South Milton Ley () is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

in the

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was notified as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

in 1976. Part of the site is managed as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

by the Devon Birdwatching and Preservation Society.

Site description

South Milton Ley lies in a shallow coastal river valley separated from the sea by a

sand bar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It o ...

. Adjacent to this bar, the waters of the Ley are slightly

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

due to occasional tidal influence, but upstream they give way to freshwater. The main habitat at the Ley is freshwater reedbed; this habitat is scarce in Devon and is the reason for the site's SSSI status.

Vegetation

The reedswamp of the lower Ley is dominated by common reed (''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

''), while further upstream the vegetation contains a mixture of other tall fen species including hemlock water-dropwort (''

Oenanthe crocata ''Oenanthe crocata'', hemlock water-dropwort (sometimes known as dead man's fingers) is a flowering plant in the carrot family, native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It grows in damp grassland and wet woodland, often along river and s ...

''), yellow flag (''

Iris pseudacorus ''Iris pseudacorus'', the yellow flag, yellow iris, or water flag, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Its specific epithet ''pseudacorus'' means "false acorus", re ...

''), great willowherb (''

Epilobium hirsutum ''Epilobium hirsutum'' is a flowering plant belonging to the willowherb genus ''Epilobium'' in the family Onagraceae. It is commonly known as the great willowherb, great hairy willowherb or hairy willowherb. Local names include codlins-and-cream, ...

'') and reed sweet-grass (''

Glyceria maxima ''Glyceria maxima'' (syn. ''G. aquatica'' (L.) Wahlenb.; ''G. spectabilis'' Mert. & W.D.J. Koch; ''Molinia maxima'' Hartm.; ''Poa aquatica'' L.), commonly known as great manna grass, reed mannagrass, reed sweet-grass, and greater sweet-grass is a ...

''). There are also dense stands of willow (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'') in the middle areas of these upper regions.

Birds

South Milton's reedbed supports breeding

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...

and

Cetti's warbler Cetti's warbler (''Cettia cetti'') is a small, brown bush-warbler which breeds in southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and the east Palearctic as far as Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The sexes are alike. The bird is named after ...

bearded tit The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexually dimorphic reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbill. It is the only species in ...

has also bred at the site in the past. The reedbed is used as a

roost site Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

by a variety of birds on passage, in particular yellow wagtail and

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

. In 2005, Devon's first black-headed wagtail and second

least sandpiper The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is Medieval Lat ...

were present at the site (the former having previously been present at West Charleton Marsh and also at South Huish Marsh, the latter moving from the Ley to Thurlestone Marsh).

References

External links

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Devon Wetlands of England {{England-SSSI-stub