Sunset at Slimbridge

This was my last day of term. And not before time! Unusually, I had the afternoon free, so CleanSteve and I decided to celebrate by going to Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, which is only a dozen miles from where we live. There's alway something to admire there, and I am fond of winter landscapes because the trees look so good and one can see so much further through the bare branches. Slimbridge is on the Severn Plain and the site is level, so different from our hilly home town in the Cotswolds.

Today, the stars of the show were the North American otters, the Avocets, the fluffy pair of geese that I nicknamed " the Captain and Chenille" because they looked as if they were wearing chenille roll-neck sweaters, the mute swans and the Bewick Swans. Unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of any of these! Last time I went to Slimbridge I took the 50D. Why didn't I take it today?

At sunset, we went to the observatory, which overlooks a large lake, to watch the nightly feeding of Bewick swans and geese. The 'keeper' gave us a talk about Bewicks, then miked up and went outside to call the birds with a whistle. He was pushing a barrow full of food. The birds surged towards him, reminding me of commuters at Paddington station reacting to a minute change in the plasma screen displays. The keeper pushed the barrow round the lake, feeding and commenting all the while, and we watched the birds competing for food and playing on their various strengths and rank in the pecking order.

It's a poor year for Bewicks: only 82 spotted at Slimbridge this season. Normally the first ones can be spotted arriving arounf 20th October, but this year none were seen until 6th November. Some are preferring to overwinter in Holland, but many more are sticking closer to home and staying in the Baltic states. Increasingly stormy weather makes their long journey hazardous, but a greater danger is that of being shot by illegal hunters in their native Russia. All of the Bewicks that overwinter at Slimbridge are X-rayed on arrival, and an astonishing 70% of them are found to contain lead shot.

We missed the part of the talk about bill indentification patterns of Bewicks, because the wireless mike cut out! I will have to look up the rest. I tried, afterwards, to buy a CD of Sounds of Slimbridge in the shop, but was sad to find that no such thing existed. I particularly enjoyed the various wetland bird calls on the winter afternoon, with almost total silence in between. True silence is something I don't hear very often.

In the end, this sunset shot won, because it has a few birds in it, and it shows to advantage what I still think of as the 'new buildings' at Slimbridge (completed circa 2000!). The sun's reflections in the glass were blinding, for a few moments.

And finally, because this is my diary and I don't want to forget things, a sketch from nursery today:
Me: "Do you want to do a wee-wee before lunch, X?"
X (who is 2 and obsessed by the colour green) "No, I don't want to".
Me: "Maybe you can do a green wee"
X: "Yes! A green wee!"
He sits and produces a wee, and looks at it:
"It's a green wee! I did it! I did it! It's called Donald!"
Me: "Donald? oh yes, Donald the green wee-wee!"

Happy holidays to all the teachers, TAs and education professionals who start their holidays, and may all their Donalds be Green!