Editing Ouse Washes (section)

====Wintering birds====
The Ouse Washes hosts [[Bewick's swan|Bewick's]] and [[whooper swan]]s in winter, which feed on nearby farmland during the day, returning to the washes in the evening,<ref name=BB115/> where visitors can watch them being fed under floodlight near the visitor centre.<ref name="winter">{{cite web |title=Wildlife:winter |url=https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/welney/wildlife/#tab_winter2 |publisher=WWT |access-date=16 August 2022}}</ref> More than 12,500 whooper swans wintered in 2021, about 5% of the world population. The number of Bewick's swans reaching the UK has fallen dramatically in the current century, as milder winters encourage them to remain in continental Europe, but several hundred still visit the washes.<ref name=BB115/>

The washes are of international importance for six species of wintering ducks, notably more than 20,000 [[Eurasian wigeon|wigeon]]. High waters levels prevent wigeon grazing on grass, and the extension areas were designed with this species in mind, so that they could feed when the main site was flooded. Up to 40 [[tundra bean goose|tundra bean geese]] and 130 [[Greater white-fronted goose|white-fronted geese]] visit annually. [[Gull]]s roost overnight, as do [[hen harrier]]s, and [[common crane]]s also spend the night on the washes after foraging for maize stubble on the arable farmland. A paid of cranes bred successfully on Lady Fen in 2018.<ref name=BB115/>