Editing WWT Slimbridge

{{Short description|Wetland nature reserve in Gloucestershire}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox park
| name = WWT Slimbridge
| alt_name =
| photo = Nene_Geese_in_Slimbridge.jpg
| photo_width = 240
| photo_caption =  <small> Slimbridge has numerous [[Nene (bird)|nene]] (also known as Hawaiian geese), the rarest goose in the world.</small>
| photo_alt =
| map = Gloucestershire
| map_width = 240
| map_caption = <small> WWT Slimbridge shown within Gloucestershire</small>
| map_alt =
| label = WWT Slimbridge
| label_position =
| relief =
| mark =
| grid_ref_UK = SO720048
| grid_ref_Ireland =
| coords = {{coord|51.741471|N|2.405979|W|region:GB|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| type =
| location =
| nearest_city =
| area = {{convert|120|acres}}
| elevation =
| created =
| designer =
| etymology =
| operator = WWT
| status = Open
| website = {{URL|https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge}}

}}

'''WWT Slimbridge''' is a [[wetland]] [[Nature reserve|wildlife reserve]] near [[Slimbridge]] in [[Gloucestershire]], England. It is midway between Bristol and [[Gloucester]] on the eastern side of the [[estuary]] of the [[River Severn]]. The reserve, set up by the artist and [[Natural history|naturalist]] Sir [[Peter Scott]], opened in November 1946. Scott subsequently founded the [[Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust]], which has since opened nine other reserves around the country. Slimbridge comprises some {{convert|800|hectare}} of [[pasture]], [[reed bed]], [[lagoon]] and [[salt marsh]]. Many water birds live there all year round, and others are [[Bird migration|migrants]] on their ways to and from their summer breeding grounds. Other birds overwinter, including large numbers of [[Greater white-fronted goose|white-fronted geese]] and increasing numbers of [[Tundra swan|Bewick's swans]].

Besides having the world's largest collection of captive [[Anatidae|wildfowl]], Slimbridge takes part in research and is involved in projects and internationally run [[captive breeding]] programmes. It was there that Peter Scott developed a method of recognising individual birds through their characteristics, after realising that the coloured patterns on the beaks of Bewick's swans were unique. The public can visit the reserve throughout the year. Besides examining the collections, they can view birds from [[Bird hide|hides]] and observatories and take part in educational activities.

==History==
[[File:Peter scott in 1954 arp.jpg|thumb|left|Peter Scott at Slimbridge, 1954]]
The Wildlife and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge was set up by [[Peter Scott]] and opened on 10 November 1946, as a centre for research and conservation. In a move unusual at the time, he opened the site to the public so that everyone could enjoy access to nature.<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/history-of-wwt/ |title=History of WWT |publisher=Wildfowl & Wetland Trust |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=7 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907025332/http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/history-of-wwt/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Cotswolds>{{cite web |url=http://www.cotswolds.info/places/slimbridge.shtml |title=WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre |publisher=Cotswolds.info |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184833/http://www.cotswolds.info/places/slimbridge.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

This modest beginning developed in time into the formation of the [[Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust]], the only United Kingdom charity to promote the protection of wetland birds and their habitats, both in Britain and internationally.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bell, Catharine E.|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1331|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-174-9|page=1331|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818203903/https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1331|url-status=live}}</ref> Although starting out at Slimbridge, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust now owns or manages nine other reserves in Britain,<ref name=reserves/> and advocates for wetlands and conservation issues world-wide. WWT Consulting is an offshoot of the Wildlife & Wetland Trust and is based at Slimbridge. It provides ecological surveys and assessments, and offers consultancy services in wetland habitat design, wetland management, biological waste-water treatment systems and the management of reserves and their visitor centres.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwtconsulting.co.uk/ |title=WWT Consulting |publisher=Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (Consulting) Ltd |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=31 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831063020/http://www.wwtconsulting.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Queen in later years became Patron to the WWT, and Prince Charles became the President.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wwt.org.uk/news/all-news/2015/05/wwt-news/royal-support-for-drains-that-work-with-nature/ |title=Royal support for drains that "work with nature" |date=19 May 2015 |work=Latest from WWT |publisher=WWT |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921215124/https://www.wwt.org.uk/news/all-news/2015/05/wwt-news/royal-support-for-drains-that-work-with-nature/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A bust of founder Sir Peter Scott by Jacqueline Shackleton was completed in 1986 and is on display in the grounds.<ref name="clevr">{{cite web |url=http://www.clevr.com/pano/326 |title=Panoramic tour of Kathleen Scott Sculpture, WWT Slimbridge |publisher=CleVR |date=11 October 2006 |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-date=20 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420095451/http://www.clevr.com/pano/326 |url-status=live }}</ref> His wife [[Philippa Scott|Philippa, Lady Scott]], sat for [[Jon Edgar]] as part of his Environmental Series of heads, and a bronze was unveiled in the visitor centre in December 2011.<ref>{{cite book |last=Edgar |first=Jon |title=Responses – Carvings and Claywork – Jon Edgar Sculpture 2003–2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Hesworth Press |isbn=978-0-9558675-0-7}}</ref> A sculpture by Peter Scott's mother, Kathleen Scott, entitled: ''[[Here Am I, Send Me]]'', originally commissioned for West Downs Preparatory School, is also on display in the grounds.<ref name="clevr" /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Stocker, Mark |year=2013 |title='Young male objects': the ideal sculpture of Kathleen Scott |journal=Sculpture Journal |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.3828/sj.2013.20d }}</ref>

==Site==
[[File:Part of Slimbridge Wetland Centre, Gloucestershire, England, from the obs tower 22May2019 arp.jpg|thumb|A late spring view across a small part of the centre, from the Sloane Observation Tower]]
The site consists of {{convert|800|hectare}} of reserve,<ref name=Tipling/> of which part is landscaped and can be visited by the public. At Slimbridge is the largest collection of wildfowl species in the world, and wild birds mingle with these in the enclosures.<ref name=Tipling/> Some of the captive birds form part of international breeding programmes. The reserve includes a mixture of pastureland, much of which gets flooded in winter, lagoons, [[reed bed]]s and [[salt marsh]]es besides the [[Severn Estuary]]. Many wildfowl visit the site including [[greater white-fronted goose|greater white-fronted geese]], [[Eurasian spoonbill]]s, [[pied avocet]]s and even [[common crane]]s, the latter being birds that were originally bred here and later released on the [[Somerset Levels]]. There are also some rare species of plant on the reserve including the [[Lythrum hyssopifolia|grass-poly]] (''Lythrum hyssopifolia'') and the wasp orchid, a variant of the [[Ophrys apifera|bee orchid]] (''Ophrys apifera'').<ref name=reserves>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/our-nature-reserves/ |title=Our nature reserves: Slimbridge |publisher=WWT |access-date=21 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821025425/http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/our-nature-reserves/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The number of ducks, geese and [[swan]]s is greatest in winter, with large flocks of greater white-fronted geese, sometimes with a rare [[lesser white-fronted goose]] amongst them. [[Bewick's swan]]s are a feature of Slimbridge in winter, arriving from northern [[Russia]] to enjoy the milder climate of southern England.<ref name=Cotswolds/> Their behaviour has been studied intensively at Slimbridge. [[bird of prey|Birds of prey]] such as [[peregrine falcon|peregrine]] and [[Merlin (bird)|merlin]] also visit the centre in the winter, as well as wading birds and some woodland birds, and it is a good place to see the elusive [[water rail]].<ref name=Tipling/>

Species present all year round include [[Little grebe|little]] and [[great crested grebe]]s, [[northern lapwing|lapwing]], [[Common redshank|redshank]], [[tufted duck]], [[gadwall]], [[common kingfisher|kingfisher]], [[Common reed bunting|reed bunting]], [[great spotted woodpecker]], [[Eurasian sparrowhawk|sparrowhawk]] and [[little owl]]. In the spring, passage waders visit the pools alongside the estuary; these include [[Eurasian whimbrel]], [[Common sandpiper|common]], [[Wood sandpiper|wood]] and [[green sandpiper]]s, [[spotted redshank]], [[common greenshank]], avocet, [[little gull]] and [[black tern]], and other migrants arriving at the reserve include [[northern wheatear]], [[whinchat]], [[common redstart]] and [[black redstart]].<ref name=Tipling/>

Swans and geese usually start to arrive in late October. Passage waders in the autumn include [[red knot]], [[black-tailed godwit]], [[dunlin]], [[Common ringed plover|ringed]] and [[grey plover]]s, [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]], common greenshank, spotted redshank, [[curlew sandpiper]] and common, wood and green sandpipers. Besides Bewick's swan and flocks of white-fronted geese, large waterfowl regularly present in the reserve in winter include the [[brent goose]], [[pink-footed goose]], [[barnacle goose]] and [[taiga bean goose]]. The swans tend to fly off in the day and return to feed in the late afternoon, and another spectacular sight at the end of winter afternoons is the arrival of large flocks of [[Common starling|starlings]]. Smaller wildfowl present in winter include [[Eurasian wigeon|wigeon]], [[Eurasian teal]], [[common pochard]], [[northern pintail]], water rail, dunlin, redshank, [[Eurasian curlew|curlew]], [[European golden plover|golden plover]], [[common snipe]] and ruff.<ref name=Tipling/>

==Projects==
[[file:slimbridge.in.july.arp.jpg|thumb|The main buildings and Sloane Observation Tower in July. The majority of the birds are [[mute swan]]s]]
[[File:Crane (Grus grus) Slimbridge.jpg|thumb|Common crane at Slimbridge]]
Before the establishment of the WWT reserve at Slimbridge, no Bewick's swans were regularly wintering on the Severn Estuary. In 1948, one arrived at Slimbridge, perhaps attracted by a captive [[whistling swan]]. A mate for this bird was acquired from the Netherlands and the pair eventually successfully bred. More wild Bewick's swans joined the group so that by 1964, more than thirty wild swans were present. So that the birds could be better studied, the tame resident swans were relocated to an easily observable lake. Peter Scott realised that every bird had a unique patterning of black and yellow on its beak by which individual birds could be recognised. These were recorded in small paintings with front and side views (rather like "[[mug shot]]s") to aid recognition. By 1989, over six thousand swans had been recorded visiting the site, and by this means, much research was made possible on the birds.<ref name=Bell>{{cite book|author=Bell, Catharine E.|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1186|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-174-9|pages=1186–1187|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=11 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111141035/http://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1186|url-status=live}}</ref>


An early success story in the 1950s was the saving of the [[Nene (bird)|nene]] (or Hawaiian goose) from [[extinction]].<ref name=history/> Birds were brought to the site and breeding at Slimbridge was successful. Initial releases into the wild in [[Hawaii]] were a failure however, because the nene's natural habitat was not protected from the [[Predation|predators]] that had been introduced to the islands by man. Once that problem was alleviated, successful reintroduction became possible.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kear, Janet|author2=Berger, A.J|title=The Hawaiian Goose|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iPqStIw9LIC&pg=PA79|year=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-3758-1|pages=79–114|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818182216/https://books.google.com/books?id=5iPqStIw9LIC&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>

During [[Queen Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]]'s 1951 tour of Canada, she was promised a [[Dominion]] gift of [[trumpeter swan]]s, the arrangements to be made by Peter Scott.<ref name=stowe14>[[Leland Stowe]] (1957). ''Crusoe of Lonesome Lake'', Victor Gollancz, Ltd, London, 1958. Chapter 14: "The Saga of the Trumpeter Swans", pg.162–178.</ref> Canadian officials discovered the only swans tame enough to capture were at Lonesome Lake in [[British Columbia]] as they had been fed for decades by conservationist [[Ralph Edwards (conservationist)|Ralph Edwards]].<ref name=stowe14/> In 1952, with the help of Ralph and his daughter Trudy, five were captured and flown to England, the first time trumpeter swans had ever flown across the Atlantic (although in the 19th century swans had been brought by ship to European zoos).<ref name=stowe14/> One unfortunately died, but the remaining four thrived at WWT Slimbridge for many years.<ref name=stowe14/>

Slimbridge has also been involved in trying to increase population levels of common cranes, which had bred spasmodically in Britain since the late 1970s. A specially built "Crane School" is used where the young birds are taught to forage and avoid danger. This project has led to 23 birds being released onto the Somerset Moors and Levels in September 2013,<ref name=birdwatch>{{cite news |title=Cranes fighting fit and ready for release |url=http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__14715 |newspaper=Birdwatch |date=23 August 2013 |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917102738/http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__14715 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and 93 being released by the end of 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/ |title=The Great Crane Project |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001161845/http://thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2016, a researcher from Slimbridge is planning to become a "human swan" and follow migrating Bewick's swans using a powered [[paraglider]].<ref>{{cite news |title="Human swan" conservationist takes to skies on 4,600-mile migration |author=McKie, Robin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/03/human-swan-bewicks-falling-numbers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2016 |archive-date=5 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905082344/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/03/human-swan-bewicks-falling-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> She plans to try to find out the hazards they face during migration and why their numbers have halved in the last twenty years. The {{convert|4500|mi|km|-2|abbr=on}} mission from the Arctic tundra of Russia to Slimbridge is expected to last for ten weeks.<ref>{{cite news |title='Human swan' Sacha Dench to join 4,500-mile migration |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36138082 |newspaper=BBC News |date=26 April 2016 |access-date=28 August 2016 |archive-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017145734/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36138082 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Facilities==
[[File:Greater Flamingo at Slimbridge Wetland Centre 22May2019 arp.jpg|thumb|left|The centre has all six species of flamingo. This is the [[Greater Flamingo]].]]
The Sloane Observation Tower gives far-reaching views to the [[Cotswolds|Cotswold]] [[escarpment]] in the east and the River Severn and [[Forest of Dean]] in the West. The £6.2m visitor centre has a shop, waterside restaurant, cinema, art gallery and tropical house, and exhibitions are held in the "Hanson Discovery Centre".<ref name=Tipling>{{cite book|author=Tipling, David |title=Where to Watch Birds in Britain and Ireland: Slimbridge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejdRX1JIU-sC&pg=PA62 |year=2006 |publisher=New Holland Publishers |isbn=978-1-84537-459-4 |pages=62–63}}</ref> There are sixteen hides<ref name=Newsome/> that visitors can use for bird watching, as well as several comfortable observatories. Educational visits are available for schools and there is a programme of guided walks, events, talks and workshops.<ref name=Cotswolds/>

Visitors are allowed to feed the captive birds with approved food mixes bought on site, and during the winter, feeding of wild birds near one of the hides takes place at certain scheduled times, including on some floodlit occasions in the evening for visiting groups.<ref name=Newsome>{{cite book|author1=Newsome, David|author2=Kingston, Ross|author3=Moore, Susan A.|title=Wildlife Tourism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1K9XZPCAvmwC&pg=PT345|year=2005|publisher=Channel View Publications|isbn=978-1-84541-316-3|page=345|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818164331/https://books.google.com/books?id=1K9XZPCAvmwC&pg=PT345|url-status=live}}</ref>
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==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Wetlands}}
{{Commons category-inline|WWT Slimbridge}}
* {{Official website|https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge}}

{{Wetlands}}
{{Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust}}
[[Category:Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust centres|Slimbridge]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Environment of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Nature reserves in Gloucestershire|Slimbridge]]
[[Category:Nature centres in England]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1946]]
[[Category:Stroud District]]
[[Category:Wetlands of England]]
[[Category:Birdwatching sites in England]]