Welney, the northern most part of the Ouse Washes, is a reserve owned by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, and is situated in the flat, featureless farmland of the Fens. Clues that you are approaching the reserve are provided by the flocks of SWANS feeding out on the fields as you drive by, white specs on the black soil. These birds roost on the Washes in the thousands, but spend most of the day feeding out on the nearby farmland. They are mainly WHOOPER SWANS, the closely related BEWICK'S, once the most numerous swan, is now a rare visitor.
In this naturally occurring winter spectacle, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust add another, more human event, the Swan Feed. The Swan Feed is a bit controversial to birders. At certain parts of the day a person goes out in front of the observatory throwing grain out to attract the birds to feed, which results in hundreds of birds pushing over each other to get that food. Some people look down on this, making it seem like a zoo, something unnatural. But, myself I'm not sure. It creates a spectacle, it provides the opportunity to get some great photos, and it provides something for the non-birder to enjoy other than distant views of ducks. In a country that has become so alienated from wildlife, so distanced from it, to come so close, eye to eye with wild birds is something special. Anyway there are plenty of places that don't have swan feeds where you can escape the crowds.
The Ouse Washes were created to contain the flood water drained from the surrounding farmland in the fens. As a result water levels are very important to the area. When not flooded the Washes are an area of grazed grassland but if the winter has had too much rain then the place floods and becomes like a large lake. This can be quite bad for the birds as this featureless expanses of water holds little habitat for them. Today the water levels were about right, they had dropped off a bit and now islands of grass and reeds were beginning to break through the surface of the water. As a result the birds had places to roost and feed, and those birds were here in their thousands.
A good sign of a nature reserve visitors centre is the state of the scones in the café. Welney's were alright, but still doesn't quite reach the heights of those sold at Minsmere. On the bird feeders outside, several TREE SPARROWS were feeding along with the common house sparrows. Formerly a very common bird tree sparrows numbers crashed towards the end of the last centaury. When I was a kid I would read old bird books which described the tree sparrow as a very common bird, and I couldn't figure out why I wasn't seeing any out in the countryside. Tree sparrows populations had just crashed so quickly and so drastically that the books couldn't keep up. But now we have the internet we can keep up with present trends and tree sparrows have stabilised but at a fraction of their previous numbers.
The visitor centre looks out over Lady Fen. Not part of the Washes, Lady Fen is an area of wet grassland created from former agricultural land, an area created to offset bird populations lost to flooding on the Washes in summer. Rough grassland with pools, it spread out to the horizon as only flat fenland country does. This area is fairly quiet, without the large numbers on the nearby Washes, a GREAT WHITE EGRET was feeding on a pool whilst another one flew over. This area of grassland would get more exciting when I returned from the Washes, but I'll tell you about that later.
To get access to the Washes you cross the road to the Main Observatory, which is the first port of call when finally viewing the Washes. This is a nice, heated and comfortable place, something unusual at your average nature reserve, where you mainly spend your time shivering in a hide in winter. When the Washes are heavily flooded this can be the only viewing point, as everywhere else is inaccessible, the waters cover up the footpaths. There are further hides up and down from the observatory, the Washes themselves are a rectangle in shape with access up and down the eastern side of them.
If you are a photographer I recommend visiting Welney, you will be well rewarded with some amazing photos. Beneath the Observatory is a photography basement, which if you look out of slats, find yourself at eye level with the water birds. There are hundreds of duck so used to humans they swim about in arm's reach, and as a result its impossible to get a bad photo. Now some people think this isn't real photography, but having the chance to get good photos of birds that are usually a great distance away, is so rewarding. At Welney there is this strange spectacle in the birding world, where bird and human seem to come close together like few other places.
In front of the Observatory, the most numerous of birds are the POCHARD. A large flock of several hundred of this burgundy headed and light grey bodied duck occur, mainly males, the females winter in Spain. When the swan feed take place, half the pochards fight over each other to eat the grain, whilst the other half stay back asleep, as if disdainful. Close to the observatory were a series of islands which were full of resting birds. Hundreds of birds crammed themselves into these patches of roosting habitat providing a good challenge of ID to tell the birds apart.
A place like Welney, with so many birds and such a large area of rare habitat regularly brings in the unusual birds. Today this was provided by a flock of seven TUNDRA BEAN GEESE that flew in at the end of the swan feed, and then spent the rest of the day asleep on islands in front of the Observatory. My first ever record of this species was at Welney many, many years ago, and are a scarce bird in this country, there is maybe a couple of hundred wintering in the UK, which makes these birds a good find.
Away from the Observatory, there were hides up and down the Washes where birds were wilder, not brought close to you by any feeds. DUCKS were more dispersed on the extensive water, loose flocks which still numbered in the thousands. WIGEON were in the largest number, with good numbers of PINTAIL, TUFTED DUCK and SHOVELLER, although surprisingly I didn't see a single gadwall. There are not many places in the country where you can see so many ducks in such numbers in one place.
With some exposed land about there were a few WADERS in and around the reserve. At the furthest hide, Friends Hide, three RUFF were present and a CURLEW flew over, but in all the tussocky grass there were DUNLIN, SNIPE and REDSHANK about. In larger numbers, there were a thousand GODWIT roosting in front of the Observatory and many thousands of LAPWING would bounce into the air at the slightest whim.
When I had finished with The Washes, having seen many birds, I walked over the road to the visitor centre, to enjoy a nice coffee and unwind a bit. A small crowd of birders was present looking out over Lady Fen, who it turned out were watching a pair of SHORT EARED OWL. This is a large day flying owl, often found on remote areas of rough grassland, and are always a much sought after bird. The birds flew around the area, never really interacting, crossing over each other, occasionally dropping to the floor to catch some vole. What makes them so different to other birds is their distinctive flat faces, with eyes that point forward like a person's rather than to the side like other birds. This was a great end to a superb time at Welney an amazing nature reserve with lots of birds.
RSPB Ouse Washes
The southern section of the Ouse Washes are owned and managed by the RSPB, although its pretty much the same as Welney. Less of an attraction than Welney, there aren't any swan feeds, and unlike the hordes of people at Welney you seldom see a soul here, its a very quiet place to spend some time. There was a lot maintenance work going on at the banks, and as a result only one hide was open, where I spent the last couple of hours of the day. As at Welney, the birds were present in large numbers but were well dispersed over the site. Trying to find anything unusual in the vast number of birds was a thankless task so I just enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, occasionally disturbed by the whooping of a swan.
In reeds by the hide, a CETTI'S WARBLER was seen, and later heard in song, while as the light faded a small number of CORN BUNTING came in to roost, little, fat brown birds, they still exist in decent numbers out on the fen farmlands, but again are a farmland bird in crisis. As I left the site a BARN OWL was seen quartering along a ditch in some farmland, a ghostly vision of white floating in the twilight creating a nice end to the day.
The Ouse Washes are a formidable couple of reserves to write about. How to do justice to the vast number of birds that use the place. What about the fact that Welney has some of the greatest facilities of any nature reserve. There are so many birds, with great photography opportunities, this is a must visit place for any birdwatcher. And if you're a birdwatcher and have never visited Welney, what are you doing? Go now. Anyway, if you're new to birdwatching and are wondering if you would enjoy the hobby then a trip to Welney is in order, a true wildlife spectacle like no other.
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