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.
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