Latest sightings
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
Monday sightings
Rushy Hide and Peng Observatory 270+ Tufted Duck, 130 Pochard, 80 Bewick's Swans and three Ruff were present at dawn. Tack Piece Large numbers of duck first thing this morning but they dispersed and numbers thinned out when the Buzzards became active, a m
2 January 2018
Last day of 2017
The birding spectacle is brilliant due to the rainfall/snow melt and mild conditions. The shallow depressions on the Dumbles have finally filled with water and many of the fields now have some surface flooding. The Tack Piece and Top New Piece were very
31 December 2017
Flooding and birds
Holden Tower Heavy flooding has attracted lots of birds to the Tack Piece especially. Bewick's Swan 45 Whitefronted Goose flock in fields to north. Barnacle Goose 180 (Introduced resident flock). Red Breasted Goose 1 (probably escaped or feral bird) Greyl
30 December 2017
A wet start
After the downpour this morning the already wet fields are even wetter, much to the delights of the birds. The weather dried up around dawn and then cleared up by mid-morning leaving sunny spells on another glorious winter's day. We saw another new pa
29 December 2017
A perfect winter's day
Glorious, probably the only word to describe today once the ground had thawed. The Tack Piece and Top New Piece once again filled with thousands of birds, delighting hides full of visitors enjoying the winter wildlife spectacle that is Slimbridge. Sout
28 December 2017
Water birds
The snowfall overnight was nearly all gone this morning at Slimbridge, but the surrounding hills still had a dusting of white adding to the scenery. On the reserve the rain and snow have pushed water levels up to their highest so far this winter, and th
27 December 2017
Boxing Day birds
Its a glorious morning across the reserve with thousands of birds to enjoy, many of which you'll see above you as the Peregrine has been very active this morning and unsettling the ducks and waders. During the 8am Rushy feed, a Peregrine bolted across t
26 December 2017
Warm, wet and wonderfull
Zeiss Hide and South Finger The south end of the reserve is getting close to its best with huge flocks of waders and wildfowl all over the flooded fields. Barnacle Goose 180 Red Breasted Goose 1 ( close to Kingfisher hide) Greylag 4 Teal 490 Wigeon 200 P
23 December 2017