Sandwell Valley Bird Hide and opening hours.

Can anyone from the staff at Sandwell Valley reserve, explain to me why the bird hide at that RSPB reserve has very limited hours and days when it's open? Compared to every other RSPB reserves, the bird hide at RSPB Sandwell Valley is open on very very limited hours and days.

  • Hi Thomo, I have alerted Sandwell to your query and I am sure they will get back to you soon.

    Claire

  • Hi Thomo,

    I'm the site manager at Sandwell Valley. The reserve trails are open 24/7 to explore but we are only able to open the hide when we have volunteers available to man it. We are recruiting for hide guide volunteers so we can have the hide open to match the visitor centre opening days of Wednesday to Sunday.

    Unlike many RSPB nature reserves Sandwell Valley is within a city which means we are easy to get to with nearby bus and train links and providing a green oasis for wildlife within Birmingham. The location can make the site more vulnerable to vandalism, although occurrences are infrequent. To provide a great wildlife viewing hide we only open it when we have our fantastic hide guide volunteers available. So if you visit us at the time the hide is open you will get great views of the lake and its wildlife plus a chance to chat with our friendly and very knowledgeable volunteers.

    We hope to see you soon.

    Cathy