Ballyquintin Point Nature Reserve

Wild, windswept and remote, Ballyquintin Point forms the southern tip of the Ards Peninsula. It lies on a low, exposed, rocky coastline consisting of small promontories, bays, inlets and islands.  Thin soils support only sparse, dry grassland which briefly comes to life in May and June with a colourful display of wild flowers. Patches of low-growing burnet rose flower profusely from May to July and produce their unusual, purple hips soon after. Curious wind-dwarfed blackthorn scrub survives on the exposed cobbles, barely 12 inches high.  The undisturbed cobbles on the surface are covered in an intriguing patchwork of lichens, in shades of grey and sometimes yellow, resembling an ancient map.  The point is a good spot to see Irish hares, which feed on the grassland and along the shoreline.  Migrant butterflies such as Red Admirals cross the Irish Sea and can occur abundantly here in some years. (From DOE)