RSPB Salthome

Redcar, Marske & Saltburn-by-the-Sea

If you're new to birdwatching, Saltholme is the perfect place to start. These family-friendly wetlands have a helpful visitor's centre, hides and screens which let you get up close to water rail, yellow wagtails and terns, plus a family discovery zone, cafe, play area and accessible trails.

Reedbeds are the beating heart of Saltholme, where water rails, reed buntings and reed warblers thrive. Elsewhere you can explore pools, wet grasslands and a meadow which teem with life. 

Our reserves are looked after in a way which creates perfect conditions for a wide variety of wildlife. The reserve is home to one of the UK’s largest inland breeding colonies of common tern which arrive each spring and nest on the cockleshell covered islands in our open pools. The islands provide the ideal nesting sites for the birds, away from predators and trampling feet.

The wet grasslands are home to nationally important numbers of wintering wildfowl and waders, including golden plover, lapwing and wigeon, which graze the grass and seek out minibeasts. To manage this land sheep and cattle are brought into keep grass short. Our open water pools and scrapes (shallow pools) are looked after to maintain the right water levels for vast flocks of wading birds which stop off here on their migration.