BRR! IT WAS COLD AT SLIMBRIDGE TODAY!

 Well, I suppose one must expect cold weather in January but it did seem particularly cold today, even though there hadn't been a frost. Or perhaps I just didn't put enough layers on! It stayed overcast all day at Slimbridge until nearly 4 o'clock when the sun appeared low in the sky to cast a golden glow over everything. 

I visited the WWT centre along with some good friends today, who are also keen birdwatchers. They were staying in Slimbridge village so we met in the car park shortly after the centre opened. We started by warming up in the Peng observatory where we had a good view of the two ponds on the Rushy Pen. Most of the Bewicks had already departed after the morning feed but there were still good numbers of ducks. We spotted a couple of unusual coloured species amongst them which later we found out  to be hybrids.

Further along the walkway we saw  a variety of waders amongst the many ducks  and geese on the flooded field known as the 'Tack piece' , including snipe, redshank , golden plovers and dunlin and whilst there a flock of curlew flew in. 

The estuary hide gave us good views of a variety of geese species: greylag, barnacle, Canada goose, Ross Goose and Snow goose together with a hybrid bar-headed goose but we had to wait till we visited the Kingfisher hide at the opposite end of the reserve to find the white-fronts to add to my year list.  Sadly the brent goose didn't make an appearance until much later in the day. However, we did manage to see a peregrine through a telescope that a warden had set up.  A look in at the willow hide provided views of  some busy bird feeders but not the hoped-for water rail today.  

From the Discovery hide we found several species of gulls including a common gull, and saw some black tailed godwits feeding at the rear of the lake. From the Kingfisher hide we also saw a kestrel and a marsh harrier and a small bank vole peeped out from under the tree roots where some feeders were hanging. 

At end of our visit we waited for the tea time feed on the Rushy Pen when many geese and ducks fly in to gather in readiness for their free meal. It was at this time that the sun came out from behind the clouds and brightened everything up. For a while it was quite a frenzy of activity as the birds frantically attempted to get their share of the food which was thrown to them.  We were surprised when we spotted a mandarin duck amongst the pintails and mallards! 

After an  enjoyable day we counted up  59 species, of which I added 7 to my year list. 

Bewick cygnet

Bewick family with 4 cygnets

swan and cygnet

Canada geese

cranes by the Severn estuary

greylag

grey heron

mandarin

pintails

shelducks

teal (m)

wigeon flock

snipe

A sudden influx of greylags as the sun came out over the Rushy Pen

greylags flying in for tea!

feeding frenzy

blue tit

bank vole beneath feeder