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C ~ Wind ⇐ w@3mph Saturday 18th January 2020 ~ For the past ten years or so Dazza and I have made an annual pilgrimage to WWT Slimbridge during the month of January. It's not only a great place to see certain species that your perhaps unlikely to see in the wild during your lifetime, but it's also a great place for an early boost to the year-list. Of course with our big move up to Scotland later this year, this may well be our last visit for some time!
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| Cattle Egret a bonus year-tick on the South shore |
It was a great start with a couple of
Common Cranes flying right over our heads as we made our way up to the centre from the car park. Plus, reported shortly after our arrival, a
Cattle Egret, which was showing quite well on the south shore.
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| Bewick Swan |
It was a typically enjoyable visit with the usual selection of wintering wildfowl on the 'Dumbles' including (6)
Cranes, (22)
Bewick Swans and various numbers of
White-fronted and
Barnacle Geese.
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| Redshank enjoying the winter sunshine |
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| Black-tailed Godwit keeping a low profile |
Wader species on offer and mostly distant today included
Redshank,
Dunlin,
Ruff,
Black-tailed Godwit,
Avocet,
Oystercatcher and
Snipe.
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| Pintail |
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| A very showy Water Rail |
Other notable sightings:
Chiffchaff,
Marsh Harrier and a very showy
Water Rail.
