The Anglian Water Bird Watching Centre — Attraction in Hambleton

As a bird watcher, this was a perfect destination to spend a few hours. With so many hides, I could easily have stayed for a whole day! We started in the north section and spotted an osprey, comorants, lapwings, curlew, terns, plover and sand martins. The walk to each hide is enjoyable if you are an active person. Some hides show the same place just at a different angle. So it isn't necessary to look at all of them. In the south, it did take a lot longer to walk, so we just picked a few hides. It was so quiet and we got to observe the quirks of the little grebes bobbing underwater whilst the terns flew by. The visitor centre has friendly staff and sells a nice selection of gifts and snacks. I'd advise bringing your binoculars or renting some in order to make the most of your trip there. Though you can use their telescope to spot birds in the...

The place itself is terrific, but arriving after lunch allowed little time to visit more than three hides.

The management isn't good. My partner has a blue badge so we were dismayed to trudge along the length of the car park, then along the lane, up the ramp, only to be told we had to take a bit of paper to display in the windscreen all the way back to the car, then all the way back to the visitor centre.

My partner got worried about closing time, so from one of the hides I rang the visitor centre number because the website said 4pm, but also 5pm during summer, and since the clocks had gone forward we needed clarification. Unfortunately there was just a voicemail option so we had to rush and leave earlier just in case.

Under the circumstances, £12 for two didn't...

After visiting Lyndon to have a look at the Ospreys, we called in here to see what was around (we arrived 3.30 - not too long before closing). We were already shattered so didn't visit the hides, but as it was quiet in the centre, we sat at the window and looked out with a hot chocolate... It was a sunny afternoon so good visibility over the water. One of the ospreys came around for a quick hello but we didn't see any fishing unfortunately. Terns were fishing well, there were plenty of swans, geese, gulls, mallards and tufted ducks all doing their thing. The staff were friendly and helpful. It was a great...