19th September 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire

What a surprise! Just as we seemed to be moving into autumn we get a late summer’s day. The French call it l’ėtė de la St Martin and we call it an Indian summer, but I’m probably getting carried away as St Martin’s Day isn’t until the 11th November. Anyway it reached 22 degrees in sunny Gloucestershire and, although I was wearing a T-shirt, I wished I was in shorts.

Slimbridge seemed to be moving on. There were flocks of greylag geese and quite a number of Canada geese too. From our favourite hide there were loads of bar-tailed godwits which were nice to see but difficult to photograph as there didn’t seem to be a focal point. A redshank amidst the group helped a little and then when they scattered from the threat of a peregrine it was easier to pick a focal point. There were some ruff too but very far off. Common snipe are some of our favourite birds but they were quite coy too.

The highlight of the day was a male grey phalarope (not as attractive as the female) but miles away so don’t hold your breath for any great images.

A brimstone greeted us on arrival

There were several big groups of black-tailed godwits like this

What a beauty – a black swan, certainly no ugly duckling

Sloes from a blackthorn – think lots of gin!

Common snipe being very coy

Black-tailed godwit

Ruff at the back of the pool

Lapwings are always present here

Redshank amongst the godwits

Redshank jumping for joy

Godwits take to the air

Can you spot the grey phalarope? Bang in the middle of my photo with a 400 mm lens and heavily cropped. It looked just as tiny with a x60 telescope. Oh the joys of birding!

We loved the textiles exhibition too:

Comments

5 responses to “19th September 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire”

  1. robbiesinspiration Avatar

    Hi Martin, this is a delightful post. I really enjoyed the textile pictures, especially the last one. The godwits are very interesting. I don’t believe I’ve seen one before. The black swan is magnificent.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. martintayler Avatar

      Thanks, Robbie. The godwits in breeding plumage are quite magnificent. Now, that seems a long way away for us. Hope you are enjoying the thoughts of spring.

      Martin Tayler

      Martin’s bird & nature blog: http://martinsbirdblog.com

      Liked by 1 person

      1. robbiesinspiration Avatar

        Yes, I love spring

        Liked by 1 person

  2. T Ibara Photo Avatar

    Hello Martin,
    I always look forward to your posts. I was unable to see the Bar-tailed Godwits this season so it is a pleasure to view them through your beautiful images. The exhibition is lovely too.

    Best wishes from Japan,
    Takami

    Like

    1. martintayler Avatar

      Thank you for reading and commenting on my blogs, Takami.
      Martin

      Martin Tayler

      Martin’s bird & nature blog: http://martinsbirdblog.com

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a reply to martintayler Cancel reply