Short birdwatching visit · North Tyneside Council
Rising Sun: Swallow Pond nature reserve
- Tier
- Good stop nearby
- Best season
- 2024 field observations; wider seasonal pattern unstated
- Headline birds
- Pochard · Cetti’s Warbler · Great Crested Grebe
- Parking
- The official visitor listing provides a free car park at the countryside centre.
- Hides
- The official visitor information lists a public bird hide.
- Step-free
- Selected paths are wheelchair accessible; check the chosen wetland route with the centre.
Rising Sun Country Park, Benton
Rising Sun’s Swallow Pond nature reserve offers a wetland-focused visit within the wider country park. An RSPB Newcastle dawn-chorus report published in 2024 describes seeing Cetti’s Warbler and Reed Bunting in the reedbed and Great Crested Grebe on Swallow Pond. These are dated field observations, with no promise that each bird will appear on a later visit. Use the designated reserve paths and public hide to watch the wetland, adding a woodland or grassland section if time allows. Swallow Pond and its reserve paths provide the wetland focus, with woodland and grassland available elsewhere in the country park.
Birds and seasons
- Pochard · Headline bird — Recorded in the RSPB walk account; season not stated Source for Pochard
- Cetti’s Warbler · Headline bird — Reported in 2024 account; wider season not stated Source for Cetti’s Warbler
- Reed Bunting — Reported in 2024 account; wider season not stated Source for Reed Bunting
- Great Crested Grebe · Headline bird — Reported in 2024 account; wider season not stated Source for Great Crested Grebe
Plan your visit
- Hides and viewpoints
- The official visitor information lists a public bird hide.
- Paths
- Follow the designated country park and nature reserve paths to the public watching areas.
- Toilets
- Not stated by the operator – check before travelling
- Parking
- The official visitor listing provides a free car park at the countryside centre.
- Dogs
- Not stated by the operator – check before travelling
- Access notes
- Selected paths are wheelchair accessible; check the chosen wetland route with the centre.
- Step-free access
- Selected paths are wheelchair accessible; check the chosen wetland route with the centre.
Getting there: Use the countryside centre entrance off Whitley Road, Benton, following current Rising Sun signs. The pin is a published public car park location. Check the centre’s current access information before choosing the wetland route, and keep to the reserve paths and watching points rather than walking onto the pond margins.
Sources
Social preview: original typographic artwork by Does Your Duck Quack.
Nearby special trips
- Souter Lighthouse, The Leas and Whitburn coast · 7.4 straight-line miles
- Cresswell Pond · 15.5 straight-line miles
- Druridge Pools · 16.8 straight-line miles
Continue birding nearby
Nearest full guide: WWT Washington, 8.5 miles away in a straight line.
- Weetslade Country Park · 3.1 miles in a straight line
- Holywell Pond · 3.7 miles in a straight line
- St Mary’s coastal nature reserve · 4.5 miles in a straight line