7 May 2008
Visit Welney Centre this weekend, 10-11 May, and do your bit to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day.
Thousands of birds migrate to the UKevery year to spend the winter or summer, with some 150,000 enjoying the safe roosts, ideal habitat and plentiful food that WWT centres provide. At Welney you can see Avocets, Dunlin, Swallows and House Martins from our hides, which have all returned to us for the summer. Also, listen out for our Cuckoos with their distinctive call and the melodic songs of the Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler as you go across to the reserve.
Follow our Swallow migration from the centre, across the footbridge to the reserve and find out about the amazing journey these little birds make from Africa. Then watch them as they fly over the main lagoon in search of insects to catch on the wing before returning to their nests above the main observatory. Or enter one of our hides to watch the Avocets displaying and nest building out on the lagoons and islands.
World Migratory Bird Day is a global initiative devoted to promoting migratory birds and their conservation worldwide. The event is designed to raise awareness of the amazing phenomenon of bird migration and the threats they face on their often arduous journeys.
Some of the more unusual birds that have been spotted on the reserve this year that might be about on the weekend include the Greenshank, Black Terns, Turtle doves and possibly a Garganey.
For more information on World Migratory Bird Day, visit www.worldmigratorybirdday.org.