Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve
Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve is a UK national nature reserve. It was founded to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations, and six internationally important species of wildfowl and wading birds winter here. For the pale-bellied brent geese from Svalbard, this is their only regular wintering place in all of the United Kingdom. Pinkfooted and greylag geese, wigeons, grey plovers and bar-tailed godwits are the other visitors.
Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve is a Ramsar site, and as a result is a wetland of international significance.
Habitats
Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve covers a stretch of coastline, including the dunes of Lindisfarne and other coastal areas, such as intertidal mudflats, rocky shore, sand dunes and salt marshes. The dunes support many plants. Early forget-me-nots and marram grass are present. The reserve has many species of insects, moths and butterflies, including the 'woolly bears', and dark green fritillary and grayling butterflies. Big brown-lipped snails can also be found. During early summer, the purple northern marsh orchid flourishes along with the early marsh orchid. In July the marsh helleborines flower and form spectacular white carpets. An orchid, the Lindisfarne helleborine, has been discovered on the island. The plants were formerly identified as dune helleborine (Epipactis dunensis), but DNA analysis carried out in 2003 revealed them to be genetically distinct, and the new species was given the scientific name Epipactis sancta.Birds
Bird species for which the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve is important include pale-bellied brent goose, wigeon, teal, pintail, merlin, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit and many others. It is a good place for observing migrating birds arriving from the east, including large numbers of redwing and fieldfare, and also scarcer Siberian birds including regular annual yellow-browed warblers. Rare species such as Radde's warbler, dusky warbler and red-flanked bluetail have all been seen on Lindisfarne., 330 species have been recorded on Lindisfarne and the adjacent Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve. The large number and variety of birds makes the area popular with bird watchers, particularly in the autumn and winter.Common throughout Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands are the common eider duck. Saint Cuthbert was reputed to be fond of them during his periods on the Farnes as a hermit. In 676 he promulgated a law protecting the birds, reputed to be the first bird protection legislation. Locally the birds are known as "Cuddy's ducks" after the familiar form of "Cuthbert".