Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve is located on the New Forest coast between the Lymington River and the village of Keyhaven and is particularly important for wintering birds. It covers an area of acres of coastal grazing marsh, lagoons and former salt marshes. During the winter months the reserve is home to a wide range of wintering waders and wildfowl. There is a wintering population of up to a dozen Spotted Redshank. Avocet and Spoonbill are now also regular during winter.
Eider, Red-breasted Merganser and small numbers of Slavonian Grebe can be observed offshore from the seawall. During spring and summer three species of tern can be seen from the seawall with sometimes large numbers of Mediterranean Gull. In late summer and autumn a wide range of passage migrant waders can be observed on the lagoons with rarities occurring most years.
The reserve supports important populations of birds and rare and specialist plants and invertebrates. Since the construction of the new seawall in the early s the number of visitors to the reserves has increased. Despite this the reserves continue to offer people a great opportunity to enjoy this unique area and its wildlife. Coastal lagoons are bodies of salt or brackish water that are partially connected to the sea through narrow openings or permeable barriers.
On the Lymington-Keyhaven marshes the lagoons lie just inside the seawall. They are connected to the sea by sluices. Salt water also percolates through the sands and gravel below. The lagoons vary in size from less that 2m to over m in width. For most of their length the lagoons are relatively narrow ditches about 50 cm deep with muddy bottoms.
As well as sea water the lagoons receive freshwater as rainwater, runoff from adjacent land and from nearby streams. The amount of freshwater dilutes the sea water reducing the salinity. In hot weather salinity levels can rise as evaporation removes freshwater. Lagoons show a great fluctuation in salinity and temperature making them a hostile environment for most marine species. Some highly specialised organisms have evolved to take advantage of these conditions.
These lagoonal specialists have restricted distributions and are rare. Some species that occur on the reserve are the lagoon shrimp, starlet anemone, lagoon cockle and foxtail stonewort. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
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Guide dogs and Assistance dogs only. When to visit Opening times Open at all times. Best time to visit Visit in spring to see arriving migrants such as wheatear, swallow, terns. Winter brings large flocks of brent geese, wigeon, pintail, waders. About the reserve The seawall offers stunning views across the mudflats, where a wealth of different bird species come to feed. Habitat Saltmarsh and mudflats Coastal.
Contact us Bob Chapman. Contact number:
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