Why is the Duddon Estuary so Important?
The whole of the Duddon Estuary is special, everyone who lives and works around the estuary will be aware of its beauty, charm and importance for the area. There are some of the estuarys habitats and species that are of particular significance. The most important ones are referred to as interest features and for the SPA they are: • Internationally important populations of breeding birds, a breeding colony of sandwich terns • Migratory bird populations of international importance, especially pintail, knot and redshank, and • A regular assemblage of over 20,000 wintering waterfowl (wildfowl, waders and seabirds) and during severe winters numbers may exceed 70,000, including shelduck, red-breasted merganser, oystercatcher, ringed plover, dunlin and curlew. These birds depend on the presence within the estuary of several marine and terrestrial habitats, which are internationally important in their own right. It is important that these habitats are maintained for the future. The habitats id
