The good weather (don’t blink as you’ll miss it) that has been around over this weekend has been excellent for flamingo watching, and a really good way to get a view of the Caribbean flamingos to see what they are up to from a bird’s-eye-view is to pop up to the top of the observation tower in the main visitor centre at WWT Slimbridge. The Sloane Tower, as it is named, offer amazing views over much of the Slimbridge grounds as well as out into the reserve itself. If you head around to the right when you reach the observation area, you will look right down onto the Caribbean flamingo pen and hence it’s a very good place to stand and watch what is going on. Over the breeding season, and when there are chicks around, the flock is very busy- bustling with activity. I have conducted some of behavioural observations for my PhD work from the top of the Tower and it gives a very idea of who is using which area of the enclosure and which parts of the pen are the favourites for the flock overall. The photos below give you an idea of what you can see, and watch, in this flamingo pen if you climb up to look down.
Bird's-eye-view of the Caribbean's Pen from the Sloane Tower. The fox-proof fence encompassing the grounds (and the captive birds) and forming the barrier between the grounds and the reserve is clear to see.
A photo that I took at the end of May, when the breeding season was just beginning. Here you can see defined sub-groups of birds doing different things. So birds are the front are squabbling around the nest sites and nest building; birds in the middle are head-flagging (a courtship display where the flamingo stands very tall and waves its head from side-to-side); and birds at the rear of the photo are quietly snoozing.
