Slimbridge WWT 1/2/14 sightings- Festival of Birds with GREAT birdwatching

Festival of Birds was today and tomorrow so went to see what was happening. Also, I went primarily for the birds as there were a few surprises which have been here for some time but always secretive.

Holden Tower- The birdwatchers "must go" hide

 Little stint

Greenland white fronted goose (Darker individual with orange beak)

• Thousands of lapwing
• Thousands of golden plover
• Lots of dunlin
• 12 Shelducks
• Greylag geese
• 200+ European white fronted geese
• Meadow pipit
• 1 GREENLAND WHITE FRONTED GOOSE- Feeding and showing well with the European ones. Rare in Gloucestershire although Slimbridge WWT always gets a rare goose or two literally every winter. This  year a Brent and the Greenland whitefront, last year the three Tundra bean geese. They sometimes get Pink footed geese. They've also had a Black Brant and  Red breasted geese. I remember them having seven Snow geese of unknown origin and used to have annual Lesser white-fronted geese but none after 2002.
• 1 BRENT GOOSE- the injured adult which has been around since last July/August but I've not seen him before.
• 1 LITTLE STINT- Slimbridge WWT is one of the only places a small flock of little stints winter in Britain and in 2008 a Temminck's stint was seen with them too.

South Lake

Lesser black backed x Herring gull hybrid (Dark individual on land)

• 2 oystercatchers- first of the year
• 1 lesser black backed x herring gull hybrid
• A few lapwing
• 15 cormorants
• Lots of "heavy billed" gulls- herring gulls mostly
• Common and black headed en masse.

Rushy

Pintail pair

• 2 Bewick swans
• 1 cormorant
• 20+ pochard
• 30+ pintail
• 30+ tufted ducks
• Mute swans

Tack Piece

• 2 GCP Common cranes prforming their courtship
• Greylag geese
• 40+ bewicks
• Pintail
• Pochard
• Tufted ducks
• 30+ black tailed godwits
• The lapwing
• The golden plover
• Several redshank
• The European white fronted geese.

Car park

• 50+ lapwing flew over
• Peregrine over
• 2 wader sp which looked like Snipe
• A small flock of unidentified finches

Recent sightings

Berkeley park- Scott law 19/1/14

• 25+ MAGPIES- very big flock calling and congregating in just one tree
• Chaffinches
• 2 grey wagtails
• 1 reed bunting male
• 2 herring gulls
• 7 meadow pipits
• 30+ redwing
• Adult male blackbird
• Wren
  
• 21/25 magpies

Sharpness docks

 

 

• 1 cormorant
• 2 mute swans
• 1 BLACK REDSTART- my first ever and it's a female which has been around for about a week.

  
• Black redstart female

Flooded fields

 

6 grey herons

 

 

Recent pic from Slimbridge WWT on the 11/1/14

 

Bewick swans



Slimbridge WWT 2/1/14 sightings

Awful weather on the 1st so my year list was only about 10!

I went to Slimbridge and was very pleased to have seen a few Rarities.

Rushy

• Pintail
• Black headed gulls
• 4 AVOCETS- only arrived this morning and after being found once from the Zeiss, then disappearing it was great to see them together on the Rushy.

Tack Piece

• 1000+ lapwing
• 1000+ golden plover
• 1000+ dunlin
• 100+ Canada geese
• 100+ feral banacle geese
• Lots of teal
• Lots of wigeon
• Shovelers
• Greylag geese
• Pintail
• 50+ Bewick swans
• 1 GREEN WINGED TEAL- Adult male. I first sighted this bird, with other birdwatchers, at Newpassage down in South Gloucestershire and it was very distant. That was my first ever sighting. Now a few days ago the bird had gone from New Passage and had arrived at Slimbridge WWT and was still pretty distant with the other ducks.
• 40+ white fronted geese
• 20+ curlew
• 1 ruff reported but didn't see it.

Willow hide

• Normal "Garden" birds like great tit, blue tit, chaffinch, dunnock, wren and Moorhens.

Duck Decoy area

• My earliest ever CHIFFCHAFF

December Sightings

Happy New Year to everyone

December was quite a good month for birds from the garden, although the weather was sometimes horrible, we had a total of 27 species.

1. Collard dove
2. Wood pigeon
3. Feral pigeon
4. House sparrow
5. Dunnock
6. Blue tit
7. Great tit
8. Blackbird
9. Fieldfare
10. Redwing
11. Robin
12. Goldfinch
13. Chaffinch
14. Jackdaw
15. Carrion crow
16. Magpie
17. Cormorant- Had 10 fly over together on the 24th which is a new record
18. Lesser black backed gull
19. Herring gull
20. Black headed gull
21. Common gull
22. Mallard ducks
23. Great spotted woodpecker
24. Peregrine- female either chased another peregrine or some prey on the 21st
25. Buzzard
26. Sparrowhawk
27. GOLDEN PLOVER- 3 flew north together on the 28th.

Our hot Summer wildlife (butterflies and dragonflies)

Peacock

 Speckled wood

 Ringlet

 Gatekeeper

 White washed fritillary

 Peacock

Emperor dragonfly

 Painted lady

 Common Blue

Migrant hawker (Garden)

Chew Valley lake 30/11/13- great birding

Herons green

• 100+ pochards
• 2 goosanders- male+ female
• Tufted ducks
• 3 mute swans
• 10+ pied wagtails
• A magpie
• A great tit
• 30+ gulls
• 4 lapwing
• Great crested grebe
• 70+ cormorants going into roost
• 2 PINK FOOTED GEESE- I have never seen these before and are very rare this far south and are very rare in the Avon/Somerset area
• Poss  FERRIGINOUS DUCK adult male not been reported here for a few weeks.

  

  Pink footed geese adults

 Goosander male

 Cormorant flock

Pochard (top left) possible Ferriginous duck (right) with tufted (bottom)

Woodford lodge

• A grey heron
• 2 little grebes
• Great crested grebe
• Fieldfare
• The BLACK THROATED DIVER juv still coming close occasionally but staying quite distant
  
• Black throated diver juv

Dam

• 7 tufted ducks
• A pochard
• Mallards
• 8 great crested grebes
• 3 goosander males
• 4 Goldeneye- 2 males, 2 females
• LONG TAILED DUCK- juv, never seen this species before and this was individual was feeding quite distantly

  

   Long tailed duck juv

  
• Goldeneye females

Garden sightings 30/11/13- thrushes

A lovely sunny day had:

Flying over

• Corvids including a very high flying jackdaw
• Gulls
• Chaffiches
• Redwings
• Fieldfare
• Great spotted woodpecker

Trees

• Starlings
• Blackbird pair
• 10+ Redwing
• 8 fieldfare
• 3 blue tits
• House sparrows
• Collard doves
• Wood pigeons
• Dunnock

Opposite house

• Black headed gull
• Common gull
• Pied wagtail
• House sparrows
• Jackdaws
  
• Common gull with only half a leg

My garden

• one very inquizative robin which came only a few feet away from me
• A blue tit went down one of the hollow poles and came back up a minute later
• 10+ house sparrows
• 5 jackdaws
• Adult male blackbird
• 5 starlings