Located within the Rising Sun Country Park in the heart of North Tyneside, Swallow Pond is one of the biggest and most significant subsidence ponds for wildfowl and wading birds in Northumberland.
Declared in 1992, it is one of the oldest LNRs in North Tyneside. In the past the reserve has been the site of a coal mine and a landfill for domestic waste, but is now home to a fantastic array of wildlife.
In winter, teal and lapwing arrive in their hundreds, whilst tufted duck and pochard arrive following 'wetter' years. Snipe, wigeon, mallard, shoveler and whooper swans are regular winter visitors, too.
In summer months breeding birds include common tern, shoveler, little ringed plover, little grebe, mute swan, mallard and moorhen, whilst reed bunting and yellow wagtail can be seen around the pond margins.
The pond is also an important bathing site for gulls, whilst short-eared owls regularly hunt over the marshy grassland.
Rabbit, hare, fox and deer are all found in the woodland and grassland surrounding the pond.
The smaller ponds and network of ditches around the site are also teeming with life: frogs, newts, dragonflies and other invertebrates all make their home there.
Access to the nature reserve can be made from the Rising Sun Countryside Centre, located off Whitley Road (A191).