New development begins at WWT Martin Mere
A brand new ‘WOW’ development has begun at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre.
‘WOW’ is titled Weird and Wonderful and is a complete redevelopment of the Australasia area of the wildlife gardens.
The new exhibit will transform an existing area of the grounds involving re-modeling of ponds, a new entrance, an access bridge and detailed re-landscaping of five separate exhibits. The design incorporates a walk-in crowned crane aviary which will also feature exotic comb ducks and free flying white-faced whistling ducks.
The aim of the exhibit is to allow our visitors to engage with weird and wonderful wetland birds and get them asking questions about what makes birds so wonderful; why is that swan black? Why does that bird have a blue bill? Why does that bird make that noise? With sound pods and signage we will answer 
all of these questions in a fun and interactive way.
Centre Manager, Andy Wooldridge, said: “The Weird and Wonderful exhibits will show case amazing wetland birds with weird and wonderful adaptations and behaviours for the educational benefit of our visitors. We have identified some of the most weird and wonderful wetlands birds such as crowned cranes, hooded mergansers, black swans, Cape Barren geese, and magpie geese and plan to bring them together into a set of exhibits to showcase these amazing features and to explain their function. This is going to be a great addition to Martin Mere Wetland Centre.”
The new exhibit will take 6 months to complete and is due to open in July for the summer holidays. The wildlife gardens are open as normal and the pathways will remain accessible in the Australasia area.
Pictured are the new cereopsis exhibit and the constriction of the crowned crane avery.
WWT Martin Mere is open every day from 9.30am to 5pm and parking is free of charge. Situated off the A59, it is signposted from the M61, M58 and M6. The Centre is also accessible via theSouthporttoManchesterand theLiverpooltoPrestonline by train from Burscough Rail Stations. Visit the web site http://www.wwt.org.uk/martinmere to find out what’s on all year round at Martin Mere and the other eight centres.
