Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre and Local Nature Reserve

A real surprise find on site this week was the large and impressive caterpillar of the Death's-head Hawkmoth, which can grow to 13cm long. Initially found on a path by Alice, a local resident walking her dogs, we have subsequently found another three!

Not seen locally since 2015, this species feeds on a variety of plants, in this case, Bittersweet or Woody Nightshade. The adult moth will emerge this year but no stages of this species can survive our winters.

Tonight's event is going ahead as planned.
IT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED
Please PAY ON ARRIVAL at the Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre.
There has been some activity on Facebook by a Scammer trying to make people pay before hand.
NOTE: ONLY PAY ON THE NIGHT
Thank you.

Come meet your Ancestors!
Our interactive Performing the Past exhibition is open in the upstairs gallery of the Visitor Centre. We have used experimental archaeology to create all of the reconstruction artefacts and clothing you will see in the exhibition. Fun for adults and children.

Friday 2nd August 10am-12pm
Meet the Moths of Hengistbury Head

Moth experts will be on hand to help identify moths and tell you lots of interesting facts. Make your very own moth with a craft activity. Suitable for all ages, no need to book Suitable for all ages.

COMING UP THIS SATURDAY 20th JULY at 10am (Visitor Centre)

Join us on a walk from the Iron Age to the Stone Age at Hengistbury Head. Starting at our new Iron Age Roundhouse and finishing with flint knapping and friction fire-making on the top of the headland we will do a tour of the amazing archaeology on our doorstep. Come and meet our Volunteers who will be in costume.

For all the family! Adults £4 Accompanied Children FREE

To book your place please phone 01202 128444 or pop into the Visitor Centre.

We're on TV! Tune in on BBC1 on Sunday at 5.10pm to see Hengistbury Head being featured for most of the episode. The programme is devoted to the Long Groyne works and looks at how it protects the headland and harbour beyond. There will be a segment on wildlife, our round house and the goats on Southbourne Cliffs. If you like tennis and football, this should hopefully slot just in between.

Butterflies and Bugs Guided Walk
Thursday 11th July, 11am – 1pm - £5 per person

Join us on a leisurely walk to look for insects of all kinds, including butterflies, day-flying moths, dragonflies, damselflies, beetles and more. Places are limited, please book in the Visitor Centre.

When you hear about bees being 'in trouble', it's not Honey Bees (which are generally increasing) but our solitary and bumble bees. To do well, our many species need good habitat (and weather!) to do well.

As the weather is warming up and we are getting into the swing of summer ☀️, you may notice our beautiful swathes of wildflower meadows across the site and whole conurbation! We have heard concerns around grass seeds in particular, and have seen some worrying misinformation being spread about their function in a healthy habitat and key role they play for biodiversity levels; so we hope this post can clear up some of these worries, and show what steps we are taking to address these concerns.

These meadows contain a lovely mixture of flowers (yes grasses are wildflowers too!), which provide a place for a diverse range of wildlife to live, feed, hide and reproduce. Species such as the Marbled White and Ringlet butterflies, birds such as Skylarks and Kestrels and even super rare moths such as the Speckled Footman (only found in a handful of sites across Dorset) all use grasses in their day to day lives. Having long areas left on our nature reserves, verges and greenspaces also allows for connectivity between these habitats, a feature which is crucial for biodiversity across Dorset and beyond! 🦋🦗🐞🪲

At Hengistbury, we are trialling some differential mowing patches in our less sensitive areas for wildlife, ensuring we maintain connectivity but providing mown patches for people to enjoy for whatever their chosen activity may be! We ask that you keep yourselves and your pets to these patches and the pathways (using a lead if necessary) around the site so as to not disturb wildlife, and this will also mitigate any risks posed from these longer, uncut meadow habitats such as grass seed issues, ticks or increased littering and fouling. We will aim to target species like Wall Barley seen along pathways to further reduce issues with seeds specifically.

We also encourage you to explore sites across BCP that have been created for recreational activities such as Stanpit Rec/Riversmeet Meadow, Iford Rec, Bernard’s Mead and Canford Park SANG with large mown areas which are suitable for a wide range of activities. Check out more sites to visit here: Out and About - Dorset Dogs (https://shorturl.at/GSmVr)

Wildflower meadows are one of our most beautiful and diverse habitats in the UK; but since the 1930s, we have lost 97 per cent of UK wildflower meadows. Supporting the creation of these habitats (which can take several years of careful habitat management), and longer areas in all of our verges and greenspaces directly benefits our native wildlife and helps preserve these wonderful natural spaces for generations to come.

Share your favourite photos/memories of wildflower meadows with us in the comments! 🌼🌻🪻🌾🌸

Photo Credits:
Marbled White - Robin Harley
Ringlet - Peter Boardman
Sheepdog - Mollie Taylor

Young Adult - Ranger Work Experience
Contact Will:
[email protected]
01202 143724
See Poster!

The Folklore of Nature - guided walk

Friday 14th June - 10.30am to 12.30pm

Find out what Bumbarrels and Peewits are, and what you should say if you see one Magpie; hear a rhyme about the Dog Rose, medicinal uses of plants, and lots more on this fascinating nature folklore walk. £6.50 per person, including a hot drink and a biscuit or two at the end!

To book, email [email protected] or phone 01202 128444.

Today we celebrate World Bee Day and Hengistbury Head supports a large number of the 270 species of bees found in the UK. Most of these are solitary species which have their burrows in the cliffs or area of bare ground around site. They all have unique lifestyles, with differing habitat requirements and interactions with many other species. Here is the Gold-tailed Melitta (Melitta haemorrhoidalis). It has a particular association with Harebell and bees can often be found spending the night inside the flowers!

From the 1st of May to the 30th of September, there are dog restrictions along the BCP coastline. Please see our Bournemouth/Poole map https://tinyurl.com/46a2hsuw and our Christchurch map https://tinyurl.com/2zsjxce2 for more details🐕‍🦺

Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve has a big stretch of dog friendly beach, all year round. This is a great place to walk on the reserve during bird nesting season. This really helps to reduce any disturbance risks to our beautiful wildlife.

Whilst exploring the shores, you can see the Sand Martins nesting in the cliffs and keep note of the interesting coastal plants such as Sea Kale.

Bodhi loves a windy walk along the seashore at Hengistbury! However, please keep yourselves and pets away from the end of Mudeford Spit and most importantly outside of the temporary fencing where the Ringed Plovers are nesting, to help them to raise their chicks safely 🐣

We also have an interactive dog trail you can follow and learn all about the wildlife and history of the site as well as some great tricks and tips for your four legged friends!
Check out our website for our recommendations and more information about visiting with your pooches

www.visithengistburyhead.co.uk

Thank you for respecting this beautiful, historic nature reserve and remember to follow the Doggy Do Code on all of our nature-filled countryside and coastal sites in Dorset and beyond! 🐶🐾💚

Our latest exhibition features amazing fine art mixed media sculptural crochet from Susan Blandford. Why not pop in and have a look, the exhibition runs from 1st - 31st May.

HEATH AND HARBOUR HULLABALOO 🐶☀️🌊 at Poole Park 🐾

🗓️ Sunday 12th May from 11am
🆓 FREE entry

🦎🌊🎶 Stands, stalls and live music
🟢 Fun family games,
🟣 Demonstrations and have-a-go
🛶 Watersports taster sessions
🎨 Art trail and competition
🍔🍦☕️ Refreshments

And for our countryside and coast loving dogs 🐾

🐶 Fun Dog Show (with 7 categories to choose from)
🐾 Dog activities, fun mini training sessions and demos
🐶 Dog stalls
🚒🐶 Meet our fab K9 Firewise Patrol
📸 Strike a pawsome pose next to some of very special Dorset Dogs artwork
🐶🤳Your dog will be the star of the show in our pop up 15th Anniversary frame

And much, much more!

"Discover Dorset on your Doorstep"

For more ‘know before you go’ information visit: https://www.dorsetheaths.org.uk/heath-harbour-hullabaloo/

Brought to you by Dorset Heaths and Birds of BARI

£1.50 per category for the Fun Dog Show (goes towards the running of the event)
Small donation for some charity activities

BIN UPDATES FOR THE SITE ! 🐶💩🚮

From 1st of May, all the dog bins on the main paths will be switched to general waste bins, and collected by the bin lorries.

This means any litter you collect whilst out on your wildlife friendly walks can now be disposed of more easily! And this will also stop any general litter being shoved in the dogs bins and filling it up or blocking it, leaving us with nowhere to dispose of our dog waste.

The bins over the Wick area are staying the same and will still be collected by hand.

Thank you all for disposing of any waste responsibly and using one of the many bins on this beautiful site 🐶💚

Here’s Bodhi after our recent clean up after a storm in the beach! 🌬️

Come and have a look at our amazing live birdcams! We have tawny owl chick's and herons that are about to nest! 🪹

Free entry and open till 5pm on weekends.
Pay us a visit! 🦉🦉🦉

Last chance to enter your photos for our 2025 Hengistbury Head Calendar. The closing date is 1st May, please see further details below.

We have a new art exhibition in The Visitor Centre. Lydia Evans' artwork and gifts are for sale from 29th March - 28th April. Why not pop in and take a a look.

We have been putting the finishing touches to the thatch on our new Iron Age Roundhouse at Hengistbury Head. It's amazing to think that the last time a Roundhouse was built here was 2000 years ago. We will be holding events here this summer as we immerse ourselves in a way of life which was dependent on making pottery, smelting ironstone and trading with people from the continent. We were importing luxury goods such as wine, glass and olives from Italy and exporting precious metals, slaves and hunting dogs!

In fact - if this interests you - please check out our Events Page here on Facebook. Currently listed is a Mixed Craft Day including the Iron Age Roundhouse on Saturday 20th April and an Iron Age Walk on the Saturday 18th May - see you there!

To follow up our previous post, here is the latest update

Two large excavators will arrive via police es**rt at Hengistbury Head tomorrow! 🚨🚚🌊

Once offloaded, these HUGE machines will be constructed in a temporary compound in the Hengistbury Head main car park before being tracked across to the beach via Double D***s, and along the shoreline to the Long Groyne between Friday and Saturday. 🧭

📅 A temporary pathway is being laid to protect the ground and the route is temporarily fenced.

💪 The 110 ton excavators provide the specialist machinery needed to move the rock armour that's enabling the repair and upgrade of the Long Groyne. This will take place from April-October 2024.

Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates! 📲

You may have noticed a lot of large machinery around the Head at the moment. This is all part of the works to restore Long Groyne. You can find out more and keep up to date via this link the Hengistbury Head Long Groyne works 2021-2024 - Poole & Christchurch Bays Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (twobays.net) webpage and the project link https://twobays.net/project/hengistbury-head-long-groyne-works/

This month marks the start of ground nesting bird season and our heaths are ready to welcome back the rare heathland birds that will be nesting on the ground over the spring and summer months, such as nightjars, Dartford warblers and stonechats.

Together with our four-legged friends we can play our part in helping the wonderful wildlife on the heaths, by keeping ourselves and paws to the pathways, using a lead and keeping an eye out for signage on different sites.

If you see our banners out why not snap a selfie like Rudi, we would love to see all your photos so be sure to share them using and help to spread the word about ground nesting birds!

By following the Doggy Do Code and all doing our bit we can help to protect the ground nesting birds, enabling them to raise their young undisturbed and keep them coming back year after year to our beautiful Dorset sites.

Nature Journaling, Tues 5th March at 2pm
£10 per person including refreshments.

Learn how to record the things you see in nature by keeping a journal. We will be using sketching, painting, collecting items found, and other ways to record what we see. Some materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Booking is essential, please drop into the Visitor Centre or telephone on 01202 128444 to book a space.

We are still looking for photos for our Hengistbury Head 2025 Calendar and would love to see your entries. Please see the details below.

The cliffs at Hengistbury are constantly eroding. This topical feature appeared back in 2014.

Taken any good photos lately? We are looking for photos of Hengistbury Head for our 2025 Calendar.

Our 2024 calendar is on sale in the Visitor Centre now.