Dunster Beach

 

Habitat	Beach, freshwater ponds, farmland with fields that flood in winter
Grid ref/postcode for main car park	TA5 6PL
Toilets	at main car park:  open 10am–4pm
Directions	From Minehead, take Seaward Way towards A39.  At Rugby Club roundabout, turn left onto A39, continue for 500 yards and turn left into Marsh Lane.  At end of Marsh Lane, turn left past housing estate and over a stone bridge where you take an immediate right turn into Sea Lane.  Follow road over railway crossing and down to the car park at the far end of Sea Lane. The car park is Pay & Display and the machine on the green at the North end of the car park is cash only, the machine at the Pill box at the south end is card only.
Accessibility	Open all year.  Path to Blue Anchor is wheelchair friendly.  Nearest shop is a kiosk on site open 10am -4pm.

At the entrance you can park by the Pay & Display machine (cash) and walk to the right towards Blue Anchor along a cycle path (sea is on your left).  Look both onto the beach and into the fields for various birds.  Black Redstart can sometimes be seen in the winter.

Return to car and walk towards the other Pay & Display machine.  Watch the beach and off-shore for Oystercatcher, Curlew, Little Egret, Shelduck, Wigeon, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone and more.  The grassy edges can have Linnets, Pied Wagtails and Pipits.

By the Pay & Display machine is a block of toilets: immediately after the toilets, go left across the grass, heading for a gap in the trees by a fence.  Here is a walk that is about half a mile along flat pathways and bridges around the lakes ,which are full of different bird life.  Follow the path around the lakes.  Canada Geese, Mallard, Moorhen, Little Egret, and, if you are lucky, you may see a Kingfisher that is often there but not always seen.  It can be close to the main kiosk by the second lake perch on some dead branches.

When you come out of the lakeside walk turn left and walk to the end of the chalets.  You will pass a reed-bed on your left – listen for Cettis Warbler and Reed Warbler.  Where you leave the chalets and join a golf course there is a footpath heading inland alongside a wire fence with a stream on the left.  Follow this to a gate: turn left and view the fields either side – but especially on your right.  Little Egrets are often seen here.  When the fields are flooded you can see Wigeon and other waterfowl.  In 2018 there was an American Wigeon seen here (by our U3A Bird Watching Group).

You will see and hear Rooks from the nearby Rookery based at the farm at the end of the track.

Retrace your steps back to the chalets and either follow their road back to the car park or walk along the beach alongside the chalets.

About the site

Dunster Beach and Chalets, Sea Lane, Dunster TA24 6PL. Managed by Dunster Beach Holidays

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