The Young Birder

  I had a wonderful birthday day-out with some friends at WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, a few days ago.  We arrived there at the leisurely time of 11.30am and set off in search of birds! This Pigeon was my first photo, taken only a few steps away from the entrance. I was amazed by its  orange eye and t he violet-green colours on its neck. Looking out onto a huge pond from  one of the hides I saw  Tufted Duck, Mallard and Teal.  A beautiful male Pintail duck swam very close by, I like the ripples in the water. Here are 3 of the lovely male Tufted Duck. As I sat watching the waterfowl a Shelduck  ( Tadorna tadorna )  drifted into view. Some people may think they are geese because of their size!  There are about 15,000 breeding pairs in the UK though their numbers are boosted in the winter from birds coming in from Scandinavia, bringing the UK wintering population size to 61,000.  Ahhh! I know rats can be an annoyance at times but these ...

I decided to go back to the Worcestershire Beacon a few days ago to try and get some better views of Snow Bunting which I briefly spotted in November.  After a walk round the hills I started to give up hope when I spotted birdwatchers looking at a patch in the grass and saw the illusive bunting! I got down low and after a while it wandered closer to me until it was about 2 feet away from me!  Snow Bunting ( Plectrophenax nivalis ) are amazing birds; most breed in the Arctic, Greenland and Scandinavia but about 60 pairs breed in a very small spot of the Highlands of Scotland. However, during the winter around 10,000 to 15,000 birds come to the coasts around England, Wales, Ireland and more inland in Scotland. They mainly feed on seeds, insects and plants and can live up to 9 years and weigh up to 40g.  I think that they may stay a little bit longer on the Worcestershire Beacon, but they will almost certainly be gone by March.