A day’s birding at Rutland Water, Rutland - November 12, 2013

I went to Rutland Water today and had three parties of winter thrushes on route, which were mainly Fieldfare.

On arriving at Rutland Water I went to mallard hide on lagoon one and found the three adult Bewick’s Swans that had arrived yesterday close to the centre.  I counted forty-nine Pintail on the lagoon but there were fewer wildfowl overall on the water.  I continued onto snipe hide on the wet meadow where I found a single Curlew and saw five more land in meadow on the edge of lagoon one but there was little else of note except for a single Little Egret.

Curlew feeding on the wet meadow

Greylag Geese over the wet meadow

Drake Wigeon alighting on the wet meadow flash

I continued on to harrier hide and had brief view of a single Lesser Redpoll close to the hide and there was a single Redshank on lagoon one.

I moved on calling at fieldfare hide on route and robin hide on Lax Hill but there nothing of note except for a Curlew from fieldfare hide.  I walked over Lax Hill and continued towards the new lagoons but the viewing into the Manton Bay was poor due to the sun and there was little on the lagoons due to work being carried out.  I made a brief call again at snipe hide but there was very little now but a nice male Sparrowhawk flew just in front of the hide.

I walked back to the centre and with news of a male Green-winged Teal in the Sailing Club Bay I decided to go and take a look.  It was feeding on the shore of the bay with a few Teal and even though it was quite distant it was easy to pick out.  There was also a single Redshank feeding on the shore and a couple of Goldeneye and several Little Grebes in the bay.

I met Ken when I got back to the car park, seeing a flock of Golden Plover as I had my lunch.  We went to the centre viewing area but the Bewick’s had disappeared behind the large island although we did see them eventually.  A bonus was the male Stonechat, which was observed perched on some bushes towards snipe hide.

Ken and I then walked to shoveler hide on lagoon three where we found a number of Red-crested Pochard and eventually counted thirty-one.  There were far fewer ducks today with perhaps Red-crested Pochard being the most numerous but we did find three drake Pintail.  We had very brief views of the Bittern, I saw a Water Rail briefly and there were six Redshanks on the lagoon just before we left for dunlin hide on lagoon four.

Grey Heron over lagoon three

Grey Heron alighting on lagoon three

Golden Plover over lagoon three

Some of the Red-crested Pochard on lagoon three

Redshank on lagoon three

Redshank on lagoon three

Ken decided to return to the centre but Dave arrived for the gull roost as he had come over to twitch the Green-winged Teal.  There were a small number of gulls assembled at the pre-roost gathering which gradually swelled and we found a single adult Caspian Gull and a second-year Yellow-legged Gull.

It had been a very pleasant day, although the temperature was dropping quite quickly as we walked back to the car park, with a good selection of birds that included a county year tick in terms of the Bewick’s Swans.