Sightings - Slimbridge
Rapid thaw and peak Bewick's Swan count
The cold spell has broken, a rapid thaw has opened the door to waders and wildfowl around the reserve
19 December 2022
Locked in ice, but Hen Harrier seen today
With another cold night of temperatures down to at least -8oC, the reserve remains locked in ice except for small areas of open water on the South Lake and Rushy. An unexpected treat today was a female Hen Harrier flying across the Dumbles
16 December 2022
Coldest night of the year
Wednesday night saw temperatures drop to at least -10oC, leaving most of the reserve locked in ice this morning
15 December 2022
Still largely frozen but helping birds through it
The cold spell continues with night temperatures set to drop lower before the week is out. A thaw begins this weekend.As we've reported on our Twitter news feed https://twitter.com/slimbridge_wild the majority of the birds are to be found on South Lake, R
14 December 2022
Snow and ice disperses wildfowl and waders plus WeBS count for yesterday
It snowed all day yesterday, a slight thaw followed by a re-freeze led to some path closures and diversions today, we scraped and gritted to open access to Discovery Hide and Estuary Tower. The cold weather has meant that 75% of our freshwater is frozen w
12 December 2022
Sub-zero birding, and the Scaup remains
The temperatures have plunged to end the week, down as low as -5oC overnight leaving much of the reserve's shallower water bodies frozen.
9 December 2022
Greater Scaup with the diving ducks
Late yesterday afternoon at the Wild Bird feed a juvenile-first winter drake Greater Scaup was spotted on the Rushy
5 December 2022
Merlin on the lookout
The reserve typically hosts at least one wintering Merlin, a few sightings of males were made earlier in the autumn but recent encounters suggest that a female has settled to winter
28 November 2022
Largest gathering of Bewick's Swans in the UK at the moment?
We noted 33 Bewick's Swans on Sunday 20th, and 43 on Monday 21 November, the majority of the birds have been favouring the Rushy or Tack Piece
21 November 2022
More arrivals
We've seen another eight Bewick's Swans arrive this morning, bringing us to 21 birds on the pond
19 November 2022
Numbers building
The numbers of our winter birds have been building this week, especially Lapwing, Golden Plover, several duck and a record count of Black-tailed Godwit
18 November 2022
WeBS count for Sunday 13 November and sightings for 14 November
A summary of sightings from the last few days
14 November 2022
Look out for Cattle Egrets
Up to seven Cattle Egret have been around the reserve this week
11 November 2022
They're back!
Our first Bewick's Swans of the season have finally arrived
10 November 2022
Early November high tides
High tides around the 9 metre mark.
7 November 2022