Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre

A pink flamingo spreads its wings

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) is Britain's largest charity aimed at protecting and promoting wetland environment. The WWT maintains 9 centres throughout the UK in environmentally important areas, providing a homeland for a variety of rare and unusual bird species, including geese, swans, ducks, and flamingoes. In total, the WWT manages over 4000 acres of wetlands, including five Special Protection Areas and seven Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Slimbridge was the first of the WWT centres to open, welcoming its first visitors in 1949. The wetlands at Slimbridge are home to nesting and migratory birds from around the world, including some rare and endangered species.

The habitat areas are bisected by walkways, allowing visitors to view and interact with many of the birds at close hand. There are also a variety of hides, allowing quiet viewing of shy species without overly alarming them.

A Hawaiian Goose at Slimbridge

Among the many dozens of species that can be seen at Slimbridge are the black-necked swan, Hawaiian Goose (Ne-Ne), Red-Breasted Goose, Abyssinian Blue-Winged Goose, Smew, Scaup, Stint, and on, and on; Slimbridge is a real bird watcher's paradise.

Slimbridge for families
A resounding thumbs up! Our children, ages 12 and 6, adored Slimbridge. We paid a small amount (70p) for a bag of bird food for each of our children, and that kept them excited and occupied feeding birds for an hour and a half.

Aside from contact with the birds at Slimbridge, the visitor centre had some excellent, entertaining, and educational displays aimed at teaching children the role of wetlands in our ecological system. You could easily spend half a day at Slimbridge in a family group.