Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Taiga Bean & Hooded Crow star in Slimbridge Twitch

 Black-tailed Godwits
 Mandarins
 Taiga Bean Geese
 Hooded Crow
 Hooded Crow
Kingfisher

Despite a full day in Cambridgeshire the day before and a bad forecast the draw of super birds at Slimbridge made it another early start. On the way to picking up @midlandbirder in Stourport I stopped in Shenstone to locate a couple of Corn Bunting. As I approached Stourport, Craig text me to drive through to the field gate as two of the local Mandarin were sitting up on a tree by the river.

Once arriving at Slimbridge we headed straight to the Holden Tower to locate the two Taiga Bean Geese. A seriously rare bird in these parts. They are normally only ever seen in small numbers in Norfolk. The birds were close enough to enable us to get some excellent views. Other notable sightings were 5 Little Egret, 14+6 Golden Plover, 2 Peregrines, Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Pintail and Skylark. 

It was then down to the Kingfisher & Ziess Hide to locate the Hooded Crow. After about 30 minutes I saw the Crow land in the field. I'd never seen one of these birds before and I  was struck with how striking he was. Whilst in the Kingfisher hide we observed a pair of Kingfisher sat outside the nest they were excavating. It was brilliant to watch the Kingfisher at close quarters, normally I only see these birds flying fast. Upon leaving the hide a Swallow past over head - a sure sign that summers round the corner.


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