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Northampton Washlands is one of the most important refuges for wetland birds in Europe. It is important all year round, but in the winter it is home to more birds than any other site in the Nene Valley, with thousands of wetland birds migrating here from northern and Eastern Europe. The Washlands is particularly important for birds because it is large and very open. The land is part of a working farm and is also a floodwater storage reservoir.

Sheep grazing is essential to maintain the short grassland which attracts hundreds and sometimes thousands of roosting golden plovers, up to a thousand wigeon which graze in flocks around the lake and hundreds of other water birds, such as lapwings, teal and gulls.