Famous as the Island of Avocets, RSPB Havergate Island will be open to visitors for a special weekend searching for these handsome wading birds on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 September.

Access to Havergate is restricted to just a handful of visitor trips per year, and the Island of Avocets weekend is the last opportunity this year to join the wardens for a guided tour of this unique island.

Avocets, the bird on the RSPB logo, re-colonised the Suffolk coast in 1947 when they nested on Havergate Island and at RSPB Minsmere nature reserve. Suffolk remains the best county to see these elegant black-and-white birds with their long blue-grey legs and delicate upturned bill, which flock to our estuaries after breeding.

Havergate Site Manager, Aaron Howe, said, “Up to 1000 avocets have been counted on Havergate in September. It’s an incredible sight to watch the flocks swirling through the air, flashing brilliant white in the sunshine, or feeding in unison in shallow water.


“It’s not just avocets though, as visitors will also see a wide variety of other wading birds, such as dunlins, redshanks and curlews, as well as spoonbills, little egrets, ducks and maybe one of our barn owls, which have bred successfully again this year.”

Boats depart Orford Quay at 9 am or 1 pm each day for a four-hour tour of the island. Places are limited so must be booked in advance by calling the Minsmere visitor centre on 01728 648281. Tickets cost £15, or £12 for RSPB members, with no discount for children.