Heather's Nature Notes: 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)