We had booked into Slimbridge for 11 a.m. but I couldn’t resist popping over to Stoke Park Estate (my local park) before we set off to see if I could see a pair of garden warblers and a yellow wagtail of which I had had reports.

There was a beautiful light and I spotted a reed bunting as soon as I arrived (hence slightly out of focus shot): a grey heron and a cormorant were much more obliging and stayed around until I had organised myself.

The heron then made my day by taking off and flying across the lake before me. The slideshow below is only a few of the many shots I captured.

I found (with help of other birders) the garden warblers on the island and managed a few poor shots.

I couldn’t find the yellow wagtail but was quite pleased with a mistle thrush and a whitethroat next to the lake.

Slimbridge proved a little disappointing as all the hides were closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, there were a few gallery points where we managed to see a surprising number of birds, including a sedge warbler, a common sandpiper and several avocets; we also had a close up view of the horrendous sight of a lesser black-backed gull predating a Greylag gosling (look away if your are squeamish as nature is not always pretty).

Slideshow from WWT Slimbridge