Duddon Estuary
The Duddon Estuary is sandy estuary that lies between Morecambe Bay and the west Cumbrian coast.
It opens into the Irish Sea to the north of the Furness peninsula. Walney Island forming part of its southern edge. Its 45 kms of shoreline of enclose an area of 3500 ha making it the second largest estuary in Cumbria after the Solway Firth.
It is a signicant area for birds with an internationally important breeding population of Sandwich terns that favour the slag banks around Millom and Askam in Furness. There are also migratory bird populations of international importance, including Pintail, Red Knot and Redshank and, regularly, over 20,000 wintering waterfowl, including Shelduck, Red-breasted mergansers, Oystercatchers, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Curlew.
It is also signifant for Natterjack Toads. The Duddon Estuary supports one fifth of the national population of the rare amphibian that is only found at 50 sites in the UK, of which five are in the Duddon Estuary.
The estuary is botanically rich with saltmarsh, sand dune and shingle communities, including a nationally rare shingle vegetation community at Haverigg Haws and North Walney.
Shingle species include Sea Sandwort, Spear-leaved Orache, Sea Rocket and Sea Kale. All the dune grasslands at Sandscale Haws, Haverigg Haws and North Walney support a rich flora with the rare Dune Helleborine.