WWT Slimbridge 7 – 8 April 2024
On our return from Montacute to Manchester we did our usual stopover at the Tudor Lodge pub in Slimbridge which was as reliable as it usually is with a nice, ground floor, room at the back of the resident’s block. We were quite early getting to Slimbridge so we headed straight for the WWT nature reserve.
We headed for the tower in the visitor centre and from there we immediately got three Cranes feeding in a filed over towards the river. These were obviously a year tick as were the Black Swan at the Rushy Hide and the Barnacle and Russian White-fronted Geese we saw from the Stephen Kirk hide, down by the Holden Tower (which was closed).
We walked back up and over to the South Lake Discovery Hide where there was a good range of ducks including Gadwall, Pochard, Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Ducks and Wigeon. We also got a Spoonbill, good numbers of Avocets and a smattering of Godwits and Redshanks. We also heard our forst Reed Warbler of the year -faintly from a blind near the Kingfisher Hide.
The following day we paid another visit to the wetland reserve before driving back to Manchester. We went all the way down to the Kingfisher Hide to try to see the nesting Kingfishers there, but we had no joy in that department. It was made up for by getting extremely close views of a Crane flying right past the hide at just over head height.
While we were there a Sparrowhawk also appeared and perched on a post right in front of us giving us really good views. The chap in the hide suggested that we try looking for Kingfishers at the Decoy hide which is actually very close to the visitor centre. We could have saved ourselves a long walk down to the Kingfisher Hide by going here first because we immediately saw a pair of Kingfishers posing on a branch overhanging the water giving good views through bins.
If we had gone there first, though, we would perhaps have missed the flying Crane and the Sparrowhawk so our long walk wasn’t wasted, and we saw Kingfishers in the end. The Sparrowhawk and Kingfisher were both year ticks so, combined with the day before, we got seven year-ticks.
Bird Sightings : WWT Slimbridge 7 Apr 2025
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Avocet | 10 |
| Barnacle Goose | 60 |
| Black Swan | 1 |
| Black-headed Gull | 40 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 4 |
| Blackbird | 2 |
| Buzzard | 4 |
| Canada Goose | 20 |
| Carrion Crow | 8 |
| Chiffchaff | 3 |
| Collared Dove | 8 |
| Coot | 40 |
| Cormorant | 6 |
| Crane | 3 |
| Dunnock | 1 |
| Gadwall | 4 |
| Great White Egret | 1 |
| Grey Heron | 2 |
| Greylag Goose | 30 |
| Herring Gull | 6 |
| House Sparrow | 6 |
| Jackdaw | 40 |
| Lapwing | 6 |
| Little Egret | 2 |
| Moorhen | 6 |
| Mute Swan | 4 |
| Oystercatcher | 2 |
| Pheasant | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Pochard | 2 |
| Redshank | 2 |
| Reed Warbler | 1 |
| Robin | 4 |
| Rook | 100 |
| Shelduck | 30 |
| Shoveler | 30 |
| Spoonbill | 1 |
| Swallow | 4 |
| Teal | 30 |
| Tufted Duck | 20 |
| White-fronted Goose | 20 |
| Wigeon | 80 |
| Willow Warbler | 4 |
| Woodpigeon | 8 |
| Wren | 2 |
Bird Sightings : WWT Slimbridge 8 Apr 2025
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Blackbird | 2 |
| Blackcap | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 20 |
| Cetti's Warbler | 2 |
| Chiffchaff | 3 |
| Coot | 2 |
| Crane | 1 |
| Gadwall | 2 |
| Greylag Goose | 10 |
| Jackdaw | 20 |
| Kingfisher | 2 |
| Lapwing | 3 |
| Moorhen | 2 |
| Mute Swan | 2 |
| Robin | 3 |
| Shelduck | 30 |
| Sparrowhawk | 1 |
| Teal | 30 |
| Tufted Duck | 20 |
| Wigeon | 30 |
| Willow Warbler | 2 |
| Woodpigeon | 4 |
| Wren | 1 |