RSPB - giving nature a home
Search
Close
Skip to content
Shop | Community
Log in | Sign up
  • About the RSPB
      About us
    • Our history
    • Our mission
    • How the RSPB is run
    • RSPB Media Centre
    • RSPB job vacancies
    • At home & abroad
    • International
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Get in touch
    • Contact us
    • RSPB offices
    • Connect with us your way
      Our activities
    • Gardening for wildlife

      Gardening for wildlife

      See our ideas to keep you connected to nature during coronavirus

    • Connect with us your way

      Connect with us your way

      From our regular emails to your favourite social media, there’s more than one way to keep in touch with nature

    • Martin Harper Blog

      Martin Harper Blog

  • Our work
      Nature conservation
    • Conservation and sustainability
    • Projects
    • Landscape scale conservation
    • Centre for Conservation Science
    • Satellite tracking birds
    • RSPB News
    • RSPB News
    • 'Our work' blog
    • Our positions and casework
    • Our positions
    • Casework
    • State of Nature report
      Featured news
    • Mindful mornings

      Mindful mornings

      If you can’t get outside, why not bring the outside in by downloading our bird song radio app?

    • How nature can help protect our homes

      How nature can help protect our homes

      Following the floods this winter, watch how one area is using nature as a natural protector.

    • Casework

      Casework

      Catch up with the RSPB’s own nature detectives on the case as they look to save some very special places.

  • Birds & wildlife
      Wildlife guides
    • Identify a bird
    • Bird A-Z
    • Other garden wildlife
    • Guide to birdwatching
    • UK conservation status explained
    • Nature's Calendar
    • Nature's Home magazine
    • About Nature's Home magazine
    • Birds and wildlife articles
    • RSPB Podcasts
    • Nature's Home blog
    • Advice
    • How you can help birds
    • Gardening for wildlife
    • Ask an expert
    • Wildlife and the law
    • How to report crimes against wild birds
    • Bird songs
    • Which bird song is that?
    • Most popular bird guides this month
    • Which bird song is that?

      Which bird song is that?

      Find out how to identify a bird just from the sound of its singing with our bird song identifier playlist.

    • Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Who to contact if you spot an injured or baby bird

      Read more advice about what to do if you find a bird that needs help

    • In for a duck

      In for a duck

      It’s nesting season for our waterfowl too but what are the rules you need to follow for ducks, geese or swans?

  • Get involved
      Activities
    • Big Garden Birdwatch
    • Help nature at home
    • RSPB Competitions
    • Dolphinwatch
    • Community & advice
    • Join our local groups
    • How green are you?
    • RSPB Community
    • Get involved blog
    • Volunteering & fundraising
    • Volunteer
    • Fundraise
    • Help nature thrive as a corporate partner
    • Our grant funders
    • Campaigning
    • Climate change effects on nature and wildlife
    • Protecting wildlife sites
    • Campaign with us
    • Five actions to Revive Our World
    • Let nature sing
    • OxCam Arc
    • Your Actions for Nature
    • Top activities to do
    • Help nature at home

      Help nature at home

      Great ideas on how your garden, or even a small backyard or balcony, can become a mini nature reserve

    • How green are you?

      How green are you?

      See some of the ways you can get into green living.

    • Campaigning

      Campaigning

      See our toolkit for ways to campaign with us to protect nature and save wildlife.

  • Reserves & events
      Reserves A-Z Events, dates & inspiration
    • Events
    • COVID-19 information
    • Dates with nature
    • Places to visit blog
    • #ThanksToYou
    • Find a reserve
      Top reserve this month
    • Marshside

      Marshside

      This fantastic wetland site is located north of Southport town centre and has some of the best wildlife in the region.

    • Lytchett Fields

      Lytchett Fields

      The reserve has seen more than thirty species of wading birds.

    • Arne

      Arne

      Heathland home to more than 2565 species.

  • Fun & Learning
      For teachers
    • Supporting resources
    • Wild Challenge
    • School outreach visits
    • Big Schools Birdwatch
    • Sign up for the newsletter
    • School trip ideas
    • For families
    • Big Wild Sleepout
    • Wild Challenge
    • Nature reserves for families
    • For kids
    • Fun factoids for all the family
    • Games and activities
    • Kids stories
    • RSPB kids competitions
    • Latest kids' activities
    • Wild Challenge

      Wild Challenge

      Nature is an adventure waiting to be had. Get out, get busy and get wild!

    • Fun factoids for all the family

      Fun factoids for all the family

      Find out more about the nature and wildlife outside your window.

    • Youth membership

      Youth membership

      As well as a free gift and magazines, you’ll get loads of ideas for activities to try at home.

  • Join & Donate
      Join us
    • Choose a membership
    • Family membership
    • Youth membership
    • Gift membership
    • Discover RSPB Life Fellowships
    • Renew your membership
    • Our 2020 film
    • Donate
    • Our appeals
    • Make a one-off donation
    • Make a regular donation
    • Memorial donations
    • Plant a memorial tree
    • In memoriam booklet download form
    • Thank you
    • Leave a gift in your Will
    • Other people's gifts
    • Legacy donation FAQs
    • Legacy administration
    • Legacy booklet download form
    • Other ways to help
    • Gift Aid
    • Support us when you shop
    • RSPB Images
    • RSPB second-hand binocular scheme
    • Win with the RSPB
    • Payroll Giving
    • Stamp out albatross deaths
  • Login to your account Sign up for an RSPB account
  • Shop
  • Community
  • Home
  • Reserves & events
  • Reserves A-Z
  • Adur Estuary

Adur Estuary

In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, our trails are open. We urge you to follow the legislation around non-essential travel and please visit your most local nature reserves and green spaces only. Please observe current guidelines on social distancing, face coverings, group sizes, hygiene and follow all signage on-site. See our Covid-19 updates page for the latest safety information (link below). Thank you for your support and understanding.
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
gallery image
Address
RSPB Adur Estuary, A259, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5EN
Grid ref
TQ215049
See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

This wild saltmarsh is just a few minutes walk from Shoreham-by-Sea. Make the short journey from the town centre and you'll discover a small reserve where saltmarsh meets mudflats, the perfect feeding and roosting site for waders and wildfowl. Access is restricted, but you can enjoy views from nearby footpaths.

Plan your visit

Opening times

Open at all times.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
Free, but donations are very welcome.
Children
Free, but donations are very welcome.

Facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Shoreham-by-Sea. From the station, walk west along Ham Road then turn left onto Tarmount Lane, then East Street to reach the High Street along the river. The reserve lies just to the west of the footbridge.

By bus

Shoreham-by-Sea town centre.

By bike

The Adur Valley route is nearby.

Get directions from Google Maps
RSPB reserves on Google Earth

What will the weather be like?

15 degrees, Sunny day

Contact Adur Estuary

  • RSPB Adur Estuary, A259, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5EN
  • pulborough.brooks@rspb.org.uk
  • 01798 875851

What will you see?

Our star species

    Dunlin, breeding plumage

    Dunlin

    Watch out for breeding-plumaged dunlins with black bellies during spring.

    Standing Lapwing illustration

    Lapwing

    Watch out for flocks of lapwings on the muddy banks of the river during autumn.

    Oystercatcher illustration

    Oystercatcher

    You can see oystercatchers at the Adur Estuary at any time of year.

    Redshank, summer plumage

    Redshank

    Redshanks can also be seen during any season - they are one of the most numerous wading birds here.

    Ringed plover, summer plumage

    Ringed plover

    Ringed plovers have a short, orange bill with a black tip, and adult birds have a smart black breast-band.

Seasonal highlights

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

Little egrets, oystercatchers, ringed plovers, grey plovers, dunlins, redshanks and turnstones at low tide, feeding on the reserve and River Adur.

A generally quiet period for birds, but in August, numbers of oystercatchers, ringed plovers, dunlins and redshanks increase. Likewise, Sandwich and common terns are often seen fishing.

Little egrets, oystercatchers, ringed plovers, grey plovers, lapwings, dunlins, redshanks and turnstones at low tide, feeding on the reserve and River Adur. At high tide, grey herons, little egrets, snipe, redshanks and linnets on the reserve's saltmarsh.

Little egrets, oystercatchers, ringed plovers, grey plovers, lapwings, dunlins, redshanks and turnstones at low tide, feeding on the reserve and River Adur. At high tide, grey herons, little egrets, snipe, redshanks and linnets on the reserve's saltmarsh.

About Adur Estuary

Habitat

The saltmarsh and mudflats support a range of wintering waterfowl.

Conservation

There is no access to the reserve itself in order to allow birds to breed and roost undisturbed, and the fragile habitats to develop naturally.

Site information

Owing to the sensitive nature of the habitat there is no access to the reserve itself, but it is viewable year round from surrounding public footpaths.

Share this

  • Facebook Facebook Created with Sketch.
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

You might also be interested in

Wet meadows at Pulborough Brooks RSPB reserve, West Sussex, England. March 2007

Pulborough Brooks

Pulborough Brooks has beautiful views and is set in one of the richest areas for nature in the country.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Red Alert

1 in 4 UK birds are now on the Red List of Conservation Concern. This is an emergency for UK bird life.
RSPB Giving Nature a Home Campaign

Join us - legacy

Become an RSPB member by signing up here.

We spend 90% of net income on conservation, public education and advocacy

Quick links

  • Contact us
  • Online Community
  • Vacancies
  • Media centre

Information for

  • Teachers
  • Policy makers
  • Farmers & landowners
  • Scientists

Our work in

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • International

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

Partnering with

BirdLife_logo

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International. Find out more about the partnership

Fundraising Regulator logo OSCR logo

© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

  • Terms & conditions
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Charter and statutes
  • About our site
  • Modern Slavery Act

Cookie Preferences

Accepting all non-essential cookies helps us to personalise your experience

Edit settings
Accept all

Essential cookies are required

These cookies are required for basic web functions

Enable analytics cookies

Allow us to collect anonymised performance data

Enable marketing cookies

Allow us to personalise your experience

Save settings
Read our cookie policy