Birds feast and boats rest as the Thames is lowered for the annual Richmond Draw-Off

"This is the Richmond Draw Off, and is a chance to see this part of the Thames as it should look, if only humans weren't interfering with it. Ordinarily, the low tide would look just like you're seeing, but that would be a big nuisance for boats, so the Port of London Authority (PLA) uses the Richmond and Teddington locks to manage the river height and maintain a minimum level at low tide so the river can remain navigable."

"But turn the locks off, and the river level drops to where it would be naturally, which at high tide is not a problem, but at low tide, it's very low indeed. So much so that you could (but really shouldn't) almost wade across the river in some places with patches of gravel exposed in the middle of the Thames."

"Much to the delight of birds, who gain a new source of lunch in the middle of the river that's rarely available to them. This is known as the Richmond Draw Off, and apart from feeding the birds, its main purpose is to give the PLA an opportunity to carry out repairs and clear out accumulations of sediment that would otherwise clog up the weirs."

The Richmond Draw Off is a temporary procedure that lowers the River Thames near Richmond to near-natural tidal levels by turning off Richmond and Teddington locks. At low tide the river becomes very shallow, exposing gravel patches and narrowing to a modest stream. Birds exploit the exposed areas as feeding grounds. The Port of London Authority uses the draw-off to perform repairs and remove sediment that would otherwise clog weirs and impede navigation. In 2025 the draw-off began on Monday 27 October and completed on Friday 19 December, during which the river level stayed lower than usual, especially at low tide.

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