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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