Dave and I called briefly at
Eyebrook Reservoir on route to Rutland Water but all we saw were a couple of
Shelduck, four Common Terns and a few Swallow.
A quick look in the north arm
at Rutland Water produced nothing and we met Roger and Ken in the car park at
Rutland Water as we had planned to go to Cambridgeshire for some Dotterel that
had been present yesterday. Whilst we
were coming over we had two messages, one confirming that the Dotterel were
still present and that an Alpine Accentor had been seen briefly at Holme,
Norfolk. Roger needed to back early but
had managed to arrange to stay out later if the accentor was being seen,
although it had only been seen briefly early morning.
We set off to Black Bush near
Whittlesey for the Dotterel seeing a Corn Bunting as we approached the
area. On arrival we walked the short
distance to the end of the reservoir to view the field. The three Dotterel were still present, two
smart females and a male, although they were quite distant. As we watched the Dotterel seventeen Golden
Plovers flew into the same field but as we were thinking of moving on the
Dotterel flew and disappeared behind the reservoir and couldn’t be found again,
although they were found later in a different area.
There was still no news on the
accentor but two Little Terns and a Black Tern had been reported at Paxton Pits
and as this is also a good site for Nightingale we decided to head for
there. This is not a site any of know
and so on arrival we were unsure where to go and as there was no news in the
visitor centre we walked towards Heronry Lake.
We had a good selection of warblers as we walked towards kingfisher hide
and had heard a couple of Nightingales as well, although both remained
elusive. From kingfisher hide we saw two
Kingfishers and there were nine Common Terns over the north lake but no sign of
any Black or Little Terns. As we walked
back a third Nightingale was head and this time I did get a flight view. A walk from the centre on the meadow trail
produced very little and after some lunch we decided to go back to Rutland
Water.
On reaching Rutland Water we
found out that there was a pair of Garganey and a Black Tern on lagoon three
and so we headed off in that direction.
Dave and I then thought we heard a Whimbrel and whilst we were looking
for it Roger picked up a Raven flying over lagoon one but there was no sign of
a Whimbrel. As we reached the gate in
the third meadow a Whimbrel called again and it appeared above us flying towards
the centre and was joined by a second.
On reaching the shoveler hide
and scanning the lagoon all we could see were a few Common Terns and Roger left
to have a look on lagoon four. A few
minutes after he had left I picked up a male Marsh Harrier over the reedbed and
I called Roger who was still in sandpiper hide on lagoon four who but had not
seen the Black Tern although there was a possible Whimbrel. A few minutes later a Hobby flew over and
began feeding along the tree line before it flew off fast low over the lagoon
to the south. Ken then announced he had
the Black Tern, which had appeared from the left and had probably came off
lagoon four. There now appeared to be
more terns over the water and I counted thirty-one and on closer inspection
found a least five Arctic Terns, although they were difficult to count
accurately and there could well have been more.
With still no sign of the Garganey we moved off to plover hide on lagoon
four where we found an Oystercatcher, six Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin and a
Whimbrel. There were thirteen Common
Terns resting on one of the exposed muddy areas and these were joined by the
Black Tern.
We made a brief visit to
bittern hide, were we had further views of the Marsh Harrier and Hobby, before
setting off for the centre. There were
two Oystercatchers feeding on the grassy area to the north of the centre but
lagoon one was very quiet and so Dave and I decided to call at Eyebrook
Reservoir again on route home.
There appeared to be very
little at Eyebrook Reservoir but then I picked up a single Swift, which was a
good end to the day and we also saw the Little Owl near Slawston on route home.
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