Latest sightings
Water rail winter viewings
Water rail by Ray Mathias Easier to spot in cold weather, the secretive water rail has been out on show this week. These brilliant views were from the North Wing Hide (luckily this is right next to our heated hide).
27 January 2017
Glaucous gull - winter visitor
Glaucous gull by Ray Mathias When the marsh harrier is away, the gull.....gets its lunch? This glaucous gull is a winter visitor to the UK. Even this youngster is huge in size, it is worth checking through the gul
26 January 2017
Sightings Thursday 26th January
No fog this morning but a very cold wind so wrap up warm if visiting today, all hides remain open apart from Allport, lots of Whooper swans and Wigeon can be seen from the Wigeon cafe. Sightings today: Bewick's swan Whooper swan Egyptian goose Whit
26 January 2017
Sightings Wednesday 25th January
All hides remain open apart from Allport hide. Sightings today: Bewick's swan Whooper swan Mute swan White-fronted goose (8 on lady fen) Goldeneye Pochard Teal Tufted duck Shoveler Wigeon Water rail Black-tailed godwit Redshank Snipe Kingfisher Green wood
25 January 2017
Interesting tail fanning behaviour in snipe
Snipe tail fan display Kim Tarsey Fanning in winter; surely it’s too cold for that?! Look at these snipe fanning their tails to one another on the ice. It is very unusual to see this, let alone film it, as snipe ar
25 January 2017
Festival of Swans - Sunday sightings
A glorious start to the day with our swans awake an amazing experience watching thousands of swans on the washes wake up preen and some flew out. Many have remained infront of the hides due to the ice so come down and see them. Highlights Glaucous gull
22 January 2017
Sightings Saturday 21st January
Water levels are up to 90% but all hides apart from Allport remain open. Sightings today: Bewick's swan Whooper swan Mute swan White-fronted goose Egyptian goose (Grey morph) Goldeneye Pochard Pintail Shelduck Shoveler Teal Tufted duck Wigeon Coot
21 January 2017
Sightings Thursday 19th January
All hides remain open apart from Allport hide, Water levels have started to rise and are now at around 90%. Water has just started to appear on the footpath near reedbed hide so suitable footwear is advised, all other paths are free of water. Sightings so
19 January 2017
Sightings Wednesday 18th January
Water levels are about 50% and all hides remain open apart from Allport hide. Bewick's Swan Whooper swan Mute swan Canada goose Egyptian goose Greylag goose White-fronted goose Glauc Great crested grebe Pochard Pintail Teal Tufted duck Wigeon Great white
18 January 2017
Wetland Bird Survey at Welney
The wardens here had a fantastic day today going around the whole reserve to count every bird on site! Here is a list of their totals: (numbers in brackets are from our Lady Fen area) Great crested grebe- 5 Cormorant- 14 Great white egret- 1 (1) Littl
17 January 2017
Dawn swan count
Sunrise over WWT Welney This morning we conducted our January swan count and found there to be 2,413 Bewick's swans and 2,385 whooper swans on the WWT section of the Ouse Washes. This means that Bewick's swan number
17 January 2017
Today's Highlights
Glaucous gull-north of Friends hide Great white egret-Lady fen Little egret Barn owl Kingfisher-by café window Teal Wigeon Pochard Shoveler Gadwall Shelduck Tufted duck Pintail Goldeneye Whooper swan Bewick's swans-100+ in front of Lyle and Friends hides
16 January 2017
Sightings for Sunday 15th January
Not the best of days as it remained wet and overcast all day, but there were a good number of swans in for the feeds, all hides apart from Allport remain open and water levels are around 45%. Sightings for today: Bewick's swan (88 at Lyle hide) Whooper sw
15 January 2017
Today's Highlights
Barn owl Fieldfare Whooper swans Bewick swans Pochard Teal Wigeon Tufted duck Shoveler Shelduck Mallard Lapwing Little egret Black-tailed godwit Moorhen Reed bunting Goldfinch Chaffinch Tree sparrows Canada geese Egyptian goose (grey morph) Kestrel Kingfi
14 January 2017
Sightings Wednesday 11th January
All hides remain open apart from Allport hide, Water levels remain at around 50%. Sightings so far today: Whooper swan Bewick's swan Mute swan White-fronted goose Pochard Wigeon Little egret Barn owl Buzzard Marsh harrier Stock dove Green woodpecke
11 January 2017