Another, longer, trip to WWT Slimbridge today for their Wild Winter weekend, though the weather itself was far from wild and wintry! It was blue skies all day, though a little chilly at times in some of the hides, where the wind was blowing through windows. My first stop was, as usual, at the Rushy Pen, where a number of Bewick swans were still about, before they flew off to feed elsewhere. Then along the renamed 'Estuary Walkway' visiting the various hides en route. After a short wait the water rails made an appearance at the Willow hide, while the bird feeders were busy with blue tits and great tits. I proceeded to the Estuary tower, opting to stay under cover rather than in the open air. With the estuary at low tide, many birds were in the distance though I was shown the white fronted geese through a WWT telescope by a 'guide in the hide'. At the Zeiss hide, a buzzard and a marsh harrier were seen hunting while a heron slowly made its way alongside the reed beds. I also saw my first cranes of the year.
Bewick swans
oyster catcher
shelduck
robin
pheasant on a metal gate
teal
water rail
heron
Whilst at Slimbridge today I booked a 'Duck decoy' talk and demo session for an hour or so in the afternoon. I had been recommended this as being really interesting, and I found it just that! Contrary to popular belief that dogs chase the ducks into the decoy, we were told that the dog lured them in by pretending to be a fox! We saw this being demonstrated, with a lurcher; the ducks like to keep an eye on any predator so they follow it to make sure it cannot surprise them. Then when inside the tunnel a human appears and they make a rush for the end of the tunnel where they can be caught and ringed
(obviously in the past they were captured for the dinner table!) However , they will only rush for the end of the tunnel if they are facing the oncoming wind, and today there was no wind at all, so when the decoyman appeared they all turned and went back out onto the pond!! Well, all except one female mallard! The talk finished with a ringing demonstration.
the lurcher weaving in and out of the willow panels to attract the ducks
the ducks all heading for the tunnel!
the end of the tunnel
retrieving the 'catch' from the basket
ringing the female mallard
weighing it inside a cloth bag
about to be released
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