East End Pond Conservation Area

East End Pond is one of Anguilla's salt ponds, shallow brackish water in a low basin near Island Harbour that is protected as a conservation area for the birds that use it: stilts, herons, egrets, plovers and migratory waders working the shallows. The island has several such ponds and they are the main wetland habitat on a place with no rivers and very little fresh water. Anguilla has around twenty-five salt ponds in total, and several were worked commercially for salt into the twentieth century.

What you actually see

• The waterbirds - stilts, herons and migratory waders on the shallows.
• The salt pond - shallow brackish water in a low basin.
• The protected status - a conservation area covering the pond.
• The wetland role - the main habitat of its kind on a dry island.

When to go

December to April is when migratory waders are present in numbers. Water levels vary and the pond can dry out. Early morning is best for birds.

Honest expectations

The pond can dry out entirely in some seasons, leaving little to see. There are no hides or facilities. Viewing is from the roadside edge.

Nearby

Island Harbour is north, and Savannah Bay is south.