Editing Ouse Washes (section)

{{Short description|Nature reserve in the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox SSSI
|image= The Ouse Washes - geograph.org.uk - 411346.jpg
|image_caption =  In flood
|name=  Ouse Washes
|aos=  Cambridgeshire<br />Norfolk
|interest=Biological
|gridref={{gbmappingsmall| TL 490 879  }}<ref name=dsv/>
|area=   {{convert|2513.6| hectare|acre}}<ref name=dsv/>
|notifydate=        1984<ref name=dsv/>
|map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271000503%27  ''Magic Map''] 
}}
{{Designation list
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Ouse Washes
| designation1_date = 5 January 1976
| designation1_number = 77<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ouse Washes|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/77|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>}}
'''Ouse Washes''' is a linear {{convert|2513.6| hectare|acre|adj=mid}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] stretching from near [[St Ives, Cambridgeshire|St Ives]] in Cambridgeshire to [[Downham Market]] in Norfolk, England. It is also a [[Ramsar site|Ramsar]] internationally important wetland site, a [[Special Protection Area]] for birds, a [[Special Area of Conservation]] and a [[Nature Conservation Review]] site, Grade I. An area of {{convert|186| hectare|acre}} between [[March, Cambridgeshire|March]] and [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]] is managed by the [[Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire]] and another area near [[Chatteris]] is managed by the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]]. The [[Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust]] manages another area near [[Welney]].

The site lies between the [[Old Bedford River]] in the north-west and the [[New Bedford River]] in the south-east. The Washes are a flood storage area and are often under water in the winter. It is internationally significant for wintering and breeding wildfowl and waders, especially [[Anas crecca|teal]], [[Anas acuta|pintail]], [[Eurasian wigeon]], [[Anas clypeata|shoveler]], [[Aythya ferina|pochard]] and [[Bewick's swan]]s. The site also has rich aquatic fauna and flora, and areas of unimproved grassland.