The Inner Tay Estuary is the inner, western part of the Firth of Tay, from the Tay Railway Bridge in the east to the Queen's Bridge over the River Tay in Perth and the bridge in Bridge of Earn on the River Earn.[ citation needed ] It is one of the largest estuaries in eastern Scotland, and is up to 2.5 km wide. It consists primarily of intertidal sand and mud flats extending seaward to the main channel, most of which are on the northern shore. Landward of these are salt marsh and Phragmites reedbeds. The estuary contains two large islands: Mugdrum Island, opposite Newburgh; and Moncreiffe Island, immediately below Perth. The estuary's narrow form, and the large volume of freshwater from the Rivers Tay and Earn, restrict the influence of saltwater west of the Tayport narrows. Much of the tidal water is freshwater or mildly brackish.
The apx. 20 km area of the estuary between the railway bridge and the confluence of the Rivers Tay and Earn is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The current SSSI was notified in August 1999 and extends to 4,115 hectares or thereby. Scottish Natural Heritage provides more information about it in its site management statement. [1]
Perth & Kinross Council and Dundee City Council manage part of the north shore as a local nature reserve. [2] [3] RSPB manages areas of reedbed.
The Phragmites reedbeds on the north shore are some 15 km long, and thought to be the largest and most continuous in the UK. They are tidal, flooded on spring tides, and support nationally important breeding bird populations. With the help of groynes built out into the estuary, reedbeds were planted in the 19th century to protect agricultural land, and have since expanded naturally. Much of the agricultural land was formerly marsh which itself was drained and cultivated by Cistercian monks in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1974, commercial harvesting of the reedbeds for thatching began, and has continued to the present day, albeit now on a scale reduced by RSPB. At its height, approximately 30-40% of the reedbeds were cut by Tayreed (company) on an annual rotation (single wale) using a Seiga mechanical harvester. Even at that extent, the cutting was considered compatible with, if not beneficial for, the bird, plant and insect interests of the beds.
The best remaining salt marsh is at the eastern, seaward end of the reedbeds. These support locally rare salt marsh plants including sea club-rush (Bolboschoenus maritimus), grey bulrush (Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani) and common salt marsh grass (Puccinellia maritima).
The Inner Tay was the type locality of the midge Culicoides machardy (1960), but the species was reduced to a junior synonym of the previously described Culicoides machuriensis, a species of northern China, northern Russia, Scandinavia and Scotland. The mud flats of Invergowrie Bay are the first in Britain found to support the large polychaete worm Marenzellaria viridis, a species normally found only in northeastern North America.
Scottish Natural Heritage has commissioned and published habitat survey reports for the estuary. [4] [5]
Public roads run within a few hundred metres of the north and south shores, providing easy access to view the estuary and its wildlife, though parking is limited in many places.
South shore: Wormit, Balmerino, Newburgh, Elcho Castle
North bank: Riverside Drive in Dundee (by the railway bridge); Invergowrie, Kingoodie, Port Allen, Powgavie, Cairnie Pier
Perth: From both banks, the bridges, Moncreiffe Island
Bridge of Earn: The bridge.
The minor road from Newburgh to Balmerino also offers excellent panoramic views northwards over the inner estuary.
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west. It was a local government county from 1890 to 1930.
Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to fjord which has a more constrained sense in English. Bodies of water named "firths" tend to be more common on the Scottish east coast, or in the southwest of the country, although the Firth of Clyde is an exception to this. The Highland coast contains numerous estuaries, straits, and inlets of a similar kind, but not called "firth" ; instead, these are often called sea lochs. Before about 1850, the spelling "Frith" was more common.
Perth and Kinross is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and Stirling council areas. Perth is the administrative centre. With the exception of a large area of south-western Perthshire, the council area mostly corresponds to the historic counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
The Firth of Tay is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Dundee, and Angus. Its maximum width is 3 mi (4.8 km).
The River Tay is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in Great Britain. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui, then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochart, Loch Iubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay, in the centre of Scotland, then southeasterly through Perth, where it becomes tidal, to its mouth at the Firth of Tay, south of Dundee. It is the largest river in the British Isles by measured discharge. Its catchment is approximately 2,000 square miles (5,200 km2), the Tweed's is 1,500 square miles (3,900 km2) and the Spey's is 1,097 square miles (2,840 km2).
The Carse of Gowrie is a stretch of low-lying country in the southern part of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It stretches for about 20 miles along the north shore of the Firth of Tay between Perth and Dundee. The area offers high-quality agricultural land and is well known as a major area for strawberry, raspberry and general fruit growing. Fruit is easy to cultivate in the area because of its southerly aspect and low rainfall. It has been suggested that monks brought new varieties of apples and pears to the area in the Middle Ages and there may have been vineyards growing on slopes near the River Tay.
The Exe estuary is an estuary on the south coast of Devon, England.
Havergate Island is the only island in the county of Suffolk, England. It is found at the confluence of the River Ore and the Butley River near the village of Orford. It is a marshy nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and is known for its population of pied avocets and terns. It is part of the ecologically important Alde-Ore Estuary and has protected conservation status as part of a national nature reserve, SSSI, SAC, SPA, Ramsar Site and is also a part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.
Kinnoull Hill is a hill located partly in Perth and partly in Kinfauns, Scotland. It shares its name with the nearby residential area Kinnoull.
The Islands of the Forth are a group of small islands located in the Firth of Forth and in the estuary of the River Forth on the east coast of Scotland. Most of the group lie in the open waters of the firth, between the Lothians and Fife, with the majority to the east of the city of Edinburgh. Two islands lie further west in the river estuary.
The Edinburgh and Northern Railway was a railway company authorised in 1845 to connect Edinburgh to both Perth and Dundee. It relied on ferry crossings of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay, but despite those disadvantages it proved extremely successful. It took over a short railway on the southern shore of the Forth giving a direct connection to Edinburgh, and it changed its name to the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway.
The North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of European importance for wildlife in Norfolk, England. It comprises 7,700 ha (19,027 acres) of the county's north coast from just west of Holme-next-the-Sea to Kelling, and is additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) listings; it is also part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The North Norfolk Coast is also designated as a wetland of international importance on the Ramsar list and most of it is a Biosphere Reserve.
Flisk was a parish in Fife, Scotland.
Suffolk Coast National Nature Reserve is a wildlife reserve on the North Sea coast of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around the village of Walberswick to the south of the town of Southwold. The reserve was designated in 2003, combining the existing Walberswick National Nature Reserve with reserves at Dingle Marshes and Hen Reedbeds to create a 1,340 hectares reserve.
Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve (NNR) is located southeast of Tayport in Fife, Scotland. The reserve is made up of three parts, encompassing Morton Lochs, Tentsmuir Point and Tayport Heath, and is managed by NatureScot. The different sections of Tentsmuir NNR were originally designated as separate national nature reserves at different times: the Morton Lochs section was designated in 1952; Tentsmuir Point in 1954; and Tayport Heath in 1988. While these discrete sections are distant from one another, they form part of the extensive dune system at Tentsmuir, and in 2003 SNH combined the three sites to form Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve. The adjoining Tentsmuir Forest is managed by Forestry and Land Scotland and covers most of the land between the three portions of the NNR.
Aber Taf is a large Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and forms part of the Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation.
Loch Spynie is a small loch located between the towns of Elgin and Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. Close to Spynie Palace, the ancient home of the bishops of Moray, it is an important wildlife habitat which is protected as a Ramsar Site.
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary is a 1,077.3-hectare (2,662-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lymington in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site and two areas are Geological Conservation Review sites. Three areas are local nature reserves, Boldre Foreshore, Sturt Pond and Lymington and Keyhaven Marshes; the latter site is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Part of it is North Solent National Nature Reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. Parts of it are in Solent Maritime and Solent and Isle of Wight Lagoons Special Areas of Conservation.