At the beginning of 2020 I set myself a challenge to walk, scramble, clamber (and sometimes wade through mud) around the entire foreshore of the Kingsbridge and Salcombe Estuary. Not all in one go of course, tides would never allow for that. After 8 trips covering roughly 22miles; climbing over and under a maze of what seemed like a thousand seaweed covered fallen trees, admiring the diversity of the estuaries wildlife, skimming stones from Flatstones beach (so named my family when I was a child) and losing my leg into some very sticky yellow mud, I have nearly completed the challenge I set off on over 2 years ago. All that is left are the rocky shores around Salcombe and the mouth of the Estuary.

I said to my friend as we clambered down onto the soft sand of Sunny Cove, I need to find some things to write about for my nature diary. Little did I know that this little adventure we have set off on would uncover some of the greatest wildlife encounters I have ever had on the rocky shore.

The tide is well on its way to a 0.5 metre low, but even so we ditch our shoes and change into swim gear so that we can wade or swim through the water if necessary. After admiring the soft sandy expanse, we leave sunny cove behind, making our way around the rocky shore towards the Salcombe Bar, a sandy spit that sticks out across the mouth of the estuary. We climb barefoot onto the rocky platform beyond, taking care to stay above the high tide line and therefore clear of the sharp edged barnacles. The geology here is a mixture ancient schists with many different formation and weathering patterns. Taking a closer look we quickly find the rocks surrounding us have an intricate pattern of honeycomb weathering; numerous cavities in the surface of the rocks caused possibly by the salty environment that surrounds them.

We gaze out to sea and across to the rocky crags of Sharp Tor and Bolt Head beyond, say hello to a few rock dwelling sheep and then carefully pick our way back across the rocks and make our return to the beach. Now with our feet soothed by the soft sands we turn our attention to the intertidal zone; the area between the high and low water lines. There are a number of beadlet anemones, some safely tucked away in their jelly like home and some in small pools with their tentacles waving around in search of food.

Stopping to study some rocks and their inhabitants, we observe every little detail, from the volcano like barnacles to the orange coloured sponges, then, about 2 metres above the water line, Rosie spots two limpets having a disagreement. One is clearly wanting to invade the others space, and is fiercely defending its spot by lifting up its shell and levering the other one out of the way. The second one is not putting up with that and exposes its muscular foot, as it lifts up its shell to fight back. We watch on fascinated, but in the end leave them to it and wander on. Taking only a few steps, a noise grabs our attention. There is a hole in the rock and inside the hole is a fish out of water! I identify it as a goby, and it quickly wriggles to the back of the hole out of reach. With its ability to breath through its skin, hopefully it will survive the long wait for the tide to come back in and liberate it.

We make our way back towards the Salcombe Bar, which, dead on low tide is now well out of the water. Venturing out to the end, we play in the crisp waves that are forming over the top, then with the changing tide, drift in the water back across to sunny cove.

Grabbing our things our things we make our way through the maze of rocks towards mill bay. Its not only a maze but some obstacles too...there are a few pools in the sand to cross and we back

track suddenly as we loose our feet into a small area of quicksand. The water spills out of the sand and runs away making it a little more supportive as we hop across. Having made it to Mill bay we paddle along the edge of the water; nearby some people complain of something nipping their toes, and looking down we see there are a few hermit crabs around us. One is in only a couple of inches of water. We notice that it has hold of an empty shell and watch as it pulls its soft body out of its current home and pokes its self into this new shell; we watch on with awe. However this hermit crab is not satisfied with this new home and very quickly returns to its original one. It scuttles off, no doubt in search of something better.

We wander onwards, passing large swathes of seagrass exposed by the very low tide and wonder what creatures might lurk within. After treating ourselves to an ice cream at the Venus cafe, we make our way back along the road to the car park. Along the way we bump into a female stag beetle crossing the road. We hear a car coming so help the beetle on its way.

With the east side of my estuary challenge now complete, I’ve only one more adventure around Salcombe to go before it is finished.