WWT Slimbridge

 In the past, I undertook a trip to Slimbridge in January 2018. I lived in a different area of the UK back then, and it was one exhausting undertaking. But I did make my acquaintance with a vagrant red-breasted goose, which must have lost its way and ended up here on the way from Taymyr. 

This February, I went again, since I decided I really wanted to see and photograph cranes well. Cranes have been a sore subject for me, which I encounter periodically but invariably get awful photos of them. Even at supposedly great places for them like the Nene Washes, they significantly underperformed in my opinion. But Slimbridge is thought to be the best place in the UK to see cranes, and so I was sold. But I decided to start with the tundra swans first. 

These beautiful little swans fly all the way here from the arctic tundra every winter. The other 2 UK swans are beautiful, but this tiny swan combines beauty with delicacy. And they were everywhere here. As easy to see here as whooper swans were easy to see at Welney. As I observed, periodically the crowds of waders out on the field would suddenly erupt upwards in great clouds. I realised why everything was so jumpy when I reached the Estuary tower. 

A peregrine flew overhead. I heard there was also a goshawk somewhere here as well, but I never managed to see it on this trip today. Soon enough, I spotted my first cranes. They were distant, but then gradually got closer, until they were very close to the Estuary Hide: a pair of cranes, and a further three which seemed to be a family group, with one juvenile. The photos I got are the best I  ever took, and finally satisfied me about these majestic birds. No wonder so many people want to see them, they are such beautiful birds...

There was a white goose in the distance that interested me. But I then left the hide, and spotted an interesting group of waders from another hide. The prettiest was uncooperative and asleep, but the others demonstrated their bill. They turned out to be Ruff, birds which I always, for waders at least, wanted to see. 

Today I saw white-fronted geese, identified as Russian white-fronted geese by the colour of their bill. They were mostly distant from both the Estuary and Kingfisher hides, but then flew much closer, right past the Estuary towers, and briefly fed right in front of it. 

The white goose then flew right past the estuary tower. And I identified it as a snow goose. What I also noticed that it does not have a ring on its leg. So either it is feral, or...something much more exciting, a genuine vagrant. I watched it land in the middle of the tundra swan group, where I had an extraordinarly hard time finding it and taking photos of it. 

Another white goose then arrived. This goose was much smaller than the snow goose, and had a much smaller bill, with a different pattern. I realised that I was looking at a Ross's goose, another North American favourite, which is also much rarer! Feral, probably, or escaped, but that bird nevertheless got me really excited. 

It was a great day today, but there was one bird which I didn't see. I saw curlews here in 2018, but not in 2023.