Nene Washes is a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

on the bank of the

River Nene The River Nene ( or ) flows through the counties of Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk in Eastern England from its sources in Arbury Hill in Northamptonshire. Flowing Northeast through East England to its mouth at Lutt ...

east of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, a

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

and a

Nature Conservation Review ''A Nature Conservation Review'' is a two-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe, published by Cambridge University Press in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain. It is often known by the initi ...

site. An area of is managed by the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

. The total area of the Ramsar site is . This is described by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

as one of Britain's few remaining areas of washland which are vital for the survival of wildfowl and waders. It is used as a flood storage reservoir for the River Nene and is flooded for most of the winter and is pasture in the summer. It is important for birds all year. In the wintering wildfowl include wigeons, teals, pintails and

Bewick's swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the ...

s. In the breeding season the nesting species include

common crane The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') an ...

black-tailed godwit The black-tailed godwit (''Limosa limosa'') is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, '' Limosa''. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and ches ...

garganey The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly bird migration, migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Ban ...

and common snipe. The cranes also winter in the area and flock in nearby fields. They reserve is also good for birds of prey including

Western marsh harrier The western marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') is a large harrier (bird), harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Palearctic, Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a numb ...

Eurasian hobby The Eurasian hobby (''Falco subbuteo'') or just hobby, is a small, slim falcon. It belongs to a group of similar falcons often considered a subgenus '' Hypotriorchis''. Taxonomy and systematics The first formal description of the Eurasian hobby ...

and

short-eared owl The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

. The rich flora in ditches include uncommon species such as frogbit, water violet and flowering rush. There is also an important population of

spined loach The spined loach (''Cobitis taenia'') is a common freshwater fish in Europe. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus '' Misgurnus''. This is the type species of the spiny ...

in the drainage channels in and around the washes, and the presence of this species is one of the primary reasons for the site's designation as a Special Area of Conservation. There is access to the RSPB reserve immediately east of the B1040 road from Nene Way. The western end is private land with no public access.

References

{{SSSIs Cambridgeshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cambridgeshire Ramsar sites in England Special Protection Areas in England Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in England Nature Conservation Review sites River Nene