Fingringhoe Wick Visitor Centre

Description

The visitor centre is set in a spectacular position overlooking the Colne Estuary, even on the dullest days the view is fantastic. Fingringhoe Wick was Essex Wildlife Trust's first visitor centre and to this day is still very popular. It offers the visitor real peace and quiet and a chance to escape from it all. The visitor centre facilities include gift shop offering light refreshments, toys, books, optics, bird feeders & feed, greeting cards and much more, Viewing tower & observation room with panoramic views. Toilets, baby changing facilities, wheel chair, hearing loop available.

Fingringhoe Wick is one of the finest nature reserves in the county, it is attractive to families, organised wildlife groups, school parties and walkers. Out on the reserve you will find a picnic area, nature trails & bird hides (some easy access) and view points with stunning estuary views. There are numerous benches located around the reserve. There is a full diary of events for both children & adults throughout the year which include a weekly toddler group. Also available during opening hours are Gem Stone Panning and Nature Reserve Activity Bag Hire.

There were 40 years of gravel extraction on the nature reserve before Essex Wildlife Trust bought it. It offers a wide range of habitats including areas of grassland, gorse heathland, reedbeds, ponds and the estuary itself. Fingringhoe Wick is famous for its Nightingales each spring. The songsters ring out over the reserve and there are usually about 25 males to be heard. Thousands of waders and wildfowl use the estuary in the winter and as many as 700 Avocets can be seen.

The nature reserve is a wildlife haven and visitors can enjoy up to 200 species of birds. numerous dragonflies and damselflies, butterflies and up to 350 species of flowering plants have been recorded. In the spring you can see orchids, clovers, medicks and treefoils. In the summer the Sea Lavender on the saltmarsh looks spectacular.