Get to Know Bermuda's Wild Side

Alongside the well manicured golf courses and tourist attractions on Bermuda, there has been a conscientious effort on behalf of the government and conservation bodies to preserve areas of the Island's natural habitat.

The resulting conservation areas and national parks have created natural habitats that attract a wide range of flora and fauna. Here are just a few of the areas where nature lovers can appreciate the wildlife Bermuda has to offer.

1. Coopers Island Nature Reserve, St Georges Parish

Cooper's Island Nature Reserve is based on the former NASA radar site that was used for tracking space shuttles. Now under active restoration this reserve is home to a salt-marsh habitat and pond, and a couple of beaches (Long Bay and Well Bay). Here visitors can spot some of the Islands most important wildlife inhabitants: the Bermuda skink, land hermit crabs, the tropical longtail, the Bermuda petrel, bottle nose dolphins, humpback whales, the West Indian topshell and green turtles (who use the protected seamount and sea grass meadows as a nursery to raise their young).

2. Bermuda's South Shore

Visit Bermuda in the Spring and you are almost guaranteed to see humpback whales as they migrate past Bermuda's South Shore. Between March and April each year humpback whales pass Bermuda on their migration route to the food rich north Atlantic waters.

Having spent the Winter mating and calving in the tropical waters of the Caribbean, humpback whales migrate to the polar waters of the Atlantic to spend their summers feeding and raising their young.

3. The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI)

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute in Pembroke Parish is part museum, part conference centre and a hub for exploring and understanding the waters surrounding the island.

Their focus is on everything from marine biology to the technology of underwater exploration and deep-ocean ecology. They offer glimpses of the wonders that can be found beneath the ocean's surface and aim to educate and inspire a greater appreciation and understanding of this underwater world.

4. The Arboretum

The Arboretum in Devonshire Parish is a 22 acre national park that boasts a wide collection of trees and shrubs. Following shaded walking paths around the park you will come across rolling meadows and forests with fine examples of cedars, Surinam cherry forests, rubber trees with hanging tendrils, flowering golden acacias, avocados and fiddlewood groves.

Listen out too for the birdsong of some of the park's other inhabitants. The bird sanctuary inside the park is home to rare bluebirds, red birds and trilling cardinals. Their songs will accompany you on your journey around the park and if you look carefully you will catch a glimpse of them as they flit amongst the trees.

5. Spittal Pond Nature Reserve

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve is a 64 acre nature reserve at the centre of which is the 8 acre Spittal Pond. The reserve is right next to the South Shore of the island and provides an unrivalled location for birdwatching on Bermuda.

During the Autumn and Winter months the pond is a major transition area for migratory birds crossing the Atlantic, and as such is a great bird spotting site. Here you can spot waterfowl of many kinds, from geese to flamingos, the most common of which include include kiskadees, white-eyed vireos, mallard ducks, northern cardinals, herons and moorhens.

As well as birdwatching you can enjoy the reserve on walks past spectacular views of the island and the ocean. Look out for the unusual geographical formation Checkerboard, a large, flat slab of limestone whose weathered grooves give it it's checkerboard name. Or for the sight of the earliest sign of human habitation on Bermuda - initials graffiti'd into a rock believed to be carved by a shipwrecked Portuguese sailor in 1543. Whilst the rock has since been removed the location is now marked with a brass plaque.

The Couture Travel Company are experts in the beautiful island of Bermuda. Their unrivaled knowledge and first hand experience of the Island is used to tailor make exceptional Bermuda holidays that meet every wish and desire of their clients.

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