming here is also dangerous. Dune systems are fragile. The sea in this area tends to bring in no new sand and the activities of people in the dunes, couple with strong winds and high tides, can lead to erosion and degradation of this important zone.
Designations
There are many different designations along the Causeway Coast and these include
In 1986 the World Heritage Convention accepted the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast onto its list of sites and monuments. The Causeway meets two of the criteria for an outstanding natural property
- It is a prime example of the earth's evolutionary history during the Tertiary epoch.
- It contains rare and superlative natural phenomena.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
The purpose of this designation is to help protect and where possible improve the landscape for the benefit of those living in the area and for visitors who come to see and enjoy its natural beauty.
Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI)
ASSIs are areas in which the natural features are deemed to be of the highest quality, especially for wildlife and earth science conservation. The following ASSIs have so far been designated on or close to the Causeway Coast: the Bann Estuary; Craigahulliar rock exposures at the quarry site near Portrush; Ramore Head and Skerries Islands at Portrush; Portrush West Strand; the White Rocks; Portballintrae shore; Runkerry shore; the Giant's Causeway and Dunseverick; White Park Bay; Sheep island; Carrick-a-Rede; and three areas on Rathlin Island as well as the island's coastline and Ballycastle Coalfields.
Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)
Three candidate sites are being considered for this designation - the Bann Estuary, the North Antrim Coast and Rathlin Island.
Special Protection Area (SPA)
Sheep Island off Ballintoy, owned by the National Trust since 1967, is an SPA. The main interest relevant to the designation is the nationally important colony of breeding cormorants. Other seabirds also breed there in moderate numbers.
Nature (NR) and National Nature Reserves (NNR)
Nature and National Nature reserves are managed specifically to conserve nature and to promote education and research. Portrush Sill NR is a historic geology of rocky shore and the Giant's Causeway NNR is designated for its coastal cliffs, columnar basalt and salt marsh.
Earth Science Conservation Review (ESCR) site
At least thirteen ESCR sites are listed from Portstweart Strand/dunes to Carrick-a-Rede. These sites are important for their geology, geomorphology, palaeontology or mineralology, or combinations of such features.
Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA)
This designation applies to an area of 34,600 hectares around the Antrim Coast, Rathlin and the Glens of Antrim. The designation applies because of areas of species-rich, semi-improved grassland and heath. The department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern ireland administers the various schemes within the ESAs. Farmers are encouraged to take part in environmentally sensitive practices but participation is voluntary.
Historic Monuments and Buildings
There are a number of Historic Buildings and Monuments on the Causeway Coast and inland. Most of these are castle ruins or burial monuments and sites, and they fall under the protection of Built Heritage of Environment and Heritage Service. Many areas, sites and some historic buildings are owned, managed or leased by the National trust.
