RSPB Hide, Udale Bay

Situated on the northern shore of the Black Isle, Udale Bay is an extensive area of mudflat, saltmarsh and west grassland. This makes it an ideal wintering ground for large numbers of wildfowl and wading birds. Together with the Nigg Bay tidal mudflats on the opposite shore, it forms a RSPB Nature Reserve and is one of the most important estuary sites left in Britain. The RSPB hide at the side of the road has wheelchair access.

The site is best visited within two hours of high tide and you are likely to be rewarded with spectacular views of flocks of birds. Oystercatchers, redshanks, curlews, dunlins, knots and bar-tailed godwits all assemble here to roost on the saltmarsh. It is an excellent spot to see geese in late autumn and spring. The red-breasted merganser, at home in both fresh and saltwater, can form flocks of several hundred here in the autumn. You can often see up to 5,000 wigeons feeding on the bed of eel grass. Late summer is also the time to spot fishing ospreys.