Welney Wetland Centre

Almost the perfect location for the novice or lazy twitcher, the Welney Wetland Centre occupies a complex of expensively assembled, cedar-clad and eco-friendly buildings astride the road and the marsh land in between the New and Old Bedford rivers, about ten miles northwest of Ely and about a mile and a half outside the village of Welney. Twitchers aside, it’s can be a tremendously peaceful place, and is both sensitively done, with total regard given to the birds’ habitat, but also a great point of access if you want to watch birds with relatively little effort. There’s a nature walk, pond-dipping sites and a variety of observation points ranged around a linear trail sandwiched between the river and fen, ranging from basic one-man hides to the large centrally-heated suite at the centre of the complex, where reference books are laid out for your edification and – if you’ve forgotten your binoculars – you can zero in on the best bits with hand-controlled CCTV. You can also hire binoculars for £5, but do be sure to bring your wellies in case it's muddy. And it may be: perhaps the the most popular time of year at Welney is winter, and the migration and feeding of winter swans  – although you can also observe this most evenings in floodlit comfort.