Nature lovers: get ready for the best ever Festival of Birds!
Nature lovers are in for a treat as one of the highlights of the birdwatching calendar; the Festival of Birds at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire returns this month. The annual festival is back on January 31 and February 1 and promises to be one of the 
most exciting events to date!
The festival, sponsored by NFU Mutual, includes walks, demonstrations and entertainment will also feature talks by One Show star MikeDilger, falcon expert Ed Drewitt and ‘Birdgirl’ Mya-Rose Craig, who at 12 years old became the youngest person to see 3,500 species of bird.
For the first time there will also be a bird race, with individuals or teams competing to spot and record as many wild species as they can. This shouldn’t be too difficult as there are around 100 species you could see at Slimbridge, including the famous Bewick’s swans which migrate to Slimbridge each year.
There are also plenty of other activities, such as swan bill sketching, wild bird feeds, dog decoy demonstrations and a lively talks programme spanning the two days. Visitors birdwatching over the weekend will
benefit from knowledgeable Guides in the Hides who will be helping them spot some of the more interesting species from each hide.
WWT Slimbridge will also be featuring its own experts with a talk by reserve warden James Lees on its global conservation work, a talk by Paul Rose on the latest flamingo research and a behind-the-scenes look at making Wildlife Weekly, a video blog produced from Slimbridge each week.
James Lees, Reserve Warden, said: “Whatever your age or experience in bird watching, there is plenty to get excited about this year at the Festival. The Festival of Birds is a chance for us to really showcase what a fantastic day out Slimbridge is for wildlife lovers and this year we’ll 
also be talking about WWT’s conservation successes across the world, which I don’t think we do enough!”
You can buy a special weekend ticket (£15) online ahead of the Festival. On the day you can buy a ticket at the normal admission price. WWT members can attend for free.
For more information visit -wwt.org.uk/slimbridge
