Alderney is a magnet for birdwatchers and is the third largest, and the
most northerly, of the British Channel Islands. One of the features
which makes Alderney so interesting for birdwatchers is the wide
variety of habitats that occur within the confines of such a small
island.
There are cliffs and offshore stacks, rocky shorelines, sandy beaches,
marine heathland, open fields and farmland, wooded valleys, gardens and
small stretches of inland water. These very different habitats provide
home or refuge for over 270 different bird species from our common
residents and regular summer and winter visitors to rare passage
migrants.
The island’s proximity to France means that species found on mainland
Europe but not in Britain, are sometimes seen here. The Island is
famous for its seabirds, especially the gannets. About 7,000 pairs nest
on the Channel Island’s two gannetries, Ortac and Les Etacs.
Puffins and fulmars are summer visitors, whilst guillemots live on Alderney all year round and breed on the island.
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