On Valentines evening this year we went to The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) reserve at Slimbride in Gloucestershire.
We have been meaning to go for ages and when I saw the Floodlit Swan Feed was only on until 28th February it gave us the push we needed.

I’m afraid our arrival was given away by my OH! WOW! which I was sure stayed inside my head but when everyone turned around to look who on earth had arrived…
When you see, through floor to ceiling windows, a huge pond full to overflowing with beautiful white swans and all kinds of duck, floodlit! well it just took my breath away.

In my eagerness to photograph the whole thing I looked through my viewfinder to adjust my settings and accidentally pressed the shutter! This is the result. I absolutely loved it when I saw it on screen. Yes its out of focus but this is what I saw, soft, white, feathers. Slow, gliding, movement. No detail yet as my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark room (hide) and red back light (so that the birds can’t see us).

There was a wonderful commentary and a great deal of activity on the pond as there was an interloper! A new mute swan had dared to come onto the pond. Goodness me! We saw some aggressive behaviour going on, happily from behind glass. Incidentally, although we were in a hide it was actually in a building which was heated and there were plenty of chairs to sit on. Fair weather birding?

Some of the evenings pictures.

Greylag Goose found all year round in southern Britain.

Greylag Goose I really liked this goose, it has such an inquisitive looking face and spends most of it’s time standing on the ground.

Bewick Swans arrive in the UK in mid-October after breeding in Siberia. They spend the winter here in our comparatively warm climate, before departing in March. They are much smaller than our Mute swans.

Mute Swan resident here in the UK.

Mute Swan Male Mute swans are highly territorial and threaten intruders, striking an aggressive pose with wings arched over their back, before charging at them to chase them off. Yes you have seen this picture before. I used it yesterday for my six words challenge.

Pintail Duck winter here from Northern Europe

Greylag Geese Resident in the UK

Canada Geese & Berwick Swans

Canada Goose Resident now in the UK

The rush for food

Pintail, Pochard and Shell duck in a flap. Pochards (on the right with the rust coloured head) are in the UK during autumn and winter, when large numbers fly from eastern Europe and Russia to escape the bitterly cold weather there. Shell duck(s)(flapping wildly) are resident in the UK. Pintail (on the left) has the blue beak.

The dominant pair of Mute Swans

Of course I couldn’t resist playing with some of my photo’s from this evening. They are here if you would like to see them.