Volunteers will spend this Sunday spotting and recording the thousands of waterbirds that migrate to the UK in winter.
Staff and visitors at all nine WWT wetland reserves will be taking part in the annual Wetland Bird Survey to count the numbers of different species, identify the sites they use and any changes in their populations.
Journalists interested in featuring this important survey (and discovering the knack to accurately counting large flocks) can visit one of our reserves to meet the experts. Birds they may see include Bewick’s and whooper swans, pink-footed geese, teal, lapwing and curlew.
Many of the birds being counted will have flown thousands of miles from breeding sites in the Russian and Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Iceland. WWT reserves offer protection and food, give the birds chance to recover from their long flights and prepare themselves for their return migration in spring.
Britain’s long coastlines and protected inland sites make it a critically important region for birds in winter.
The information gathered from the survey will help direct conservation effort to species most in need.
Visit http://www.wwt.org.uk/ for details of WWT’s nine centres.
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For more information contact prteam@wwt.org.uk / 01453 891162
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