WINTER VISITORS ARRIVING AT SLIMBRIDGE

 

It was a beautiful autumn morning for my visit to Slimbridge today. A number of wildfowl have started arriving  for their winter stay at Slimbridge, including the first two Bewick swans of the autumn, white fronted geese, pintails and wigeon so I looked forward to seeing these. The Bewick swans were on the Rushy Pen together with a number of pintail as well as the usual shelducks, lapwings and gulls. 

After enjoying watching these for a while, I walked along the walkway to the Estuary Tower, stopping at the hides along the route. Of particular note were three spotted redshanks, a black tailed godwit, some snipe and a handful of white fronts. From one of the hides I watched a kingfisher which was diving into the water regularly from a perch behind some reeds. 

I ascended the steps to the Estuary Tower, stopping at the viewing area below the open topped area. I noticed some people with their lenses pointing at the little copse just below and realised there were a few redwings feeding on the berries.  They were giving some clear views from time to time, and I spent some time here, as I've always wanted to photograph redwings and berries, but have never been in a close enough position. I was quite pleased with some of my results. 

Other birds were also  enjoying the berries, including a song thrush and robin. Beyond the copse were the usual range of geese (Canada, greylag and barnacle), and some cranes. 

From the comfort of the Discovery Hide, I watched a Painted lady butterfly which fed from some flowers along the causeway; here three cattle egrets could be seen as well as a bittern at the rear of the pond. 

I walked as far as the Kingfisher hide, stopping to eat my lunch on one of the benches by the dragonfly pond where I noticed some common darters and a migrant hawker. From the hide itself I saw a Brimstone butterfly flutter past in the sunshine. 

The light made photography enjoyable and I have put some of my best efforts below. 

 

YELLOW BROWED WARBLER AT COATE WATER

 Last week a yellow browed warbler spent several days at Farmoor Reservoir, in some bushes behind the toilet block; sadly, I couldn't make it but yesterday I read that another had been reported in a rather more picturesque location at Coate Water, in some bushes near to a pond. I have only seen one of these birds before, which stayed around for several weeks in an area of the Cotswold Water parks.

I drove the short journey over to the Country Park yesterday afternoon and was told where the bird had been seen, in an area only a few hundred yards from the car park, but despite a good look by several birders for an hour or thereabouts, nothing appeared, although, there were several chiffchaffs, goldcrests, bluetits and a wren, and  my first redwings of this autumn. 

Having a day off today in  rather better weather - cold but sunny after yesterday's drizzle and cloud-  I headed over there this morning. The sun was bright and I decided to experiment with some photography with the light behind some swans that were preening in the shallows of the lake.

I then walked over to the area of yesterday's search, but then noticed a couple of people looking at bushes on the opposite side of the pond. Upon asking, they told me that they had seen the warbler,  but I might get a better view for photos if I went round the back of the bushes as the sun would be on it. 

I did so,and came across a couple more photographers looking up at some saplings. They soon pointed it out for me; a tiny warbler with yellowish 'eyebrow' and wing bars. Typically, it was moving in out of the leaves as it hunted for insects, only occasionally coming into full view. It flew into another row of trees behind us before returning to the original area. It was visible here and there for about twenty minutes I suppose, before it disappeared and I decided to take a walk further round the lake before returning the car. 

 

spot the warbler!

FORAY ACROSS THE BRIDGE

I was reading another birder's blog yesterday and noticed they'd been over to Goldcliff Lagoons near Newport this week to see a grey phalarope which has been there a couple of days. I've not seen one of those birds for a long time, so with a day off work today, I decided to make a trip over the Severn Bridge and visit both Goldcliff lagoons and the neighbouring RSPB reserve known as Newport Wetlands. 

After checking the weather, I decided to leave a bit later than usual as it was forecast rain followed later in the day by cloud and sunshine. I therefore arrived at just gone 10 o'clock having passed through several spells of rain on the way but it was now drying up and I was hopeful it would stay dry.

There were quite a few other cars parked along the edge of the road near the entrance to the Goldcliff reserve, so I felt fairly optimistic the phalarope was still around. The grass was still wet underfoot as I made my way along the path stopping to look in a couple of (empty) hides on the way. Then I reached a viewing platform which held a number of people with telescopes and binoculars etc. and after joining them I scanned the lagoon in front of us. It didn't take me long to locate the tiny winter plumaged phalarope swimming amongst a flock of godwit. It was doing its usual swimming habit of turning in circles regularly poking its bill into the water. Sadly, it was a little too distant for some decent photos, but nevertheless I enjoyed watching it through my binoculars. The last time I saw one of these little birds was at Farmoor Reservoir where it was so confiding, you could get within only a few metres of it. From the hide I could also see several grey plovers on the mud and a total of eleven little egrets and a grey heron. 

The sun was beginning to come out as I left the platform and continued around the reserve; from the next view point I could make out some redshanks at the far end of the flock of black tailed godwits and noticed that the little egrets had been joined by a spoonbill.  Further on I stopped to enquire from a photographer what he had seen amongst the reeds, as he had his camera pointed at something, and he showed me a female kingfisher perched low down at the front of the reeds; I would never have seen it myself. It left the perch and dived into the water, returning with a small fish which it soon devoured though was partly hidden behind some reeds this time before flying off to another section of the reedbed out of sight. 

After spending a couple of hours at Goldcliff, I made the short journey round to the RSPB reserve. I ate my lunch in the car before passing through visitor centre and out on to the reserve. I have never seen large numbers of birds on any of my previous visits and today was no exception. Perhaps it is better in spring, but I am usually birding nearer home at that time of year. I listened for the 'pinging' of bearded tits but couldn't hear any, neither saw any which was a bit disappointing. At the only hide, there was a good number of ducks, mostly mallard and teal, but I did also spot a pintail there too. On the mudflats there were several curlew.

After a quick cup of tea in the cafe and a browse in the shop, I made my way home, very pleased that I have now reached a total of 170 bird species this year! 25 more than last year with still a couple of months to go. 

Kingfisher F

mute swans flypast

grey phalarope

spoon bill

grey phalarope

grey plover

SLIMBRIDGE WITH THE U3a

Today I joined  a dozen members of my local U3A birders group for their annual visit to Slimbridge. Although I left home in sunshine, as I drove along the A417 it began to rain and I wondered if I'd made the right decision to go.  However, the clouds cleared a little and the sun broke through giving a beautiful rainbow over the centre as I approached it.

We spent time at the various hides, and over the day, gathered a total of over 60 bird species between us, which was a pretty good total. We generally stayed together as a group which meant that occasionally we filled up a hide, giving the impression that something rare and interesting was present that was attracting a lot of attention! No new birds for me today, but highlights of the visit included a curlew sandpiper, spotted redshank  and a peregrine. A few of the wintering wildfowl had begun to return, e.g.. pintail and wigeon and I look forward to the first Bewick swans returning in November. One member of our group walked down to the estuary, but I wasn't aware that he had gone, or I may have joined him as his sightings included grey plovers which would have been a year tick for me.  

We managed to get around most of the centre in dry weather, albeit  very windy which made the  wooden hides creak somewhat.  Our last port of call was the Discovery Hide  when it rained  quite heavily for a while, but of course the birds didn't mind and we spent a while checking out the different waders and gulls with the help of an expert guide. We were also pleased when the little egret that someone noted as we entered the hide, turned out to be a cattle egret! 

All in all an enjoyable outing. Apologies for the poor photos but a few from today are shown below. 

snipe

shovelers

large flock of teal

black tailed godwits

cattle egret

PECTORAL SANDPIPER AT LANGFORD LAKES

I've visited the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Langford Lakes on several occasions, but today I was particularly hoping to see a new wader for me - a pectoral sandpiper. It had been reported  there for a few days  so I was hoping that it would still be present. Unsure of how popular the reserve would be on a Saturday I left in good time and after a straightforward one and a quarter hour's  journey southwards  I arrived at around 8.30 am. The car park only had three other cars in it which was a bit surprising, but maybe a pectoral sandpiper isn't  a particularly rare species, or most birders have already seen one this year. I had already guessed that the bird would be seen from the Meadow Hide as this tends to be the place where the best birds are seen, so I made for this area, which was at the far end of the reserve. On the way I passed the visitor centre which confirmed on a  blackboard outside that the Meadow hide was the place to look. Entering the hide, I found two other occupants, neither had yet located the pectoral sandpiper, and after a while one of them left. There were around 100 lapwing standing in the shallows and on the islands preening, and ducks too. On the far bank were about 10 snipe, spaced out along the shoreline. 

There was no evidence of any other waders, but as I was scanning the shoreline, a kingfisher flew in and landed on a dead branch which was jutting out of the water. quite near to the hide. Unfortunately, the sun had not got round that far, so the bird was in shadow, backlit by the sun. 

The kingfisher did not stay long though, and I resumed my look for the pectoral sandpiper. Suddenly the other occupant pointed out a sandpiper on the far bank, but it was a green sandpiper.  A couple of other people joined us in the hide, then the original birder, located a wader in the distance with yellow legs, it looked to me like the photos I'd seen but I checked an image on my phone to  make sure. It was slightly larger than a dunlin, with yellowish legs and a prominent pale stripe over the eye.  This particular bird was now at the furthest point away that it could be but thankfully was still visible through binoculars and I watched it make its way round the back of the lake, sometimes running along at speed, and eventually catching up with the  green sandpiper, although they seemed to ignore each other's presence.  

Whilst watching, we were became aware of a flock  of geese, which flew in toward the lake landing with a splash in the water. This was a mixture of Canada geese and greylags and all of a sudden the lake became full of activity (and noise!).  We briefly lost sight of the sandpipers then realised they had moved around to our right, and thankfully a bit closer.  My zoom wasn't good enough to get particularly good pictures but I managed some record shots.

It was now 10.30 so I decided to leave the hide and visit some of the other hides, although these were pretty quiet. The hide overloooking the woodland edge had a sign saying that birdfeeding had been temporarily discontinued due to concerns about disease which was a pity.

The beautiful autumn sunshine made the lakes look lovely as the water sparkled in the sunlight. I bought a coffee from the newly refurbished Kingfisher cafe which had a seating area overlooking one of the lakes and then found a bench in a quiet area by a stream to eat my lunch, during which I was accompanied by a robin  quietly singing in adjacent

 bush.

As I returned to my car, I found a group of people admiring a Southern Hawker dragonfly perched motionless in the hedgerow so I took a few pictures of it, and also a common darter. 

It was still sunny as I made my way back home, after another worthwhile excursion to one of Wiltshire Wildlife trust's lovely reserves.   

pectoral and green sandpipers

pectoral sandpiper

lapwings

kingfisher

view from hide

Langford lakes

view from Meadow hide

southern hawker dragonfly

robin

ALONG THE CAUSEWAY AT FARMOOR

 

After finishing work at lunch time today I drove over to Farmoor Reservoir where a number of waders had been seen on the causeway recently. The causeway is an excellent spot for obtaining close views of a variety of waders as they stop off on their journeys. Yesterday a little stint was reported, and when I checked today I saw that a curlew sandpiper was also present. 

I decided it was worth a visit to see if either of these birds were still there, as I hadn't yet included them on my year list, neither did I see them last year.  

I hadn't gone very far along the causeway when I noticed a group of waders along the shore edge.  A couple of photographers were already watching them and they pointed out to me the little stint feeding amongst  a group of dunlins,, identifiable by its smaller size and patterned plumage on its back, which displayed a white V sign. 

Further along, I was told that the curlew sandpiper was close to the far end, alongside a ruff. It didn't take me long to find them both, as some birders were already there, lenses pointing down at the shoreline. The ruff appeared a little lame, but was feeding easily enough, though spent more time resting than the sandpiper, which continuously made its way searching for food along the edge, then returning the way it had come. 

Having spent quite a bit of time watching and photographing the waders I returned along the causeway, spotting a little egret fishing in the shallows right at the end. A satisfying afternoon!

sailing at Farmoor reservoir

little stint creeping past some resting dunlins !

little stint

dunlin

curlew sandpiper

ruff

little egret