Marshside

In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, our trails are open. Our visitor centre, toilet and hides are closed. See full facilities information below. We urge you to follow the legislation around non-essential travel and please visit your most local nature reserves and green spaces only. Please observe current guidelines on social distancing, face coverings, group sizes, hygiene and follow all signage on-site. See our Covid-19 updates page for the latest safety information (link below).  Thank you for your support and understanding

Address: RSPB Marshside, Marine Dr, Southport PR9 9PJ

Grid ref: SD353205

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region, with amazing year round viewing opportunities. In the summer, you'll spot nesting birds like avocets and lapwings, while the skies fill with pink-footed geese and wigeons in the winter.

Plan your visit

Reserve trails: open, daily, seasonal times below.

Car park: open, daily, seasonal times below. Closed and locked outside of these hours.

Autumn/Winter opening hours: 8.30am-4pm (1 November-1 March)
Spring/Summer opening hours: 8.30am-5pm (2 March-31 October).

Visitor Centre: closed.

Toilet: closed.

Hides: closed

Festive opening times:

The reserve and car park are open as normal over the festive period.
The hides are closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Car park cost

There are no entrance charges to the reserve, but the following car parking charges apply:

RSPB members: FREE (please display your membership card face down in your windscreen).
Non-members: £1.50 per car (up to 2 hours) / £3 per car over 2 hours.
Blue badge holders: FREE (please display your blue badge in your windscreen).

Facilities

Visitor centre is closed
Car park
Toilets are closed
Accessible toilets are closed
Guided walks is closed
Viewing points are closed
Nature trails

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Southport (Chapel Street Station) - follow London Street till it joins Lord Street and then go straight across Lord Street and on down Nevill Street to the Promenade; turn right to follow Marine Lake to its northern end; turn left onto Fairway and then right on to Marine Drive. Reserve begins at Hesketh Road after 0.6 miles.

By bus

Southport (War Memorial, Lord Street) to Crossens via Marshside Road. No.44 every 15 minutes. Get off at Elswick Road junction. Walk north 200 m along Marshside Road to reserve.

By bike

National Cycle Network traffic-free route (Liverpool to Southport) utilises wide pavement adjacent to Marine Drive through reserve.

By road

From Southport, follow coast road north (1.5 miles or 2.5 km from Southport Pier) to small car park by sand works.

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.

Other ways to get there

Liverpool for ferries - 1 hour away by car.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Dogs are welcome on the public footpaths around the reserve. Please keep to the designated rights of way only.

Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife, habitats and livestock here. We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife and livestock can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead and under close, effective control.

You are welcome to walk your dog along the sea-wall on the south side of the marshes. You may also use the permissive footpaths from the car park towards Crossens and on Redshank Road which leads out onto the saltmarsh, but please keep your dog on a lead to avoid disturbing wildlife.
We like to keep one path dog-free, so please do not use the path to Nel's Hide.
Sorry, dogs aren’t permitted in the hides other than assistance dogs.
Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

Group bookings are accepted. Guided walks are also available.

Please note the car park is not suitable for coaches or buses. Please call 01704 211690 for coach/bus parking information.

14 degrees, Sunny day

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 1.83MB

Marshside trail map

Contact Marshside

RSPB Marshside, Marine Dr, Southport PR9 9PJ
Ribble.reserves@rspb.org.uk
01704 211690
@RSPB_Ribble
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Avocet

They nest in mini colonies on the islands.

Black-tailed godwit

Flocks of black-tailed godwits can be seen here in spring before they migrate and on their return in autumn.

Lapwing

Watch the nesting lapwings here chase predators that may come too close.

Pink-footed goose

Many pink-footed geese assemble here from late September through to March.

Wigeon

Wintering birds arrive from early September and numbers build up to a peak, usually in January.

Lapwings tumble in excitable displays over the nesting areas. Early morning is the best time to see the hares 'boxing'. Watch out for the first wheatears and swallows to arrive from Africa.

Redshanks and avocets scold you from a distance as they watch over their chicks. The grass is peppered with the colours of wildflowers. Wall brown and common blue butterflies are found along the paths on warm, sunny days.

A dashing falcon at this time of year could be a merlin just in from Iceland. Look for skeins of pink-footed geese flying to and from their roost out on the mudflats at dusk and dawn. Migrant hawker dragonflies patrol the ditches on sunny days.

You will be sure to see huge flocks of wigeons, teals, lapwings and golden plovers wheeling and turning over the marshes. Look out for the bird of prey that has caused the panic. It could be a kestrel, merlin, peregrine or sparrowhawk.

About Marshside

Habitat

RSPB Marshside protects 155ha of coastal grassland and pools, and 230ha of saltmarsh on the shores of the Ribble estuary.

Conservation

The RSPB is managing the reserve to protect important populations of breeding waders and wintering wildfowl, plus other wildlife such as brown hares and wintering birds of prey. We are also developing the reserve as a popular visitor attraction.

Top targets: We are working towards five-year mean targets for key breeding birds. These include 70 pairs of lapwings, 25 pairs of avocets and 40 pairs of redshanks. We aim to ensure that black-tailed godwits and ruffs remain present through the breeding season and that breeding wildfowl numbers are stable. Meanwhile, our October-March targets for non-breeding birds include 1,650 black-tailed godwits, 700 pink-footed geese, 6,000 wigeons, 1,800 teals, 140 shovelers, 500 golden plovers, 700 oystercatchers, 1,500 knots, 1,500 dunlins and 300 curlews.

Grassland gains: We are improving our grassland for breeding waders, using summer grazing with cattle and topping, where necessary, to create suitable sward heights. We will retain a tussocky structure, and will ensure that up to 33ha of grassland holds permanent surface water in winter. We will also increase our small area of ungrazed grassland and preserve the extent of our 'dune-slack' grassland, which is rich in wild flowers.

Water and swamp: We will ensure that all permanent water bodies are at least 10cm deep at the start of June. We will also increase the extent of open water in pools and ditches, by rotationally cleaning and re-profiling ditches. We will dig new ditches and create small pools to break up waterless 'plain' areas, and will excavate to create 1ha of open water, and an additional 1ha of swamp.

Keeping tabs: Constant monitoring helps us to manage the site and contributes to research projects elsewhere. We focus on breeding waders, lapwing nest productivity and wintering wildfowl, as well as water voles, natterjack toads and butterflies. We also monitor sward height, cattle numbers, the levels and quality of water, and the extent and quality of grassland.

Partners

Marshside is part of the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve and the Sefton Coast Partnership.

Site information

There's something for everyone all year round at this delightful coastal reserve. There are two hides, a viewing platform and three viewing screens. If you're new to birdwatching, why not come on one of our special event days?

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