Dave and I set off for Beacon
Hill as I had not yet seen Tree Pipit and this is one of the few locations it
is present in the counties.
On arrival it was sunny but
the cool northerly breeze made it feel quite cool. As we were getting kitted out a Jay flew over
and then another came out of another tree and they both disappeared over the
top of the hill. We soon located a Tree
Pipit singing from one the top of one of the silver birches but this was to be
our only bird, which we watched for a while.
We completed a circuit around the site where we had more good views of a
Jay that was perching up in between going on the ground to feed. I saw a single Willow Warbler and heard
another six and also observed two Blackcaps and heard another five. Two Garden Warblers were also heard as was a
Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat was observed on the upper slopes.
Jay
We had intended to go into
Swithland Wood to hopefully see a Tawny Owl that often roosts in a tall
holly. However as we pulled into the car
park we saw Roger who had been unable to find the owl and had seen very little
else and so we moved off to Rutland Water.
We made a brief call to Cropston Reservoir on route where we saw three
Buzzards and a nice Grey Wagtail.
We checked out the north arm
at Rutland Water first where we soon found the Glossy Ibis, which has now been
present seven days and is clearly in moult.
A Little Egret was seen close by, which was a sight that wouldn’t have
been expected twenty years ago. An
Osprey also flew up the arm before veering off towards the south arm. There were at least six Buzzards over Burley
Wood and a single Red Kite was also observed.
We eventually moved off to the
Egleton Reserve and after some lunch before we went down to sandpiper hide on
lagoon four. It appeared very quiet with
just four Ringed Plovers, a single first-summer Little Gull, a first-winter
Yellow-legged Gull and several Shelduck observed.
It was a very similar picture
in shoveler hide on lagoon three with far fewer terns today and very little
else of note. I then picked up a Hobby
that was right over the hide and two Ospreys came over with a third being seen
at the eastern end of the lagoon. Just
after the two Ospreys had passed over it started to rain and was extremely
heavy for a short while.
Hobby
Osprey over lagoon three
Great Crested Grebe on lagoon three during the heavy rain
When the rain ceased we agreed
we should check out lagoon four again and went to plover hide. Dave found a Sanderling almost immediately,
which was with a Dunlin and Ringed Plover.
We eventually had eight Ringed Plovers, three Dunlin and a Curlew and an
Osprey flew almost over the hide. We
called at the centre before going home but there was very little on lagoon one,
other than an Avocet visible on the wet meadow, and we soon called it a day.
Osprey over lagoon four
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