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  • Hodbarrow

Hodbarrow

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Address
RSPB Hodbarrow, Mainsgate Rd, Millom LA18 4JY
Grid ref
SD174790
What3Words
sleep.degrading.lobbed

This coastal lagoon and grasslands, located on the site of a former iron mine, support breeding terns, ringed plovers, redshanks and oystercatchers. You'll also find great crested grebes nesting on the island here. This magnificent bird was almost hunted to extinction in the UK and is now a protected species.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

  • Pushchair friendly
  • Picnic area
  • Viewing points are closed
  • Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The closest station is Millom, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away. Turn left out of the station to Millom. From Millom town square continue east beyond the pedestrian crossing, taking the second right (Mainsgate Road signposted for Hodbarrow RSPB). Continue for about 0.5 mile (0.8 km), turning left by the lagoon for access to the reserve.

By road

From Millom town square, continue east taking the second right (Mainsgate Road signposted for Hodbarrow RSPB). Continue for about 0.5 miles (0.8 km), turning left by the lagoon for the reserve car park.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps
View on What3Words
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 72Kb

Hodbarrow trail guide

Contact Hodbarrow

  • RSPB Hodbarrow, Mainsgate Rd, Millom LA18 4JY
  • campfield.marsh@rspb.org.uk
  • 01697 351330
  • Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

    Great crested grebe, summer plumage

    Great crested grebe

    Great crested grebes are renowned for their dramatic courtship displays, where the pair 'dances' together.

    Little tern

    Little tern

    As their name suggests, little terns are the smallest of the British terns and nest colonially on the island at Hodbarrow.

    Male red-breasted merganser

    Red-breasted merganser

    Red-breasted mergansers are fish-eating diving ducks which have jagged 'teeth' inside their bills.

    Sandwich tern, summer plumage

    Sandwich tern

    Sandwich terns spend the winter off the west African coast before returning to locations like the Hodbarrow lagoon to breed.

    Sedge warbler

    Sedge warbler

    Another warbler that returns from Africa in spring.

Recent sightings

Little Tern adult returning to nest with fish

Find out about recent wildlife sightings at Hodbarrow.

read more

Nature spectacles

Walk the seawall and visit the hide from May to July and watch the tern colony in full swing, with birds commuting to and from the estuary at close range.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Over spring and summer, sit along the sea wall and watch for terns flying over carrying fish. Wander through the grassland to marvel at the colour and variety of wildflowers. Find a quiet spot amongst the trees and listen to the birdsong. Discover one of the many ponds and watch the dragonflies darting over.



Over spring and summer, sit along the sea wall and watch for terns flying over carrying fish. Wander through the grassland to marvel at the colour and variety of wildflowers. Find a quiet spot amongst the trees and listen to the birdsong. Discover one of the many ponds and watch the dragonflies darting over.

During autumn and winter, take a bracing walk along the sea wall with stunning views over the Duddon Estuary. Look out for large flocks of ducks and wading birds on the island in front of the hide. Wander through the wooded areas to find an amazing variety of mushrooms and toadstools. Watch thrushes and other birds feeding on the abundance of berries around the reserve.

During autumn and winter, take a bracing walk along the sea wall with stunning views over the Duddon Estuary. Look out for large flocks of ducks and wading birds on the island in front of the hide. Wander through the wooded areas to find an amazing variety of mushrooms and toadstools. Watch thrushes and other birds feeding on the abundance of berries around the reserve.

About Hodbarrow

Habitat

Overlooking the Duddon Estuary, Hodbarrow reserve comprises a freshwater lagoon within the seawall with rich flower and insect communities living on the limestone slag.  Grasssland and scrub stretches inland to provide a haven for insects and breeding songbirds.

Conservation

  • We are managing the lagoon island to sustain breeding numbers of little terns, common terns and sandwich terns, and aim to increase little tern productivity. Work involves restricting plant growth and controlling the population of large gulls. We also use signs and patrols to restrict access during the breeding season, both on land and from boats.
  • We will work to maintain suitable conditions for at least 175 wintering red-breasted mergansers, as well as wintering teals, coots, little grebes, redshanks and dunlins, and breeding great crested grebes. This involves maintaining 50.4 ha of standing water, whilst preventing human disturbance, removing alien plants and monitoring daily for pollution.
  • We will create a varied age structure by cutting scrub annually and removing encroaching saplings. We will also control scrub on the calcareous grassland, and will maintain 25 per cent heather cover on acid grassland. Regular mowing will help us maintain appropriate sward heights, and we will leave 5–10% of the area as bare ground.
  • We aim to re-establish breeding natterjack toads in our shallow pools. This involves retaining water until July, with open feeding areas and bare banks for hibernation sites. We will also control aquatic vegetation, cutting back marginal growth and removing alien species, while maintaining 100 square metres of threatened pillwort.

Site information

105 ha of the site of the former Hodbarrow Iron Mine was purchased in 1986, 18 years after the mine closed. 

A flooded lagoon now occupies much of the site which is part of the Duddon Estuary SSSI and the Morecambe Bay and Duddon Estuary SPA.

Latest forum posts

  • Moth trapping at hodbarrow

    Hi all! I have some moth records from my visit to the reserve in August. On the first night I trapped on the heath and the second was on the beach. I was wondering who the county recorder was so I can pass records on as im from Lancashire. Also has a...

    Posted 22/11/2013 by justinepatton
  • Osprey and Damselfly at Hodbarrow!

    Yesterday, at about 3 or 4 pm, my partner and I saw an Osprey at Hodbarrow! We were very excited! We had just arrived at the beach area, near to the towers before the lighthouse, I was feeling decidedly grumpy, when John shouted out and we both got a...

    Posted 20/05/2013 by Natalie Windsor
  • Injured Swan

    Not a happy 2 weeks here in the reserve.The female Swan has a fishing hook(we think) ,lodged either in the side of her mouth,or in her throat.It was 1st noticed the Wed before Xmas,and constant calls to the RSPCA have been made  ever sibnce to the pr...

    Posted 01/01/2013 by chris.red
  • New sightings

    Slavonian grebe on west side of lagoon near ski jumps. Also 2 or 3 Harbour Porpoise heading out to sea @ 1600hrs.

    Posted 09/10/2012 by suzilad
read our forum

Latest blog posts

  • All Change at Hodbarrow

    Spring has arrived at RSPB Hodbarrow and the breeding season has begun, even if the current weather is suggesting different! The first 300 Sandwich Terns have made it back from their wintering grounds, some travelling distances of up to 10,000km from...

    Posted 07/04/2022 by RachelleR
  • A 'Little' help for the terns at Hodbarrow

    Hodbarrow lagoon island is getting busy with up to 1,800 Black-headed gulls and 400 Sandwich terns filling the air with their shrieks and chatter as they rekindle pair bonds and stake claim to their breeding territories; which, in the case of a Sandw...

    Posted 19/04/2021 by RachelleR
  • Sandwich terns return to Hodbarrow!

    It's the start of a new season at Hodbarrow as we welcomed backed the first Sandwich terns this week with 3 briefly and tentatively circling over the lagoon island on the morning of the 22nd March, before heading back out to sea. On the 24th, 16 touc...

    Posted 26/03/2021 by RachelleR
  • A Tale of Terns; Hodbarrow 2020 Roundup

    While our lives over the last 6 months have been drastically altered, the terns at Hodbarrow have continued theirs as normal, arriving at our UK shores in April right at the start of a global pandemic. Our human lives are of no concern to a 40cm seab...

    Posted 24/08/2020 by RachelleR
read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/hodbarrow

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