Welney news
Signs of spring
Coltsfoot in flower The first signs of spring can be seen this week with willow catkins beginning to flower along the footpaths, sprays of coltsfoot around the ponds at the visitor centre and birds getting ready for b
11 March 2017
Golden plover migration spectacle
Numbers of golden plover have been increasing over the last couple of weeks to make an impressive flock of over 5,000 strong. They are using our wetlands as feeding grounds, for drinking water, a safe place to roost and to keep themselves in good condit
6 March 2017
Daisy Clarke makes it to Denmark before Storm Doris hits the UK
Our Bewick's swan, Daisy Clarke, is now in Denmark, having had a breif stop in the Netherlands and Germany as she moves further north east towards the breeding grounds in Arctic Russia. Good luck Daisy Clarke! Leho is yet to start her journey, so there ar
22 February 2017
Swans begin their spring migration
Hundreds of Bewick's swans were visible on our final two swan's awake mornings last week and seemed reluctant to fly out very early. This seems to be because they were resting up ready to migrate - as seen with one of our GPS tagged birds, Daisy Clarke, s
20 February 2017
Dawn swan count
This morning we conducted our February swan count and found there to be 1,829 Bewick’s swans and 2,000 whooper swans on the WWT section of the Ouse Washes. This indicates that the first few swans have started their spring migrations, we will soon see
14 February 2017
WeBS Count 13 Feb 17
Great Crested Grebe 1 Cormorant 2 Great White Egret 1 Grey Heron 6 Mute Swan 32 Bewick's Swan 91 Whooper Swan 88 Greylag 75 Canada Goose 3 Shelduck 6 Wigeon 4743 Teal 516 Mallard 670 Pintail 72 Shoveler 92 Pochard 555 Tufted Duck 74 Moorhen 9 Coot 615 Lap
13 February 2017
Reserve access
All hides and footpaths are open. There is some standing water on the path to Reedbed hide, resulting in no scooter travel along this one path and wellies needed or you can skirt around it with sturdy shoes.
9 February 2017
Partnership works to keep swans in the air
This winter further measures are being taken to reduce the chances of swans flying into overhead power lines, which result in unnecessary deaths or serious injury. Co-operative working between WWT Welney Wetland Centre and UK Power Networks means that p
31 January 2017
Aerial filming of WWT Welney
Very few people get to see a bird’s eye view of our wetlands for real. But thanks to our local aerial filming specialists Sky Vertical we’ve captured some fantastic clips of the landscape for you to enjoy. This clip shows you the visitor centre, Lady
28 January 2017
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
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
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
Main hide works Wed 4-Fri 6 January
These works have now been completed to put in place new flooring to the middle section of this hide. Swan feeds will take place as normal using the remaining space in the main hide and the two wing hides, with a commentary and birds being fed in front o
3 January 2017
Winter wildlife spectacle
The reserve is looking fantastic at the moment with over 16,000 birds counted on the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) yesterday. Due to the foggy/overcast conditions there were even 72 Bewick's swans who stayed on the reserve rather than venturing out into th
20 December 2016