Slimbridge pays off

Unable to go on the Club trip, I was keen to get to Slimbridge before the New Year as I new it would hold a few birds not on my year list. Arriving just before 10:00am I had a quick look in the Rushy Pen and ticked off four Bewick's Swans. On to the hides near the Holden Tower and it was clear that there were many birds in for the winter. On to Holden Tower for the geese and who should be standing at the top of the stairs, Tim! Nice surprise. He'd managed to pick out the two Pink-footed Geese but the distance and light were proving difficult to keep tabs on them. A couple of active Peregrines and a mobile Dunlin flock didn't help to keep a focus of the geese. Plenty of White-fronted Geese were on show to help me creep towards 200. A very obliging Little Stint showed well amongst the Dunlin and I was nearly there. We decided that the Zeiss Hide would offer a better view of the Geese. A false alarm on for a pink-foot was soon followed by the real thing as Tim picked out two Pink-footed Geese waddling out of a shallow pool. One very obligingly stick its pink foot out for us. Bird 200 for the year! We made our way back, Tim to his driving lesson and me to the South Pool for some waders. Thsi proved fruitless though as the pool was very deep. Not to worry though ... mission accomplished!