Your favourite nature reserve

Devon Wildlife Trust is 50 years old this year! We would like to hear from you about what it is you find special about any one of DWT’s nature reserves.

The choice of which nature reserve you choose to write about is yours, but to make things a little easier for you here are a couple of points to bear in mind:

•    We’re looking for written entries of no more than 150 words
•    One entry per person
•    Write about one of DWT’s 48 nature reserves telling us why it is special to you
•    There are no minimum or maximum age limits on entrants!
•    Send your entry along with your contact details to email shussey@devonwildlifetrust.org

Here are some examples:

Dart Valley - Nick Baker (TV Naturalist)
My favourite Devon Wildlife Trust reserve has to be ... you know this is a really tricky question to answer but the one I guess I know the best and has given me the most in the way of magical connections with nature has to be the Dart Valley. I spent several years studying in great detail the life cycle of the nationally endangered High Brown Fritillary in this place, and when you are working at such an intimate level and spend large amounts of time with an animal and the landscape it exists in, the place divulges many of its secrets.

From watching a Blue Ground beetle hunting on the mossy tree trunks at night, a face off with a surprised Otter, snorkelling with the Salmon in one of the Dart's many pools to the frozen gaze of a woodcock disturbed while foraging in the leaf litter in a November twighlight; the memories and the moments are far too many to list here. But suffice to say this nature reserve holds within its boundaries pretty much the best of what the moor has to offer, in encapsulates the spirit of the warm wooded valleys, the rivers that pour off the main plateaux of the moor cut these deep, steep sided paths, creating a mix of microcosms, cosy, soft places, the antidotes to the bleak blonde expanses peppered with cold rock, that is what we usually think of when we hear mention of this place, Dartmoor.
Find out more about Dart Valley

Halsdon - Diana Goodacre ( Halsdon and Dalton DWT Local Group )
Bronze leaves crunch underfoot as I walk through Halsdon Nature Reserve in late autumn. Bramble leaves and others add splashes of colour, reds and golds. Winter will soon be upon us, the naked trees revealing beauty of form.

As I walk I am reminded of people and happy times spent here. Those seats are a memorial to previous dedicated members. The cleared paths are a result of work parties - hours of camaraderie and the satisfaction of a job well done. And all those events we organised - to spread the word about the Devon Wildlife Trust and to raise money for the Bird hide.

Beside the river now - will I see otters or a kingfisher? I think of dancing daffodils to come and the purity of wood anemones as a buzzard "mews" overhead. In May ferns unfurl and drifts of fragrant bluebells will entice me to Halsdon every evening - sheer heaven!
Find out more about Halsdon

Andrew's Wood - Sally MacIver (South Brent)
I like visiting Andrew’s Wood because there’s something special about watching one area through the seasons.  It connects us to our land and gives a sense of connection and responsibility.  This land is easier to access than wild places on the moor.  Usually there are others walking around, especially in the bluebell season!

I appreciate the special raised paths and non-slip walkways as well as the bird and dormouse nest-boxes.   The enlargement of the site provides the exciting possibility of exploring. 

It’s lovely to go there whenever I want and feel free to walk and enjoy the woods, streams, bog-land, mosses, flowers and wildlife.  What joy to arrive and find New Forest ponies put in there to help with the grassland upkeep!  A guided walk in summer pointed out rarer plants and fungi.  It’s thrilling to take visitors and see wild orchids bobbing between the mud and grasses in March.
Find out more about Andrew's Wood

See more and write about your favourite reserve