{"id":2070,"date":"2017-01-01T15:59:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T14:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hlbphotography.com\/blog\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2017-01-04T20:51:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T19:51:34","slug":"boxing-day-2016-visit-to-wwt-slimbridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hlbphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/boxing-day-2016-visit-to-wwt-slimbridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing Day 2016 – Visit to WWT Slimbridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For a change of scenery on Boxing Day I headed to WWT Slimbridge<\/a> with my parents. We have visited Slimbridge a number of times before, although not in the colder months and my Mum wanted to see the Bewick’s Swans in particular. So taking the back roads to avoid the Boxing day sales traffic we headed towards Gloucester. <\/p>\n

Even as an adult I buy grain to feed the birds. The Nene Geese came to greet us asking nicely for food; I lost my packet of food to my Dad who took to feeding them and every Moorhen he saw! We took a slow walk towards the Zeiss hide stopping for lunch at the picnic benches on route.  My parents aren’t birders so don’t like sitting in hides for long but during the periods of time they managed to sit still, I saw Roe Deer, a Curlew, Bewick’s Swans in the distance, a couple of Mute Swan and hundreds of Lapwing and Wigeon.  <\/p>\n

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Warm drinks were needed after a walk around the site, the restaurant was packed but I managed to get us a table near the window which was very fortuitous as I saw my first Grey Wagtail, so of course I grabbed my camera and headed outside for a record shot! <\/p>\n

Towards the end of our visit we headed to the Peng observatory, knowing we wanted to be there for the 4pm feeding to have a closer look at the Bewick’s Swans.  It is a nice place to sit and watch the bird’s slowly growing in number as they head in for feeding time.  It was lovely to see the birds following the wheelbarrow of food, there were about 30 Bewick’s, a real treat to witness and something I highly recommend seeing if you have time to stay till closing.<\/p>\n

My full list of sightings:
\nBirds:<\/strong> Curlew, Bewick’s Swan, Mute, Swan, Tufted Duck, Lapwing, Wigeon, Black-headed Gull, Shelduck, Coot, Moorhen, Reshank, Jackdaw, Rook, Teal, Pintail, Grey Wagtail, Long-tailed Tit, Woodpigeon, Song Thrush
\nMammals:<\/strong> Roe Deer<\/p>\n

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