Please don't feed the ducks
By Charlotte Owen
WildCall Officer
Sussex Wildlife Trust is urging people to stop feeding the ducks at Woods Mill nature reserve because excess bread is polluting the lake and harming wildlife.
Nutrient pollution caused by large amounts of bread and other food being thrown into the lake can cause harmful algal blooms, which deplete the lake’s oxygen and kill off aquatic wildlife. The risk of blooms increases in warm, sunny weather when algae can reproduce exponentially, so the lake is currently primed for disaster unless we take action now.
Excess bread is also harmful to the ducks and can cause malnutrition, disease and bad behaviour. We are now seeing a large group of last year’s ducklings constantly roaming the reserve in search of people who might feed them, rather than exhibiting natural behaviour. This is detrimental to their welfare and also poses a nuisance to visitors.
Ducks naturally eat a wide range of aquatic insects, snails, worms, pond weed and other vegetation. A natural and balanced diet is especially important during the breeding season, when they need to provide their young with appropriate food. There are healthier alternatives that can be fed to ducks (e.g. peas, sweetcorn, chopped greens) but since Woods Mill is a nature reserve, we are asking that no additional food is provided to any of the wildlife on site. There is plenty of natural food available, and the current situation poses a threat to the wildlife that so many people come here to enjoy.
Comments
I sat down to have a drink and biscuit today and a pair of mallards rushed up, the female pecking gently at my leg. I tried not to feed them but a few crumbs dropped down.
13 Apr 2022 19:06:00
This sounds familiar — my daughters were nearly mobbed by ducks on a visit a couple of months ago. They followed they right around the lake, before eventually returning to the water. It was not something we’d experienced before — and now we know why.
21 Apr 2022 10:55:00
However, if you ignore them, they just sit quietly beside you giving you quality time with a duck!
21 Apr 2022 11:43:00
Do you have a poster we could print and display at our local ponds?
ANSWER: Sorry, we don't have a poster available21 Apr 2022 12:14:00
Lots of lakes have less food for wild foul to bottom feed because the water is cold so they look for people to feed them. Do not feed them all the time. the amount given depends on the number, the seagulls can be pest when are around they will kill the young ones if they cannot get other food.
21 Apr 2022 12:15:00
Barleys in Middleton on Sea sell Duck Food and we used to buy the same at Arundel Wild Fowl Centre for 50p a bag and at the Lake close by.We never have left over bread, and the ducks visiting our garden pond are a nuisance because they trash it searching for food. I shoo them away.
21 Apr 2022 13:33:00
Hi there, We were at Woods Mill yesterday afternoon. There are no signs relating to ‘Do not feed the ducks’ ! So several people WERE feeding the ducks, swans etc. Also, we noticed that there aren’t any litter bins.
ANSWER: Thank you for your comment. We have now placed notices on site. Visitors are expected to be responsible and take their rubbish home with them. Also litter bins and emptying them is expensive and would mean less money spent on nature conservation22 Apr 2022 08:56:00
I notice that many people feed white bread to the swans and ducks in Princes Park too despite a notice advising against. Perhaps a bigger notice at both ends of the park might help.
22 Apr 2022 15:23:00
We visited Woods Mill once again last week.
We only saw a small sign on the general notice board – together with other notices – re asking people not to feed the swans and ducks. There was another (almost torn in half) small sign stapled to the bench (where children go pond dipping). Someone was sitting on the sign when we got there – therefore we only saw the sign after they stood up !
There was another small sign that we saw…..by the small pond where swans and ducks don’t go.
There were no signs along the right hand side of the big lake.
It would be a good idea to have an ‘A’ board at the entrance – similar to the ‘No Dogs’ sign.
09 May 2022 15:41:00
I have not visited Woods Mill Reserve, but our Local Lake @ Egerton Park, Bexhill, has Local Authority signs around the perimeter warning the Public against feeding the Wildfowl bread, etc. Instead it advises Visitors to buy Safe Feed from the Refreshment Kiosk. It seems to work, as the Birds don’t pester & feed Naturally. But being a Seaside Resort, predatory Gulls are an ever present threat to young Ducklings & to Families trying to enjoy their Picnics!
23 May 2022 12:03:00
I visited woodsmill on Saturday June 11th and was dismayed to see the swans , which were nesting last time I visited, have gone. What happened to them.
More signs needed to prevent people feeding the ducks, and maybe a volunteer walking around might help.
13 Jun 2022 19:45:00
Sussex Wildlife Trust:
The swans aren’t tied to their nest site now that the cygnets have hatched, and may wander wherever they choose. It’s not unusual for them to leave the nature reserve, and they may come and go throughout the summer months.
There are no signs up saying do not feed the ducks when you enter the nature reserve and non by the seating area near the lake where the swans and ducks are. So therefore people are not aware of this!
09 Oct 2022 16:32:00
Sussex Wildlife Trust:
Hi. Thank you for caring about our ducks and our pond! There's a sign on the board as you enter the reserve and we've repeatedly put up signs on the platform which unfortunately people have removed. I've alerted the Reserve Manager to this just now as well.
Only saw 2 ducklings at woods mill today.
Does anyone know what happened to the rest of them.?.
24 May 2025 18:53:00
Sussex Wildlife Trust:
We don't know. But all young creatures are vulnerable, so it's possible they were predated.