London Wetlands Centre

I've had the London Wetlands Centre on my to do list for a long time, but have never been, simply because the entry fee of £17 seems expensive. I have visited various other wetlands in east London for free. See Walthamstow Marshes & Lea River, also Walthamstow Wetlands.

When I read that tickets for the London Wetlands Centre would be on sale for 20 May 2023 to celebrate their 23rd anniversary, I put the date in my diary. Tickets were being sold at the original price of £6.50. 

The centre is in southwest London, accessible from Barnes railway station. 

The area occupies several Victorian reservoirs and has been turned into a wildlife reserve, adjacent to the River Thames. Google Earth image -

There are paths around the wetlands and there are a couple of hides. When I arrived I realised the otters were being fed so I hurried there, but was too late to get a good view. A heron was waiting to grab any food left by the otters -

I walked round the ponds closer to the centre, and saw several types of ducks.

Common goldeneye from Scandinavia, Russia and northwest Europe and Asia -

Smew ducks from the same area. The males are the white ones and have a punk style crest -

A pair of Wood ducks, from North America. The male is very colourful -

The common moorhen, also known as the waterhen or swamp chicken is widespread in England -

I left the ponds and headed out past the reed beds towards the reservoirs. I went into one of the hides, where bird books were available for reference.

Then back into the enclosed areas with the smaller ponds. Egyptian goose -

The white-faced whistling duck, they breed in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America -

A male mallard having a rest

On the way out, I went to see if the otters were around, but they were hiding after their meal.

The London Wetlands Centre page. The centre comes under the charity WWT, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Limited.