St Bees Head RSPB reserve

St Bees Head is a nature reserve on clifftop terrain in Cumbria with marked pathways and viewing stations positioned along the coast. These vantage points allow visitors to watch thousands of seabirds at their nesting sites on the rock face.

The RSPB established this reserve to protect the only cliff-nesting seabird colony in northwest England. The protection effort was created to preserve this important breeding ground over the long term.

The reserve is a focus point for people dedicated to seabird protection and monitoring. You can see conservation work happening throughout the year as staff and volunteers care for the breeding sites and study the different species.

The viewing stations are reachable via clearly marked trails that are easy to navigate and safe for observation. The best time to visit is from April to July when nesting activity is at its height and birds are most visible.

The cliffs hold nesting pairs of guillemots numbering in the thousands, birds that build their nests on narrow rock ledges in tight rows. In nearby Fleswick Bay you can spot black guillemots, a rarer species with very different habits and behavior.