I went straight to Rutland
Water today but stopped briefly at Stoughton airfield where I hoped I might see
Grey Partridge but without success and the only bird of note on route was a Red
Kite near East Norton.
When I arrived at Rutland
Water I walked to shoveler hide on lagoon three were there appeared to be more
wildfowl particularly close to the hide.
There were three male and a single female Garganey and a female Pintail
amongst the more common species. The
male Garganey were all moulting into eclipse plumage, one being more advanced
than the other two and almost certainly the dame bird as seen on Saturday. There also appeared to be more Teal and
Shoveler present, with the Teal appearing to be returning earlier than normal,
although there was only one female amongst the twenty plus males. A Cetti’s was also heard calling and there wa
s a couple of Reed Warbler singing close to the hide. After spending some time in the hide I moved
to bittern hide but there was very little there except for a few brief views of
several Reed Warblers and numerous sighting of male Reed Buntings.
On lagoon four I did find
three Oystercatcher, two Little Ringed Plover and a single Ringed Plover. Amongst a party of immature Great
Black-backed Gulls there were at least three Yellow-legged Gulls and a single
Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Great Crested Grebes at nest
Great Crested Grebe at nest with egg visible
Oystercatcher
Oystercatcher
I eventually made my way back
to shoveler hide on lagoon three having a nice but brief view of a singing
Garden Warbler and seeing three Osprey over the hide as I approached it. On three there were a few more terns, two
Little Egrets flew over and an Oystercatcher made a brief visit.
One of the three Osprey over shoveler hide
Little Egret
Whilst in shoveler hide Tim
called to say my scope was back from repair and eventually set of the centre to
collect it.
Having collected and shorted
my scope out I went off towards snipe hide on the wet meadow. On arriving there were two Little Egret on
the wet meadow but other than a four Oystercatcher flying around and a couple
of Egyptian Goose there was little else and I moved off to harrier hide on
lagoon one. I had not been in the hide
too long when I noticed an Osprey being pursued by an adult Great Black-backed
Gull. The gull eventually gave up but
Osprey provided some nice views for a while.
Goldfinch at the Egleton feeding station
Greenfinch at the Egleton feeding station
Osprey over lagoon one
Jackdaw from harrier hide
Carrion Crowfrom harrier hide
From harrier I moved to tern
hide on lagoon six and then pintail on the same lagoon but other than three
Common Terns there was little else.
Oystercatcher on lagoon six
Recently hatched Coot from pintail hide on lagoon six
Black-headed Gull harassing a Mute Swan on lagoon six
From the ramp to Shelduck hide
on lagoon five it is possible to view lagoon seven and I counted twenty-four
Common Terns and saw a Ringed Plover.
Lagoon five was very quiet and so I made way back for lunch in the car
park, A Red Kite passed over the car
park as I had my lunch and after speaking to Steve Lister I decided to go back
to lagoon four although there was nothing new being reported. As I was walked down to lagoon four Terry
Mitcham informed me that he had seen two first-summer Little Gulls on the
lagoon and they were still present when I arrived. There was also two Little Egrets and I had
further views of the two Little Ringed Plovers.
Having had enough of lagoon
four, I moved off to shoveler hide again where I joined Steve. The four Garganey were still present and one
of the two Little Gulls, seen on lagoon four, also made a visit. I took some more photos of the Garganey and
got a couple of distant shots of the Little Gull as it flew back towards lagoon
four and Hobby also provided some photo opportunities.
Grey Heron on lagoon three
Drake Garganey on lagoon three
Male and female Garganey on lagoon three
Male Garganey on lagoon three
Male Garganey on lagoon three
Female Garganey on lagoon three
Male and female Garganey on lagoon three
Male Shoveler on lagoon three
First-summer Little Gull over lagoon three
Hobby over lagoon three
I finally called it a day
having seen seventy-four species during the day and getting some nice shots in
what might otherwise be described as a quiet day. There was a goods election of warblers
present but they are becoming increasing more difficult to see as the
vegetation continues to grow, I heard Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap
and saw Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler.
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