Nature Reserves of Druridge Bay, Northumberland
Coastal Wildlife Sanctuaries Where Coal Was Recently Mined
Oct 18, 2009
This smooth arc of a little over six miles of sand dunes, is bounded by Cresswell to the south and Hauxley to the north. The dunes, which are among the finest in the country, are so extensive that they are never crowded, even in high summer.
Yet the Northeast’s industrial legacy is not far away. Along the line of the bay a string of opencast coal mines was still being worked as recently as the 1990s. Yet these have now been completely transformed into a series of wetland nature reserves that are of increasing importance for both resident and migrant birds.
Cresswell Pond Site of Special Scientific Interest
The most southerly of these is Cresswell Pond, lying off the roadside just north of Cresswell village. It is linked to the sea by Blakemoor Burn, which at high tide, allows the passage of sufficient salt water to maintain a brackish quality. As a result, it is surrounded by salt marshes and reedbeds, which attract birds throughout the year. The pond can be viewed from a bird hide to the south, which is reached through a gateway from Blakemoor Farm. There is a car parking area nearby.
At any time of the year, one is likely to see whooper and mute swans, greylag geese, mallard, widgeon and shelduck. In winter, these are joined by flocks of migrant pink-footed geese, foraging in the surrounding fields. After periods of dry weather, extensive mud flats become exposed along the eastern shore, and large numbers of waders, such as lapwing and curlew come to feast on the rich invertebrate life hiding beneath the mud. Also present are likely to be terns, black-headed gulls and perhaps a solitary heron searching for fish in the shallow waters.
Druridge Pools Nature Reserve
A short distance north of Cresswell Pond, the main road makes an abrupt turn to the left. The straight continuation, however, runs along Druridge Links, between more sand dunes and a stretch of woodland. Hidden behind the wood are the Druridge Pools, a collection of ponds surrounded by swampland. As at Cresswell, birds such as teal, widgeon and goldeneye frequent the pools, along with breeding tufted ducks and great crested grebes. Snipe, redshank, oystercatcher and greylag gather to feed on the damp fields.
A wooden boardwalk passes between the pools, with wet channels on either side, in which frogs abound in springtime and the occasional great crested newt might be found. The pools themselves are hidden behind high embankments, built to minimise disturbance of the birds, but may be scanned from the easily accessible hides on either side of the boardwalk. One might even catch a fleeting glimpse of an otter.
East Chevington, the Newest Nature Reserve at Druridge Bay
About half-a-mile north of the Druridge pools is the start of East Chevington. The chief characteristic of this relatively new nature reserve is in the very extensive reedbeds that surround the two lakes. These provide shelter for reed warbler, reed bunting and bearded tits, in addition to coot and moorhens.
The surrounding wet grasslands contain many flowers, which include yellow flag iris, northern marsh orchid, dyer’s greenweed and various vetches, which attract burnet moths and butterflies like common blue, meadow brown, painted lady and dark green fritillary. Darter dragonflies are a frequent sight, flying over and breeding in the pools and wet patches on the fields.
Hauxley, Druridge Bay's Most Northerly Reserve
Having curved gently westward, the bay now arcs back, past Druridge Bay Country Park leisure centre, also created from an opencast colliery, and on towards Low Hauxley and the northernmost limit of the bay. Here is where the Hauxley Nature Reserve is situated, occupying the hollows of the former Radcliffe mine.
The reserve, which consists of a lake and several islands, can be reached along the coastal footpath from the south, or by car from the north, where a rough track leads to a spacious car park and a small but impressive visitors’ centre, with a very commanding view over the northern end of the lake. There are four birdwatching hides, two of which cover the southern end of the lake, which is hidden from the visitors’ centre.
The islands provide sanctuaries for mute and Bewick swans, shoveller and shelduck, greylag and pink-footed geese. The southern hides look out over shallows, which become mud flats in dry weather, populated by oystercatchers, lapwing, ringed plover, curlew, redshank and sandpiper.
Most visitors to Druridge Bay are attracted to the beach and sand A walk along the links, with detours into the nature reserves is an added attraction at any time of the year, but perhaps more so in winter, when the dunes shelter the pools from Arctic winds and Scandinavian migrants swell the bird numbers that seek refuge from the same winds.
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