About the reserve

What makes Earnse Bay so special?

In Spring eider ducks arrive at their most southerly breeding site at South Walney,  orchids bloom at Sandscale Haws and thrift and sea campion come into flower. In summer, look out for flowering plants adapted to sunny and salty seaside habitats, like Walney geranium which is found nowhere else in the world. In the autumn you will see wonderful colourful displays of deciduous trees like oak, ask and sycamore in Millwood and Abbots Wood and you may spot flocks of migratory curlew, spotted redshank, redstart and pink-footed geese. Winter inhabitants are predominantly waders and wildfowl.

Spot grey seals, which have a haul out and pupping site on the southernmost edge of Walney. The island is also important for birds such as the oystercatcher, shelduck, mallard, moorhen and coot, and provides nesting territories for many lesser black-backed and Herring gulls. 

What to do

Why not come along for a Walk, partake in some Windsurfing and Kitesurfing or do some Rockpooling here at the beach?