Culzean Country Park

Gordon Riddle (Culzean Country Park Ranger Service)

Location and Access

Culzean Country Park is the most popular National Trust for Scotland (NTS) property attracting 200,000 visitors annually. It is situated on the Firth of Clyde, 19 km south of Ayr on the A719, 6 km west of Maybole, off the A77. There is a range of visitor facilities including car parking, refreshment points, exhibitions, information and toilets. The main areas of the Park are accessible for disabled visitors. Ranger-led walks can be booked for groups and an events programme is available from Easter to the end of September.

A regular bus service to Maidens passes the entrance. An approach bycycle along A719 is feasible, though particular care should be exercised when tourist traffic is at a peak.

Please note that there is an admission charge between mid-March and the end of October for people who are not members of the NTS.

Several car parks throughout park. Woodland: partially accessible by wheelchair along main paths, uneven surface in places, ramp to hide at Swan Pond.

A719 approach needs care, but cycling is good within the grounds.

Status

Culzean is a typical Scottish lowland estate covering around 600 acres. Its heritage status is due to the exceptional designed landscape and Robert Adam's magnificent clifftop castle. In addition to the fifty traditional buildings, Culzean has 300 acres of mixed mature woodland, 130 acres of farmland, two major gardens, freshwater ponds and five kilometres of coastline. The sandy bays, rocky shoreline and hundred foot cliffs are part of the Maidens to Dunure Site of Special Scientific Interest, the best example of coastal deciduous woodland in Southern Scotland. Following a survey by the Scottish Wildlife Trust's wildlife sites team the Country Park was confirmed as a Listed Wildlife Site because of its significant wildlife interest.

Birds

The combination of mixed woodland in a coastal setting provides a wide range of habitats and a resultant healthy bird list of 110 to 120 species annually of which around 50 breed.

Woodland

From April to June the main woodland interest is the breeding warblers with around 100 pairs breeding annually. Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler are common with smaller number of Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Grasshopper and Sedge Warbler and occasionally Wood Warbler. Other breeding birds of note are Barn Owl, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Tawny Owl, Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Goldfinch and Siskin. Several kilometres of pathway are kept open throughout the woodland and patience is very often rewarded. In winter the shelter of the woodland is a haven for Redwing and Woodcock during severe weather. Mixed flocks of Goldcrest, Long-tailed, Coal, Great and Blue Tits are a winter feature often numbering 80-100 birds.

Buildings

Swift use the nest boxes on the main buildings, House Martin have recently recolonised and the Swallow population is at saturation point, especially in the Walled Garden where every available nest site is used. Live images of one pair of nesting swifts in the exhibition loft have been relayed back to the information area and, although it is early days, we hope to improve the quality and that this will become an annual event.

Coastline

Another camera has been installed on the Castle cliffs and this has proved productive in recording Raven breeding, the daily life on the Fulmar colony (not spectacular!) and Peregrine Falcon nest prospecting. The Ravens and Peregrines are regularly seen in the air around the Castle. The coastal dimension is obviously a very important part of Culzean and the cliff walk has several locations which are ideal for sea watching, species varying with the season. Gannet and auks from Ailsa Craig can be seen in spring and summer while divers, grebes and the occasional influx of Manx Shearwater brighten up the winter scene.

Swan Pond

The Swan Pond is probably more interesting in winter rather than spring and summer due to the build up of overwintering duck. Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye swell the numbers, though Mallard are still the commonest. You never know what to expect and in rough weather species more usually seen at sea, such asLong-tailed Duck, may put in an appearance and there are regular records of Gadwall, Pintail and Smew. Winter numbers of Little Grebe have recently built up to around 20. Look out for Heron roosting in the field adjacent to the Swan Pond car park, 19 is the highest count so far.

Spring at the Swan Pond is virtually a battlefield as numerous pairs of Mute Swan attempt to secure nesting territories. At least 3 pairs eventually settle and build and one pair uses a quiet cove on the coast. Little Grebe, Water Rail and Tufted Duck are around all the time and the arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gull usually announces the broods of Mallard chicks being brought to the pond from their woodland nests.

Bird Checklist

Status as at February 2001 and including historical data.

Red-throated Diver	Partridge	Swift	Jackdaw
Black-throated Diver	Pheasant	Kingfisher	Rook
GreatNorthern Diver	Water Rail	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Carrion Crow
LittleGrebe	Corncrake	Raven	Chough
Great Crested Grebe	Moorhen	Skylark	Starling
Red-necked Grebe	Coot	Sand Martin	House Sparrow
Slavonian Grebe	Oystercatcher	Swallow	Tree Sparrow
Fulmar	Ringed Plover	House Martin	Chaffinch
Manx Shearwater	Golden Plover	Tree Pipit	Brambling
Gannet	Grey Plover	Meadow Pipit	Greenfinch
Cormorant	Lapwing	Rock Pipit	Goldfinch
Shag	Purple Sandpiper	Grey Wagtail	Siskin
Bittern	Dunlin	Blue-headed Wagtail	Linnet
Little Bittern	Snipe	Pied Wagtail	Twite
Grey Heron	Woodcock	Dipper	Lesser Redpoll
Bewick Swan	Whimbrel	Wren	Mealy Redpoll
Mute Swan	Curlew	Dunnock	Crossbill
Whooper Swan	Redshank	Waxwing	Bullfinch
Bean Swan	Common Sandpiper	Robin	Yellowhammer
Pink-footed Goose	Turnstone	Redstart	Reed Bunting
Greylag Goose	Arctic Skua	Stonechat	Corn Bunting
Shelduck	Black-headed Gull	Wheatear
Wigeon	Common Gull	Ring Ouzel
Gadwall	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Blackbird
Teal	Herring Gull	Fieldfare
Mallard	Glaucous Gull	Song Thrush
Pintail	Great Black-backed Gull	Redwing
Garganey	Kittiwake	Mistle Thrush
Shoveler	Sandwich Tern	Grasshopper Warbler
Pochard	Common Tern	Sedge Warbler
Tufted Duck	Arctic Tern	Lesser Whitethroat
Scaup	Little Tern	Whitethroat
Eider	Guillemot	Blackcap
Long-tailed Duck	Razorbill	Garden Warbler
Common Scoter	Black Guillemot	Wood Warbler
Goldeneye	Rock Dove	Chiffchaff
Smew	Stock Dove	Willow Warbler
Red-breasted Merganser	Woodpigeon	Goldcrest
Goosander	Collared Dove	Spotted Flycatcher
Hen Harrier	Feral Pigeon	Pied Flycatcher
Goshawk	Cuckoo	Long-tailed Tit
Sparrowhawk	Barn Owl	Willow Tit
Buzzard	Tawny Owl	Coal Tit
Osprey	Long-eared Owl	Blue Tit
Kestrel	Short-eared Owl	Great Tit
Merlin	Nightjar	Treecreeper
Peregrine Falcon	Jay
Magpie

Additional Information

For further information please contact:

The Ranger Service
The Visitor Centre
Culzean Country Park
Maybole
Ayrshire
KA19 8LE Tel:

Phone:

01655 884400

Fax:

01655 884522

Web:

www.nts.org.uk

Other Nearby Sites

• Ayr Area
• Cumnock Area
• Dalmellington Area
• Girvan Area
• Maybole Area

Last upated: July 2003

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