Latest sightings
A cast of Falcons
Lots of Peregrine activity this morning, a small adult male was hunting lwaders over the Zeiss Hide followed shortly after by a young female that harassed the wader flocks for half an hour. An adult female left a kill in front of the Kingfisher hide to a
17 December 2016
1, 2, 3, 4...
We've seen a bit of an increase in our bird numbers recently, not least our waders and particularly Lapwing. The skies over the Zeiss Hide have been filled with these fantastic birds over the last few days as a Peregrine and Merlin have taken to hunting
16 December 2016
A busy and sunny day
Its been a busy one here at Slimbridge with lots of birds out in the sunshine and lots of activity. Out on The Dumbles we've had thousands of waders, mainly Lapwing and Golden Plover with a few Dunlin mixed in too. Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory A gr
14 December 2016
Today's sightings
Holden Tower Hedge and ground feeding birds at dawn included four Blackbird, 4 Chaffinch and a Dunnock. Out on the Dumbles salt marsh and pasture the goose flocks offered Greylag, Canada and Barnacle Geese. Wigeon and Lapwing numbers are increasing here
13 December 2016
Goosander sighting
Holden Tower Low tide during the hide round period produced a drake Goosander, it was viewable distantly through the murky weather from the tower, it was loafing and preening on one of the low tide pools/creeks. Other birds seen included a flock of 91
12 December 2016
Missing Tundra Bean Goose
Rushy Pen At feed times, 0800hrs and 1600hrs the lake is alive with birds. Over 100 Bewick's Swans are on site, most of them can be seen here. The flock dispersed to the road fields, Dumbles and out to the estuary at low tide during late morning/early aft
11 December 2016
Saturday Sightings- Otter and Little stint
A damp and cloudy start to the day gave some great views of the birds on site as well as an otter which was showing very well between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning from the Zeiss Hide. It was last seen going into the reed beds in front of the hide, althou
10 December 2016
Wader watching
Now that temperatures have started to rise again we're seeing some of our waders return, particularly the Golden Plover. Today's best wader action is out at the Zeiss Hide with 7 species of wader recorded. Zeiss Hide The Spotted Redshank has retu
9 December 2016
Geese
The cold weather continues which means the ice remains, many ponds are still frozen and the ice is very thick. The hotspots (although not temperature wise) are the South Finger settling pool, Rushy Pen, South Lake and some ice free zones near Zeiss Hide
5 December 2016
Still cold
Its been another chilly night and morning with most of the pools and scrape still freezing. Despite the cold its turning in to a lovely sunny day, perfect for a visit to see our Bitterns! Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory A count of 81 Bewick's Swans t
4 December 2016
A thaw and some visible migration
Ice is melting slowly and a few waders and Ducks returning to the fields and scrapes. There was some steady visible migration this morning with several flocks totalling 240 Redwing and 80 Fieldfare. Zeiss Hide and South Finger Wigeon 2000 in a dense flock
3 December 2016
Marsh Harrier
Temperatures slowly increasing but most of the reserve still frozen so rather quiet with the bulk of activity around the open water of the Rushy and South Lake and distantly on the estuary. Flocks of waders and Wigeon starting to return to the scrapes an
2 December 2016
Colder still?
A very cold morning with even more ice around, drastically reducing the number of birds on show as many have made their way out to the river as the only unfrozen area nearby. Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory A total of 75 Bewick's Swans this morning inc
1 December 2016
Today's sightings
Rushy Hide & Peng Observatory A total of 87 Bewick's Swans this morning after a few left early on. Many are staying for the morning feed, heading out to graze and then coming back for the afternoon feed at 4pm. Why not join us and see these amazin
28 November 2016
More in overnight
We've had more arrivals over night, not least with the Bewick's Swans who are up to at least 90 birds now on site, including a few more familiar faces and a some new birds making their first visit to us. And its not just bird arriving, the skies are fil
27 November 2016