Tuesday 15th July 2025 - Slimbridge

 

The time passes so quickly these days and seems unbelievable that a week has passed since my last birding outing. This week the choice was Chew or Slimbridge as the weather didn’t look that good, in the end David and Tony chose Slimbridge as the Bluethroat has still been seen there and on my 2 previous visits it has failed to show so 3rd time lucky !! I decided not to start my day list until we arrived at Slimbridge, so my 1st sighting was a Red Kite that flew across the approach road just after the bridge. On arrival the rain had started so waterproofs were the order of the day and while putting them on 2 Collared Doves flew past and a Woodpigeon was sat in a tree close to the reception. Once in the  reception we were forced to shelter as it was raining hard, but it soon passed, making our way to the Decoy Hide we added Greylag Geese and Moorhen, from the hide we saw Mute Swan, Coot, Mallard and Cormorant, we had hoped for Kingfisher as they had been seen there regularly but nothing showed. Next stop Peng Observatory here there were many Shelduck lots being juveniles Sand and House Martins were flying low over the water and a mixed gull flock contained both Black Headed and Herring. Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow were soon added. Next stop the Rushy Hide here I found a single Mediterranean Gull in among the Black Headed Gulls. 

Mediterranean Gull - Slimbridge
(Bath Birdwatcher)

David pointed out a Ruff and a few Teal were dabbling to our left. 

Ruff - Slimbridge (Bath Birdwatcher)

As we were about to leave a Kingfisher flew through making up for the one we had hoped to see earlier. We then said we would walk to the Shepard's hut via the Summer Walkway but as we reached the Knott Hide we had a sharp shower so sheltered inside where we found a Great White Egret wading in the far end of the pool. When the rain stopped we set off towards the Shepherds Hut adding Swift, Swallow and Blue Tit. At the Shepherds Hut it was quite windy with no sigh of any small birds and certainly not the Bluethroat we had hoped to see so for the 3rd time it was a dip for me. While there we did see a small flock of Little Egrets fly down river and a Magpie that flew past. In the end we gave up waiting and headed back finding a Meadow Pipit on the way. Next stop was the Tower Hide but as we looked out towards the river nothing was showing although David did spot 6 Cranes and looking out of the left-hand windows and in a smallish pool a Green Sandpiper was feeding in the mud, (a year tick for us both). In another pool in the distance was another Green Sand and also Black Tailed Godwit and Avocet. 

Black Tailed Godwit - Slimbridge
(Bath Birdwatcher)

Feeling peckish it was time to return to the car but on the way we did add a Little Grebe from the Knot Hide and in the grounds Goldfinch and a Dunnock. Lunch over we set off to the South Lake adding a Blackbird on the way, once at South Lake a lot of the birds that were present we had already seen but we did add Pochard, Redshank, Spotted Redshank and a Black Swan of unknown origin. 

Spotted Redshank - Slimbridge
(Bath Birdwatcher)

Black Swan - Slimbridge (Bath Birdwatcher)

Nothing more was found here so Zeiss would be next adding a Rook on the way, Nothing more here except a small flock of Starlings and a Shoveler in eclipse plumage, the Starling  I had missed earlier. We did meet a couple who were fairly new to birding, and we were able to share our knowledge with them pointing out several species that they had not seen or didn’t know what they were, even showing them through my telescope. It’s always nice to help other birders. We accompanied them to the Kingfisher hide as they wanted to see a Kingfisher but there was not one to be seen. We had to leave them there as it was time to go but we did add Chiffchaff, Great Tit and Long Tailed Tit on the way. Nothing new was found on the return trip but it was a great day out even though bird numbers were lower than expected, I think mainly due to the wind.

Lapwing - Slimbridge (Bath Birdwatcher)


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