Strangford Lough and it's marine bird-life(www.nitowns.com)
Newtownards
Co Down
Introduction
The Town
Newtownards is just a few miles north-east from Belfast at the head (north)of Strangford Lough. On leaving Belfast it is the first town you would meet on the way to the Ards peninsula.The town situated 1/2 mile inland from the shore has a population of around 21,000 and is mainly a shopping town but also has some interesting historic building. The Scrabo Tower (1857) overlooks the town from the south-east. An 18 hole golf course, picnic area and great views over Strangford Lough and surrounding area can also be had from the Scrabo Country Park where the tower is situated.
Scrabo Stone
Around the time the Giant's Causeway on the north Antrim coast was being formed, it is said that a layer of volcanic lava penetrated and covered the soft underlying sandstone at Newtownards. Hence the hard rock protected the sandstone underneath, Then an erodision, many years later, caused by the ice age, removed the surrounding sandstone in the area, leaving a high lava peak which is now known a Scrabo Hill.
The first evidence of the stone being used for building is at the monastery at Greyabbey and in the Priory at Newtownards.
In the 1820's, a local man, Robert Corry had a keen interest in the building
properties of the stone. The transportation of the stone from the quarries to
the Newtownards railway line, eventually took place and supreme buildings such
as the Albert Memorial Clock in Belfast as well as the Town Hall in Newtownards
were built. The stone was also shipped and distributed as far a field as Dublin
and New York.
Strangford Lough and it's marine bird-life
Strangford Lough, one of the largest sea inlets in the British
Isles, is a place of great natural beauty.
The Lough has more than 150 miles (240 kms) of coastline and is speckled with
grassy islands, (120) mostly at its northern end, among large areas if tidal
mud flats.
A deep narrow mouth, to the south allows the flow of four million gallons of water from the irish sea, into Strangford Lough twice every day, bringing with it food, mostly in the form of minute marine life (plankton) to support the 2,000 species of marine life and many thousands of birds and wildfowl.Recently the Lough has been made a Marine Nature Reserve.
Birds:
Arctic, Common, Sandwich & Roseat Terns are all Summer visitors. The Lough also provides breeding grounds for Brent Geese, Winter visitors, arriving from the Arctic in September.
Other species include:
Bar & Blacktailed Godwit, Curlew,Dunlin,Gadwall,Goldeneye,Golden Plover,Greenshank,Grey
Heron,Greylag,Knot - Winter visitor, arrives from Greenland in September,Lapwing,Oystercatcher,Shelduck
- Winter visitor, arriving from Iceland in November,Turnstone,Wigeon - Winter
visitor, arriving from Iceland and Russia in September ,Whooper Swan - Winter
visitor, arriving from Iceland in November
Strangford Lough is believed to attract 3/4 of the worlds Brent Goose population.
*More information on photo pages*
Page created, 23, July, 2002
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