page_title: Seaton, Devon
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Seaton, Devon / Natural history / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: Taken en:User:Light current summer 2005, using Olympus C745 Auto exp.
context_page_description: Seaton is a seaside town, fishing harbour and civil parish in East Devon on the south coast of England, and is historically part of Axmouth and Beer. It faces onto Lyme Bay and is on the Dorset and East Devon Coast Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A sea wall provides access to the mostly shingle beach stretching for about a mile, and a small harbour, located mainly in the Axmouth area.
  Seaton's recorded population at the 2011 Census, was 8,413, whilst the Seaton and Beer Urban Area that includes Colyton had an estimated population of 12,815 in 2012. The Seaton electoral ward, which includes Beer, Axmouth and Colyton, had a population of 7,096 at the above census.
context_section_description: The area around Seaton is rich in wildlife. The agricultural landscape supports areas of ancient woodland (often with displays of bluebells), important networks of hedges, unimproved grassland and springline mires.
  Around Beer there are remnants of flower-rich chalk grassland, a rare habitat in Devon. The Axe Estuary, with its areas of grazing marsh, and the River Axe itself, are of international importance for their aquatic communities. To the east lies the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs National Nature Reserve. This large area of coastal landslides and cliffs supports important woodland and grassland habitats and is of considerable significance for its geology, as witnessed by its inclusion in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
  Otters are present on the River Axe, and at the end of 2009 are being seen regularly on Seaton marshes/Colyford Common. Dormice are present throughout the area. To the west, near Beer, are man-made caves of importance for a diversity of hibernating bats, including the very rare Bechstein's bat. The Axe Estuary and its marshes are important for wintering wildfowl and waders, such as Eurasian curlew and common redshank, while in the summer butterflies and dragonflies abound.
  The bird-watching and wildlife areas of the Axe Vale have been enhanced by the establishment of the Seaton Marshes Local Nature Reserve, work to establish it was carried out by the Axe Vale and District Conservation Society. In 2007, an Audouin's gull was seen here - the fourth British record of this bird.
caption: The harbour
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