The outdoor duckery at Castle Espie is open all year round for visitors.
The duckery has two functions: in winter, many young birds are kept within the duckery so that they can stay safe and healthy in the very cold conditions. We call this our over-wintering period and you will see species such as northern shoveler, baikal teal, eider, bufflehead, mandarin and rosybill as you walk through the duckery.
Throughout June and July, the duckery becomes home to a huge number of ducklings, goslings and cygnets. We hand rear many endangered species of duck from our waterfowl collection in order to ensure their survival as they can be vulnerable to predation in the waterfowl gardens.
We hand-rear the ducklings within the indoor duckery and when they are three weeks old they go into the outdoor duckery where visitors can see the cute sight of watching them adapt to the outside world. There are special behind the scenes tours every weekend in June to see the indoor duckery, where the ducklings hatch and spend the first three weeks of their life. These hour long tours must be booked in advance by calling 028 9187 4146.
