New website to assist birdwatchers (From The Westmorland Gazette)

New website to assist birdwatchers

9:01am Friday 25th August 2006

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A NEW website is giving nature lovers an extra chance to spot birds and learn about the wildlife on Windermere - without even getting their feet wet.

England's longest lake takes the prize for playing host to the Lake District National Park's largest number of wintering birds on a single stretch of water.

Some spectacular visitors are expected to fly in for this year's winter season - swelling Windermere's population of feathered friends to 2,500.

Winging their way over from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, wintering goldeneye, tufted duck and pochard will be joining the lake's resident population of ducks, geese and swans.

And to help people spot the species a new addition to the Lake District National Park Authority's website www.lake-district.gov.uk/birdspotting shows pictures of the birds, as well as giving some useful information.

Coots, great-crested grebes and greylag geese can be seen in all their glory and online visitors can read about vital reed bed protection - where the birds rest and nest.

LDNPA recreation management adviser Carissa Lough said: "No one would want a juggernaut driving through their house and flattening their beds - the same goes for our birds on Windermere.

"We want to appeal to boat owners not to land near reed beds, even if they've already been damaged. As the number of beds disappears, so do the places for birds to live in."

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