Farlington Marshes
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Farlington Marshes is the Trust’s oldest nature reserve. It is 125 hectares (308 acres) of flower-rich grazing marsh on the northern shore of Langstone Harbour between Portsmouth and Havant. Farlington is internationally important for the bird populations that it supports, as well as being a blaze of colour in spring and summer with many flowers and butterflies. |
*** Stop Press ***
It has just been bought to our attention that re-surfacing works will be taking place from Friday 20th Jan to Monday 23rd Jan 2012 on the entrance road/cycletrack to Farlington Marshes. This work is being carried out by the Highways Agency. Parking is likely to be affected so visitors to the reserve may need to find alternative parking at The Farlington Playing Fields north of the A27 (behind Shell garage) or at Broadmarsh Coastal Park Havant.
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January update
Highlights
Merlin
Marsh harrier
Short eared owl
Peregrine
Kingfisher
Water pipit
Jack snipe
Black brant hybrid
Avocet
Bar tailed godwit in full summer plumage!
Woodcock
There are very good numbers of our wintering species on the reserve including-
2000 + Brent geese
500 + Lapwing
1000 + Wigeon
In the Harbour look for-
Black necked, Slavonian and Great crested grebe
Goldeneye
Red breasted merganser
Divers
Huge flocks of Dunlin
Large roosts of Oystercatcher
A number of Iceland gulls are inPortsmouth Harbour so check out gulls in Langstone.
Oysterbeds on Hayling Island - Shore lark
Avocet News
- a ringed individual seen from the reserve was identified as being a bird ringed in Germany as a non-fledged chick at Fahretofter Westerkoog, Nordfriesland on the Wadden Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, on 9 July 2010. This was the first sighting of the bird.
Update - Up to 9 Jack snipe on site at Farlington Marshes.
Getting there
Farlington Marshes is just south of the A27 between Portsmouth and Havant (Grid ref. SU 685 045). View a map.
Rail: Hilsea train station is 1½ miles from the reserve with trains from Fareham and Porchester every 30 minutes.
Bus: The 21 service runs from Portsmouth Harbour to Havant. The closest stop is by Farlington Sainsbury's (north of A27) which is a 15 + min walk to the reserve.
Cycle: The Portsmouth to Havant cycleway runs along the northern edge of the reserve on the south side of the A27. There are bike racks at each entrance.
Road: The western car park of Farlington Marshes can be reached from the eastern Portsmouth A27 roundabout (signed for the A2030). The track leading to Farlington is a small lane between the A27 westbound exit and the A2030 exit leading to Portsmouth. Take care on rejoining the roundabout, as the traffic is fast moving. For the eastern access to Farlington, park at the Broadmarsh Coastal Park and walk west along the coastal path. This car park is near the A27 Bedhampton exit. From the east, exit the A27 onto the A3(M). Take the first exit and follow signs for Broadmarsh Coastal Park.
Getting around
Several areas of the reserve are open access. See map for details.
The flat surfaced sea wall encloses the marsh on two sides with a surfaced cycleway to the north. The circular walk around the wall is about 4km long (approx. 2.5 miles) and takes in fantastic views over the marsh and across the harbour.
There are benches at 300m intervals around the sea wall, and gates with RADAR locks at the entrances.
Wellingtons or sturdy shoes may be needed if conditions are wet.
Please keep dogs on leads at all times.
Contact Information
Jamie Marsh, Solent Reserves Officer, tel: 01489 774429, mob: 07917 616696
Find your way there by SatNav
Our reserve descriptions include maps and information on how to get there. To make things even easier, we have set up POIs (Points of Interest) for some of our larger reserves, which you can download into a satnav.
Download to your computer, the files which contain the POI definitions for Garmin and TomTom satnavs and the small logo which will show where the reserve is. To download these files, right click on the links above and choose Save Target As ... (or similar).
You will need to consult the satnav manual to find out how to load the POIs (HIWWT_reserves.ov2 for TomToms or HIWWT_reserves.csv for Garmins) and the logo (HIWWT_reserves.bmp) onto the satnav device.
