Latest sightings
Thursday Calm After the Storm Sightings
After a period of rain and high wind, the still weather this morning has seen the wetland birds of the Reserve back under barrage from hungry raptors. Look out for large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover in the sky, there is likely to be a Peregrine or
25 January 2018
Another wet one
Zeiss Hide 150 Golden Plover, 300+ Lapwing, 350+ Dunlin, 36 Snipe, 9 Ruff, 300+ Wigeon, 150+ Teal, 2 Curlew. . South Lake Hides 110 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Ruff, 4 Avocet, 500+ Lapwing, 2 Oystercatcher, 18 Shoveler. . Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory 121
24 January 2018
Even wetter
Its been another miserable day for the weather, but the birds are making the most of it and spreading out across the reserve to feed in every available opportunity. A couple of nice peak counts today including 151 Snipe around the South Lake (with 90+ a
21 January 2018
A wet weekend
The forecast isn't great for the weekend, and it has started wet with a fine mist and occasional drizzle hanging over the reserve. The birds are still here for you to enjoy though, including our Snipe in front of the Hogarth Hide who are putting on a gr
20 January 2018
A chilly start
A covering of ice in places greeted the morning sun and kept the birds on the ground long enough for some counts. Top of the list were Lapwing with at least 5916 birds on the reserve but a small number uncounted in the neighbouring fields. The Whooper
19 January 2018
Sightings' update
A Whooper Swan was back on the Rushy this morning on the lower pond with a few Bewick's Swans. The bird appeared to leave just before 8am but was then seen at the morning feed soon after. At least 120 Bewick's Swans are now on site. Holden Tower The
18 January 2018
4430+ Lapwing
Rushy Hide and Peng Observatory At least one Little Stint present plus a flock 500 mobile Lapwing and 140 Dunlin on the top pond islands early morning. 100+ Bewick's Swans roosted. Very busy with wild birds at both ends of the day, quieter around midda
16 January 2018
Otter family and a pair of Whooper Swans
Kingfisher Hide Three Otters were the undoubted highlight, they were seen mid morning and appear to be the same family that have recently been captured on the reserve's trail cameras. 200 Teal were on the distant flood. Rushy Hide and Peng Observatory 11
14 January 2018
Good floods on Tack Piece
Tack Piece Bewick's Swan 32 Whitefronted Goose 104 Wigeon 600 Teal 700 Lapwing 1700 Golden Plover 800 Dunlin 340 Little Stint 1 Ruff 41 Redshank 46 Curlew 238 Crane 1 Peregrine 1 in tall trees to north. Holden Tower Barnacle Goose 189 Red Breasted Goose
13 January 2018
Still counting Snipe
A slightly lower count of Snipe today from the Zeiss Hide with 129 birds seen, favouring the same areas of the shoreline and the reedbed in front of the hide. Robbie Garnett Hide Bewick’s Swans have been moving over from the Rushy all morning to spend t
12 January 2018
A whisp of snipe
A whisp is one of the collective nouns for Snipe, but it sounds so pitiful and small that I think we need to come up with a new noun for the group that were seen today from the Zeiss Hide. No less than 168 were on show around the shoreline and reedbed f
11 January 2018
Sightings roundup
Its been a busy few days on the reserve so apologies for the lack of news. Tuesday saw our annual Bewick's Swan catch on the Rushy with 10 birds caught, ringed and health checked along with 30 geese and 140 duck including Pochard, Pintail and Tufted Duc
10 January 2018
Today's sightings
Tack Piece 91 Bewick's Swan feeding on the flood during the middle part of the day, 7 were present at dawn. Other early morning counts were 850+ Wigeon grazing on adjacent to the main channel as well as 16 Ruff, 6 Redshank, 500 Lapwing, 65 Pintail, 200
8 January 2018
Maisie has landed
Today we've been celebrating our Bewick's Swans with a special weekend dedicated to them as part of our Wild Winter weekends. The Bewick's Swan weekend continue tomorrow, more details available here. We've also welcomed at least 8 new swans today incl
6 January 2018
Tidal surges after Storm Eleanor
The last two days have seen Storm Eleanor passing through with another storm following close behind. It coincided with very high tides pushing them up a bit higher than was expected. The Dumbles has been completely flooded, the receding tide has left shal
4 January 2018