American visitor
A drake Green-winged Teal was on the Top New Piece this morning from the Zeiss Hide. This North American duck is a regular visitor to the UK and for a period was nearly an annual occurence at Slimbridge, but we've had a few years now without a record. The bird is still moulting into full plumage but the vertical white stripe is showing through nicely.
There have also been a couple of new Bewick's Swans arrive on the Rushy bringing us to 47 birds including Indri who still resides on the Big Pen outside the Visitor Centre.
Zeiss Hide
Aside from the Green-winged Teal the Top New Piece was again one of the busiest parts of the reserve with other totals including 427 Teal, 1002 Wigeon, 2 Ruff, 1431 Lapwing, 2 Golden Plover, 7 Shoveler, 101 Dunlin, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 33 Snipe on the islands to the north and 13 Pintail. Initially a pair of White-fronted Geese were roosting on the shoreline before they were joined by another 45 birds bringing the flock to 47. Another pair were on the Bottom New Piece.
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South Lake Hides
A small wader flock included 434 Lapwing and 24 Black-tailed Godwit whilst duck included 46 Shoveler, 13 Pochard, 125 Mallard and 135 Teal. Many of the duck were on the duck marsh from the Hogarth Hide.
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Kingfisher Hide
A flush from a Buzzard meant part of the Wigeon flock flipped over hedge from Top New Piece where they continued to graze close to the hide. Also in the Bottom New Piece field were 2 more White-fronted Geese, 2 Curlew and 200+ Lapwing. No geese were in the Four Score field.
