The site belongs to Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and is open from 9am until dusk throughout the year. All facilities are designed to be fully accessible. The reserve consists of three lakes, formerly gravel pits, and a half mile stretch of the River Wylye. No dogs are allowed on the reserve, except guide dogs.
A Visitor Centre is close to the entrance in Duck Street, Steeple Langford and toilets are available there at SU036370. Parking is nearby. There are disabled parking spaces further into the reserve at the Education Centre. As you walk towards the lakes, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper can sometimes be seen in the Poplars.
There are four fully accessible hides from which the lakes can be observed. The riverside walk is not generally open to the public. In winter, large numbers of wetland birds congregate at the lakes. Significant numbers of Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Coot are present and other species including Pochard, Wigeon, Shoveler, Goosander, Goldeneye and Mandarin regularly occur. Kingfishers and Little Egrets are often seen and Great Egret has been recorded. The Brockbank lake has a small reedbed which occasionally attracts a Bittern in January or February. Siskins, Redpolls and Bramblings feed in the lakeside trees.
In Spring and Autumn, large numbers of hirundines and Swifts feed at the lakes and Hobbys are also attracted. Ospreys on passage regularly fish and Common Sandpipers are sometimes seen in summer. Common Terns have bred on a raft on Long Pond and Black Tern and Little Gull visit on passage. A good range of warblers, including Garden, Sedge and Reed Warbler, breed in the reserve and the song of Cettis Warbler is regularly heard.
As well as watching birds from the hides, there are two walks which you can enjoy. Within the reserve, the Glebe Walk is a 400 metre circular route crossing the Little Langford Channel providing the chance of Snipe and Stonechat in winter and warblers such as Whitethroat in summer. Outside the reserve, opposite the entrance in Duck Street, you can walk through the water meadows alongside the river to Hanging Langford with the chance of recording Little Grebe and a variety of other birds.
Grid reference: SU0436
