A hidden world
For part of the year, the heath can appear dormant. Only when temperatures start to rise does the heath burst into a profusion of pink and purple flowers and awaken from its winter slumber. Even then, much of the activity takes place on or close to the ground, where many of the creatures are small, camouflaged and quick to hide.
Creatures such as spiders have adapted their survival strategies to help them live in this type of environment. For example, the tiny pink crab spider pounces on its prey, springing from heather flowers, rather than spinning a traditional web and others such as the wolf spider simply roam the heathland floor for its prey.
Spotlight on the Nightjar
The Brownsea heath is lucky enough to be home to two pairs of nightjar. These rare birds, which are classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern, migrate to the island all the way from Africa and spend the summer months here bringing up their young before flying back. Nightjars are very unusual looking birds with big gaping mouths, big eyes and very short legs which means they can scarcely walk, but they are exceptionally agile fliers.
Their grey-brown, mottled plumage provides ideal camouflage in the daytime when they are at rest within the heath. The first indication that nightjars are present is usually the male’s churring song which has a hypnotic quality.