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Visiting St David’s Peninsula

Thrift flowering on the cliff tops at sunset at Pentire
Thrift flowering on the cliff tops | © National Trust Images/Ross Hodd

Visit St David’s and you’ll spot a colourful collection of wildflowers and birds painting the landscape and common. Step into nature and be surrounded by flora and fauna to delight your senses and spark your curiosity in the natural world.

Flora and fauna to see at St David’s Peninsula

Thrift

Also known as sea pink, which you'll find growing along the coast path and in stone walls and hedge banks. Visit in May to see it at its best.

Butterflies and lizards

As the weather warms, you'll also see butterflies on the search for nectar, and lizards warming themselves in the spring sunshine.

Sea campion

Grows amongst the thrift and clings to hedge banks and clifftops.

Close-up of the bright yellow flowers of a cowslip plant, taken at Rievaulx Terrace, North Yorkshire
Bright yellow cowslip in the spring sunshine | © National Trust Images / Andrew Butler

Cowslip

It’s become rarer in the countryside, but still does well along the coast.

English stonecrop

Look for it in the natural rock gardens around the cliffs of St David's Head and in walls and hedge banks by the coast path.

Heathland plants

More than 300 species of heathland plant have been recorded. From bog asphodel to the heathers and western gorse, these are the plants that, for a few months of the year, bring the commons to life. Some of them are scarce, such as the lesser butterfly orchid, wavy leaved St John's wort and pillwort, a tiny, grass-like aquatic fern.

Seabirds and songbirds to see

St David’s Head is a flying spectacular for seabirds and songbirds, so bring along your binoculars and enjoy a spot of coastal wildlife watching.

Ravens

Huge with diamond-shaped tails and are early nesters. Listen for their deep croaks during your visit.

Chough

Another crow, but with red feet and bill. Around 60 pairs nest along the Pembrokeshire coast.

Peregrine

Often disputing airspace with ravens, peregrines are the other kings of the Pembrokeshire cliffs.

Kestrel

While the peregrine hunts flying prey, the kestrel hovers, hunting for beetles and voles below.

Gannet

Around 39,000 pairs of gannets nest on Grassholm. Watch them dive for mackerel just offshore.

Wheatear

One of the first spring visitors, wheatears are easy to spot as they flash about flicking their white tails.

Small alert stonechat bird perched on a bush at Pentire, Cornwall
An alert stonechat perches on a bush | © National Trust Images/Nick Upto

Stonechats

They perch on gorse bushes and rear up to three noisy families a year.

Dartford warbler

A rarity but becoming a more regular breeding bird on coastal heaths – look for them on gorse bushes.

Linnet

Twittering flocks of linnets are one of the sounds of summer on the coast. They nest in gorse bushes.

Whitethroat

Listen out for their scratchy song from the dense scrubby slopes below Carn Llidi.

View over St Bride's Bay, looking East from Porth Clais harbour with dramatic cliffs and a colony of seabirds, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Discover more at St David's Peninsula

Find out how to get to St David's Peninsula, where to park, the things to see and do and more.

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