Cleeve Heronry
This small woodland houses a large heronry of over 40 nests in the tops of the oak and ash trees.
The herons arrive in February and often lay their eggs in the same nests year after year. By March/April the eggs hatch, and in the early morning and evenings the adult herons can be seen flying out to their fishing grounds and returning to feed their young. The best time to see the fledglings in the nest is April, before the leaves have opened on the trees. Most have left the heronry by June.
Clapton Moor
Set within the Gordano Valley, Clapton Moor is characteristic of the North Somerset Levels landscape. Networked with species-rich rhynes (watery ditches), the moor is important for its breeding waders and wintering wildfowl.
Chew Valley Lake
Breeding birds include great crested and little grebe, gadwall, tufted duck, shoveler and pochard. Hobbies often feed over the area in late summer. When the water level falls, the mud attracts waders such as dunlin, ringed plover and green sandpipers.
Summer sees large populations of dragonflies hunting over the water. These include ruddy darters and, later in the summer, migrant hawkers. Wintering wildfowl include important numbers of shoveler, gadwall, teal and tufted duck. Goosander, great crested grebe and cormorant also occur in large amounts.
Charfield Meadow
Charfield Meadow is a very quiet and secluded reserve, sheltered on most sides by hedges and scrub. In springtime the grassland is a mass of cowslips and forget-me-nots, and in later months, dyer's greenweed, betony and saw-wort come into flower, adding daubs of colour. Throughout the summer, large numbers of butterflies take advantage of the sheltered, flower-rich meadows. Orange-tips and brimstones are amongst the first to be seen, but later in the year look out for ringlets and meadow browns.
Burledge Hill
The flower-rich grassland on Burledge Hill includes cowslip, lady's mantle, saw-wort and devil's bit scabious. Butterflies are abundant in summer and birds such as willow warbler, garden warbler and whitethroat can be heard singing from the scrub areas.
Three fields at Burledge Hill are designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI). The site also falls within the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and has panoramic views over the Chew Valley.
Browne's Folly
Standing high above the river Avon with commanding views towards Bath, Browne's Folly boasts flower-rich grasslands and ancient woodland on the remains of old Bath stone quarries, which has been designated as a SSSI.
Brandon Hill Nature Reserve
Brandon Hill nature reserve is over 30 years old! Avon Wildlife Trust were a pioneering organisation in the urban conservation movement and in 1980, the Trust partnered with Bristol City Council to transform five acres of urban parkland on Brandon Hill into a haven for wildlife - Brandon Hill nature reserve was born.
Blake's Pools
Over 100 species of bird have been sighted here and shelduck, redshank and lapwing often nest on the reserve. During periods of low tide the expansive areas of mud attract birds such redshank, little grebe and little egret. The two shallower pools attract wading birds, especially green and common sandpipers during spring and autumn. The highlight of winter is the variety of wildfowl that feeds here, including smew, scaup and black-necked grebe.
Bathampton Meadow
This reserve was created in 1996 to provide additional flood relief for the A46 Bathampton bypass, these wet meadows and the oxbow lake have proved particularly attractive to a number of migrant birds.
Longis
The largest terrestrial reserve within Alderney, the Longis nature reserve contains 13 distinct habitats. These range from marine, intertidal and coastal heathland to scrub woodland and frshwater ponds. The grasslands have a diversity of plant species with some rarities such as small hare's ear. The marine and freshwater habitats provide an important site for migratory birds. There are over 100 species of national importance
