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Come to Blacktoft Sands throughout the year and see how many of our 270 species of birds you can see! The tidal reedbed is the largest in England and is important for its breeding bearded tits, bitterns and marsh harriers.
Buckenham Marshes is a traditionally managed grazing marsh with large numbers of breeding wading birds, and ducks and geese in winter. The reserve also often boasts the only regular winter flock of bean geese in England (November to February), together with white-fronted geese and up to 10,000 wigeons.
Here you can enjoy a newly created wetland, which provides a safe home for many rare species including water voles and otters. In spring the reedbeds are alive with birdsong and in autumn you can see kingfishers flashing up and down the ditches. Bitterns are seen regularly all year round.
At Lakenheath Fen, the RSPB has converted an area of arable farmland into a large wetland. There is a new visitor centre where you can find out more about the reserve, its wildlife and history. An events programme is run throughout the year, and family explorer backpacks and trail guides are available.
There's so much to see and hear at Minsmere: splendid woodland, wetland and coastal scenery, rare birds breeding and calling in on their migrations, shy wildlife like otters, the booming call of bitterns in spring, beautiful bugs and colourful wild flowers in summer.
In the heart of The Fens, the Ouse Washes forms the largest area of washland (grazing pasture that floods in the winter) in the UK. The reserve attracts thousands of ducks and swans in winter, and in spring, hundreds of snipe, lapwings and redshanks breed.
Set in the heart of beautiful countryside, this reserve is a fantastic day out for people of all ages. Walks lead through hedge-lined paths to viewing areas and hides where volunteers are often on hand to help point out the wildlife.
We managed to acquire Rainham Marshes in 2000 and set about transforming it into an important place for nature and a great place for people to visit. Now you can expect to see breeding wading birds in spring and summer, and large flocks of wild ducks in winter.
The fields here used to be arable farmland, but now you can see lapwings, snipe, curlews and redshanks nesting here in summer, as well as yellow wagtails, skylarks and meadow pipits.
This nature reserve offers a haven for wildlife on the edge of the city, but is a great place for people too with a new RSPB visitor centre, a café, shop and children's play area.
The Nene Washes is one of the finest areas of floodplain meadows in the UK with large numbers of breeding wading birds, including snipe and black-tailed godwits.
If you thought that there was no wilderness left in the south-east, come and have a look at Elmley Marshes! The two-mile drive across the vast wetlands, managed by the Elmley Conservation Trust, to get to the reserve car park is an exciting start to your visit.
On a ridge overlooking the Thames Marshes, Northward Hill includes a lovely bluebell wood where nightingales sing in spring. Over 100 pairs of grey herons nest in the trees, with what is one of the UK's largest and most famous colonies of little egrets.
Otmoor is a magical nature reserve of wet meadows and reedbeds. It is a haven in winter for thousands of ducks, such as teals and wigeons, and in spring and summer for breeding wading birds, such as lapwings and redshanks.
Lapwings, redshanks and snipe come to breed at this wet grassland haven. You might also see waders dropping in on their migration or ducks and geese on the open water.
Beckingham Marshes is a major habitat creation project on the River Trent floodplain, where we've created a wet grassland habitat.
Matford Marshes is a small, relatively new site halfway between Exeter and Exminster - just 3 miles from the city centre. It's one of our Exe Estuary reserves.