Essential habitat work underway
Work is underway to tackle an invasive plant species which is suffocating some of WWT Washington's pond life.
We are draining the ponds on Forgotten Meadow (en route to Hawthorn Wood hide) to enable us to remove the non-native Canadian pond weed which has invaded the habitat.
It has taken over to such an extent that our native wildlife is struggling to survive, so the plan is to drain the water into the nearby seasonal pond, taking care to safely move any wildlife.
This will look quite drastic, but once the Canadian pond weed has been removed, we can allow the ponds to fill naturally and then recolonisation of the pond should quickly take place.
Please excuse our appearance while we carry out this essential habitat management!