This was my normal Tuesday
visit to Rutland Water and as Dave thought he heard a Bittern boom yesterday I
decided to make an early start in the hope it might call again.
As I made my way to Rutland
Water the fog seemed to get worse although on arrival it wasn’t too bad and
after parking I made my way to bittern hide on lagoon three.
I had seen or heard quite a
few warblers as I walked to the hide and a Whimbrel flew over and headed off
west. It was a little cool in the hide
as the light breeze was blowing in through the flaps and despite close on two
hours in the hide sadly there was booming Bittern. I did see a couple of Reed Warblers and there
appeared to be a few more calling today and the male Marsh Harrier was still
present. I eventually moved on to plover
hide on lagoon four where I located a single Dunlin and a couple of Ringed
Plovers but nothing else, except a gathering of Common Terns.
Walking back in the direction
of the centre I called at shoveler hide on lagoon three where I located the
pair of Garganey that were still playing hide and seek amongst the vegetation
and I had further views of the male Marsh Harrier.
Female Pochard on lagoon three
Male Pochard on lagoon three
Adult summer Black-headed Gull on lagoon three
I was expecting Ken to arrive
around 10:00 and so I started to make my way back to the centre and called at
sandpiper hide on lagoon four on route.
I had just opened the flap when a wader flashed by and landed on the
bund to the right. My first impression
was that it was a Common Sandpiper, which I was able to confirm as it flew
again and landed on the bund towards lagoon three. This was my first of the year and to date they
appear to have been pretty scarce.
I walked the short distance to
osprey hide on lagoon two having nice views of a Chiffchaff and briefer but
still quite good views of a Garden Warbler before I entered the hide. There appeared to be nothing special on the
lagoon but the colony of Black-headed Gull got quite agitated at one point but
I could see no reason and they all settled down quite quickly. A few minutes later I caught site of a
harrier being pursued by a Carrion Crow but it disappeared behind some trees
before I got a good look. I rushed out
of the hide and had further views as it headed towards lagoon three but lost it
as it dropped lower. I went back to
shoveler hide on lagoon three but another birder in the hide and hadn’t seen
anything. I was pretty sure that it was
a Marsh Harrier but other than the male no sign of anything else and I presumed
that it might well have been the male.
There was now a Black Tern feeding over the lagoon and the Garganey were
now towards bittern hide and on open water.
On walking back to the centre
I heard a Whimbrel calling but was unable to locate it and on reaching the
centre found a couple of Oystercatcher and a Redshank. Ken then called and I joined him in the car
park and had a coffee before we set off towards snipe hide on the wet
meadow. Again there were quite a few
warblers and we saw a Willow Warbler in the woodland and a nice Sedge Warbler
but a Lesser Whitethroat refused to show itself. As we approached snipe hide a Blackcap was
singing and as we attempted to see it two Whitethroats gave brief views whilst
the Blackcap remained elusive. Two
Little Ringed Plovers, with one displaying, were over lagoon six. On reaching snipe hide there were three
Avocets on the flash and a Little Egret was feeding nearby before a Redshank
joined the Avocets on the flash.
We continued on towards
harrier hide having further views of Sedge Warblers and a single
Chiffchaff. An area close to harrier
hide had been cleared to allow cattle into the field and we were able to have views
of an area of scrub, which produced another Whitethroat but a close Sedge
Warbler failed to show. There was very
little from harrier hide and so we walked further onto fieldfare hide but again
there was little. As we walked back up
the track Lloyd and his mentor were ringing and we had some nice views of a
male Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Dunnock before they were
released.
We called at both tern and
pintail hides on lagoon six where there three Redshank and a Little Ringed
Plover with three Oystercatchers flying over.
Lagoon eight was viewed from
the path and we found another two Oystercatcher on one of the islands but very
little else. From the 360° hide on lagoon five we found two Avocets
and a couple of Common Terns and there were plenty of Sand Martin taking
advantage of their new home. Our only
Red Kite of the day was observed over the fields beyond lagoon six. It was now after 13:00 and so we returned to
the car park for lunch.
After lunch we went to
shoveler hide on lagoon three but there was no sign of either the Garganey or
the male Marsh Harrier. A Buzzard, the
first of the day, drifted over the tops of the trees along the northern edge of
the lagoon and two Avocets flew in and suddenly the pair of Garganey appeared
not too far away from the hide. I
suspect that the Avocets had flushed them as they came in and they then spent
quite some time preening before suddenly disappearing again. I eventually found them on the nearest island
trying their best to hide as they continued to preen.
Drake Garganey on lagoon three
Female Garganey on lagoon three
Drake Garganey on lagoon three
Little Egret on lagoon three
With still no sign of the
harrier we moved off to plover hide where we found two Oystercatcher, a Little
Ringed Plover, six Ringed Plover, four Dunlin and a Bar-tailed Godwit. There was also three Black Terns resting on
one of the islands with a group of Common Terns. The Black Terns eventually flew off towards
lagoon three and we moved to bittern hide but we could only find one feeding
over the lagoon and there was still no sign of the harrier.
Lapwing over lagoon four
Lapwing over lagoon four
Lapwing over lagoon four
Black Tern over lagoon four
Sedge Warbler close to lagoon three
When we got back to the centre
Lloyd indicated that he had been watching a Marsh Harrier but it had gone down
between the centre and snipe hide.
Initially we had a look from the centre but all I saw were two Curlews
and as it was about closing time Ken and I walked to mallard hide hoping for
views of the harrier.
There was still no sign of the
harrier but I did find a Bar-tailed Godwit on the long island, which was
presumably the one seen earlier on lagoon four.
Ken then saw the Marsh Harrier and it had come from the left and was now
right in front of the hide but it soon turned and headed off towards lagoon
two. It passed over lagoon two and
continued towards lagoon three and I lost it from view. Whilst trying to find it again I picked up on
a Hobby hawking around redshank hide on lagoon two and we were able to watch it
for several minutes before it too, disappeared.
Whilst migration still appears
to be slow it had been quite a good day, despite not hearing the bittern early this
morning.
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