Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve

A community owned Nature Reserve managed by local volunteers. Nature Conservation - Environmental Education - Dark Skies - Local History - Access for All.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Kate Humble visited the Nature Reserve recently on her Coastal Britain TV series. She explored the sites history as a whinstone quarry & helped out with our modern day conservation work to restore areas of rare, flower rich, whin grassland habitat.

https://t.co/SAboWg2UkT

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Rare Dragonfly ALERT !

A Lesser Emperor dragonfly has been spotted at the Nature Reserve's wetland. This large dragonfly shows a dark abdomen with a distinctive blue band and green eyes. It's a rare dragonfly in the UK with only a handful of records from Northumberland.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

This male Kestrel has been hunting around the Nature Reserve recently, it often uses the ruins of Quarry House as a perch to scan the surrounding grassland for prey (predominantly voles & other small mammals). You may also see it hovering over the Nature Reserve as it hunts.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Goldfinches flock together in winter and feed on small seeds, in particular they love the seeds of Teasels. There are lots of Teasel seed heads on the Nature Reserve at the moment, which means lots of Goldfinches !

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Some nice ducks at the Nature Reserve wetland today. 3 Pochard (quite a scarce bird locally), Tufted Ducks, Goldeneye, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard and an impressive count of 46 Shoveler ! #duckfest

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

We're delighted to announce that Embleton String Quartet are holding a concert in support of the Nature Reserve.

It is on Sunday 10th November starting at 15:00, everyone is welcome.🙂

All proceeds will go towards management of the Nature Reserve.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Winter thrushes are arriving from Scandinavia, we have seen large numbers of Blackbirds, Song Thrushes & Redwings over the last week. The Nature Reserve is an important stop off/re-fuelling station for these tired migrants, providing an abundance of berries for them to feed on.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

We were lucky enough to see the big Aurora last night. Really nice to see a few folk here enjoying nature's light show too ! The Nature Reserve is shielded from streetlights and offers some great views of our wonderful dark skies.💫

#NorthernLights #AuroraBorealis

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

A rare moonbow was photographed from the Nature Reserve last night. 🌈

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

The goats have arrived !

These hardy grazing animals help to create a more diverse scrub habitat & improve floristic diversity.

We use ‘no fence’ technology (with a rope around their grazing area). We ask that visitors please respect the ‘invisible’ fence/keep dogs at heel.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

@KarenAspinall We have set up a WhatsApp group for the local community, it sends out an alert whenever the aurora is visible from here. Just send us a message if you'd like to be added to the group.

There is also a live Aurora camera at this link...

https://t.co/AVHe46Sm5i

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

The Aurora Borealis was seen from the Nature Reserve last night.

Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve is a Northumberland Coast National Landscape Dark Sky Site and offers some fantastic views of the night sky. 🔭💫

#stargazing #darkskies #aurora #northernlights

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

The goats are coming !

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

2 days ago, Aurora Borealis over Quarry House.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

We are seeing a little darkness returning after the continuous twilight of mid-summer nights. This was the view from our Stargazing Area last night, with the Milky Way stretching overhead from west to east.

Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve is a @northcoast_nl Dark Sky Site💫

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Join us for National Meadows Day ! There will be guided walks and a demonstration of how we manage our grasslands for biodiversity. #nationalmeadowsday #wildflowers

@Love_plants @NEE_Naturalist @northcoast_nl

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Now is a great time to look for orchids on the Nature Reserve, there are 4 species currently flowering - Northern Marsh Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Bee Orchid.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve has some amazing history. A working whinstone quarry from 1864–1961, it produced whinstone setts and blocks for use in pavements and buildings. At its peak, the quarry employed around 80 men, women and children. Here's a couple of photos from 1910.

[Embleton Quarry Nature Reserve @EmbletonQuarry]

The aurora over Quarry House.

[Graham Harrington @Harrin02]

Embleton Quarry this evening