Families flock to Martin Mere near Southport to become fully-fledged Wetland Rangers

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Head down to Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Martin Mere Wetland Centre and follow in the footsteps of our rangers to help us with our daily mission to save wetland nature.

The Junior Wetland Rangers event runs until Sunday 4 September and offers a full day of discovery and adventure to learn how to care for and protect our beautiful wetlands. Pick up a FREE trail card and complete a wide variety of wetland ranger activities, including:

  • Fun Flamingo health check. Every year, Martin Mere must do a health check on the flamingos to ensure they are healthy. You’ll learn how to weigh, measure, x-ray and ring your flamingo.
  • Bird ringing. Ringing birds is essential to learn how long they live and when and where they move. In this session, you will learn the process of ringing a bird.
  • Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). Visit our Discovery hide and count the number of birds you can see – the main ones to look for are in your Ranger Record Book!
  • Pond surveying. How many species can you identify in our daily pond dipping sessions between 1:30pm and 3pm? Will you come face to face with newts?
  • Arts and crafts. Make a weather station, design a magnifying glass, or design aplant pot in the craft room between 1pm and 4pm.

Complete at least three of these activities and come along to a special ceremony at 4pm in the exhibition hall to collect your ranger badge.

Albie and Rory have already got stuck in completing ranger activities and collected their ranger badge. They said: “The whole day was amazing. The pond dipping was our favourite part. We found a tadpole, newt and water scorpion. We really liked doing the x-ray with the flamingos.”

Leah and Luca completed the fun flamingo health check. Leah said: “My favourite part of the flamingo health check was the weighing because you got to learn how much a normal flamingo would weigh. I’m looking forward to seeing all the real flamingos around Martin Mere.”

Luca said: “My favourite part was the x-ray because you got to see how a flamingo’s bones look."

There are a host of exciting reasons to keep coming back all summer long, including a brass rubbings trail and meeting our wetland superstars like our adorable otters and eye-catching water birds from around the world. You can also enjoy our award-winning Canoe Safari and guided boat tour. So join us and become a fully-fledged ranger!

Louise Clewley, one of WWT’s real-life wetland rangers, said: “Being able to care for and protect our beautiful wetlands is such a great experience. Every day, I get to work on our breathtaking reserve. Our Junior Wetland Rangers event is a fantastic opportunity for families to experience what it’s like to be a ranger through exciting activities that hopefully inspire some future wetland rangers!”

Help us with our mission to save wetland nature this summer and become a Junior Wetland Ranger. This event, along with others is possible through the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery. To find out more, visit our 'What's on' page.