News
Wet and windy
The weather might be wet and windy, but the conditions are ideal for counting some of our flightier species
28 December 2022
Come and see the winter spectacle
Our winter bird numbers are continuing to build as we approach the peak next month
27 December 2022
Boxing Day birding
It's now a glorious sunny day on the reserve which started off with a chilly night and a light frost
26 December 2022
Tack Piece getting busy again
The Tack Piece is starting to look more like it's winter-self this week as water levels rise and birds flood into the field
21 December 2022
106 Bewick's Swans
A dawn count of Bewick's Swan produced 106 birds
20 December 2022
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