Washington Wetland Centre enjoys a duckling bumper baby boom after desilting project

For the first time in recent memory, two species thriving on the centre’s Wader Lake are the gadwall, currently with "two broods of between five or six young”, and the tufted duck with the latest count showing 32 ducklings. 

 Reserve warden Kate Ferguson said: “It’s been a great season for ducklings on Wader Lake. 

“Tufted ducklings are everywhere at the moment, with at least four broods totalling 32 ducklings seen out on the water.

“We currently have a group of five well-developed gadwall juveniles regularly hanging around with a male and female in front of Paddy Fleming Hide.

“Last year we didn’t have any gadwall successes that we know of, so this is great news.

“These juveniles are full-sized and easy to miss as they look just like females, but with a cleaner, neater plumage.

“There are also two further gadwall broods of between five and six young, so hopefully they’ll continue to flourish and we’ll soon have even more juveniles to enjoy watching.”

The breeding success is being put down to a two year desilting project in 2021 and 2022 which has seen almost 1,000-tonnes of sediment removed from the lake, creating “cleaner water, improved diving conditions and additional milling space”.

The project was led by reserve manager John Gowland.

John said: “During the first phase in September 2021, we removed the silt and dug deeper areas in front of Northumbrian Water hide, at the west end of the lake.

“Water is now retained much more effectively here, even during dry spells, and this, as well as the introduction of natural perching posts, has resulted in some fantastic wildlife highlights."

In November 2022, phase two of the project saw the middle of Wader Lake excavated to its original depth, allowing the lake to hold more water, leading to increased fish populations.

John said: “The silt from the last phase was used along the bank of Wader Lake, to the left of Paddy Fleming hide.

“This not only created a wider space in which the reserve team can carry out maintenance, but also provided extra habitat and milling space for smaller bird species such as red-listed lapwing."

The improved conditions have also led to increased sightings of other species including kingfisher, redshank and teal.

John added: “The initial works to the west of the lake were a huge success and with this new baby boom, our hopes that diving ducks such as the tufted duck and shoveler would benefit from the improvements are certainly being realised.

"It’s fantastic news for both our visitors and our wildlife.”