OUR BEST AUTUMN RESERVES South Walney is the most important site for
wintering and migrating birds in Morecambe Bay – over 250 species have been recorded here.
YOUR VISIT
South Walney Nature Reserve KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Location: South Walney Nature Reserve, Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness LA14 3YQ How to get there: From Barrow-in-Furness follow signs for Walney Island. Cross Jubilee Bridge and follow the brown signs, turning left at traffic lights. Follow this road for about 1km/0.6 miles then turn left down Carr Lane. Pass Biggar village and follow the road to South End Caravan Site. The nature reserve is at the end of the road. Opening times: The car park opens at 10.00am and closes at 5.00pm (4.00pm winter); there is no access outside these times. Entrance fee: Free to Cumbria Wildlife Trust members – remember to take your membership card. Access: Trish Chadwick and Peggy Braithwaite hides are wheelchair accessible. An off-road mobility tramper is available – please call to ensure availability. Phone: 01229 471066 Website:
www.cumbriawildlifetrust.
org.uk/nature-reserves/ south-walney
shrike, yellow-browed warbler and long- eared owl, but it’s a great site to see all the migratory regulars such as redwing, fieldfare, ring ousel, pied flycatcher, willow warbler and the tiny goldcrest, all passing through on their way south. Charismatic ducks fly in from the far
north to spend the winter at South Walney too. Wigeon and teal in large numbers are a joy to watch on the ponds, and are joined for the winter by smaller groups of tuſted duck, scaup and even the occasional rarer bird such as American wigeon.
DID YOU KNOW?
Peggy Braithwaite served as the UK’s only female principal lighthouse keeper at South Walney for 24 years before her retirement in 1994. Call into the Peggy Braithwaite history hide to find out more!
For many people, however, South Walney’s autumn means one thing: grey seal pups. Having held just a small group of around 40 adults in the 1990s, the haul- out at South Walney now numbers nearly 500 adults, and in 2015 they began to give birth here too, making this the only breeding colony in North West England. With the pupping taking place on an isolated, inaccessible beach, the best way to watch the adorable white seal pups is on our live-streaming seal cam, either on our website or in our visitor cabin, where you can also get a hot drink to enjoy while you watch. A trip to South Walney timed to
coincide with the high tide is a magical wildlife-watching experience, with flocks of birds on the shoreline and seals popping their heads out of the water to watch you as you walk by. n
MEET THE WARDEN Name: Sarah Dalrymple Sarah has worked in conservation for 16 years, as far afield as the Republic of Georgia, the Balkan Mountains and remote St Kilda, and has managed South Walney since 2015.
TOP WILDLIFE TO SPOT Eider duck: See the UK’s fastest-flying duck and listen out for the male’s distinctive coo…ooo call. During the summer, South Walney is one of its southernmost breeding sites. Grey seal: These magnificent mammals are recovering from persecution and the UK holds 40% of all the grey seals in the world.
11 Male and female eider ducks
JOHN ATTIWELL
MAIN PHOTO, FLOCK OF KNOTT: PETER CAIRNS/2020VISION
Come and visit this beautiful nature reserve
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