Sunday 10 November 2013

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - November 7, 2013

As the forecast was good for today I decided to go out locally and made my way to Eye Brook Reservoir first, having a Sparrowhawk flash by the car near Blaston on route.

The Little Owl obliged as I approached Eyebrook Reservoir but on reaching the reservoir there was a shoot taking place and the birds were very restless.  I did see the two Ruddy Shelduck and a couple of Little Egrets but little else, although two Red Kites were observed flying over the shooting area.


With the high level of disturbance at Eyebrook Reservoir, I decided to move on to Rutland Water.  On reaching the car park I went off towards harrier hide hoping to find a Stonechat that has been present a few weeks now.  I called at mallard hide first where I found the first Goosanders of the winter, which were two female-types.  I also counted twenty-eight Pintail, which were mainly feeding on the large island where there were also four Curlews.  Moving onto snipe hide on the wet meadow I was able to see that there were actually three Goosanders on lagoon one but there was little else and still no sign of the Stonechats.  I reached harrier hide and whilst there were plenty of duck on the lagoon most were some distance away and the area close to the hide was deserted and there was still no sign of the Stonechats.  Fieldfare hide, which overlooks south arm three, was also very quiet and I decided to return to the centre.  On walking back I had some nice views of two Buzzards that were soaring over the footpath near snipe hide but it is worrying how little else I saw.  Passerines in particular appear to be very thin on the ground, even at the centre feeding station.






Buzzards near snipe hide

On reaching the centre I had another scan for the Stonechats but with the same result, although a male and female were seen a little later.

I went to the north arm where I had my lunch before going to the point.  Tim then called to ask where I was and say in that the Bittern had been showing well on lagoon three this morning.  I did go and check the north arm before going back to the reserve.  There were masses of wildfowl in the north mainly Wigeon and Gadwall but also Teal, Mallard and Shoveler as well as five male and three female Red-crested Pochard.  Two of the Black-necked Grebes were visible close to the north shore but I couldn't find the third but the ten Barnacle Geese were visible on the north shore.

Once back at Egleton I set off to shoveler hide on lagoon three to hopefully see the Bittern.  There is work going on at present and hides to the east are all closed.  With plenty of sunshine I was fairly optimistic of seeing the Bittern, particularly as another birder indicated it had been showing on and off all morning and was on view less than ten minutes ago.  Sarah, who is an Assistant Reserve Office, entered the hide and apologised as they were going to do some skimming on one of the islands.  I moved off after a few minutes to lagoon four, which was exceptionally quiet, before returning to shoveler hide after they had finished the work.  I was still in the hide when Colin and Chris arrived, who were also keen to see the Bittern.  As the light was beginning to fade I called it a day and was about to leave the hide when Colin announced that the Bittern was showing.  I quickly put my scope back up and was able to watch the bird for at least five minutes before it flew over the reed-bed and dropped into cover.  It was an excellent end to the day.


Little Egret on lagoon three


Adult Common Gull over lagoon four

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