Welney news

Celebrity Dusty Duck Trail arrives at WWT Welney

Celebrity Dusty Duck Trail arrives at WWT Welney

Celebrity Dusty Duck Trail This week the Celebrity Dusty Duck Trail has arrived at WWT Welney, ready for visitors to enjoy from Sat 16 September until Sun 29 October. World famous Aardman studios designed Dusty Duck t

14 September 2017

Westerly wind bring seabirds inland

Westerly wind bring seabirds inland

Manx shearwater rescue This morning a local resident brought a grounded Manx shearwater into the centre.  With the high winds we've seen across the UK this week, several hundred shearwaters have been blown off course

14 September 2017

Willow emerald damselfly - New jewel to spot on reserve

Willow emerald damselfly - New jewel to spot on reserve

Willow emerald damselfly by Kim Tarsey     A damselfly species which is a relative newcomer to the UK has been spotted at WWT Welney Wetland Centre. The willow emerald damselfly has become more and more widespread

7 September 2017

Goat moth caterpillars

Goat moth caterpillars

Goat moth caterpillar This month there have been lots of reports of goat moth caterpillar sightings around the reserve.  Goat moths are a scarce species in the UK and have been in decline since at least the 1960's. H

24 August 2017

Centre Access

Centre Access

Access to the centre is now fine. All roads are back open however the roads may still have signs saying they are closed, you can go past these signs.

19 August 2017

Access to the centre

Access to the centre

The Ten Mile Bank road to the centre is currently closed due to a burst water pipe. Access to the centre is via the Littleport Road, please go past the road closed sign on Suspension Bridge.

19 August 2017

Singing corncrakes

Singing corncrakes

Corncrake by Hetty Grant Since late June we have had the sound of singing corncrakes on the reserve, as two males have been holding territories on the Ouse Washes at WWT Welney.  These birds will soon be migrating to

2 August 2017

Yellow loosestrife bees

Yellow loosestrife bees

Yellow loosestrife bee by Georgette Taylor The reserve is alive with insects as we start to move beyond the main breeding season for birds, the flowers are out in bloom and the temperatures are (generally) that little

25 July 2017

Project Godwit birds are exploring the UK

Project Godwit birds are exploring the UK

Black-tailed godwit project bird at WWT Steart Marshes by J Cockram     This week we have heard about several reports of Project Godwit birds being spotted at nature reserves around the UK - which is extremely exc

21 July 2017

Cranes on the move

Cranes on the move

Update Mon 24 July: At least six cranes roosted on the reserve Saturday night.  At the bat & barn owl evening which was held at the centre, visitors watched four cranes fly onto the reserve in the late evening.  These four birds were a family of two

17 July 2017

Rare birds released on the Fens in ‘conservation first’ for the UK

Rare birds released on the Fens in ‘conservation first’ for the UK

25 rare black-tailed godwits were released into their new home in the Cambridgeshire Fens yesterday by conservationists from RSPB and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) as part of ‘Project Godwit’. After the eggs were removed from nests and hatc

13 June 2017

Largest family to date for Icelandic swan pair

Largest family to date for Icelandic swan pair

Whooper swan pair with cygnets by Kim Tarsey    . A pair of injured whooper swans have hatched a brood of five cygnets this summer at WWT Welney Wetland Centre.  The pair who first bred on the reserve in 2011 are u

6 June 2017

Wading birds hatch out summer chicks

Wading birds hatch out summer chicks

Little ringed plover and chicks by Peter Ward     . Despite the news that the black-winged stilt pair did not manage to successfully raise their chicks, there are other wading birds who are faring better on the re

4 June 2017

Sad news for black-winged stilts

Sad news for black-winged stilts

Sadly, since the original news of the black-winged stilt pair hatching their chicks, we have seen the adults birds without the chicks and they have now moved from Lady Fen, to feed on the reserve.  Despite the fact that the chicks haven't survived, this

1 June 2017

Black-winged stilts hatch chicks for first time at WWT Welney

Black-winged stilts hatch chicks for first time at WWT Welney

Black-winged stilt pair with chick For the first time ever a pair of unusual wading birds, black-winged stilts, have chosen to breed on the reserve at WWT Welney Wetland Centre. This species of bird has been a vagrant

31 May 2017