News
Winter Birding
Another chilly one. Nevertheless the local roads are fine and the Nature Trail paths free from ice. A good count of 1370 Whooper Swan on the reserve this morning. Other counts included 340 Pintail, 490 Wigeon, 700 Teal, 27 Gadwall, 55 Pochard, 12 Tufted a
23 January 2013
Highest count of the winter at Slimbridge!
Yesterday we counted 276 wild Bewick’s swans on Swan Lake at Slimbridge, the highest count of the winter so far! This already surpasses last winter’s top count of 198 birds and the five-year average of peak counts for the reserve (242 birds). As the c
23 January 2013
Nene releases at Slimbridge.
Nenes in the corral I love Nene. Their Hawaiian time keeping means that their January breeding season keeps me entertained in a period of the year dominated by cloudy mornings and drizzle. As ever then, and just in ti
23 January 2013
Latest Sightings
Whooper Pond Whooper Swan Mute Swan Wigeon Tufted Duck Teal Pintail Gadwall Shoveler Canada Goose Greylag Goose Pink-footed Goose Folly Pond GREEN-WINGED TEAL Whooper Swan Teal Shoveler Wigeon Shelduck Avenue’s and Trails Yellowhammer Reed Bunting Tree
23 January 2013
Wildlife sightings for 23rd January 2013
1 Woodcock - flew in from the SE corner, circled over main lake+south route before heading across Queen Elizabeth Walk towards the 'copse' (1200hrs) 1 Bittern - main lake 1 Smew - reservoir lagoon 47 Wigeon - marsh 1 Skylark - south route 40 Fieldfare -
23 January 2013
TV presenter’s nationwide nature quest
On 25 January TV naturalist Mike Dilger starts a nationwide tour to raise awareness and money for wetland conservation. The quest will take in all nine Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) centres across the U.K. in just nine days, with Mike visiting Castl
22 January 2013
Today's bird highlights
British Steel hide/estuary Hen harrier, 2 brambling, 41 greylag goose, 118 shelduck, 115 wigeon, 72 gadwall, 13 teal, 6 shoveler, 90 lapwing, 1170 oystercatcher, 145 dunlin, 11 snipe, 18 black tailed godwit, 7 redshank, 3 greenshank, 4 little egret, 11 gr
22 January 2013
The Andean flock returns home!
Mark Roberts in the catching corral. We recently moved the Andean flamingos back to
22 January 2013
Common Crane again.
The 'elusive' Common Crane dropped onto the reserve late morning but no further sign by 4pm. It was initially viewable on the left hand side marsh from the path approaching the Harrier Hide. Given that Common Crane is nearly 4 feet tall, it's been doing a
22 January 2013
Todays Sightings
Wader Lake 100% Frozen Fieldfare - 24 Jackdaw - 80 Great Black Backed Gull - 1 River Wigeon - 14 Grey Heron - 4 Cormorant - 2 Redshank - 5 Resrvoir Tufted Duck - 67 Shelduck - 10 Gadwall - 4 Coot - 10 Greylag - 11 North Wood Redwing - 15 Hawthorn Wood G
22 January 2013
Wildlife sightings for 22nd January 2012
1 Bittern - main lake flew from S side to N side 2 Dunlin - main lake 1 Smew - main lake infront of Dulverton hide 50+ Fieldfare - moving around entrance lake and South route 30 Siskin - sheltered lagoon Recent bird highlights: Red-breasted Merganser, Sme
22 January 2013
Today's sightings
The Zeiss Hide Bittern 1 The Willow Hide Water Rail 1 House Sparrow 1 Chaffinch 40 Lesser Redpoll 10 Bullfinch 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker 1 The Rushy Bewick's Swan 276 The Roadside Fields Tundra Bean Goose 2 White-fronted Goose 172
22 January 2013
Latest Sightings
Whooper Pond Whooper Swan Mute Swan Wigeon Tufted Duck Teal Pintail Gadwall Shoveler Canada Goose Greylag Goose Pink-footed Goose Tawny Owl (viewable in Red Willow out the west windows of the observatory) Folly Pond Whooper Swan Teal Shoveler Wigeon Sheld
22 January 2013
Swans and snow
Baldur the whooper swan and family Lots of snow at WWT Welney today but we are still open and plan to be all week. The roads are regularly gritted but wellies are still advisable along the paths of the reserv
21 January 2013
Today's sightings/news
Still lots of snow lying about and a re-freeze overnight. Paths are slippery in places but usable with care, all hides are open and accessible. A thaw has occured through the day melting a little more snow and opening some feeding/grazing areas for birds.
21 January 2013