MORE JANUARY BIRDING

 Just thought I'd add a few birds I've seen in the Cotswolds and surrounding area recently. I took a  trip to look for bramblings in the Cotswolds but only found some red legged partridges feeding in a field near to the road,  whilst a short walk at Whelford pools nature reserve produced three male goosanders and some red crested pochards which I've added to my list for this year. 

male goosanders

red legged partridge

I paid a visit to Coate Water Country park earlier this week  and found more goosanders and ticked off the resident black swan. There were various small birds around the feeding area which someone had liberally sprinkled with bird food and I got into  conversation with a gentleman, a newcomer to birding and told him about the U3A group which he seemed interested in. I was able to point him out a nuthatch which he'd never seen before. 

view at Coate water

long tailed tit

black swan

At Whelford Pools I found my first bullfinch of the year, a female seen from the carpark, and then found yet more goosanders. Apart from that it was very quiet. 

female goosander

male goosander

making a getaway!

This morning I planned a trip to Otmoor, hoping to get some frosty photographs but as it turned out, it was a bit milder than lately so the frost was only on the ground in the shadier places. It was, however, still a cold morning, and the frozen ground was a welcome relief from the usual squelchy mud along the bridle way.  The frozen water meant that there was little in the way of water birds but the main activity was the large numbers of finches - reed buntings, yellow hammers and linnets - which were taking advantage of the seed thrown down for them viewable from the  Wetland Watch hide. 

robin reminding me of the Starling murmurations

pair of reed buntings

reed bunting (m)

yellow hammer

reed bunting (f)

linnet flock

view from hide - the brown dots are the birds feeding on the seed

reed bunting (m)

 linnet

pheasants beneath feeders at Otmoor

 

EARLY JANUARY VIST TO FOD

I paid a visit to the Forest of Dean today, but bird sightings were rather disappointing compared to my visit in January last year. I saw distant hawfinches perched high in some trees in the usual are in Parkend but I didn't find the dipper in the local stream, neither did I see crossbills at Nagshead or New Fancy View. I did see a few 'first for year' woodland species today including nuthatch, marsh tit and coal tit, and some mandarin ducks at Cannop ponds. 

NEW YEAR AT SLIMBRIDGE WWT

I ended  2022 having seen 171 bird species, a personal record. Today being   2nd January and a bank holiday, was an ideal day to visit Slimbridge WWT to begin my year count all over again. It was a sunny but quite chilly day and on arrival at the centre's car park  at around 10.15, I saw it was filling quickly. 

The hides were already fairly full with birders and this remained the case throughout four hours I spent there. However, for the most part it wasn't necessary to wait long before a space became available. 

On the Rushy Pen there were still good numbers of Bewick swans, together with the usual duck species and a cape shelduck (hybrid). From the estuary tower I could see Canada, Greylag and Barnacle Geese together with a snow goose. The white fronted geese were out of sight and I didn't hear of their whereabouts during my visit. Hopefully they may still be around for my next visit. Below the tower, I was  shown a water rail so I was pleased about that, as the one usually seen from the Willow Hide wasn't around. 

I made the rounds of the other hides and managed to acquire a total of over 40 birds, though nothing out of the ordinary was around today. 

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.