Visit to WWT Slimbridge 23rd April 2013

Visit to WWT Slimbridge 23rd April 2013

We made a second visit to WWT Slimbridge on the morning of the 23rd before we drove down to Poole. This time we got much closer views of the Cranes and a chance to observe some interesting behaviour. As we watched the Cranes at the far side of the lake, one of them broke from the group and strode off purposefully to the right. As we homed in on this it was clear that the bird had something in its mouth and this turned out to be an egg. Slimbridge observers took this to be a Greylag Goose egg and it was certainly the right size for this. As it set off with this egg, it dropped in onto the ground and started to eat the contents. It proceeded to pick it up again and move further away with it and as it did so the yolk was clearly visible dripping from the shell.

We sat for nearly an hour and, as we did so, eventually the birds came around to the near side and started to give us fantastic views at close range. This time I had my 500mm lens with me so I got some much better photographs.

Again there were Shelduck, Greylag Geese and Mute Swans on the “Tack piece”.

We walked back to the main path and headed off to the Kingfisher Hide where we had heard there were a pair of nesting Kingfishers. As soon as we arrived we could see one of them sitting at the foot of a bush growing out of the water near to a raised bank where there were clearly several Kingfisher nest holes from previous year but one of them looked like the best contender for this years nest. We watched for quite a while but the other bird did not show at all and the one that we did see just seemed to be roosting.

We walked on to the Zeiss hide but it was pretty quiet there sowe headed back to the South lake “discovery hide”. As we went there were lots of Jackdaws and Rooks and a few and a few Swallows. In amongst the bushes we saw Wrens and a Reed Bunting as well as other common birds.

At the South Lake there were again lots of Black-tailed Godwits, various Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Shovelers, Lapwing etc. We also saw a Buzzard overhead and in the distance a Little Egret. Nearer to the hide were Oystercatchers, Coot and Moorhens but the highlight here were the Arctic Terns that were highly active swooping around a an incredibly fast rate and defying most attempts to get a photograph of them.

We had to get to Poole so by lunchtime it was time for us to get going.

Bird Sightings : WWT Slimbridge