Trip reports

Slimbridge WWT - by Frank Clark

Sunday, 23 November 2008

Home to the headquarters of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, which was founded by Sir Peter Scott in 1946, this site in Gloucestershire on the banks of the river Severn, is a must during the winter months. Its main attractions are the large numbers of ducks, geese and Bewick's Swans that generally winter in this area. They begin arriving in October with numbers building up over the early part of the winter, peaking around January before departing on their return journey around March. Wading birds are also well represented at most times of the year and are generally present in good numbers.

Despite a poor forecast we set off for this trip in good spirits but as we hit the M4, only a few miles from home, the snow begin to fall!! Fortunately, the further west we travelled the less snow we saw and finally it cleared as we passed the Swindon area. Arriving at Slimbridge a full hour ahead of schedule, we decanted from the car into a crisp clear morning. Deciding to take a walk around the overflow car park, to see what might be lurking there, the heavens opened again. Unfortunately this time it was very wet and very cold rain!! Returning to shelter near the entrance of the reserve, to await further arrivals, as it approached the meet time of 10 o'clock, the sky finally cleared, blue patches begun to appear and we were eventually blessed with some nice sunny spells throughout the remainder of the day.

Seven of us set off into the reserve a little after 10, first passing through the wildfowl collection and then heading for the hides on the northern side of the reserve. Here we began scanning the scrapes and pools where we had good views of Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Pintail (c80), Shelduck, Wigeon and a single male Goldeneye. Geese species included the usual culprits - Canada and Greylag but also European White-Fronted Geese (c70) and Barnacle Geese (c125). Wader species present included Lapwing, Dunlin, Black-Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank and singles of Spotted Redshank and Ruff.

Looking for Bewick's Swans, Britain's smallest swan species is one of the highlights of a winter trip to Slimbridge. However, I was aware before today's trip that their numbers were much lower than the same period last year. This appeared to be as a result of the mild autumn across both Britain and Europe, which delayed the bird's departure from their breeding grounds in Northern Siberia. The first bird eventually arrived at Slimbridge on the 1st of November, a good two weeks behind last year's fist arrival date. I was a little concerned that we might not be able to see this graceful bird as they often disperse around the Severn area but in total 13 adults and 2 first winter birds were seen. Arriving at the final hide on the northern side of the reserve, called the Holden Tower, we scanned the Dumbles (the area over the sea wall) and the distant banks of the Severn. For once this area was generally empty of birds apart from the odd gull, a small number of Shelduck and a lone female Peregrine, sat on the ground in the next field along.

At this point, tummies rumbling, we returned to the south hide, where I had planned to have our lunch break - apart from the posties that us. They had very cunningly decided not to bring lunch with them but planned to visit the onsite café for a nice hot roast lunch!! Cold sandwiches on a cold day or a nice hot roast - I think they had the right idea!! Arriving at the south hide, we unpacked our lunch and sat on the nice comfortable chairs, whilst watching the birds go by. We added Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, a spectacular Kingfisher, our first and only Magpie and a handsome Mistle Thrush to our expanding list.

Suitable refreshed and re-joined by the now "glowing" posties, who proceeded to tell us all about their wonderful roast dinner (which I will not repeat here), we set off for the remaining hides. Starting at the new Kingfisher hide, which had just opened that weekend, we watched the feeders that are strategically placed just outside the windows. Many small birds, including Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Greenfinch, were hungrily feeding here alongside a beautiful male Great Spotted Woodpecker. A passing female Sparrowhawk briefly put all the small birds to flight but they quickly returned and resumed their eager feeding, making the most of the easy food and remaining light.

Visiting the remaining 3 hides, we did not see anything new but did see large numbers of many of the birds we had already seen earlier that morning. A Bittern had been showing on and off in the reeds outside the Zeiss hide earlier that day but unfortunately it decided not to put in an appearance for us and remained hidden. Despite this, with a list of 62 species (63 with the Water Rail that everyone saw whilst I was in the shop, sorting out a new insert for my hide clamp - which I did not end up using!!) everyone had a good day. Setting off for home, the rain began to fall again - perfect timing. Thanks to everyone who attended the trip.

Frank Clark