Last weekend we took a trip to Martin Mere, a Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) centre. The WWT is a leading conservation organisation saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world. We went with the Cicada club, members of which have all had a cochlear implant like my dad. It was the first time I'd met with the group and it was strange to have so many cochlear implants in one place!
I'm not a bird person and know very little about them, however it was quite something to see all the birds they had at the centre. I took several photos thinking at the time that I would remember what they are, but I have no idea!
The point of this photo was that all 6 birds in the shot are different species. Amazing.

There were many different ponds there. Some were clear like this one, but others were completely frozen. As we walked around we passed through different area of the world. I think we were in Africa here and those birds are native to South Africa. Shame we didn't get the nice weather too....
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Fairly sure these were from the USA - really beautiful colours.

These flamingoes had been allowed out. In the severe weather they are kept in because they slip on the ice and break their legs. They are such an amazing colour. I haven't captured it here - so vivid.
Perhaps our favourite birds were the nenes (pronounced naynay). They are also called Hawaiian geese and were nearly extinct until recently. The man who started the Trust was instrumental in saving these birds. 
They were very friendly and hungry too.
They came and ate from our hands. Wonderful!
They also had a family of otters living there. They are Asian otters which are a third the size of British otters. The man threw shrimp in to the family and the mother collected them to take back to her young.
A great day out! |