IN THIS SECTION
Outdoor Action
Games & Activities
- Pairs Games
- Bass Dash Game
- Greenshank Migration Game
- Indoor Activities
- Dell Quay: High Tide
- Dell Quay: Low Tide
- Coastal Woodland
- Stream & Meadow
Fascinating facts
Games & Activities
Pairs Games - Habitats
Water vole and its burrow
Water Voles (Arvicola terrestris) are about the size of a small guinea pig, with dark brown fur, a blunt nose, small ears and a furry tail. They are rare animals and may become extinct in the UK within the next 10 years. However, there are many colonies in Chichester Harbour and the Conservancy is working to protect them. Water voles make burrows in banks of streams and ditches and feed on waterside vegetation. Spotting the voles themselves is often very difficult, but you can look for their quite large, rectangular burrows.
Crab / sea bed
Crabs are common in the Harbour, found on the shore and in deeper water. They live under stones and rocks and pieces of seaweed. There is plenty of food for them on the seabed. They eat worms, shellfish, small crabs, seaweed and almost anything else they can catch! They have 10 legs, the front two are big claws used to hold food and to fight with. Crabs are very aggressive and often fight each other. Guess why some only have one claw? They are found in a range of sizes and colours – shells of up to 8cm wide in green, brown and red.
Little Tern / shingle (Ella Nore)
Terns are summer visitors, spending our winter in Southern Africa. Three species of tern can be seen in Chichester Harbour: They all dive into the water to catch small fish. The Little Tern is the rarest tern, very small and white with a dark head, white forehead patch and yellow beak. Over 100 pairs used to breed on the Harbour but now only a handful of pairs attempt to nest. Terns sometimes breed on islands in the Harbour, laying their eggs on shingle.
Lugworm / Intertidal mud
The lugworm lives in a U shaped burrow in the sand or mud. It eats the mud and squirts it out at the other end of its burrow making a little heap of sand ‘spagetti’
Lugworms make good bait for catching fish. Lugworms are one of the many creatures living in the mud and making it such a good source of food for wading birds.
Freshwater shrimps / Freshwater stream (Fishbourne)
Freshwater shrimps swim on their sides by wiggling their legs.
They eat bits of food that they filter from the water and this helps to keep the water clean. Freshwater shrimps live in streams and ponds, but like moving water best. You will find them hiding under stones or in water plants, from other creatures such as fish and birds that would like to eat them
Speckled Wood Butterfly / Woodland 1 (Nore Barn)
The Speckled Wood Butterfly likes to sit in the sunny patches in woodland, on the ground or on leaves. They feed on ‘honeydew’ a sweet sticky substance produced by aphids (e.g. greenfly) The caterpillars are green with darker green and yellow stripes and they eat grasses. The woods around Chichester Harbour are home to many creatures, such as woodpeckers, wood mice, and bats.
Peacock Butterfly / Meadow (Fishbourne Meadows)
The Peacock butterfly gets its name from the ‘eye spots’ on its wings, which are like those on a peacock’s tail. The adults feed on nectar from flowers, such as thistles and can be found anywhere that has flowers - meadows, gardens and orchards. The eggs are laid on nettles and the caterpillars feed on the leaves. The caterpillars are black with white spots and black spines.
Reed Bunting / Reed Bed (Eames Farm)
The Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) is a small bird about the size of a sparrow. In summer the male has a dark head, white collar and a ‘moustache’. They make their nests in among the reeds, and are usually found near water but may visit farmland or gardens in winter. They eat seeds and insects. Numbers of Reed Buntings are falling and they are now listed as a ‘Red’ species – they need urgent help to stop them disappearing altogether. Chichester Harbour has about 15 reed beds, the biggest being at Thorney Island and Fishbourne. The reeds are cut to make a variety of habitats and to encourage new reed growth.
Curlew on the muddy shore
Curlew are the largest wader in the harbour with very long legs, a long down-curved beak and brown slightly mottled plumage. They can be found on mud anywhere in the Harbour whenever the tide is low enough for them to feed. Using their long beaks they find worms, shellfish and shrimps to eat. The mud is possibly the most important thing in the harbour. Almost all the characteristic wildlife depends on it..
Seal and mud bank
About 14 Harbour or Common seals ( Phoca vitulina)live in Chichester Harbour. They like the sheltered water, large areas of mud and sand flats, and good food supply. When the tide is out, the seals tend to bask on mud banks looking like rocks. At high tide they are often in the water, when you can see their heads emerging for short periods of time between dives. You might be lucky and see one anywhere in the harbour – they are spreading out and getting more confident in their interaction with humans.