A cracking good trip
Slimbridge Outing, June 9
After many a worry that the trip wouldn’t go ahead due to
lack of numbers, it was all right on the night so to speak. The
weather was kind to us too and I’m sure everyone had a thoroughly
good time thanks to Sheila’s excellent organisation.
There were several choices of tours of the bird reserve when we
arrived including a ducklings tour, a main tour and an otter tour.
I chose the ducklings tour mainly because it was the first. In the
event, it proved fascinating as you were allowed to go into a part
of the reserve from which the public is normally excluded. This
is where the rare birds’ eggs are incubated and hatched, and
we were even allowed to hold an egg to our ears and hear the little
bird inside tapping away, about to make the first crack in the shell.
Our guide also shone a torch over the egg to allow us to see the
bird inside. However, I must be going blind because I couldn’t
see a thing.
After that I decided I’d had enough of being talked at and
ventured out on my own, bumping into various like-minded RRC members
as I went along including John Baker at otters’ feeding time.
Personally I find the exotic captive birds rather less interesting
than the native species beyond the “zoo bit”, as Christine
aptly put it. There was a wonderful view of the estuary from the
tower hide, but you really needed to be there earlier in the year
for the best views of waders. Wokingham RSPB group scheduled their
trip for January! You’ll be glad to know I’m not suggesting
that the RRC follows suit.
Steve Thomson
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