Wigeon, teal, plover and lapwing move into new wetlands at Welney

15/12/2008 16:28:22 December 2008. Wigeon have been recorded for the first time on 38 hectares of specially created wetland habitat next to the WWT Welney Wetland Centre, thanks to the combined efforts of Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the Environment Agency (EA), who funded the project.

Farmland transformed into wet grassland
Since receiving planning permission in January 2008, the WWT at Welney have transformed this farmland into wet grassland by digging a system of ditches, channels and scrapes, inserting a waterproof liner to protect surrounding farmland and seeding it with native grasses. The first 100 wigeon were recorded on the new wetland in the first week of December 2008 along with 114 teal, 29 mallard and 15 pintail, as well as 8 snipe, more than 200 golden plover, 100 lapwing, a short-eared owl and 200 whooper swans roosting on the scrapes.

Lady Fen Farm
Back in 2006, the EA purchased the former agricultural land, known as Lady Fen Farm, to establish wet grassland for wigeon as part of the compensatory habitat creation for flood defence work carried out on the Middle Level Barrier Bank of the Ouse Washes. This involved protecting sections of the Barrier Bank from erosion by installing concrete panels along the foot of bank. The land is also a part of the Environment Agency's wider biodiversity action plan.

WWT Welney holds internationally important wintering populations of wigeon. The Ouse Washes form the largest example of internationally important washland in Britain, and is the most important area of lowland wet grassland for birds in Britain.