Montrose Basin Wildlife Centre

About this place

Reserve overlooking a large tidal basin, with hides for watching wildfowl and waders.

Montrose Basin is a huge tidal basin that fills and empties with the tide twice a day, and it's an internationally important site for wildfowl and wading birds, with pink-footed geese arriving in spectacular numbers each autumn. The wildlife centre, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, gives access to hides overlooking the basin along with telescopes and binoculars for a closer look, plus indoor exhibits explaining what to expect at different times of year. It's a genuinely good spot for introducing children to birdwatching without needing any equipment of their own. There's an admission charge for the centre, and it's fully indoors and accessible, with the hides reached by a short path.

Make a day of it — within 5km