I went to Stoughton Airfield
first to see if there was any sign of Grey Partridge but again there were none
and very little else, a Stock Dove and Skylark being the best.
I continued onto Mount’s Lodge
near Great Casterton where there had been a Quail calling recently. The roadside verges here are wide and contain
and array of wild flowers and grasses, which are of some interest and there is
always a few birds of interest. Skylarks
appeared to be everywhere and there were two Red Kites and two Buzzards showing
over a distant wood. After an hour I
still hadn’t heard the Quail and decided to move on.
Goat's Beard
Hoary Plantain
Ribwort Plantain
Common Poppy
I drove the short distance to
Ketton Quarry and walked to where the Bee Orchids were but they were still no
more than short stalks. I continued to
walk along the path seeing a few Common Blue and Small Heath butterflies. As I turned to walk towards the wooded area I
found a single Southern Marsh Orchid and a few Common Twayblades and a little
further had two Speckled Wood butterflies.
I then heard a Marsh Tit call and had some nice views before it moved
off. This was the first Marsh Tit I had
seen since early May and they appear to be going the same way as Willow Tits
and becoming more difficult to locate.
There were a few Common Spotted Orchids alongside the path but they were
all rather small and looked as though they were going over. I continued through the wood and dropped into
the cutting where I found more Common Spotted Orchids with a few looking a
little better. The sun was now out and
there were more Common Blue and Small Heath butterflies and also had a single
Brimstone and Large Skipper and I disturbed a Burnet moth.
Common Carpet
Large Skipper
Common Blue
Southern Marsh Orchid
Common Twayblade
Common Spotted Orchid
Prickly-sow Thistle
When I reached the first small
quarry an Adder was pointed out and over next hour I had some nice views of two
females that were sunning themselves on the edge of the vegetation. There were also more Common Blue and Small
Heath, two Dingy Skipper and a single Peacock butterflies.
Female Adder
Female Adder
Having had a nice couple of
hours at Ketton I went to Rutland Water where there had been a tweet regarding
a Spotted Redshank on lagoon three.
On arrival I had an early lunch
before I walked to shoveler hide on lagoon three. I saw Bob on the way down who said he had
only seen a Garganey, Green Sandpiper and a Redshank on lagoon three and
couldn't find the Spotted Redshank.
When I arrived in the hide I
soon located the Green Sandpiper and Redshank but the eclipse male Garganey
proved a little more difficult. It was
on few for a little while before the male Shelduck, present with the female and
a brood of seven, chased everything away as the ducklings moved towards the hide. The male and female were later seen giving
two Grey Herons some grief as they tried to land and succeeded in forcing them
away. This brood of Shelduck were the
same as those seen on lagoon four last week and it was pleasing to see all
seven were still present. There were a
couple of Reed Warblers chasing through the reeds but they didn’t stay still
long enough to photograph. Two Hobby
were observed above the lagoon, a couple of Sparrowhawks were seen briefly over
the wood to the north and two Little Egrets flew over the hide. I moved to bittern hide, seeing an Osprey,
Garden Warbler and Sedge Warbler on route, but other than a Little Egret and
several Reed Warblers there was nothing new.
Little Egret over lagoon three
Two of the brood of seven Shelduck on lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
From plover hide on lagoon
four I saw a single Little Ringed Plover and two Ringed Plover and then two
Oystercatcher chicks were beginning to look more like Oystercatchers. I walked to dunlin hide on lagoon four where
I had five Ringed Plover and a Dunlin suddenly appear that disappeared almost
as quickly and was unable to find them again but I did locate a single
first-summer Little Gull and two Yellow-legged Gulls.
It would appear that the
Spotted Redshank sighting was erroneous as only the original observer had seen
it. When they had been asked about it
they confirmed that it was not in breeding plumage, which is unlikely at this
time of year and too early for a juvenile, and agreed that they had regrettably
made a mistake but who hasn’t.
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