The reserve is a mixture of moorland, bog, fen, sea cliffs, sand flats and salt marsh. There are around 100 pairs of curlews and some large gull colonies. A couple of pairs of merlins and two or three hen harriers nest annually. As many as four pairs of short-eared owls also nest here.

In winter, Waulkmill Bay and the south coast of Hobbister provide excellent views of wintering great northern divers, black-throated, red-throated divers, and Slavonian grebes.