Sightings and news to week ending 22 March 2026
Come and see our wild Kingfishers!
We now two pairs of Kingfishers digging holes or refurbishing nest sites and viewable from the hides, please be very quiet in the Duck Decoy Hide and Kingfisher Hide to help them settle in and remain calm. In a good season we expect two broods per pair but a third attempt is not unheard of. The best time to see them is now, catch them whilst they are pairing up, actively digging and while they begin to lay eggs, once incubation of the eggs begins the male will visit with fish for the female, the visits increase when the chicks hatch with both then feeding young until they fledge (leave the nest). You might walk into a hide and the birds are present and showing superbly or have to wait until one visits.
It can be quiet for a week or two until they decide to nest again. Timing will help with a successful sighting, they are small birds so carefully look in the low trees and branches as they are often sat nearby. We will have Guides in the Hides present on and off to help you spot one.
Please note that the hide windows are closed up, any photographs taken will be through glass. The South Finger nest bank is around 40-45m from the hide, the Decoy bank is around 60m. We will clean the windows around the birds incubation period, when it's a quiet period, we will clean them.
Monday 16 March
Rushy Hide/Peng Observatory
11 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Redshank, 2 Oystercatcher, Lapwing, 14 Pintail, 15 Pochard + flocks of Mute Swan, Shelduck, Tufted Duck and Mallard.
Duck Decoy
Pair of Kingfishers at the nest bank, 2 Cormorants and Tufted Ducks.
Tack Piece
Two Spoonbill, 92 Shoveler, 393 Wigeon, 6 Pintail, 3 Curlew, 2 Redshank, c30 Teal, Pied Wagtail.
Pillbox Pool
34 Wigeon, a few Teal and Tufted Ducks.
Long Ground Pool
11 Shoveler, Tufted Ducks, Cormorant and Coot and Moorhen.
Estuary Tower
Dark- bellied Brent Goose, adult breeding plumage Mediterranean Gull with Common and Black-headed Gulls on the Severn mud, 3 Cranes, 188 Russian White-fronted Geese with 2 Barnacle on the Dumbles, 2 Avocet, 10 Shoveler and Teal on the scrape.
South Lake
147 Avocet includes 3 colour ringed birds (Red H9 and two others which we are trying read), 69 Shoveler, 14 Black-tailed Godwit, Little Grebe, c70 Teal, c40 Tufted Duck, Cormorants, Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls.
