Thursday 30 August 2012

An early morning at Frolesworth Manor Lake, Leicestershire - August 30, 2012


David and I visited the area for the first time as there was a Pied Flycatcher present yesterday afternoon.
After parking we walked down the track to the lake and saw a male Redstart on the fence before it quickly flew into cover.  We continued past the lake to the area of oaks where the flycatcher had been yesterday.  We spent over an hour in the area but there was no sign of the flycatcher.  There were a couple of Willow Warblers and a single Whitethroat and two Common Terns were observed feeding over the lake before they moved on.

It was quite a nice area with plenty of cover and it will certainly not be the last visit now we know where it is.


Willow Warbler

Tuesday 28 August 2012

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland - August 28, 2012I


I made a late afternoon visit to Rutland Water visiting the north arm and lagoon four.

There were six Barnacle Geese on the north shore of the north arm and eight Little Egrets feeding on both shores.  I scan for a Little Gull and Black Tern did produce an adult Black Tern and twenty-two Common Terns but there was no sign of the Little Gull.  I did also see a Greenshank on the south shore.

Lagoon four produced two Pintail, a Garganey, another seven Little Egrets, eight Ringed Plovers, a Sanderling, three Dunlin, three Snipe, six Black-tailed Godwits, a Green Sandpiper and another Greenshank.  There was an adult and a second calendar year Yellow-legged Gulls and fourteen Common Terns.

When I got back to the car park I could hear a Greenshank calling and four were observed flying over lagoon one.

An early morning at Newton Harcourt, Leicestershire - August 27, 2012


Dave had put his trap out last night but the catch was pretty small with twenty-one moths of twelve species.

The following were recorded: Willow Beauty [3]; Light Brown Apple Moth [1]; Agriphila tristella [1]; Garden Carpet [1]; Green Carpet [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [4]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [1]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [2]; Setaceous Hebrew Character [1]; Six-striped Rustic [1]; Square-spot Rustic [2] and Flounced Rustic [3].


Light Brown Apple Moth


Setaceous Hebrew Character


Lesser Yellow Underwing


Flounced Rustic


Square-spot Rustic

A day at Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire - August 25, 2012


Dave, Roger, Ken and I had decided to have a visit to Frampton Marsh where there had been a Red-necked Phalarope present for about a week.

We arrived after uneventful journey and we saw a Tree Sparrow on the feeding station and Dave picked up a Little Owl on the distant farm buildings.  Several Ruff, Snipe and Black-tailed Godwits were observed flying over and as we moved to the centre several Yellow Wagtails flew over.  There were a few Black-tailed Godwits on the first marsh and we also located three Knot and Roger found a Pink-footed Goose.  The godwits continued to fly in for most of the morning and the flock was estimated to be about 2800 by far the largest concentration I have ever seen.  These were joined by more Knot and I estimated that we saw c.440, although the official count was over 1000.

We walked to the 360° Hide and I picked up the juvenile Red-necked Phalarope almost immediately feeding amongst a group of Mallard and Shoveler.  There were also several Pintail present I a single immature Shelduck.  There were also plenty of waders and we soon added Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and four juvenile Curlew Sandpipers.  Another birder then announced that he had a Wood Sandpiper and we eventually saw three superb juveniles.  This is one of my favourite waders and juveniles look particularly good.

We eventually moved off to the East Hide and we located several Ringed Plovers and a single Dunlin close to the path leading to the hide.  There were also more distant Ringed Plovers and Dunlin and there was a single Brent Goose.  From the hide we added both Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper and eventually a single juvenile Little Stint.  There was also at least forty-two Little Egrets on site with many roosting on two of the islands in front of the hide.  We saw a single Buzzard from the sea wall but little else over the salt marsh.

We walked back towards the car park calling at Reedbed Hide on route where we further views of the godwits and Knot that were still arriving in large numbers as where a few Dunlin.  There was also a single Barnacle Goose amongst the many Greylag and Canada Geese.  There had been a thunder storm over towards Boston and there were a few spots of rain at Frampton but as this stopped we moved off back to the centre and lunch.  Roger and I decided to get into the car and were quickly followed by Dave as it looked as though the nest storm would hit Frampton.  Ken decided to change his shoes and whilst doing so the heavens opened.  It was just as though someone had turned a tap on and he got soaked.

The rain eventually eased and we drove down the road to the sea wall where we waited for a while for the rain to stop before walking to the sea wall.  There had been a Merlin earlier and whilst we were scanning for this I picked up a Short-eared Owl and just afterwards Dave found the female/immature Merlin perched on a post.  Ken then located a Little Ringed Plover and Roger a female-type Marsh Harrier.
It had turned quite warm whilst we were on the bank but as it looked as though the next storm was approaching we decided to move off back to the car and set off for home.

It had been an excellent day’s birding with twenty species of wader being seen and also Merlin, Little and Short-eared Owls.


Juvenile Little Grebe


Knot coming into roost

A mornings birding in Leicestershire - August 24, 2012

The Spotted Crake had performed again yesterday so Dave and I decided to give it another shot but after three hours there was still no sign, so we called it a day and went to Swithland Reservoir.

We did see four Little Egrets, a Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher and seven swift passed through.

There had been a Black-necked Grebe reported yesterday at Swithland Reservoir but there was no sign this morning.  There were two female Goldeneye present and a Peregrine was perched at the top of the normal tree.  A Green Woodpecker was observed as we drove along the dam and a juvenile Buzzard was calling almost constantly.


Mute Swans at Swithland Reservoir


Female Goldeneye at Swithalnd Reservoir

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 23, 2012


I was out on my own today and went to Eye Brook Reservoir first where I found a juvenile Ruff and a Greenshank along the stream as the water level was beginning to drop.  There was also six Swift present and five Common Terns and the number of wildfowl was beginning to increase.

From Eye Brook Reservoir I went to the north arm at Rutland Water and was surprised to see the water had risen again significantly and there was no exposed mud; they had obviously been pumping again.  Two Barnacle Geese were present on the north shore and there were six Little Egrets scattered around the shoreline.  I did manage to locate a single Green Sandpiper and Greenshank and a single Black Tern was feeding over the water.



Common Terns over the north arm

I then me the reserve manager, Tim Appleton, and we went to look at where it would be possible to position a new hide that I had offered to pay for.  It will probably be positioned somewhere near where the old plover hide was, being slightly raised to give views over the reed-bed and lagoon three.

Having seen nothing from plover hide on lagoon four I went to sandpiper hide where there were a Little Ringed Plover, ten Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin, two juvenile Ruff, a Snipe, a Green Sandpiper and Greenshank were located.  There was also four Garganey feeding just in front of the hide.

The hide began to get quite crowded as an organised party arrived and despite the number of observers I was surprised to find that an Osprey had some how snuck under the radar and was sitting on one of the man-made perches.  A single Buzzard was observed over Burley Wood and a second was then found perched on a telegraph pole on the far side of the lagoon.


Garganey on lagoon four

I moved to shoveler hide on lagoon three next but despite the number of wildfowl present nothing of note was found and I returned to the car park for lunch.

After lunch I walked to snipe hide overlooking the wet meadow where there was another Snip, a Common Sandpiper and five Green Sandpipers and I noticed four Black-tailed Godwits flying over lagoon three heading for lagoon four.



Grey Heron over the wet meadow



Canada Goose over the wet meadow

I checked out the new 360° hide, although it is not officially open, and it provides as superb view over lagoon five.  I had really only come in to have a quick look but noticed a duck, that I thought was a Mandarin, so I opened one of the flaps and got the scope on it to confirm its identity as a female Mandarin.  I moved to Shelduck hide on lagoon five but whilst there were plenty of birds, mainly Black-headed Gulls, there was nothing else of note, although a Green Sandpiper did fly over.


Adult Coot on lagoon five


Adult winter Black-headed Gull over lagoon five


Moulting Black-headed Gull on lagoon five


Adult Black-headed Gull on lagoon five

From Shelduck hide I walked back to the centre calling at Mallard hide on route where a Greenshank flew over and two Common Terns flew over the water.


Juvenile Coot on lagoon one

I finally decided to go to redshank hide on lagoon two but other than a few Sand Martin saw nothing else of note.

Not a bad day but had been disappointing saw far this autumn due to the water levels providing so few opportunities for waders.






A morning in Leicestershire - August 22, 2012


Dave and I went to Birstall Meadows today as there had been a Spotted Crake yesterday.  However after over an hour there been no sign and we decided to go to Cossington Meadows where there had been both Redstart and Whincht this morning.  We did see a Little Egret, Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper whilst we were waiting for the crake.

We walked down the main entrance road at Cossington Meadows seeing two Lesser Whitethroats and a Whitethroat in the hedgerow.  As we walked further we had a glimpse of a bird we thought might be the Redstart and soon had brief views, although quite good of the Redstart.  WE continued down the track looking for the Whinchat but to no avail.  As we walked back others were looking for the Redstart but had not seen it but I then picked it up as it flew into a bush in the hedgerow and perching nicely for everyone to get good views.  We had established that we had been looking in the wrong place for the Whinchat and so we had a further look on the way back.  After some time we had not seen it but then Dave picked it up and we eventually had two.


Greylag Goose over Cossington Meadows


Lesser Whitethroat at Cossington Meadows

News came through around lunchtime that the crake was showing so Dave and I retuned but after about ninety minutes we had not seen it and we decided to call it a day.  It did show again in the evening but not until after 19:00 and it was then almost five hours between the sightings.

We saw two Little Egrets this afternoon and a Cormorant flew over but we only saw the Common Sandpiper and not the Green Sandpiper.  The Swifts were gone although there were now three House Martins feeding over the meadows.


Friday 24 August 2012

A day at Rutland Water, Rutland - August 16, 2012


I had volunteered to support the Birdfair again this year and had been assigned to support one of the lecture theatres and had gone there today primarily to be trained.

I did however visit lagoon four before my arrange meeting with Chris Hughes for my training.

There were ten Little Egrets on the lagoon and I found ten Ringed Plovers, eight Dunlin, five Common Sandpipers and a Greenshank.  There was also two juvenile Black Terns amongst the many Common Terns roosting on the spits but as an earlier report suggested there was nothing new.  As I scanned one of the spits I noticed one of the waders looked small against a Dunlin and on checking with the scope I had found a Little Stint but suddenly there were two and then four juveniles together.  After the recent disappointments with Little Stints it was rather pleasing to have found my own.


Juvenile Little Stint on lagoon four

I returned to the car park for my lunch before joining Chris in Lecture Theatre Two for my training.  However the PC and projector were not yet available so we agreed to meet early tomorrow to finalise things.

I decided to go to lagoon three before going home where I located two Garganey and a Green Sandpiper and a Sparrowhawk was seen briefly as it caused some disturbance on lagoon four.
I called briefly at sandpiper hide on lagoon four and although there was no sign of the juvenile Little Stints there was now an adult present.


Female Wigeon over lagoon three


Male Gadwall over lagoon three


Common Tern over lagoon three


Juvenile Black Tern over lagoon three


Juvenile Reed Warbler from shoveler hide


Common Darter on footpath to redshank hide


An early morning at Newton Harcourt, Leicestershire - August 15, 2012

Dave had put his moth trap out again and we caught sixty-five moths of thirty species.
The following were recorded: Willow Beauty [3]; Caloptilia alchimiella [1]; Ermine species [1]; Coleophora Species [1]; Crassa unitela [1]; Borkhausenia fuscescens [1]; Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix [1]; Cydia splendana [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [3]; Crambus perlella [3]; Agriphila tristella [1]; Agriphila geniculea [2]; Catoptria falsella [1]; Eudonia mercurella [1]; Udea prunalis [1]; Acrobasis advenella [2]; Euzophera pinguis [1]; Chinese Character [1]; Riband Wave [10]; Brimstone Moth [1]; White Satin Moth [1]; Dingy Footman [1]; Scarce Footman [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [4]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [9]; Six-stripped Rustic [1]; Marble Beauty [3]; Dark Arches [4]; Common Rustic type [3] and Uncertain [1].


Caloptilia aichimiella


Ermine species


Coleophora Species


Crassa unitela


Borkhausenia fuscescens


Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix


Cydia splendana



Catoptria falsella


Chinese Character


Six-stripped Rustic


Marbled Beauty

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 14, 2012


I had been asked by Tim Appleton, the Reserve Manager, at Rutland Water to assist in a wildfowl count and was responsible for counting the north arm, Burley fishponds and lagoon one.

I called at Eye Brook Reservoir on route but the water was still very high although I did have a juvenile Marsh Harrier and two Snipe.


Juvenile Marsh Harrier

At Rutland Water I started off at Dickinson’s Bay but there was little in the bay, the highlight being a single Little Egret.  The rest of the north arm produced a Garganey, another eleven Little Egrets, a Common Sandpiper, five Green Sandpipers and two Greenshanks.  The fishponds held quite a lot of birds with almost 200 Tufted Ducks over 200 Coots and there were also four more Little Egrets and a Green Sandpiper.
I walked to harrier hide calling at the wet meadow where there was a juvenile Shelduck, a further seven Little Egrets and a Common Sandpiper.

There was very little from harrier hide although there were plenty of birds on the lagoon it was not a good place to start counting them and I returned to mallard hide.  Most of the duck were again Tufted Duck and there was also a good number of Coot but I did find a female Pintail.

After some lunch and handing in my numbers at the centre I went to sandpiper hide on lagoon four.  There were five Black Terns resting amongst the Common Terns, one being a moulting adult, whilst the others were probably juveniles.  There were fewer waders present with just Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Green Sandpiper being observed, although there was another seventeen Little Egrets.  Two other birders then informed me they had seen a Little Sting in front of plover hide, so I made a swift exit and headed off to plover hide.  When I arrived all I could find was a juvenile Dunlin exactly where they said the Little Stint was.
I am beginning to wonder whether or not I will see Little Stint this year as this was the third disappointment within a week.

After a prolonged stay in plover I decided to move to shoveler hide on lagoon three and found two Garganey not too far from the hide although they did fly further out before disappearing after a few minutes.
I noticed the Black Terns on a couple of occasions as they flew to the main water, presumably to feed, before returning to lagoon four.  A Green Sandpiper was observed briefly and the Bittern flew from the main reed bed into the one to the left of the hide as it had done on the 8th, this time however it remained hidden the whole time I was in the hide.

I returned to dunlin hide on lagoon four where I saw five Curlew and two Yellow-legged Gulls that had not seen previously.


Little Egret over lagoon four


Bittern over lagoon three


Adult female or eclipse male Garganey on lagoon three


Juvenile Garganey on lagoon three


Small Copper near lagoon four

Monday 13 August 2012

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland - August 13, 2012


There was a report of two Little Stint and two Curlew Sandpipers on lagoon four and four Black Terns in the north arm.
So David, Roger and I decided to go over to try and see them.
We initially went to the north arm and saw another birder leaving who said th four Black Terns were still present.  However after a long search we could only find one and other than a few Common Terns and an Osprey there was little else.
We then went to the Egleton Reserve and lagoon four visiting both sandpiper and plover hides.  From sandpiper we saw a number of Ringed Plover and Dunlin and single Green Sandpiper and Greenshank but there was no sign of either the Little Stints or Curlew Sandpipers.  I did find the two summer plumage Curlew Sandpipers from plover hide and we also saw a Little Ringed Plover, two Common Sandpipers, another Green Sandpiper and Greenshank.  We decided to go back to sandpiper where we had further views of the Curlew Sandpipers but the stints continued to elude us.  Matthew then came into the hide and almost immediately found two Garganey and an adult winter Mediterranean Gull but not the stints.  We finally decided to call it a day, leaving Matthew in the hide.

Juvenile Little Egret on lagoon four


Juvenile Little Egret on lagoon four


Curlew on lagoon four


Curlew on lagoon four