WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of
the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London.
The site occupies more than 40
hectares of land which was formerly occupied by 4 disused Victorian reservoirs
tucked into a loop in the Thames. These were converted into a wide range of wetland
features and habitats before the site opened in May 2000. It was the
first urban project of its kind in the UK. In 2002 an area of
29.9 hectares was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The site is important for resident,
passage and wintering bird species, many of which can not be found anywhere
else in London. In addition, there is a collection of captive wildfowl.
WWT London Wetland Centre is a site that I visit at least once a year, usually in winter to see 3 particularly elusive species: Bittern, Jack Snipe and Water Pipit.
Unfortunately on this visit, I failed to see any of these 3 species which was primarily due to large areas of shallow water, marsh and reedbed being frozen.
However, the main lake was unfrozen and I still had an excellent visit which produced excellent photography opportunities.
The most notable sightings from my visit were as follows: Wigeon (c.100), Teal (c.100), Shoveler (c.100), Tufted Duck (c.20), Gadwall (c.10), Common Pochard (3), Shelduck (2), Mallard (2), Mute Swan (5), Egyptian Goose (4), Great Crested Grebe (1), Coot (c.100), Moorhen (c.20), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (5), Lapwing (c.70), Common Snipe (2), Black-headed Gull (c.100), Common Gull (c.20), Herring Gull (c.10), Lesser Black-backed Gull (c.10), Great Black-backed Gull (1), Ring-necked Parakeet (c.20), Siskin (2), Greenfinch (c.10), Redwing (1), Cetti's Warbler (2 singing males heard), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1 seen and another calling bird heard), Grey Squirrel (2)
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: male Tufted Duck
Photo: male Common Pochard
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Common Snipe
Photo: Common Snipe
Photo: Common Snipe
Photo: Common Snipe
Photo: Lapwing
Photo: Lapwing
Photo: Great Crested Grebe
Photo: Great Crested Grebe
Photo: Great Crested Grebe
Photo: Great Crested Grebe
Photo: Great Crested Grebe
Photo: Moorhen
Photo: Egyptian Goose .... of the 2-headed, 4-legged sub-species!!!
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: Black-headed Gulls
Photo: Black-headed Gull
Photo: juvenile Herring Gull
Photo: juvenile Herring Gull
Photo: Great Black-backed Gull
Photo: Robin
Photo: Carrion Crow
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
In addition to wild species, I also took some photos of some of the captive birds:
Photo: Red-breasted Goose
Photo: male Goldeneye
Photo: male Goldeneye
Photo: male Goldeneye
Photo: male Smew
Photo: male Smew
Photo: male and female Eider
Photo: male and female Scaup
Photo: male and female Scaup
Photo: male and female Scaup
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