SLIMBRIDGE

I wasn't the only one who was hoping to catch sight of the glossy ibis which has been roosting at Slimbridge for the past two nights. On arrival at the Centre this afternoon, enquiries revealed that the ibis had left the centre in the morning and had been seen in the fields leading up to the centre, although apparently it had now disappeared from there. Everyone was hoping it would turn up again on the South Lake prior to roosting. 

I stayed a bit longer than usual but along with other birders, was disappointed when it didn;t show. Still, that 's the nature of birding, you win some, you lose some! I shall be looking to the website to see if it did in fact return. 

However, I still enjoyed a sunny afternoon in the hides, and was able to add a few more ticks to my year list, including avocet and oyster catcher. A snipe was close to the South Lake hide and I saw a little stint on the Rushy Pen. 

Birds of note included:
avocet, oyster catcher, snipe, lapwing, redshank, dunlin, little stint, black tailed godwit, golden plover,  crane.white fronted goose, greylag goose, canada goose, barnacle goose, buzzard, pintail, mallard, gadwall, pochard, tufted duck, wigeon, shoveler, shelduck, cormorant, 


Despite it being 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the journey home was without hold-ups; most of the traffic was heading the other way! 

avocets

Bewicks swan

dunlin

lapwing

oyster catcher

pintail

redshank

ruff

golden plover

snipe

wood pigeon