I made an early start today
and headed for s site near Great Easton in Leicestershire as there had been
Cuckoo reported recently. I arrived just
after six and heard a Cuckoo almost immediately but it was quite some time before
I actually saw it and some considerable distance from where I had parked. The area is where Short-eared Owls have been
recorded during the winter months of some years but the habitat is not quite as
open now. There were plenty of birds,
particularly Whitethroats as I saw ten and heard another two as I walked along
a public footpath. There was also
Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap and it looks as though it could be
suitable for Turtle Doves but there have not been any records as yet for Leicestershire
& Rutland. A nice surprise as I got
back to car was a Barn Owl that was still hunting just before 07:00.
I moved off to Eye Brook
Reservoir from Great Easton and had a Little Owl in a roadside tree just before
I turned left to the reservoir. I
checked the old oak for Little Owl and found one sitting in the normal
place. The water level at the reservoir
is still very high and as such was pretty quiet, although two summer plumage
Black Terns were very nice. There were
quite a few warblers and I recorded Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler,
Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler. With nothing else of note present I moved off
to the dam at Rutland Water where there had been a Hooded Crow yesterday
evening, which is a rare bird for the counties and most unexpected at this time
of the year.
There was no sign of the crow,
although it was seen until at least 06:40 but had vanished when Steve Lister
arrived at 07:00. There were two Common
Sandpipers on the stones surrounding the pumping station and two summer plumage
Turnstones also made a brief visit before they flew off high to the east. Four Common Terns also appeared to make
several attempts to move east but were still present when I moved off. I saw at least four different Red Kites and a
single Buzzard just east of the dam but there was still no sign of the Hooded
Crow.
Oystercatcher from the dam
Oystercatcher from the dam
Common Tern at the dam
In the north arm there was a
moulting Grey Plover, two Oystercatcher, a Little Ringed Plover, two
Greenshanks and Little Egret on the north shore. There was also another Red Kite, a
Sparrowhawk and two Buzzards over Burley Wood.
I stuck it out in the north arm but didn’t see anything else of note
until I moved off to Egleton for my lunch.
First-summer Black-headed Gull
After lunch I spent some time
overlooking lagoon one where there were several Common Terns and two Black
Terns feeding over the lagoon. There were
also three Little Egrets and two Oystercatchers. I then noticed a bird of prey disappear
behind the poplars at the back of the lagoon and my first impression was Marsh
Harrier. It soon reappeared and I was
able to confirm my first assumptions were correct; it was a
female/immature. It then spent a while
hunting over the ground on the southern edge of the lagoon before dropping down
as if to catch something. It was then
mobbed repeatedly by several corvids and whilst taking to flight was reluctant
to move away and kept dropping to the ground.
Eventually it did alight in a slightly different area and the corvids
ceased mobbing it.
I walked to the new Bittern
hide on lagoon three with Mike Chester but other than twenty Common Terns and
several illusive Reed Warblers there was nothing else of note. We walked the short distance to plover hide
where Steve was already and pointed out a single summer plumage Sanderling and
another Greenshank. The Grey Plover
present this morning in the north arm was now on the lagoon. He had also had two Whimbrel and a Curlew but
these appeared to have moved off.
Another Red Kite, the sixth of the day flew over the lagoon and shortly
afterwards a Hobby was observed towards the fishponds before it also passed
high over the lagoon. Both Steve and
Mike then departed and I moved off to sandpiper hide where I found Norman Hall
who was making his first visit since breaking his hip after slipping on ice at
Lyndon earlier this year. It was good to
see him back and he looks in good health after his ordeal. From sandpiper I saw the Grey Plover and
Sanderling again and also six Avocets and several Ringed Plovers and Dunlin.
First-summer Common Gull over lagoon four
Whitethroat from path to bittern and plover hides
I finally decided to make my
way to the car park and called in the centre again where the two Black Terns
were still present. I also found a
single Redshank and a female Pintail on one of the islands but there was no
sign of the reported Ruff. I had a quick
coffee break and returned to dunlin hide on lagoon four and waited for the
Ring-billed Gull to come in from Melton but tonight it broke the habit and
failed to appear. Matthew picked up a
Marsh Harrier over the reedbed on lagoon three and as I watched I was convinced
it was a different bird to the one I saw on lagoon one earlier. This bird’s plumage appeared less uniform and
it had a very pale tail that I had noticed on the earlier sighting.
I finally called it a day and
walked back to the car park and making a final and successful check for the
Ruff on lagoon one before heading off home.
Travelling home I added Tree
Sparrow to the day list and finished on ninety-seven for the day. Not bad for land locked locations.
No comments:
Post a Comment