Wednesday 19 December 2012

A day’s birding at Rutland Water, Rutland - December 18, 2012


I was out on my own today and on arrival went straight to shoveler hide on lagoon three.  A Green Sandpiper flew in just after I arrived but there was no sign of the regular group of Redshank and presumably they had moved off the lagoon during the recent cold snap.  I found five red-headed Smew and two male and three female Red-crested Pochard but there was  little else so I went to crake and lapwing hides but saw little from either and the light was pretty poor from lapwing.  I walked back to the car park for lunch calling at redshank hide on lagoon two where I saw a Red Kite flying low over the bund.


Great Crested Grebe from crake hide


Grey Heron from crake hide


Grey Heron from crake hide


Wren from shoveler hide on lagoon three


Female Pochard from crake hide

After lunch I walked as far as fieldfare hide calling at snipe hide on the way out and harrier on my return.  There was little on the wet meadow area from snipe hide but there were quite a few common passerines feeding in the scrub alongside the footpath where I had some nice views of a part of Long-tailed Tit.  There were quite a few birds visible from fieldfare that consisted mainly of Wigeon and Tufted Duck but there was also circa fifty Goldeneye and a Buzzard flew over.  As I walked towards along the footpath towards harrier I had nice views of a single Lesser Redpoll that was feeding in the scrub and grasses on the right.  There were two male and two female Goosander resting on lagoon one and I eventually saw fifteen as they came into roost.  There were also four Curlew feeding on the wet meadow and a Buzzard was perched in a bush on the far side of the lagoon.

I eventually walked back to the centre an spent some time overlooking lagoon one but other than the Goosander there was little else.


Long-tailed Tit on the walk to harrier hide

An afternoon in Northamptonshire - December 17, 2012


Dave and I had decided to visit Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire for another attempt at a long staying Great White Egret.  WE scanned the reservoir from one of the lay-bys on the causeway but there was no sign of it so we drove through Holcot but there was till no sign in a flooded area we found.  We then walked south along the eastern shore of the reserve looking for passerines in the stubble fields but only found circ twenty-five Yellowhammer.  When we got back to the causeway we noticed what appeared to be a large white bird roosting in some trees in Holcot Bay.  We scoped the bird and confirmed that it was the Great White Egret.


Female Pochard off the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir


Male Pochard off the causeway at Pitsford Reservoir

With little else in evidence we decided to go to Maidwell where we hoped to see some owls.  However apparently it has not been very good this year and the best was eight Tree Sparrow.

Thursday 13 December 2012

A day’s birding at Rutland Water, Rutland - December 8, 2012


Dave, Roger and I started off in the Egleton car park where we were hoping to see the Hawfinch.  Ken was already there but there was no sign of the Hawfinch so I wandered through the overflow car park to look over the meadows where I saw four Siskin.  Dave then shouted that he had the Hawfinch and both he and Roger had seen it fly in.  We watched for about twenty minutes and finally decided to go to Whitwell were we hoped to find the Great Northern Diver.



Female Hawfinch in the EGleton car park

We spent quite some time looking for the Great Northern Diver at Whitwell without success and all we had for our efforts was a Treecreeper close to where we had parked the car.

We decided to go to the dam and look for the diver from there and as we turned onto the main road to head to the dam I saw three birds perched at the top of a silver birch, Waxwing.  These were my first for Rutland Water but they didn’t stay for long as Ken and Malcolm failed to see them a few minutes later.

At the dam there were four female Goosanders and a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull but still no sign of the diver and we had no better luck from Normanton where we did find a male Mandarin.  Needless to say the diver was seen during the morning from Whitwell and it always surprises me how elusive these large birds can be.


Canada Goose near the church at Normantn

We called at the Lyndon Reserve next where we had four Tree Sparrows, a single Little Egret an a Kingfisher but little else of note so we returned to the Egleton car park.  After signing in at the centre we set off to gadwall hide.  A Green Woodpecker was observed as walked past the wet meadow area but on reaching gadwall we had seen little else.  From gadwall there were plenty of Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe and a few other wildfowl but there was no sign of any Black-necked or Slavonian Grebes that had been reported in south arm three during the last couple of days.

We called at robin hide on Lax Hill where there was plenty of activity at the feeders, the best being a female Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Nuthatches.

Ken and I looked for Curlew near goldeneye hide as we walked back to the centre and saw three, which we then saw from snipe hide on lagoon one.  There was also two male and female Goosander visible on lagoon one.


Drake Gadwall from gadwall hide


Female Goldeneye from gadwall hide


Female Great Spotted Woodpecker from robin hide


Male Blackbird from robin hide


Blue Tit from robin hide


Nuthatch from robin hide


Linnet near lagoon one

After some lunch we went to lagoon three were there was a Water Rail performing quite well and we found three red-headed Smew on the water.  The Ruff present for some time now was still present and there was also six Redshanks.  I then picked up a gull flying away and identified it as a first-winter Glaucous Gull, which appeared to come down on lagoon four.

We moved off to dunlin hide on lagoon four but there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull but we did have a first and second-winter Caspian Gulls and there was also four Shelduck.  The gulls continued to build but as the light began to fade there was still no sign of the Glaucous and we decided to call it a day and walked back to Egleton car park.

It had been a good day’s birding in some quite nice weather with seventy-six species recorded.




Munjac near the badger hide


Moorhen on lagoon three


Redshank on lagoon three


Ruff on lagoon three


Ruff on lagoon three


Ruff on lagoon three


Ruff on lagoon three


First-winter Glaucous Gull over lagoon three


First-winter Glaucous Gull over lagoon three

The shots of the Glaucous Gull were not great but they do confirm the identification.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - December 5, 2012


I was out with Dave and Roger today and we went to Eye Brook Reservoir first where the road was rather treacherous with a light covering of snow and ice.

We parked at the entrance to the plantation and then walked through the plantation towards the dam.  We found the male Ring-necked Duck amongst a small flock of Tufted Duck, which was almost certainly the same bird that I had seen in November t Rutland Water.  There were plenty of birds as we walked through the plantation and we saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker and then heard it drumming and also a Siskin and five Lesser Redpolls.  I saw a Grey Wagtail flying along the shore line but Dave and Roger both missed it.  We also saw tow Red Kites and a single Buzzard and circa twenty-five Dunlin at the inlet.

We left Eye Brook Reservoir for Rutland Water and I was rather concerned about getting up the hill to Stoke Dry as we had watched several cars struggle just after we had parked.  However I put the car in manual and went up in second gear without too much trouble.

We went to the fisherman’s car park in the north arm for hopefully the Long-tailed Duck and a Common Scoter that had both been seen yesterday.  However despite and extensive search we were unable to find either, so we went to the end of the road leading to the Reserve Manager’s Cottage.  We found a female Scaup amongst a large raft of Tufted Duck in the fishponds and there was a single Redshank on the north shore.  We walked out to the end of the spit but still could not find either of the two ducks and were thinking of giving up when Dave found the Long-tailed Duck.  It was with a group of Goldeneye and was bathing, providing some reasonable views before it began to feed.  Roger then found the female Common Scoter not too far away.  It was difficult to see how we had missed them earlier and we suspected that they had both flown in from another part of the reservoir.  There were three Buzzards over Burley Wood and four Pintail on the north shore but little else so we moved off to the Egleton Reserve.

The Hawfinch had been seen in the car park but had disappeared early morning so we had our lunch in the hope it would return.  There was still no sign and after a quick look over lagoon one, seeing six drake Pintail and four Goosanders we moved off to shoveler hide on lagoon three.  There were seven Redshanks and a single Ruff to the left of the hide and we found two red-headed Smew.  Roger then found a Bittern that was difficult to see but it did provide several reasonable views over a period of time.  We walked on to lapwing hide calling at both smew and crake hides, where we heard a Water Rail screaming.  Other than a mass of Coot and a few Pochard and Goldeneye there was little else in south arm three so we returned to shoveler hide.  We had not been in there too long before other birders arrived informing us that the Hawfinch had been showing well in the car park.

When we got back to the car park there was no sign and it didn’t return during our brief stay.  We finished the day in the centre were Dave found what he thought was a Caspian Gull amongst a small party of gulls gathering on the lagoon.  We all got on the bird and it was clearly and adult Caspian Gull and a good end to the day.


Four drake and two female Pochard over south arm three

A short visit to Northwest Leicestershire - December 4, 2012


I went out today hoping to catch up with some more Waxwing.  There had been quite a few yesterday at various sites and my first port of call was in Groby but there was no sign in the fairly heavy sleet.  Yesterday there had been 100+ at the junction of Fairway Road and Trueway Drive, Shepshed and when I arrived there was about twenty-five at the top of a roadside willow but they soon departed as the rain eased.  I drove back around Fairway Drive and found circa sixty in a tree.  They were dropping down to the ground to feed on berries that had fallen of the tree and were extremely nervous in the inclement weather and eventually flew off into the centre of the estate.

I called at Blackbrook Reservoir where the weather took a turn for the worse again but I did manage to see a drake Mandarin. 

From Blackbrook I went to Swithland Reservoir where there was still a first-winter male and a female Velvet Scoter and a Peregrine in the tree on Buddon Wood.

Sunday 2 December 2012

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - December 1, 2012


Roger and I went to Eye Brook Reservoir first today and found the twenty-two Ruff still present from yesterday but they and the Lapwings were disturbed and whilst they flew around for awhile they did not return during our visit.  A Red Kite was observed being harassed by a Carrion Crow and a Sparrowhawk was observed along the western shore.  Whist we were looking unsuccessfully for a Ring-necked Duck near the island a party of eighteen Dunlin flew by but we did not see them again.  There were plenty of winter thrushes present and we did see a Little Owl in the old oak as we approached the reservoir.

We moved off to the south arm at Rutland Water but couldn’t find either the Long-tailed Duck or the Slavonian Grebe we had seen yesterday and had to be content with a single Redshank and a single Little Egret.  We did find the drake Scaup in the fishponds where there were also four male and a female Goosander.  Roger spotted a Peregrine sat on a post on the north shore, which was possible the bird e had seen yesterday on lagoon three.  The phones the bleeped indicating that there were two Velvet Scoter at Swithland Reservoir and we discussed if we should go and see them.  We decided to go to the car park first for lunch and two see if yesterday’s Hawfinch had been seen.  There was a crowd watching the area the Hawfinch was in yesterday but there was no sign of the bird and after lunch we decided to go Swithland Reservoir for the scoters.


Mistle Thrush in the Egleton car park


Redwing in the Egleton car park

When we arrived at Swithland Reservoir only one of the two Velvet Scoter was visible and rather distant and in poor light.  However a short while the second one did appear and gave better views of the wall along Kinchley Lane.  We continued to watch the birds for some time when the closer on started to go to the far side and looked as though it might join the second.  However the distant bird was now swimming towards the dam.  It was eventually joined by what we thought was the second bird although it appeared very different and less well marked.  A quick scan to the left produced a third bird and there were three, a first-winter male and two female-types.  The only other bids of real note were a single Cormorant and Two Buzzards over Buddon Wood.


One of the female-type Velvet Scoters

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - November 30, 2012


There had been a report of a Hawfinch in the Egleton car park at Rutland Water yesterday at Rutland Water so Dave and I decided that is where we should start today.  There was no one else present when we arrived and after a short while I found the bird feeding near the toilet block and we were soon joined by Roger and we had good views of what was probably a female before it flew off to the north.


Hawfinch in the car park at Egleton

Roger left his car in the car park and we all went to the Old Hall where the Long-tailed Duck and Slavonian Grebe had been reported yesterday.  I soon found the Long-tailed Duck, which was fairly close in south arm three but there was no sign of the Slavonian Grebe but we did have a couple of Redshank.  Dave and Roger walked off towards the Old Hall and eventually called me to tell me that they had the Slavonian Grebe in the bay between the Old Hall and Hambleton Wood.  I soon joined them and eventually had good views of the bird as it dived and fed in the bay.  That was two County year ticks in the first couple of hour, not a bad start to the day.  We then moved off to the north arm where I located a drake Scaup amongst a raft of Tufted Duck in the fishponds.  There was also three drake Goosander and a single Redshank.

When we arrived back in the Egleton car park there had been no further sign of the Hawfinch so we decided to go lagoon three.  As we walked north towards lagoon three and four we saw a Peregrine on one of the osprey perches on lagoon four but decided to continue to lagoon three. When we arrived the water was partially frozen over but there were still plenty of duck on the unfrozen areas.  Roger located a drake Smew and there was a Green Sandpiper and two more Redshank on the lagoon and seven Snipe were observed in flight before they dropped in out of sight.  We walked to lapwing hide but it was fairly quiet and we added nothing new.


Goldeneye from smew hide


Goldeneye from lapwing hide


Coot from lapwing hide


Wren from redshank hide on lagoon two

We went back to the car park and found that the Hawfinch was back and was now feeding at the top of trees near the toilet block.  We watched the bird and I took several more photos before we had our lunch and went to the centre to view lagoon one.

Lagoon one was also partially frozen over but a second Green Sandpiper fle over and dropped on lagoon four and we had a further eight Goosander, which were joined by a female Red-breasted Merganser.
Roger had to now leave and Dave and I decided to call at Eye Brook Reservoir but got delayed as we had further views of the Hawfinch.



Redwing in the car park at Egleton


Redwing in the car park at Egleton


Robin in the car park at Egleton


Hawfinch in the car park at Egleton


Hawfinch in the car park at Egleton


Hawfinch in the car park at Egleton

We arrived at Eye Brook Reservoir and spent some time looking at the feeders where we there were a number of birds feeding the best being a Coal Tit.  At the inlet there was an area of mud exposed and Dave thought he had a Knot but when we scoped the area we could only find Ruff, although there were twenty-two, which is an excellent count.  We also saw a single Little Egret but there was little else of note.  A Little Owl was observed in the old oak as we left the site.


An afternoon in Leicestershire - November 29, 2012


There had been a report of six Waxwings on late this morning but there was no sign this afternoon so we moved off to Rockingham Road in Loughborough where there had been c.170 on the 27th.

When we arrived it was clear where they had been feeding but there was no sign so we went to an area near the Great Central Railway sheds where they had also been seen.  Again there was no sign but there was evidence of them being there.  WE retraced our tracks back to Rockingham Road where we found circa seventy but they were very flighty.  I did manage to get several photos of the birds perched in a tree and in flight before we headed for home.



Waxwing

A day birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - November 28, 2012


I went to Rutland Water first today and it was much colder particularly in the northwest wind.  I walked to shoveler hide on lagoon three where I found a red-headed Smew against the reeds on the far side.  There were hundreds of Lapwing in flight and very high and I suspected that there was, or had been, a Peregrine about.  I eventually found a Green Sandpiper and Redshank and five Snipe dropped in.  The Teal in particular appeared very restless and were flying around quite a lot.  Eventually the Peregrine flew over the lagoon, swooping low, but failing to catch anything.


Peregrine over lagoon three

I then walked onto lapwing hide but other than a couple of Little Egrets and five Goosanders there was little else.  On the way back I called a smew hide and a couple of views of a female Kingfisher and a single Snipe flew over.


Male Goosander


Female Goosander


Kingfisher

A second visit to shoveler hide produced further views of the Smew and a Sparrowhawk.
There appeared to be quite a few more Fieldfare and Redwing around today in the meadows and I saw quite a few during my time travelling.

I called briefly at Eye Brook Reservoir where I saw twelve Siskin and four Lesser Redpoll and two distant Buzzards.

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland - November 26, 2012


Dave and I went to Rutland Water for the afternoon and started off at the fishing lodge at Normanton but there was still no sign of any Mandarin or the Great Northern Diver, although I did see a Kingfisher briefly closely to the yacht club.  We called at Lyndon but the feeders were rather quiet and we found nothing unusual on the water, although I did see a flock of circa twenty Dunlin briefly in flight.  As it started to rain more persistently we went to the fisherman’s car park in the north arm.  The rain had almost stopped again when we arrived and there were clearly more birds present, particularly Tufted Ducks.  We scanned the area and Dave located the Long-tailed Duck that had avoided us over the last couple of visits.  There were plenty of birds in the fishponds and we located an adult male Scaup amongst the Tufted Duck.  Seven Pintail and a few Shoveler were also visible in the north arm.

When we had signed in at the centre we decided to go to lagoon three as there had been a Smew yesterday.  After yesterday’s rain the footpath was under water and not having wellingtons on I had to pick my way through one of the meadows to reach the main track.

There was no sign of the Smew and the water had risen slightly again.  I found a Ruff and a Green Sandpiper was feeding close to the hide and when something disturbed the birds sixteen Snipe and three Redshanks flew over.  A Water Rail was also seen briefly quite close to the hide and eleven Golden Plover and twelve Dunlin flew over.  A Kingfisher flew low over the lagoon before disappearing behind the reed bed.  We continued to scan the water but the light was not good and was beginning to fade when I heard a croak and when I looked the Bittern was observed flying from the area of buzzard hide to the main reed bed.  With the light now pretty poor we walked back to the car park and made our way home.

A morning’s birding in NW Leicestershire - November 23, 2012


I was out on my own today and visited Groby Pool first.  I walked the short distance from the car park to the pool and along to the overflow and soon found the female Common Scoter that has been present for a few days.  It was swimming away and began feeding close to the reed-bed to the north.  It began to swim back towards the overflow but then moved in towards the reeds to the east.  I walked further along the footpath and found it feeding close in but it soon swam out again and on walking back to the overflow I was unable to locate it.


Drake Pochard at Groby Pool


Female Common Scoter at Groby Pool


Great Tit at Groby Pool

I decided to go to Swithland Reservoir and visited the south side first but there wasn’t anything of note and appeared to be far fewer birds than usual.  On reaching the north side the two Peregrines were sitting in the tree at the top of Buddon Wood but both had disappeared before I left.  I also found another Common Scoter with several Tufted Ducks and there were three Goldeneye present as well.  A Buzzard flew low over Buddon Wood and a Nuthatch was heard calling.

I was out on my own today and visited Groby Pool first.  I walked the short distance from the car park to the pool and along to the overflow and soon found the female Common Scoter that has been present for a few days.  It was swimming away and began feeding close to the reed-bed to the north.  It began to swim back towards the overflow but then moved in towards the reeds to the east.  I walked further along the footpath and found it feeding close in but it soon swam out again and on walking back to the overflow I was unable to locate it.

I decided to go to Swithland Reservoir and visited the south side first but there wasn’t anything of note and appeared to be far fewer birds than usual.  On reaching the north side the two Peregrines were sitting in the tree at the top of Buddon Wood but both had disappeared before I left.  I also found another Common Scoter with several Tufted Ducks and there were three Goldeneye present as well.  A Buzzard flew low over Buddon Wood and a Nuthatch was heard calling.

From Swithland Reservoir I decided to go to Blackbrook Reservoir.

As I walked down the track to the reservoir it was very wet with a stream running down along the track and into the reservoir.  I did manage to get to the bridge and was able to scope the south west edge of the reservoir but it not possible to see all of it.  There were a lot of Mallard and I did locate a couple of Wigeon and a Teal and eventually a male and female Mandarins.