Latest sightings
Rain all day but it didn't stop play
Rushy Pen The two Whooper Swans roosted and remained to feed, they flew off together and hadn't returned by 4pm. At least 38 Bewick's Swans were also at the roost as well as 45 Pintail and 60 Pochard. Tack Piece Tractor topping this afternoon revealed a J
21 November 2016
Three swans species
Rushy Pen Two Whooper Swan flew in late afternoon to join the Bewick's Swan flock (38 at roost this morning) and two Mute Swans. The latter pair are being slightly aggressive toward the newcomers. It is a great opportunity to compare and learn the differe
20 November 2016
Little Stint and Spotted Redshank.
Holden Tower Hard frost this morning so thawing slowly Good mixed flock of Geese, several hundred each of Barnacle, Canada and Greylag. Whitefronted Goose 38 mixed with above. Golden Plover 300 Lapwing 350 Dunlin 50 Peregrine 2 Fieldfare 20 Redwing 12 Ree
19 November 2016
Bright weather and a high tide.
Holden Tower The high tide just about came over the northern edge of the Dumbles so a great opportunity for some counts. Whitefronted Goose 38 showing well in the Tack Piece Canada Goose 640 a massive count for here, not everybody's favourite but they are
16 November 2016
Super moon, great tides
Lapwing, Dunlin and a Ruff Very high tides and ever increasing wader and wildfowl numbers hint at the spectacle to come. The Dumbles and Top New Piece are particularly busy with birds. A visit to the Zeiss Hide and Holden Tower was very rewarding. Rushy
15 November 2016
Low tide counts
Three sectors were covered today on the monthly Low Tide Counts and what a difference in numbers compared to last Sunday. At least 5 Little Egret, 5 Grey Heron, 72 Pintail, 97 Curlew, Redshank and numbers of gulls of five species were recorded but the l
13 November 2016
A little rain at last
A little rain has already brought the levels up in the Top and Bottom New Piece fields at the south end of the reserve. This has brought large flocks of Wigeon and Teal to feed. Rushy Bewicks Swan 32 Pintal 35 Pochard 20 Buzzard Holden Tower Whitefronted
12 November 2016
Happy Birthday!
Today is the 70th Anniversary of the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust. The sun is shining, the birds are busy feeding in front of all the hides so what better day to come down and celebrate with us? Bewick's Swan numbers have increased too, we're up to 26
10 November 2016
An overnight downpour
You may have noticed that last night was rather wet and not a great night for birds to migrate, so we've no obvious new arrivals this morning. The rain has topped up many of the pools and scrapes across the reserve, so we've now got thousands of ducks a
9 November 2016
Peregrine strike
One of the adult Peregrines gave the few earlybirds in the Holden Tower a very close encounter this morning, it took a drake Wigeon in flight over the hide and dropped into the Tack Piece nearby. It was unable to feed on its kill as two Buzzard and 2 C
7 November 2016
A couple more Bewick's Swans
A cold night resulted in frozen water on the shallow scrapes, it thawed rapidly to allow the birds back on. Rushy Pen Another two Bewick's Swans arrived this morning and joined the pair (Tool and Times) with cygnet. The duck numbers continue to build as t
6 November 2016
Another three Egret day
Egrets staring again this morning but also a high-ish tide this morning and wader flocks very mobile so difficult to get total counts but at least 47 Knot is a pretty good count for November. Rushy Great White Egret flew south over the Rushy at 08.00 thi
5 November 2016
Unforecast rain
A bit wet this morning with bands of light rain moving through, not what the forecast had in store. Its not dampened the bird activity though with the high tide pushed lots of birds on to the Zeiss Hide including several hundred waders and the White-fro
4 November 2016
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Cattle Egrets- the six arrived on South Lake by 3pm yesterday and left the roost at 0825am today. South Lake 95 Black-tailed Godwit, 36 Lapwing, 12 Redshank, 3 Ruff and Grey Heron. Holden Tower 7 Fieldfare, 2 Reed Bunting, Dunnock, Blackbird, Robin, Sparr
2 November 2016
Another misty dawn
The worst of the fog cleared off a bit earlier than yesterday allowing a view to the Severn estuary. Siberian Chiffchaff- not heard or seen during a search this morning at least, one Common Chiffchaff calling near Knott Hide. Cattle Egrets- six came in t
1 November 2016