WINTER SUNSHINE AT SLIMBRIDGE WWT

School finished yesterday so with a fine morning forecast for  today I paid a pre- Christmas visit to Slimbridge. Although fine at home, when I left at 8.30. am. I came through cloud and some light rain and fog but as I arrived at the wetland trust car park, a beautiful rainbow was showing over the centre. 

As I made for the hides, I noticed that it was making a full semi-circle over the flamingo pool outside the café, which made me reach for my camera.

There were a few Bewick swans still on the Rushy pen after their morning feed but most had flown off to other parts of the reserve to feed for the day. Other species seen there were pintails, pochards, mallards, shelducks and tufted ducks. 

From the willow hide it is often possible to see one if not more water rail at this time of year, and on enquiring I learned that one had been seen a few moments before but had retreated to the reeds. I waited and sure enough one soon appeared, followed by a second, which I was told were male and female, the female being slightly larger and fatter than the male!

Further down the Holden walkway, I reached the new Estuary Hide and climbed the three flights of steps to the open air top. I was the only one there but enjoyed the views of the flocks of geese together with a distant peregrine sitting on  dead tree. From the sightings blog I knew that a barnacle flock was often to be seen from this point, and that it currently held a bar-headed goose and a bar-headed-snow goose hybrid.  In the distance I could just make out a flock of what I thought might be the barnacles but certainly I would not be determine if there were any other geese amongst them, However, after a short while the whole flock took off and flew to another spot considerably nearer the hide, where a better view could be had through bincoculars. I soon spotted the odd one out, but it appeared more like a hybrid. 

Just then some other visitors arrived, and I was pleased to see one of them had a telescope!  Entering into conversation about the geese, he was able to verify the hybrid but then found the bar-headed goose further away and invited me to see through his scope. He also located the flock of eight pink-footed geese which had also been reported there. Pleased that I had now added a further two species to my year list, I left the hide to explore the remainder of the reserve. It was then I discovered I had left my flask of coffee in the boot of the car, so I paid a visit to one of the refreshment kiosks and had my lunch on one of the picnic tables. 

A visit to the shop completed my visit, until the next time, which I hope should be at the start of the New year. 

Species list for today:

bar-headed goose, pink footed goose, Canada goose, greylag, mute swan, Bewick swan, cormorant, herring gull,  Blck headed gull, shelduck, shoveler, mallard, teal, tufted duck, wigeon, coot, moorhen, water rail, crane, redshank, dunlin, snipe, lapwing, pochard, white fronted goose, pintail, heron, golden plover, wood pigeon, collared dove, magpie, blackbird dunnock, blue tit, great tit, wren, chaffinch, robin, peregrine, house sparrow, ruff, starling  (42)

Bewick swan

collared doves

grey heron

pintail

robin

shelduck

swans and ducks on the Rushy pen

view over Tack Piece

water rail

water rail seen in channel to the left

FARMOOR AGAIN

Another cold, still,  day so I paid a quick visit to Farmoor reservoir  this afternoon to try and get some better views of the scaups seen there last week. As an added bonus there had been reports of a slavonian  greb which would be an extra year tick for me. 

After I had crossed the causeway I came across  a couple of birders, one of which told me that he could  see the two scaups, and that the slavonian grebe was still there, albeit further away than it had been earlier. Grateful for his help,  I soon located  the scaups  which  were fairly distant to start with but gradually came a little nearer,  sometimes preening and often turning in circles as they did so!.  The grebe, however,  was content to remain fairly distant   and I had to be content with a couple of record shots  After watching them for a while, the light deteriorated as the sun gradually began to sink; a reminder that the shortest day is not far off so I headed home. 

white coot

female scaup

female and juvenile scaups

little grebe

Slavonian grebe

FROST AT OTMOOR

I fancied a winter's walk at RSPB Otmoor so got up earlier than usual on a Saturday morning only to find a blanket of fog.  Checking the met office forecast  it showed sun in Oxfordshire while at home in North Wiltshire it was still foggy. Not knowing the accuracy of this, I thought it might be a good idea to check out an Oxford webcam,  which I did, and incredibly it showed clearing skies. 

So having made sandwiches and a flask of hot chocolate I headed out along the A420..still foggy. But after about 20 minutes or so the round shape of the sun could be seen through the fog and soon it cleared completely. On arrival at Otmoor, the hedges were a beautiful picture of white  sparkling leaves and in the distance the moor looked stunning in its winter beauty. 

With everything still pretty frozen, there were not that many birds currently about, so I took the opportunity to  try out some winter photography. However at the hide the winter feeding scheme ensured that there were good numbers of reed buntings, chaffinches, and a few yellow hammers along with great tits and robin.

At the junction of the path to the first screen, there were a group of birders standing around at the junction with the track who had just been watching a weasel. And as I followed the path I caught up with another couple of birders who were also watching one, which I could see in the distance.  I did actually have another  two weasel sightings, the second one particularly close but although I waited with camera poised, sadly it did not reappear. 

At the first screen, I joined a few others who were watching a group of snipe on an island and flocks of teal wheeling round above the water but not landing. Here bitterns have been seen regularly and not so long ago a family of otters had been frequenting the area. But neither showed during my visit today. 

Birds seen:
coot, moorhen, swan, mallard, tufted duck, teal, snipe, Canada geese, redwing, great tit, pheasant, chaffinch, great tit, reed bunting, yellowhammer, buzzard,  linnet, cormorant.

IN SEARCH OF A SCAUP

After some very wet weather recently it was a pleasant change to have sunshine the whole day, even though the temperature had dropped.

Some scaups have been seen regularly at Farmoor Reservoir this autumn, and having failed in two attempts to find them amongst the similar looking tufted ducks, I decided to have a third attempt today.

The brightness of the  autumn sunshine meant I needed to cross the causeway to get round to a position where I could have a better view of the ducks but despite scanning the ducks through my binoculars I still could not make out any duck with a large patch of white surrounding its beak which would identify it as my target species.

Wondering what to do next, a birder ( who turned out to be the author of a birding blog that I read regularly! ) was coming towards me and I enquired if he had seen the scaup. He told me he had not yet found them but they had been reported there about an hour earlier and it was unlikely they would have flown off in that time.  I joined him and we continued to look, walking down the western side of both reservoirs which were the favoured areas but without success.  However he did point out a hybrid greater/lesser scaup.  As his more experienced eyes scanned the shapes of the mostly sleeping ducks, he also picked out a possible culprit but we could not verify it while its head was tucked in.

We continued walking and looking, mystified that we hadn't been able to locate it,  and then he went back to his car while I  went  to return to my own vehicle in the car park the opposite side of the causeway. Meanwhile the driver of another car which had passed us had stopped and got out a telescope and was joined by the birder who I been searching with earlier. Then I got a shout and quickly hurried over to where they had  been able to confirm the identity of the sleeping bird, it was in the fact the scaup. I peered through the telescope and saw it for myself as it lifted its head  exhibiting its large white blaze but as it was right out in the middle of the reservoir no photos were possible. 

It was however another year tick, and if it continues to stay, then there is a chance I might be able to see it again, as it has been known to be much closer in. 

Other birds seen included:

swan, mallard, wigeon, pochard, tufted duck, cormorant, great crested grebe, little grebe, grey lag geese, grey wagtail, common sandpiper. 

cormorants on a still lake

Farmoor F1

lesser x greater scaup

COTSWOLD WATER PARK

Only six of us turned up for the latest U3A birder walk today, in the Cotswold Water Park. Unsurprising, I suppose, seeing as the forecast was for heavy rain during the afternoon. However, having had to miss many of the recent trips for various reasons, I felt I should make the effort to go, come rain or shine! 

In the event, after some rain during the drive over, it was mainly overcast but with only a few spots of rain now and again and we had an enjoyable afternoon's birding. 

The area was very wet and it became very apparent why a boardwalk had been constructed as we walked from the Neigh bridge car park towards lake 56. We were glad we had been advised to wear wellies as several footpaths were flooded too. After spotting three goosanders as well as the usual tufted ducks and mallards on the water, we soon accumulated a good number of woodland species including spending several minutes observing a greater spotted woodpecker as it hammered  into a tree trunk searching for food.

We retraced our steps and then crossed the road to head toward lakes 44 and 57. Earlier in the year I had seen the yellowed browed warbler here but today we had some close up views of goldcrests instead. These tiny little birds seemed happy to flit amongst the branches within a few metres of us.  Plenty of fieldfares and redwings were flying around, and diving into hedges and trees from time to time and we later spotted a green woodpecker with its characteristic flight.  On lake 44 we were treated to some  views of more goosanders and some red crested pochards and found a heron on lake 57, but sadly not the expected egrets.  However,  I had decided to leave my camera behind, in case it had turned very wet, and in any case the light was mainly on the poor side.  Our usual aim is to see at least the number of species as members on the walk,  and as we returned to our cars as the light began to fade, a quick tally showed we succeeded five times over today! 

Birds seen included:

house sparrow, dunnock, robin, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, goldfinch, goldcrest, redwing, fieldfare, blackbird, green woodpecker, greater spotted woodpecker, mute swan, mallard, tufted duck, goosander, coot, moorhen, heron, red crested pochard, black headed gull, herring gull, lesser black backed gull, great crested grebe, wigeon, cormorant, kestrel, buzzard, magpie, woodpigeon. 

BITTERN!

With a busy week ahead, I was  unsure whether to spend my only free afternoon over at Slimbridge WWT but as it also seemed to be the only fine day this week, I decided to go.

My plan was to firstly visit the newly opened Estuary Hide. Surprisingly it was not that busy but it is a beautiful hide, and the views from the open air top are stunning. There was no wind today but I guess a winter's day could prove very bracing. 

I checked out the Willow hide and watched a pheasant wading through the water, though I did not get a glimpse of the water rail that had been around earlier.

Bitterns have been regularly reported from Slimbridge so I made my way over to the Zeiss hide, where some rides have been cut amongst the reed bed for easier viewing.   As I waited, I overheard another visitor enquiring about  bitterns; he was told that in all probability there was one currently on view at the next hide along.

So guess where I headed next?!  And as I entered the hide and managed to find a seat right at the end, the bittern was indeed showing very well indeed, making its way along the edge of the reed bed! Several people could be heard phoning their friends in other parts of the reserve to let them know but as they did so the bird vanished amongst the reeds, so on arrival they were greeted with the inevitable 'You've just missed it!'

Although it was still only 2.45 pm, I didn't wait much longer to see if it reappeared, as I wanted to visit a couple of other hides and then leave in good time to get home. 

estuary hide

newly arrived Bewick swans

house sparrow

pintail

pheasant