Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre
Telephone: 01206 738172
Email: Click here
Opening: Tuesday - Sunday 9.00am - 5.00pm plus Bank Holiday Mondays, but closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Address: Church Rd, Layer-de-la-Haye, Colchester, CO2 0EU
No dogs allowed.
Grid ref: TL 963 184
For up-to-date Sightings and News
Click Here
Business open as usual
Essex & Suffolk Water’s reservoir enhancement project is well underway at Abberton Reservoir. Visitors to the reservoir can watch the amazing skill of construction operators as they remove the large concrete slabs from the water’s edge and re-profile the margins.
Visitors can enjoy walks on the new Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve and around the new “Wild Wood”. Regular sightings include brown hare, skylark, lapwing and hobby. There are also stunning views across the reservoir and surrounding villages. The first temporary hide has been constructed and is open for use, giving views across Hide Bay.
Other wildlife highlights include increasing numbers and variety of wildfowl and waders, common terns nesting on the raft, turtle dove, corn bunting and yellow wagtail; and the warmer weather is bringing out butterflies (including purple hairstreak and brown argus) and dragonflies (including brown hawker and ruddy darter).
Staff and volunteers are happy to explain the reservoir enhancement scheme to visitors, so do please call in and see us. Our visitor centre and nature reserve are fully open for business as usual.
Please see the events listings for details of our full programme of events for adults and children.
The Visitor Centre is 6 miles SW of Colchester on the B1026 (a minor road linking Colchester and Maldon) just S of Layer de la Haye - follow the brown and white "Abberton Reservoir visitor centre" signs.
The huge expanse of Essex & Suffolk Water's Abberton Reservoir is one of Europe's top wetland sites. It is of international importance as a safe haven for wild ducks, swans and other water birds, whether resident, passing through on migration or over-wintering. It lies close to east-coast migration routes and, with its surrounding envelope of pasture and tree plantations, is a welcome sight to tired birds. Up to 40,000 ducks, swans and geese visit each year. The top seven species are Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Coot and Black-headed Gull and they cannot fail to impress. Added to this there can be hundreds of Shoveler, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Pintail and Great Crested Grebe. In the spring there is the unusual sight of Cormorants nesting in trees, one of the few places in Britain where they do this. They began in 1981 and have continued ever since.
Late summer brings the spectacle of large numbers of swans and ducks moulting - replacing their worn-out feathers - on the reservoir. Safety is vital while they do so because they replace all their flight feathers at once, which means that for a while they are unable to fly. In dry winters water levels fall temporarily to expose large expanses of mud. This attracts large numbers of passage waders such as ruff and spotted redshank from the coast. The surrounding farmland, too, is of value to birds. In winter thousands of golden plover may be seen there, along with small numbers of migratory geese and swans. For the keen birdwatcher the reservoir boasts an impressive list of rarities visiting briefly in winter or passing through on migration.
Essex Wildlife Trust manages this nature reserve situated on a well-protected bay of the reservoir, created in 1975 with the advice of Sir Peter Scott. Native trees and shrubs were planted, which have matured into valuable hedges and thickets. A wide range of small birds nest here, particularly warblers, nightingales and finches.
The pockets of grassland provide open, sunlit sites ideal for many insects, including butterflies. In spring and summer you are likely to see Small Copper and Green Hairstreak and others such as Common Blue, Gatekeeper and Small Skipper. Around the pond good numbers of dragonflies can be seen, including the Small Red-eyed Damselfly. With its central nesting island it attracts breeding Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard and Moorhen in spring.
The visitor centre was built with the support of Essex & Suffolk Water and Colchester Borough Council and sits right beside the reservoir. It is a birding centre par excellence, offering a variety of birds at different times of the year and the possibility of rarities, so interest is always high. The shop stocks one of the best ranges of wildlife books anywhere in Essex and a wide range of optics, so you can come to look at wildlife and get kitted out to improve your enjoyment at the same time.
For details of all EVENTS at Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre click here.
For our FACEBOOK page click here.
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Essex & Suffolk Water