I decided to become a member, at only £3 a month, you gain unlimited entry to all 9 centres in the UK, regular updates and a quaterly Waterlife magazine. I also got a free Collins Bird book because I signed up by direct debit... helping conservation has never felt so good!
To make the most of my new membership I decided to visit one of their visitor centres, Arundel, just 15 minutes away from where my mum lives. It was absolutely stunning! You can purchase seed and feed most of the birds on site. The mallards quickly waddle up to you and happily feed from the palm of your hand. One of the beautiful swans was also brave enough to feed from my hand.
We also went on the boat tour around the reed beds. The Arundel reed beds are home to the endangered water vole. The Water Vole has seriously suffered due to the threat of predation by the introduced American mink, now these reed beds are a haven for them. I was eagerly scanning around hoping to catch even the tiniest glimpse of this little critter. Then the distinctive sound of its chewing gave it away. Just on the waters edge in the reeds was the adorable water vole. Much larger than I expected, about the size of a guinea pig it was eagerly nibbling away oblivious to our precsence. It was incredible. Just to gain a sighting of these little mammal it was worth my entire years memmbership.
If you have a love for water birds and animals the WWT is definitely worth a visit.
You can read more here.
