Geltsdale RSPB reserve is a nature reserve in
Geltsdale
Geltsdale is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Castle Carrock, in the Cumberland district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England, to the southeast of Castle Carrock village. In 2001 the parish had a population of 6. ...
, Cumbria, England. The
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds manages the site for upland birds such as the
hen harrier and
black grouse.
The reserve is within a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
(SSSI) called
Geltsdale & Glendue Fells. Along with other SSSIs in the North Pennines, it is designated a
Special Protection Area under the
Birds Directive.
The reserve is managed within the context of a commercial
hill farm
Hill farming or terrace farming is an extensive farming in upland areas, primarily rearing sheep, although historically cattle were often reared extensively in upland areas. Fell farming is the farming of fells, a fell being an area of unculti ...
.
Birdlife and habitats
The hen harrier is a bird of open habitats such as
heather moorland, a type of vegetation which is typical of the reserve. Although such habitats are common in the uplands of England, the bird is scarce, being illegally persecuted as a predator of
red grouse
The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes consider ...
. In 2013, hen harriers failed to breed successfully in England for the first time in almost half a century.
The black grouse requires a more varied habitat than the hen harrier and the RSPB has planted many trees at Geltsdale.
Another bird of interest is the
curlew, which since 2020 has been supported in this part of northern England by a project funded by the European Union's
LIFE programme
The LIFE programme (French: L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement) is the European Union's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and d ...
.
Howgill Beck, a stream which runs through the reserve, has "rewiggled" to attract wildlife such as
waders.
Facilities
There is a visitor information point.
There is free entry to the reserve.
There are four waymarked trails leading from the car park at Howgill:
* There is a viewpoint at an altitude of 1,500 feet at Bruthwaite.
The Bruthwaite trail is 1.8 miles,
*the Stagsike Trail covers 2.8 miles
* the Moorland Trails are 2.5 miles and 5 miles respectively.
Recent Hen harrier breeding attempts
In 2016 a hen harrier chick fledged at the reserve.
Named Bonny,
he was one of only seven such chicks to fledge that year in England. Bonny was
satellite tagged as part of a project funded by the European Union's
LIFE Programme
The LIFE programme (French: L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement) is the European Union's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and d ...
, "Conserving the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) in northern England and southern and eastern Scotland" (LIFE13 NAT/UK/000258).
Information was no longer transmitted from the tag after 14 December 2016 and he is assumed to have died.
In 2021 four chicks fledged from a nest at Geltsdale. The adults had been supported by a feeding programme designed to reduce the distances they had to travel from the nest.
Notes
:1.
North Pennines AONB
:2.
Geltsdale & Glendue Fells
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Moorlands of England
Nature reserves in Cumbria
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in England