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Grindon Lough

Northumberland  >  United Kingdom

Wetland of 9 hectares that is great for wildfowl especially during the winter and spring months. Sometimes rarities are seen here.

Added* by John Morecroft
Most recent update 17 april 2024

Description

Grindon Lough is the smallest and shallowest of four natural loughs located in the Hadrian’s Wall area. The Lough can be viewed from the road and is a good site for waterfowl especially in winter. A number of geese can regularly be viewed including kanadska gos, siva gos, kratkokljuna gos, and (sadly, now rarely) Greenland beločela gos. labod pevec also use the lake, as do a range of dabbling ducks, primarily kreheljc, žličarica, žvižgavka and mlakarica, and a few diving ducks, mainly čopasta črnica and zvonec. Wading species include breeding spremenljivi prodnik, kozica, and rdečenogi martinec; wintering zlata prosenka, and passage črnorepi kljunač are commonly observed. Other key species to watch out for include pepelasti lunj, kanja, navadna postovka, krokar and poljski škrjanec.

Recent rarities have included ozkokljuni liskonožec (a single summering bird annually since 2015), ameriška žvižgavka (a single drake present most of the time since late 2015), though sadly neither have returned in 2023; and longer ago, an inland zimska raca.

Muckle Moss National Nature Reserve, an area of Birch bog woodland along the road just to the southwest, holds good numbers of Brezovček and čižek all year, occasional brezovcek in winter, and in summer, kukavica, drevesna cipa and severni kovaček.

Details

Access

The reserve is situated just north of the Stanegate (an old Roman Road which linked Corbridge with Carlisle), and lies between limestone ridges. Parking is available along the Stanegate Roman Road, west of Newbrough (OL43 NY806676) which allows good views over the Lough. Click on the P in the map to get directions. There is no dedicated parking. Visitors can park along the Stanegate Roman Road. The road is narrow in places, so visitors are recommended to take care when parking to ensure passing cars (including large farm vehicles!) can pass safely. There is no access onto the site.

Terrain and Habitat

Wetland , Forest , Grassland , Scattered trees and bushes , Lake , Moors/heathland

Conditions

Open landscape , No shadow

Circular trail

No

Is a telescope useful?

Yes

Good birding season

All year round

Best time to visit

Winter , Spring

Route

Paved road

Difficulty walking trail

Easy

Accessible by

Car , Bicycle

Birdwatching hide / platform

No

Extra info

Visitors are recommended to wrap up warm, as this is a very exposed site, which can be cold and very windy at times.

View other birding spots in the area that are published on Birdingplaces

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