Havergate Island

Access to this site is by pre-booked boat trips only, so unfortunately, we are currently unable to accept bookings due to Covid-19 restrictions. Please see our Covid-19 updates page for the latest information on which reserves are open near you (link below). 

Address: RSPB Havergate Island, Quay St, Orford IP12 2NU, UK

Grid ref: TM425495

What3Words: oldest.marshes.gladiator

See our reserves Covid-19 updates page for which sites are open and other important details.

This small island in the River Ore is famous for its avocets, terns and spoonbills. In autumn and winter, the island provides a haven for large numbers of ducks and wading birds. Havergate is also a great place to see brown hares at close range.

Plan your visit

Access via boat on pre-booked trips only. Boats leave Orford Quay at 10 am on first Saturday of every month (maximum 12 people) except May, June and July. Also selected weekends for special events.

Free entrance to RSPB members: No

Adults: £19 (RSPB members) £24 (non-members)

Children: £9.50 (RSPB members) £12 (non-members)

Car park cost

Pay and display at Orford Quay.
Blue Badge holders are exempt from car parking charges at Orford Quay.

Facilities

Toilets
Picnic area
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails

Accessibility

Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Wickham Market Station. From the station, follow the B1078 east through Tunstall to the B1084. Turn left and follow through to the village of Orford.

By bus

You can take Route 160: Ipswich - Bealings - Woodbridge - Orford. From the village centre, follow signs to Orford quay.

By bike

This reserve is close to Route 1 of the National Cycle Network.

By road

Access by boat from Orford Quay. The village of Orford is located 17 km (11 miles) to the north-east of Woodbridge; the village is signposted off the A12.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

Prior booking is essential.The boat leaves Orford quay at 10am and returning to Orford at about 3.20pm, on the first Saturday of each month only.

The boat journey takes approximately 20 minutes. Bookings are made via the rspb website or search Havergate Island on Eventbrite.

Get directions from Google Maps

View on What3Words

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Group bookings accepted. Please contact the warden in advance on havergate.island@rspb.org.uk.

Contact Havergate Island

RSPB Havergate Island, Quay St, Orford IP12 2NU, UK
havergate.island@rspb.org.uk
01728 688959
@RSPBSuffolk
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Avocet

Watch avocets 'scooping up' microscopic, aquatic life in their sickle-shaped beaks. Or see mini colonies nesting.

Barn owl

When the barn owls have young to feed, you could see them at any time of day.

Common tern

Watch common terns raising their young in spring and summer by visiting the hides.

Pintail

Pintails flock to the estuary here in autumn and winter.

Wheatear

The arrival of wheatears from March is a sure sign that spring has arrived at Havergate.

The hares on the island are most active in early spring. Wading birds and ducks display and nest on the islands in the lagoons. Flowering thrift turns the saltmarshes pink. Common terns, with a few Sandwich terns, return to breed.

Grassland butterflies - skippers, small coppers, wall and meadow browns and gatekeepers - are common in summer. Migrating wading birds stop off on the lagoons to feed and roost. In late summer, wheatears can be seen on the paths and shingle.

In autumn, sea aster comes into flower on the saltmarshes. The numbers of winter wildfowl also start to increase and wading birds such as spotted redshanks pass through on migration. Short-eared owls and barn owls hunt for mice and voles along the river walls.

Numbers of wigeon, pintail and teal peak in mid-winter. Birds of prey such as short-eared owls and marsh harriers hunt over the island. Common seals can occasionally be seen in the river at this time of year.

About Havergate Island

Habitat

Havergate Island is Suffolk’s only island and sits within the River Ore near Orford. The coastal habitat found include saline lagoons, saltmarshes, vegetated shingle and mudflats.

Conservation

Our conservation efforts at Havergate Island include managing saline lagoons, shingle, and saltmarsh.

We are managing the island's saline lagoons to suit many species of waders and ducks during the autumn and winter seasons. During the spring the island becomes one of the largest gull colonies in the East of England and nationally important for lesser black back and herring gull. We also have a small population of common terns and avocets that return every year to breed. Throughout the year we control the water and salinity levels in the lagoons by adjusting the sluices to let the water in or out.
We will manage our 4 ha of vegetated shingle for the benefit of its specialised invertebrates and plants, such as smooth yellow vetch, ensuring that it remains undisturbed.

The Alde-Ore estuary is important for many species of European importance. Because of this, we recently completed an EU Life project in partnership with the National Trust on Orford Ness in 2014. This work enabled us to make adaptions to the island to establish efficient and sustainable water management of the lagoons and it helped us create new and improved breeding islands. In 2018 we were awarded funding from the Environment Agency as part of DEFRAs natural flood management programme and by the landfill tax fund through a grant awarded by Viridor credits which we used to help alleviate the impact of future storm surges by creating a new 600m spillway along the rear of main lagoon.

Site information

Access via boat on pre-booked trips only. Boats leave Orford Quay at 10 am on the first Saturday of every month (maximum 12 people) except May, June and July. Also selected weekends for special events - see events section for details.

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