SLIMBRIDGE IN DECEMBER

 It's almost the end of the year and until today I hadn't seen a water rail to add to my yearly count. They tend to prefer the colder weather to emerge from the reeds and when I visited Slimbridge a few weeks back, I missed seeing one. Today, however, I thought that I might have a chance as the temperature registered only 3 degrees. So on my arrival just after the Centre opened I headed straight for the Willow Hide, from where water rails are regularly seen during the colder months. A few people were already in the hide, with a water rail in view which had just emerged further down a channel.  I found a good position to watch as it came towards the hide, probing the mud with its  red beak.  A pair of teal and a couple of moorhens were also beneath the feeders which were attracting sparrows, blue tits  and a dunnock. The water rail stayed around for a few minutes before hurriedly retreating. However, I didn't have to wait too long before it reappeared and stayed around for longer and gave some good opportunities for photos. 

Walking back to the Rushy Hide, there were no less than 4 species of swan present on the water,  Bewicks, Whooper, Mute, and a black Swan. They were located right at the back of the lake so hard to photograph, apart from the Bewicks, of which there had been 60 overnight.  Other species  of waterfowl included Canada geese, greylags, pintails, pochard, tufted ducks, mallard, shoveler and shelduck.  ( Some of the photos below were taken two weeks ago)

pintail m

shelduck

Bewicks swan

Bewicks swan

view of Rushy Pen

sleeping pintails

canada goose

wigeon f

wigeon m

redshanks

tufted duck

pintails

The weather was becoming more overcast so I decided to  visit the Discovery Hide overlooking South lake before returning home.  The lake seemed quite empty, a small flock of avocets, a few teal and shovelers  could be easily seen and,  standing motionless on a small rock at the end of the causeway was the juvenile spoonbill , asleep as usual.  I sat down for a rest on one of the comfy sofas in this insulated hide, and waited to see if it would stir, which it did after a while, showing its spoon shaped bill.  As I photographed it, the spoonbill suddenly took off and flew  to a small island further away. 

spoonbill

TRIP TO SUSSEX

 It's been a while since I've visited Sussex, so when a  friend suggested meeting up I decided to book an airbnb for a couple of nights near her before going on to stay with one of my daughters in Kent over half term. I also thought I'd try and include a couple of bird watching trips. 

So Thursday morning found me driving to Pulborough Brooks rspb reserve in West Sussex. It was a glorious sunny day and I pulled up in the car park soon after 10 a.m. Going out through the visitor centre I followed the path to the hides. Firstly I stopped at a special area where smaller birds are regularly fed...sunflower hearts had been put in various piles on  picnic tables and were being regularly visited by members of rhe tit family - great, blue and coal tits.  A bug hotel made from pallets was doubling up as a bird table with bird food put inside and visitors  to it included dunnocks and robins.

The hides looking over some pools  were busy with birders . Geese and ducks were numerous on the water whilst a cream crowned marsh harrier hunted over the reed beds. 

After enjoying soup from the café I made my way to another part of the reserve where a fungi trail had been created. Arrows pointed the way while information signs had been placed next to various types of fungi - I was amazed at all the different types!

My middle day (Friday) was originally planned to be  birding morning in Ashdown Forest. However a dismal day meant that there were very few birds about and my trip to Old Lodge nature reserve failed to produce ang birds at all! 

Saturday's birding trip sounded more promising despite a forecast of 30% rain. I had arranged to join a local rspb  group from East Grinstead on a visit to Rye harbour Nature reserve,  a large reserve on the coast. with a range of habitats. Fourteen of us met in the car park and I was made to feel welcome by the other group members. Although mainly cloudy there were a few patches of blue sky and no breeze and it felt mild. Hopefully the rain would hold off as it was a very open area ,the only shelter being the hides.

We headed down the wide track onto the reserve and didn't need to go far before we found our first birding area, a small stream. A Cettis warbler was calling intermittently and a kingfisher perched on one of the overhanging branches for a while before flying off again. A bit further on we stopped to look over to some pools  where we watched redshanks, little egret, spoonbills and  curlew amongst the various ducks. 

We continued walking slowly until someone spotted a fast flying merlin which flew down and perched on a distant log amongst the rough grass in the fenced off area to the right of the path. It sat motionless for some time before flying up on to a wooden post about 20 - 30 metres from the path. People were walking past regularly but it seemed unbothered. One of our group with a big camera and lens decided to walk ahead of the group to get a closer look so I joined him and we were able to get some very good views and some photos.  I've only seen a merlin a few times and certainly never that close. The rest of the group caught us up and we were all treated to excellent views through telescopes owned by several of the group.  Suddenly the bird left its perch and flew at speed after a goldfinch though we couldn't  see whether it was successful as it disappeared over a building.

We made our way across some wooden planks up on to a shingle bank above the sea. The tide was coming in and we could see groups of small waders at the waters edge. These included ringed plovers and a single sanderling as well as a few gulls and oyster catchers though not near enough for photographing. We returned on a different route and entered a  hide where several people ate their lunch though I hadn't brought mine with me. We saw several little grebes feeding right in front of the hide as well as a little egret. Various ducks and geese were on the islands as well as a few more waders including black tailed godwits and dunlin. 

On the way back to the start we found a pair of stonechats perching on fence posts and had  a pleasant surprise when a dartford warbler appeared, flitting about in the scrub behind the fence.

All in all an enjoyable and productive day with a couple more species new for the year. 

WADER SATURDAY AT SLIMBRIDGE

Slimbridge had designated this weekend a 'Wild Wader Weekend; being peak migration time, high tides were anticipated to push many waders up on to the scrapes and pools in front of the hides. With  members being allowed to  access the reserve earlier than the general public, I arrived just after 9 a.m. I came through rain but once on the motorway the sky cleared resulting in a sunny and fairly mild day.

 After showing my membership card, I entered by the members gate, and made my way towards the hides. There were several people already in the Rushy Hide, attracted by a large number (25+) of snipe which were very close to the hide. A little egret also showed well.   With high tide at 10 o'clock, I ensured I was at the Estuary Tower in good time. Many birds could be seen, although you needed a telescope to make out the smaller birds, including ringed plovers and dunlin.  One of the guides kindly allowed me to look through theirs and  I was also shown a group of 5 white fronted geese, which were the first autumn arrivals at the Centre. Other geese present included greylags, Canada geese, barnacle geese, and a (hybrid?) bar-headed goose, presumed escapee.  As high tide came, the water spilled over its banks at one point and a flock of curlew flew up onto the edge of the estuary. A large flock of golden plovers flew overhead and a flock of starlings were constantly on the move.

The South Lake hide was directly in front of the sun, causing a sort of monochrome effect with silhouettes of birds. On the way to the Kingfisher hide, I paused by the dragonfly pool,  and saw a ruddy darter and several migrant hawker dragonflies. A field with longhorn cattle  also hosted 16 cattle egret,  distantly visible from the Kingfisher hide. 

snipe

little egret

high tide on the Severn Estuary

green sandpiper

lapwing

migrant hawker

goosander from the aviary