A Redwing from Holden Tower hide, Slimbridge

Early this morning I drove to the Wildlife and Wetland Trust centre at Slimbridge for a meeting with Sam from their multimedia production unit. I hoped they would be interested in presenting a talk about their video work at out Stroud Community TV Awards event which will be part of the Stroud Film Festival next March. I was very interested to hear him describe how they produce their monthly video newsletters called 'Wildwatch', and it took me back to my film production days in the 1980s and 90s. Sam agreed that they would be able to give the short talk and he hoped they might be able to show a part of their current venture, the 'Flight of the Swans'. His boss Sacha is currently about to fly her paramotor across the English Channel having followed the annual migration of the Bewick's Swans from Russia back to Slimbridge, where they spend the winter. 

After the meeting I went around the lakes and the hides taking pictures of the birds. The weather has been wonderful with a very hard overnight frost down to –5ºC leaving a crisp hoar frost across the landscape.

The last place I went to is called the Holden Tower which looks across the coastal marshes along the banks of the tidal River Severn. The best surprise of the day was spotting this Redwing feeding on the bushes just below the tower. It was rather precarious as it tried to reach one of the last of the red berries at the end of the branch.