Final Birding trip of the year

I decided that today was the day to do one final twitch and try and increase my year list by one or two birds.  Unfortunately, when I pulled back the curtains all I could see was a blanket of rain.  I therefore decided to head for Slimbridge on the basis that they had hides and I would not get totally soaked.


Upon arriving I received a phone call from my birder's wife informing me that she had gone over a pot hole somewhere in the Cotswolds and had damaged her tyre and wheel.  Fortunately my brother in law sorted her out and got her back on the road and I was able to continue with my day of birding without worrying any further.

I headed over to the Zeiss Hide, as a Green Winged Teal had been reported from there earlier in the week and immediately saw the Bittern who was posing very close by.






I turned my attention to look for the Green Winged Teal and despite careful scanning I could not find it among the many hundreds of Teal present.  I then had a walk over to the other hides overlooking the Tack Piece to view the many thousands of birds present including Lapwings, Golden Plover, Redshanks, Bewick Swans, Dunlin, Wigeon and Teal.

Despite continued searching and a walk back to the Zeiss Hide early afternoon I could not find the Green Winged Teal and before heading home I went via the Peng Observatory to watch the Swan Feed which is always very informative.