Hodbarrow RSPB Reserve
Hodbarrow RSPB Reserve is a nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on the Duddon Estuary near Millom in the very south of the county, outsode the Lake District. The estuary (which divides this part of Cumberland from the Furness Peninsula of Lancashire) has extensive mudflats which attract wading birds. Within the reserve is a man-made lagoon, a relic of the industrial days of this coast.
History
The nature reserve occupies a site where iron ore was mined until the 1960s. The mining caused subsidence, leading to flooding since the closure of the mine, as the site is no longer dewatered. The reserve continues to be protected from the sea by a seawall completed in 1905.[1] Most of the area of the reserve is taken up by Hodbarrow Lagoon, a flooded part of the former mine, which is described as a "coastal lagoon".[2]
Facilities
There is a car park on the Millom side of the reserve from which visitors can walk to the seawall, and there is more direct pedestrian access to the seawall from Haverigg.
There is a bird hide on the seawall which gives views of the lagoon.
Protection status
The lagoon was originally a separate Site of Special Scientific Interest, notified in 1983. Following an amalgamation of SSSIs, it is part of the Duddon Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest.[3]
The Duddon estuary is an Important Bird Area recognised by BirdLife International, of which the RSPB is a member.[4] Nationally, it has been declared a Special Protection Area.[5]
Wildlife
Hodbarrow has breeding populations of terns. It is renowned for large numbers of wildfowl during the winter, especially teal, widgeon, coot, mallard, tufted duck, common pochard, goldeneye, red-breasted merganser, and occasionally long-tailed duck, eider, goosander, pintail and shoveller.
Outside links
- Location map: 54°11’59"N, 3°15’54"W
- Hodbarrow – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- Millomweb
- Millom.org
- Hodbarrow - Woodland Trust
References
- ↑ Hodbarrow Sea Defences
- ↑ Hodbarrow – Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Duddon Estuary
- ↑ BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Duddon Estuary
- ↑ JNCC: Duddon Estuary