Discover autumn delights at South Walney


The days may be getting shorter, and the skies may be grey more often than not, but autumn is probably the best season to visit South Walney Nature Reserve, which lies at the very tip of Walney Island.


This special site holds a patchwork of important coastal habitats: sand dunes, shingle beaches, saline lagoons and dune grassland, all in a breathtaking seting with views across Morecambe Bay to Blackpool, the Isle of Man and even North Wales on a crisp, clear day, whilst snow-capped Lakeland peaks rise above Barrow-in-Furness. South Walney is home to a host of


wildlife, particularly throughout the autumn and winter months, when tens of thousands of wading birds roost here at high tide between feeding on Morecambe Bay’s rich invertebrate life. Oystercatcher and redshank are most numerous, but curlew, greenshank and golden plover abound, feeding in the sand whilst beautiful murmurations fly past – not of starlings, but of knot and dunlin. Smaller migrating birds, heading south for winter, also stop off here for a rest in the scrub around the car park or


10 Cumbrian Wildlife | September 2019


Beautiful murmurations fly past – not of starlings, but of knot and dunlin


down at our central marsh hide, with a few hundred different species seen each season. Birding highlights in recent years have included Cumbria’s first Isabelline


Seal pups have been born here in recent years


ELEANOR STONE


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44