Having a free Saturday at my disposal, I thought I could probably visit this Gloucester reserve, and then carry on to Slimbridge to the see the huge numbers of wildfowl now there.
There were quite a few cars in the reserve car park, and a group of birders/photographers confirmed to me that the penduline tit was still there. I donned wellies as the field was waterlogged and made my way over to the small reed bed where another group of photographers was gathered. The bird was pointed out to me, and could be seen clearly through the bullrushes, which were providing a sumptuous feast for this little bird.
A walk across some waterlogged ground to the small pond where the penduline tit could be seen clinging to the reed heads.
It remained visible for about 10 minutes but then flew down into the bottom of the reeds and didn't appear again while I was there. However, I was sure with a bit of patience it would be seen again later although I felt I had seen enough to be able to leave and head for my next destination , Slimbridge WWT.
Although cloudy and a little breezy, it was mild and eventually the sun shone through a little bit at this WWT centre. From all the hides, numerous wildfowl could be seen; thousands of birds taking advantage of the flooded fields. These included wigeon, lapwing, curlew, dunlin, teal, redshank, Bewick swan, greylag goose, canada goose, ruff, teal, shelduck, snipe, golden plover, blacktailed godwit.
view from the hides
the lovely Bewick Swans
Pintail
snipe
No comments:
Post a Comment