Colne_Estuary

Colne Estuary

Colne Estuary

Nature reserve in Essex, England

Colne Estuary is a 2915 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Brightlingsea in Essex. It is also a Nature Conservation Review site, a National Nature Reserve,[2][3] a Ramsar wetland site of international importance,[4] a Special Protection Area,[5] a Special Area of Conservation,[6] and a Geological Conservation Review site.[7] Three areas in the site are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, Colne Point, Fingringhoe Wick and Howlands Marsh.[2]

Quick Facts Location, Grid reference ...
Quick Facts Designations, Ramsar Wetland ...

The site has varied habitats, such as saltmarsh, mud flats, shingle spits and former gravel pits. It is of international importance for wintering brent geese and black-tailed godwits, and of national importance for six other bird species, including little terns. It also has important assemblages of invertebrates and plants, such as golden samphire and shrubby seablite. A peat seam in St Osyph Marsh has been dated to 4280 BP, and this marsh is important for saltmarsh morphology.[2]

There are important geological exposures for Pleistocene studies at East Mersea; investigation is at an early stage, but they show warm climate deposits from one or more post-Anglian interglacials.[2]

References

  1. [1]
    "Colne Estuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. [2]
    "Colne Estuary citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. [3]
    "Map of Colne Estuary". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  4. [4]
    "Colne Estuary (Mid-Essex Coast Phase 2)" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  5. [5]
    "Special Protection Area under the EC Birds Directive: Colne Estuary (Mid-Essex Coast Phase 2)" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Essex Estuaries". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. [7]
    "OTHER DESIGNATED SITES IN THE SEA 3 AREA" (PDF). Department of Trade and Industry. 2002. p. 27. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colne Estuary.

51.810°N 0.979°E / 51.810; 0.979
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Colne_Estuary, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.