News
Flamingo chicks hatch at WWT Martin Mere
Four greater flamingo chicks have been born at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre. The cold weather has meant that the flamingos were late to lay their eggs. Twelve eggs have been laid so far this year; so the grounds team are still expecting many more chicks
New Discovery Hide will offer visitors ‘chilled-out’ birdwatching
An exciting attraction that is set to inspire a whole new audience of wildlife lovers opens its doors at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre on Father’s Day (June 16). The South Lake Discovery Hide has been designed with families and beginner wildlife
A hatching duckling
Every day this week we are telling you how a duckling develops and hatches from an egg. On average it takes 16 - 18 hours for a duckling to hatch. The duckling is very tired when it hatches and will often just want to rest and stay warm until it dries and
New £120K habitat-creation project unveiled
Saline lagoon view An example of one of the UK’s rarest habitats is being unveiled to the public at WWT Washington Wetland Centre this weekend. A £120K saline lagoon, funded by SITA Trust and the Estate of the late
Wildlife sightings for 24th May 2013
8 Common Tern - main lake, reservoir lagoon 3 Redshank - reservoir lagoon, main lake 4 Little Grebe chicks - middle reedbed channel 20 House Martin - reservoir lagoon, main lake 25+ Swift - main lake 1 Kestrel - hunting over site To allow the sand marti
Today's sightings
British Steel hide/estuary spoonbill, 112 black tailed godwit, 2 whimbrel, 51 shelduck, 3 little egret, sparrowhawk and kestrel. Lagoon 370 black headed gull, 2 lapwing, 28 greylag goose, 21 gadwall, 27 mallard, 5 pochard and 19 tufted duck.
All well on the nest despite a sleet shower
All, is well on the osprey nest today, however the chilly NW wind brought a sharp sleet shower just before lunchtime. The male has broght in a fish for the female and more sticks and is taking a turn at sitting on the eggs as I write. On Monday evening
Internal pipping?
Every day this week we are showing you how new life develops inside an egg and ultimatley hatches in preparation for Downy Duckling Week that begins on Saturday. Once the duckling enters the airspace it begins 'Internal pipping' and the duckling is breath
Cranes incubating.
Rushy Cranes still incubating well. A thermal imaging camera is revealing some interesting nocturnal behavior, The male roosted alongside the female all night who left to feed for two hours at dawn. watch from the Rushy wooden hide or Peng Observatory. A
Out on the reserve today
Lady Fen Wood sandpiper - 2 Visitor centre ponds Water vole - 1 just the one seen today sitting out in the open on the pond weed munching away Moorhen - 1 pair on a nest, 1 pair with young to the rear of the centre Reedbed hide Cuckoo - 1 male seen and he
Wildlife sightings for 23rd May 2013
Please note that the Peacock Tower is closed for essential repairs. We plan to re-open it as soon as possible and will update the sightings page when it has re-opened. If the scaffolding comes down tomorrow as planned it will re-open. 4 Little Grebe chick
WWT Washington named one of England's best small visitor attractions
Lady Cobham, Chair of VisitEngland, presents the award WWT Washington Wetland Centre is thrilled to announce it has won the ‘highly commended’ award in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category at the pres
Reserve update
It looks like the barnacle geese have finally left us at Caerlaverock with none seen from the tower since the 7th of May. There were 800 around on Sunday the 5th and 40 on Monday the 6th. However most of the population is still on the Solway, mainly at th
An incubated egg at week 4
Every day this week we are showing you how new life develops inside an egg. The hatching will take place on Friday in time for our Downy Duckling Week that is starting on Saturday 25 May. At 4 weeks the duckling is almost fully grown and the egg is domina
Today's highlights
Today’s highlights include spoonbill, 140 black tailed godwit, 9 little egret, 2 sedge warbler, 20 reed warbler, lesser whitethroat, 3 whitethroat, 2 willow warbler, 2 cetti’s warbler, 11 chiffchaff, 14 blackcap, 15 swallow, 2 reed bunting, peregrine,