Our first Wildlife Fotoforay of 2026 was a visit to WWT Slimbridge on an chilly, overcast but otherwise dry day.
Seven members made the trip (Sue Anslow, Bea von der Haar, Nigel Goode, Tracy Onions, Graham Porritt, Lynn Brown, Kevin Morgan and Kevin Doyle) hoping for good array of bird life among the scrapes and lagoons of the site. The morning was fairly uneventful with a single Spoonbill showing well and two Kingfishers offering a distant shot through the glass of the Decoy Hide. A very distant female Marsh Harrier and a couple of Common Cranes were visible from the Estuary Hide. Otherwise large numbers of Wigeon and a scattering of Swans (Bewicks/Whoopers) dominated.
After a welcome lunch in the cafeteria we visited the Kingfisher Hide with little to be seen. We made our way to South Lake and a welcome turnaround in activity. A flock of roughly 100 Avocets, good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits, Shovellers, 20 or so Redshank, a pair of Gadwall, 4 Little Egrets and 8 Cormorants provided the action.
What started as a rather disappointing trip finished with a flourish sending the group home pleased with the outing (with the exception of Sue who suffered an unfortunate accident with her camera and Nigel who lost a glove).
