End of week summary
Unfortunately the site is now closed for the lockdown period, but our work continues on the reserve
Unfortunately the site is now closed for the lockdown period, but our work continues on the reserve.
Although the site is closed to all visitors you can keep an eye on the Rushy webcam to see our winter arrivals over the lockdown period - watch the webcam here.
Thursday 5th November
Our first Bewick's Swans arrived on Thursday morning, little did they know that lockdown had begun. The birds dropped in on the Tack Piece and spent most of the day sleeping before moving to the Rushy for the afternoon feed. With the birds on the Rushy we were able to get some closer photographs of the bill patterns, send them across to our researcher and confirm that the birds are a pair called Piquet (female) and Primero (male).
Primero was first recorded at Slimbridge in December 2012 and Piquet has been coming since January 2016. We think they have been a pair for about five years, but as yet have not returned with cygnets. The weather looks set to remains settled with a gentle easterly wind for the next few days, so we may see more birds arrive over the weekend.
We have also seen our Russian White-fronted Goose flock increase this week, with an arrival on Wednesday bringing the flock now to at least 64 birds. On Thursday we also managed to confirm the presence of at least one Greenland race bird. A Pink-footed Goose was also seen earlier in the week.
Friday 6th November
A cold start this morning with the temperature around freezing at dawn. Our two Bewick's Swans had moved out to the Tack Piece early and so far no sign of any new arrivals this morning. All the White-fronted Geese are again on the Tack Piece too, along with a mixed flock of around 500 Greylag and Canada Geese.
This week we've also seen a big increase in the number of Black-tailed Godwit on the reserve with at least 545 present - perilously close to our all time record count of 550 birds in November 2019. It is likely more birds were present as some were hidden behind vegetation on the shoreline of the Top New Piece.
We will continue to post summaries of the birds arriving at the reserve on the sightings' page and our Twitter feed, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the reserve once the lockdown has finished. For now, stay safe and enjoy the webcam!
