A Day Out with Dad - Slimbridge WWT

I'd promised Dad a day trip to Slimbridge WWT one day this winter, a reserve well-known for its accessibility.  And seeing as spring was fast approaching, last Monday everything aligned (tides, weather, work schedule, Dad's diary, etc) so off we went for what turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable day.  

I was worried I had left it too late in the season, and although we were told wader and wildfowl numbers had dropped off in recent weeks as to be expected, there was still more than enough to see. Bewick's Swan numbers actually increased on the day we were there, which is lucky as in other years all have departed by the end of February! The cold north easterly wind presumably the reason for their delayed return migration - the wardens at Slimbridge can tell they are ready to go through their behaviour and eating habits (apparently they diet before they migrate!).

The Bewick's Swans were of course the stars of the show for me, being a huge fan of waterfowl and birding a part of the country where we don't see many winter swans.  There were a handful on the Rushy in the morning, at least 46 resting on the Tack Piece late morning, four on the Dumbles shortly after and then over 50 came back in to Rushy for the evening swan feed. 

Typical Bewick's bill pattern although they are all different!

They pair for life - the larger male on the left here

The young birds still showing grey plumage but bills have turned yellow (start off pink)

Strange colour due to taking this photo through glass!

Bewick's sleeping on the Tack Piece

 

Another high point for me was seeing the Eurasian White-fronted Goose flock, numbering 172, feeding along the back of the Tack Piece.  Amazing that this is still such a reliable wintering site for the species, considering how far south and west it is and how their numbers have declined here for decades...

What a lovely sight, those stunning black belly bars

Always on the fair side of the field

Living and birding on a patch where, except for Wigeon, Teal and Shelduck, we don't see ducks in any numbers, seeing so many Shoveler, Pintail, Tufted Duck and Pochard was just amazing!  At least 700 Wigeon still present too despite the late date.

Pintail

Two dapper drakes

Couldn't stop photographing these to be honest!

A mass of Shoveler!

I know many birders find the whole swan feeding-thing unappetising, but I love it! Such a great way of engaging the 'semi-interested' and for me it is just so novel to see so many wildfowl...

Ready for their grub!

Feeding time!

 

However, the one thing about Slimbridge that does make me question myself and all things birding was nicely summarised by Scaup.  

It was great to see the drake Greater Scaup that has been wintering onsite, showing distantly on the Rushy. A really smart bird but never came close...

Drake Greater Scaup - what a looker!

Such a great looking duck!

 

I then walked around the corner and took this photo with my phone...

More Scaup!

Yes these are of course captive, but they unequivocally look exactly the same!  Just not quite sure how to deal with this, as seeing that wild drake Scaup (albeit distantly) gave me such a buzz and then I clapped eyes on these!  Not sure what to make of it, all I can say is I find it confusing for my (wild) bird-loving brain.

A drake Smew, lots of Eider and Goldeneye were in the same pen too, although we did see a wild Goldeneye on South Lake as well...

Note the Avocet - a returning breeding pair

Whilst on the subject of non-wild birds, nine Common Cranes were on the Dumbles.  Although two weren't ringed so maybe these were of wild stock?

All these were ringed

But the left hand bird here is unringed

Also on the Dumbles a big flock of feral Barnacle Geese, containing a Ross's Goose and a Snow x Bar-headed hybrid.  There were two single Barnacle Geese in with the White-fronts too, presumably also feral but who actually knows?

Ross's Goose in with Barnacle Geese

And here's the Snow x Bar-headed

 

There were heaps of Golden Plover, Lapwing and Dunlin here as well, and about 90+ more Pintail distantly viewable on the Severn...

Waders on the Dumbles

 

I have only been to Slimbridge twice before. Most recently in February 2003 on the way back from Norfolk to see a first-winter Lesser White-fronted Goose in with the White-front flock.  My first visit was in 2002 when I was thrilled to see a Greenland White-front, two Bean and three Pink-footed Geese in with the 400+ strong White-front flock. This was the holy grail of goose flocks as far as I was concerned, although not a shadow on what Peter Scott used to record in the 40's/50's when he could count two thousand grey geese (mostly White-fronts) wintering on site. 

I really do look forward to visiting this place for the fourth time.  A great reserve and a truly memorable day out with Dad. 

Accessibility Review

I thought I would add this little section at the bottom of my post, as Nature Reserve accessibility isn't something most birders need to think about, but it is absolutely critical for the ones that do need to think about it.

Am pleased to report Slimbridge ticks all the right boxes, a great network of flat paths, spacious and well designed hides (including a hide with a lift in it*), several accessible loos and a very clear and informative accessibility section on their website.  

Nature can't be much more accessible than this!

*The lift in the Estuary Tower Hide wasn't actually working on the day we visited, although as you can see from the below screenshot the website told us this well before our visit.  My only point to note on that would be that it would have been good for the member of staff on the welcome desk to mention this to us, just in case we hadn't been on the website pre-visit.

A screenshot from the website homepage

 

 

Caspian Gull

Although I was half expecting it, I was still not prepared for just how poor February has been on the Axe, quite the come down from January!  

After the previously blogged-about Water Pipit and Mistle Thrush double tick on 3rd, it took until the 13th for my next year tick - a Blackcap!  Had another today, singing which was nice.  And it isn't like I have missed much, well except for a gripping drake Red-breasted Merganser which I dipped  by about three minutes on 15th! Many thanks to Nick who not only found it, but rapidly u-turned to pick me up!

Sawbill aside it has been really poor on the Axe. However I have always been hoping February would be saved by gulls, as usually the last couple of weeks of this month is when pre-breeding gull passage gets going. Today, it begun...

We had a few days of amazing gull numbers back in mid January, but counts of for example Common and Med Gulls since then have come right down, with Estuary checks revealing a couple of hundred and single figures respectively (at most!).  But today, whether it is the date or the return of south westerlies, my counts of these two species were 900+ and 12+!  Along with at least 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, as much a sign of spring as a dapper male Wheatear on Beer Head!

Over 750 Common Gulls in this photo!

 

A lovely late winter gull scene on the Axe.  Even though Ring-billed is pratically a mega again I will never stop trying!

A closer than usual Med from a couple of days ago

Today's counts already mentioned were from this morning, so I was keen to get back down the Estuary this afternoon.  There were less small gulls present with the tide having risen, but greeting me at Coronation Corner was the Axe's 29th Caspian Gull.  A lovely first-winter, and my 106 Patchwork Challenge species of the year...

Completely messed up the camera settings, but look at that neck!

 

 

Such a big chesty bird!

This bird has a really lovely dark and long-winged look to it.  This is exactly the view I had when I found it, and was struck by such a striking wing pattern.  It is the bird dead centre...

Head down

And here is the same photo with some annotations...

Although just one or two of these features wouldn't make the bird stand out with this view, it is the combination of ALL these features

 

And some of the the key bits...

Underwing

Tail

Then annoyingly, after it spent a minute bathing on the water I simply lost it.  Am presuming it sneaked off south as no one else saw it by dusk.

Birders looking for it tonight did turn up a brief Little Gull though.  Never twitchable so I couldn't react to the news, but hopefully this one stays around allowing me a third chance at Little Gull this year!  

Hopefully this flurry of action means February has finally woken up...

Water Pipit

The Axe, in particular Colyford Marsh, was once one of the best sites in the county/southwest for Water Pipits.  Double-figure flocks were frequent during the winters of the late 90's/early 00's, but we are down to single figures now, often just one and some winters none at all!  The winter of 2017/18 being the only recent exception. 

A single bird has been seen sporadically over the last month or so, but despite numerous visits to Colyford Common during January I haven't seen it, just the usual 6 - 12 Rock Pipits of varying shades.   But this morning, finally, stood on the platform at the top end of Colyford Common this walked out of the tussocky grass on the opposite side of the tramline...

Plainish brown back contrasting with grey head, white wing-bars, nice white super - bingo!

 

I then enjoyed a few minutes of some nice prolonged views in the damp grass...

I am so fond of this species

A pose any Isabelline Wheatear would be proud of!

Soon after it took off most the Colyford Common Rock Pipits started flying around, and when they landed again on the wires over Colyford Common, the Water Pipit had joined them.  Despite the variability of our wintering Rock Pipits, as always the Water stood out like a sore thumb.  One more photo of it having a preen...

A lot of zoom used to get this!

I counted 18 Rock Pipits too, almost double what I usually see here (plus nine Meadow Pipits).  Some of the Rockits were really striking looking birds, just take a look at these two...

Both birds quite pale underneath

Would love to photograph all these Rockits properly but it isn't easy.  The flock is mobile, often hard to approach when feeding and aren't that photogenic when perched on overhead wires.

It was a double year-tick morning, with Mistle Thrush finally added to the list also at Colyford Common.  Otherwise bird-wise we seem to be in a bit of a lull period. A mild westerly airflow not really doing the business, I like my winters cold so more of that would be good!

One Month Down

I end January on 102 species for Patchwork Challenge.  As expected new species have slowed right up in the last few weeks, with Red-legged Partridge added today and Dipper last Friday.  These being the only new birds since my last blog post on 24th.

With calm seas lately any spare morning I've had I've been scanning over Seaton Bay.  This hasn't shown any more surprises since the trio of Eider, but it's always a joy to be out when there are sunrises like this to be witnessed...

Soul-lifting

Birdwise all I have seen is up to six Red-throated Diver, the odd Common Scoter, 90+ feeding Kittiwakes lingering (notable for us) and several hundred auks, of which so far all the ones I have been able to identify have been Razorbill.

My inability to competently identify (/string) a Guillemot brings me nicely on to species I should really have seen by now  Guillemot and Mistle Thrush are top of the list, with Blackcap, Firecrest, Siskin and Marsh Tit not far behind.  We don't seem to have a wintering Common Sandpiper on the Axe for this first time in at least 15 years, in fact aside Avocet wading bird variety and numbers have been poor - bring on the spring!

There's three key species I have missed; Little Gull, Marsh Harrier and Red Kite.  Am not worried about the latter two, but Little Gull has become a less than annual visitor to the Axe so really need some more southerlies!  This dip was even worse as I would have seen it were it not for a helicopter flushing the gull flock literally seconds before my arrival.

I won't list the highlights as they are in the contents of my recent blog posts, but something I do want to mention as a highlight is just how much I am enjoying participating in Patchwork Challenge. Exactly as I was hoping it would, it has given my patch birding a new lease of life, and as everyone knows being out more is the key to seeing more - and as a result I am blogging more!  

Roll on the next 11 months...

One Hundred!

Absolutely loving these freezing frosty mornings, makes going out early in the day even more of a joy than usual.  Today proved the coldest of the year so far, it was -5c at 8am, and no warmer twenty minutes later when I took this...

Almost black and white except for the Roe. A truly epic frost.

 

Have added two new birds to the Patchwork Challenge list this week making it a ton for me now.  Grey Wagtail was the rather uninspiring 99th bird, but number 100 was the over-wintering but highly mobile and elusive Dartford Warbler.  Only the third I have ever seen in the valley, so a great bird for the year list and a nice male to boot.

The recent Great White Egret has proved the longest staying of this species in Axe history, but with the appearance of one on the Otter Estuary yesterday I presumed its stay had come to an end.  Well I was wrong, during my drive home from work late this afternoon I spied this feeding in a small ditch right by the A3052 at Bridge Marsh...

Little and large!

Look at that neck

It was feeding well

Amazing how erratic and generally elusive this Egret has been, considering the fact it is a three foot tall pure white bird.  No wonder it took me almost two months to see a Dartford Warbler!!

A Cold and Frosty Week

What a lovely wintery week it has been here on the Axe, wish we would have more of this weather during the winter months.  

No day off until today, but earlier in the week I still managed to add some new species to the year list before and after work.  Some of these were overdue resident species that I just hadn't bumped into yet, like Jay and Nuthatch, but there was some notable species too, like the 13 Golden Plover on Bridge Marsh on Tuesday...

A proper cold weather sight!

A Goldie with a bit of light on it

The last throws of Wednesday gave an excellent double, with a Goosander south down the Axe at 4:40pm and a Woodcock out of roost at 5:25pm.  Especially pleased with the latter as it was a stab in the dark (literally) that produced a result on the first attempt!

Then came today, a day off! And what a stunning day it was, unbroken sunshine and a stunning morning frost...

My favourite weather!

A distant Kingfisher in a frosty scene

 

Spent a fair bit of today looking for a Dartford Warbler, highly likely the Dartford Warbler that was present on the edge of Sheep's Marsh at the end of 2022.  Phil saw it briefly on Seaton Marshes yesterday morning but all further attempts to locate it have failed. No doubt it will appear again at some point though, it is really proving a slippery little sod!

Despite no Dartford, walking around today was just sheer joy.  Saw plenty of Snipe, Reed Buntings, three Cetti's Warbler, two Cattle Egrets, the lingering Great White Egret, a Treecreeper (another overdue year tick) and couldn't resist papping this lovely male Bullfinch, which for a change didn't fly off at first sight...

Always enoy a good view of one of these, such charming birds

Ok, one more pic...

Two distant and fed-up looking Cattle Egrets soon after dawn

 

I unexpectedly had a spare twenty minutes mid this afternoon, so I spent it looking over a nice calm Seaton Bay.  Shag and Great Crested Grebe were easy year ticks, but I was not expecting to clap eyes on three 1w drake/female Eider feeding close in off Seaton Hole - not an annual species here.  They soon drifted further out but I just about managed to get some record shots.  The light was absolutely appalling though...

I think it was two 1w drake and a female but I could be wrong, the light was awful

Not a shape we see regularly here!

Now on 98 species for the Patchwork Challenge year list, be good to break 100 before January is out!

Avocets and Gull Influx

Local photographer Susie found a couple of Avocet this morning on Colyford Scrape.  I saw them distantly here early-afternoon, and this evening at dusk saw them fly in and tuck themselves in for a snooze on the Estuary...

This is the best shot you are getting from me - the sun had long gone over the horizon!

 

Was pleased to add this species, and finally Greenfinch to the year-list today.  Disappointing however to miss two drake Goosander that were seen on the Estuary this morning, just typical I wasn't in my office the day they chose to float past my office window! But thanks for the message anyway Tim C.

My highlight of the day was the sheer number of gulls resting on the Estuary early this afternoon.  Common Gulls actually outnumbered Black-headed Gulls, with well over 1,000 of the former spread along the length of the Estuary.  In with them were 83 Mediterranean Gulls, the vast majority being adults and some already developing black hoods...

All those small gulls are indeed adult Meds!

Just about got eight in shot if you include that wing entering frame from the right!

So with all the above, plus a wonderful five mile walk with the Mrs around Tipton St. John this morning, I'd say I'd had a pretty good day off!

Patchwork Challenge Update

Since my last post all my days have been work days, but I have still managed to see a few new species for the year list.  At least one a day in fact, until today which was my first blank day of the year for year ticks.  It had to come sometime!

Sunday 8th saw my first Black-tailed Godwit of the year. Weirdly I can only find three at the moment, not our usual 70+. I suspect they have dropped us for the new look Otter Estuary! Only two Dunlin on the Estuary too which is a poor showing.

Monday 9th I met with Kev at Tower Hide whilst it was still dark, hoping to see the Egrets leave the Axmouth roost as two Cattle were seen going in there!  After about 30 Little Egrets, and a lot of rain, finally a Cattle Egret emerged at 08:05 and flew north up the valley and away.  Result.  

Tuesday 10th was a really wet and windy day, so I walked along the beach before work. To my amazement the five ducks that came flying into view from the east were Pintail!  They landed briefly, flew back east then about five minutes later flew west along the beach.

Awful photo in awful conditions! But five much appreciated birds.

Tuesday didn't end so well, as I missed a Little Gull by a matter of minutes.  Clearly plenty more Common and Mediterranean Gulls about though, which is hopeful as it shows some Gull passage is underway!  

Wednesday morning I started the day stood in the dark with Kev again! This time on the beach, checking the roosting small gulls offshore in the half-light hoping to see the previous nights Little Gull in there.  No luck, with a couple of passing Fulmar being my year tick for the day.

And today, although it gave no year ticks (and I still need Greenfinch!) I was really pleased to have a count of 64 Med Gulls in an hour tonight on the lower Axe Estuary - 40+ of them being adults too! Still lots of Common Gulls about, plus a few more Lesser Black-backs but still no Little one!  

Year list stands at 87. Wouldn't mind a change in the weather now, well, once I see a Little Gull that is!

Eastern Yellow Wagtail...finally!

This post was so very nearly titled 'That Bloody Wagtail!'

My year list keeps moving forward at a steady pace, which was always the way I was planning to do it.  Yes I will be making an effort for any goodies that show up but my current aim is to casually mop up all the usual fare as the days roll by - and that is exactly what I have been doing!  Now, back to this Wagtail...

Since it was first found by John Gale on Christmas Day there had been no further sign of the probable Eastern Yellow Wagtail on Colyford Common. Then just as surprising as the reappearance of the Izzy Wheatear, the wag was seen again on 2nd Jan, albiet briefly. The 3rd was a dreadful weather day, but following mid-afternoon sightings on both 4th and 5th, I planned my day today so I could be at Colyford Common for 2pm.  Well it actually showed up at 1pm, but thanks to our amazing local WhatsApp Group (thanks Mark and Mike) I shot around from my location on the other side of the river and thankfully arrived just in time! But I do mean just...

On my arrival to Colyford Common it was out of view feeding in a ditch, but a minute or so later up it popped onto a grassy tussock. It remained here for just over a minute then took off and flew away to the north with no further sign up to dusk. I cannot tell you the relief I feel for finally seeing this bird, which is proving the most elusive and unpredictable rarity we have ever had on patch!  I will return to the ID of this bird in a later blog post but here are my record shots from today...

When it is on the Common it looks so settled, so have not idea why it keeps disappearing and where it is disappearing to!

Another rubbish pic, but it picked the colours up ok including that yellow wash to the throat

Whilst I was here, it was nice to get my best views yet of the Isabelline Wheatear, a bird we are so lucky to still have with us...

Finally I have a pic showing a more typical Isabelline Wheatear stance and structure! Long legs, upright posture, etc..

The dull light allowed my camera to pick all the lovely subtle shades of peach

The closest it came

 

Right, best get on with telling you about the other year ticks I have enjoyed since my last post.  Well with my casual approach I am still ticking off species like Bullfinch, Fieldfare, Coal Tit, etc, but have had some notables as well.

Early on 5th, stood in the middle of a pitch-black Colyford Common with Kev hoping the wag would make a post-roost appearance, a Green Sandpiper called several times from Colyford Marsh as we enjoyed good views of a hunting Barn Owl...

video-grab

On the 4th I finally added Black Redstart to my year list (I say finally becuase we have at least three wintering with us!).  It was during my walk to work along Harbour Road when I suddenly heard a Black Redstart calling, and was delighted when I clapped eyes on this..

What a stunner - it was our one an only male!

Also on 4th, my lunch time walk at work involved a walk along the beach. I was going to head out at 1pm, but a message came up on the WhatsApp that a flock of Brent Geese had flown west past West Bexington at 11:40.  I moved my lunch forward, and at 12:20 was in the right place to see this...

*** if watching with sound turn it right down! ***

So I think that just leaves me with the rest of today. When news came through that the wag was present, I was getting wet feet at my most reliable site for Jack Snipe on patch. It was worth getting wet for though as I had great views of three, along with 14 Common Snipe.  Love it when a plan works out!

 

Quality over Quantity

I always knew my Patchwork Challenge year would start off slow; I was in Somerset most of yesterday and in work most of today. So my game plan was to prioritise any 'goodies' in the little time I did have free, and it worked...ish!

On the 1st I had up until 08:40 spare, and seeing as it doesn't really get light until 8am I knew I had to use that 40 minutes as best I could... so I spent it looking at three empty gorse bushes where a Dartford Warbler had been seen flitting between two days previous!  A Dartie would be a quality bird for the list but frustratingly no one has seen it since the turn of the year. 

Want!

 

Despite this the 1st still proved a success, as like any good year lister I didn't go out when it got light, I left home about an hour before that!  And whilst I was scanning the still very dark river valley hoping for a cheeky Barn Owl, the only other species of bird that I had any chance of identifying in that level of light came floating down the valley - a Great White Egret!  It even pitched in briefly on Black Hole Marsh, and was seen later in the day and again today but others.  Presumably the same bird that was seen for a couple of days on Colyford Marsh around Christmas.  Still, I wasn't expecting it!

Then we have today, and during my shift at work news came through that incredibly the Colyford Common Isabelline Wheatear, last seen on Boxing Day, had reappeared in exactly the same place!  So at lunchtime I dashed up to grab some distant but much appreciated views. A big fat FIVE POINTER in Patchwork Challenge - thank you very much!

Another bird that reappeared today was the (was a probable now surely is) Eastern Yellow Wagtail also at Colyford Common.  It was seen on Christmas Day briefly, and then like the Wheatear, not seen again until today when it was photographed by visiting birders on overhead wires at Colyford Common late this afternoon.  So that's my next target, if I can find it...

Other year ticks so far have included Green Woodpecker, Water Rail, Cetti's Warbler and Coot.  Not looked at the sea yet, or the gulls, or been anywhere really, but my time for quantity will come...