Welcome to the Chesil Bank and Fleet Nature Reserve website. An informative hub dedicated to keeping you up to date and informed about this unique stretch of Dorset coastline.

Chesil Bank and Fleet Nature Reserve © Charlie Wheeler Photography
Please feel free have a look around. There is a selection of pages to browse through, just click from the drop down menu above. There is a ‘Gallery’ of images showcasing the varied fauna and flora of the reserve accompanied with a detailed ‘Species List’.
To the right hand side we have our ‘Reserve Team Blog’ letting you know what is happening ‘down on the ground’ and any news and events that are up and coming.
Notice Board: Upcoming events, advisory notices, public information and highlights will be posted here.
Renovation Project on Common Tern Island
Background As a result of human disturbance and predators driving down the numbers of both Common and Little Terns nesting on Chesil Bank, it was decided to construct an island within the Swannery embayment to aid in their breeding success. The Tern Island was...
Great Bustard and a Happy New Year
A lovely end end to the year with a sighting of Great Bustard, seen alongside the Reserve. Swanherd Steve spotted this individual feeding in the fields surrounding Abbotsbury Swannery on Friday 17th December. This is believed to be the same individual that has been...
The West Fleet ‘Sanctuary’
For many centuries, perhaps even a millennium, the West Fleet has been an ancient sanctuary within the Reserve, and not that many decades ago it was known as such. In his book ‘Nature Conservation in Britain’ (New Naturalist Series), Sir Dudley Stamp referred to it as...