Sightings and news to week ending 1 February 2026
Upcoming Events
Catch The Tide - Tuesday 3rd & Wednesday 4th February
Rushy Hide/Peng Observatory
At 0810hrs the two 2 Whooper Swans were still present, 68 Pochard, Wigeon, 26 Bewick's Swans plus flocks of Pintail, Shelduck, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, 2 Oystercatcher. At 4pm the Whooper Swans had returned a joined the feed, also female Mandarin and Avocet on the lower pond.
Top New Piece
Around 300 Teal, 140 Lapwing, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, c30 Wigeon.
Tack Piece
Very busy with birds- 50 Bewick's Swans, 14 Ruff, 39 Redshank, 1500 Lapwing with Golden Plover, Dunlin and Curlew also arriving to feed and Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler, Pochard and Tufted Duck on the floods.
Martin Smith Hide
Jack Snipe on the island all day. A Fox was present early morning and decoyed the ducks and geese on the pond. The Firecrest was in the ivy and tree canopy near the tunnel on and off plus Goldcrests, a Blackcap and Redwings.
South Lake
Adult non breeding plumage Mediterranean Gull with 340 Black-headed Gulls, 50 Avocet, 103 Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, 65m 15f Pochard plus flocks of Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler, Greylag, Coot and Moorhen. A flock of Siskin near the Sanderson bridge but very mobile.
Kingfisher Hide
Three Little Grebe and Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler and Mallard on the channel, 2 Bullfinches in the plums, 5 Reed Bunting in reed bed, pair of Stonechat on Bottom New Piece hedge.
Estuary Tower
1000s of ducks on the Severn (Pintail, Wigeon and Teal) over high tide.
Two Oystercatcher, Pink-footed Goose (the over summering bird) with Canada Geese, 59 Russian White-fronted Geese on the Dumbles, 64 on Top New Piece and 20+ Stall House but all of them moved (see Van de Bovenkamp Hide), c90 Curlew, 8 Great Black-backed Gull and the Canada/Greylag/Barnacle Goose flock with hybrids and Ross's Goose. Two Foxes on an old carcass.
The 15 Tundra Bean Geese with the accompanying Pink-footed Goose (second bird) again digging up roots in the creeks and pools. Little Stint feeding on the scrape edge among the ducks.
Van de Bovenkamp Hide
119 Russian White-fronted Geese and the two Barnacle Geese settled in the Tin Shed Ground, look East across the reed bed to the field beyond.
Grounds
A Sparrowhawk was hunting pigeons over the cafe
Dumbles
16 Tundra Bean Goose, 1 Pink Footed Goose, 15 Cranes, plus the usual Barnacle geese flock
Pillbox Pool
2 Canada Geese, 2 Greylags, 54 Wigeon, 1 Gadwall, 61 Teal, 5 Tufted Ducks, 1 Moorhen
Tack Piece
29 Bewick Swans, 21 Ruff, 67 Redshank, 1 Little Stint, 200+ Dunlin, 140 Teal, 780 Wigeon, 2 Buzzard, 1 Peregrine hunting a Lapwing, 800+ Lapwing, 400+ Golden Plover, 141 Black Tailed Godwit
Top New Piece
236 Teal, 27 Wigeon, 8 Shelduck, 46 Greylags, 131 Canadas,1000+ Lapwing with Dunlin but very unsettled seen from Zeiss Hide
Bottom New Piece
171 White Fronts + 2 wild Barnacles, 4 Roe Deer, 37 Canada geese.
In the channel 3 Little Grebe, 4 Gadwall, 11 Teal seen from Kingfisher Hide
South Finger Walkway
Treecreeper, chaffinch, Redwing
Decoy Hide
37 Tufted Duck, Cormorant 2, 1 Grey Heron, 1 pair Shoveler, 1 pair Mute Swan, 1 pair Canadas
Friday 30 January
Martin Smith hide
The Jack snipe is still around today, showing really well on the easterly most island. A Sparrowhawk flew past the hide at 2.20pm.
South Lake
16 Cattle Egret, 161 Black-Tailed Godwit, 73 Avocet, 95 Pochard, 45 Shoveler, 88 Tufted, 200c Teal
150 Black-Head Gulls, 4 Herring Gulls , 42 Common Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull
Estuary tower
A Merlin briefly sat in 50 acre ground before flying towards Splatt.
Dumbles
16 Tundra bean geese, 26 White Fronts, Flocks of Canadas, Greylags, Barnacles as well as Ross’s
Saltmarsh Scrape
142 Teal, 250 Wigeon, 35 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck
Top New Piece
Reed Bunting, 508 Teal, 10 Gadwall, 12 Tufted, 54 Shelduck seen from Zeiss Hide. Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming in the spinney
Pillbox Pool
1 pair Gadwall, 2 Tufted Duck, 18 Teal, 41 Wigeon.
Long Ground Pool
37 Tufted Duck, 3males 1 female Pochard, 22 Teal, 61 Shoveler
South Finger/Kingfisher Hide
Fieldfare, 2 Water Rail in rides at Dragonfly pools. Stonechat on hedge between Bottom New Piece and Top New Piece. 9 Roe Deer.
Tack Piece
57 Redshank, 11 Ruff, 66 Bewick’s swans, 68 Tufted Duck, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 males 3 female Pochard, Buzzard on kill, Canada and Greylag geese plus hundreds of Lapwing, Dunlin, Teal & Wigeon seen from Robbie Garnett Hide
Thursday 29 January
Martin Smith Hide
A Jack Snipe was spotted once more in front of Martin Smith Hide, spending a lot of it’s time on the easterly most island, giving many visitors great views.
Top New Piece
From Zeiss Hide there were 10 Greylag, 5 Tufted Duck, 268 Teal, 1 Green-winged Teal, 27 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler and 22 Shelduck.
South Lake
Across the deep lake and wader scrape there were16 Greylag, 4 Canada Geese, 6 Cormorant, 7 Shelduck, 42 Shoveler, 75 Avocet, 14 Tufted Duck, 51 Pochard, 2 Gadwall and 19 Black-headed Gull.
Kingfisher Hide
On the feeders there were 3 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Robin, on the water, 7 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 1 Little Grebe, 8 Mallard and Reed Bunting on the Reeds. On the Four score there were 24 Greylag, 2 Roe Deer and a Goshawk whilst on the Bottom New Piece there were 6 Greylag, 9 Roe Deer and 2 Foxes.
Dumbles
From Estuary Tower there were 16 Tundra Bean Geese, 1 Pink-footed goose, Barnacle Geese, Ross's Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck and Shoveler and 1 Buzzard. Whilst on the River -there were145 White-fronted Geese, Wigeon and Pintail.
Tack Piece
From Robbie Garnett Hide there were 85 Bewick's Swans, 2 Oystercatcher, 38 Redshank, 12 Ruff, 2000 Lapwing, 600 Dunlin, 65 Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, 1 Buzzard and 1500 Golden Plover.
Rushy Lake
From the Rushy Hide there were 39 Pintail, 83 male and 13 female Pochard, 141 Tufted Duck, 155 Lapwing, 140 Shelduck, 20 Teal, 1 Barnacle Goose and 1 Egyptian Goose. Between the Estuary Garden and Estuary Walkway there were Redwing and Blackcap feeding, and 5 Redpoll in the Silver birch.
Wednesday 28 January
The second reserve record of Penduline Tit was a nice surprise today, two were found during a routine winter bird survey. The location isn't viewable from the hides, to view would need escorted access with staff or our volunteer team. The birds flew off soon after discovery, despite being looked for for the rest of the day, they hadn't returned. The reserve offers extensive habitat for this species, it is likely they are still around and may show up at any of the hides with typha or reedbeds. We will check the area for them again tomorrow, if present we will offer a walk to the spot for WWT members. Please be aware that you would need to dip feet in disinfectant for bio-security measures and watch from a safe dedicated place to avoid disturbance and farm machinery. We can announce access details here if they are re-found.
Tack Piece
Two Little Stint, Golden Plover, Redshank, Ruff, Dunlin, Lapwing, Teal, Pintail, Bewick's Swans, Wigeon, 2 Buzzard. Firecrest again near Robbie Garnett Hide.
Top New Piece
From Zeiss Hide, 32 Shelduck, 446 Teal, 1 Great Egret, 21 Wigeon.
Van de Bovenkamp Hide
85 White-fronted Geese, 2 Barnacle Geese
Kingfisher Hide
One Little Egret
South Lake
From Discovery Hide, 97 Avocet, 10 Cattle Egret, 58 Tufted Duck, 94 Pochard, 38 Shoveler, 14 Gadwall and 300 Lapwing.
Dumbles
From Estuary Tower, 14 Crane, 15 Tundra Bean Geese, 1 Pink-footed Goose, 1 Oystercatcher on the central island on the scrape, 1 Peregrine and White-fronted Geese seen too.
Martin Smith Hide
Eight Wigeon, 9 Shoveler and a singing Cetti's Warbler.
Pill Box pool
There were 46 Wigeon visible from Knott Hide.
Tuesday 27 January
Estuary Tower
15 Tundra Bean (at least one juvenile) with an adult Pink-footed Goose, and c70 Russian White-fronted Geese present on the Dumbles. 1000s of birds on the Dumbles including flocks of Lapwing (with part/leucistic individual), Golden Plover and Dunlin, 2 Little Stints and a Sanderling.
South Lake
88 Avocet, 17 Black-tailed Godwit, 400 Lapwing, 100 Teal, 32 Gadwall, 57 Shoveler, c60 Pochard, c70 Tufted Duck plus Cormorants, Shelducks and Coots.
Tack Piece
98 Black-tailed Godwits, 1000s birds including flocks of Teal, Wigeon, Lapwing, Dunlin, Canada Geese, Shoveler, Pintail, Ruff, Redshank and Curlew.
Bridge to Hogarth Hide on the Loopway
50 Siskin feeding in Alders with 20 Goldfinch, a few single Siskins about the grounds and at the Kingfisher Hide.
Kingfisher Hide
Three Roe Deer in the Bottom New Piece.
Martin Smith Hide
A Jack Snipe was on one of the islands, hiding among the resting ducks. Male Blackcap in the ivy.
Monday 26 January
Rushy Hide
Two Whooper Swans flew out at 0735hrs to the fields east of the Glos to Sharpness Canal, south of Patch Bridge. Also Cattle and Little Egrets at 0740rhs.
Tack Piece
1000s of birds, glocks of Ruff, Redshank, Curlew, 52 Black-tailed Godwit including a few with breeding plumage appearing, Dunlin, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Canada and Greylag Goose.
South Finger/Kingfisher Hide
Two pairs Gadwall, 3 pairs of Mallard, 2 pair Coot, 8 Moorhen, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Blue and Great Tit, 2 GS Woodpecker, 8 Roe Deer, Little Grebe. Juvenile Peregrine on prey Bottom New Piece. Great spotted Wonder drumming in Spinney Wood plus the Rookery is fairly active.
Top New Piece
Drake Green winged Teal on fleet to south of Zeiss Hide, roosting on the reed island. 326 Teal, 14 Wigeon, 60 Shelduck, GBB Gull, Grey Heron.
South Lake
Adult non-breeding plumage Mediterranean Gull with 414 Black-headed, 10 Common and 4 Herring Gulls, 83 Avocet, 500 Lapwing, single Black-tailed Godwit, flocks of Pochard, Shoveler, Teal and Tufted Duck.
Duck Decoy
Great Egret, a few Bullfinches, Siskin along the boardwalk alders with Goldfinches and nearby 6 Redpoll in the birches behind the Pond Room.
Grounds/Matrix
Siskins and Goldfinches and a few Redwing.
