Roger and I were out today and
initially went to Eyebrook Reservoir.
The phalarope had flown of yesterday evening and there was no sign of
either the Garganey or Black-tailed Godwit, although the Garganey were reported
later in the day. There were still four
Shelduck, a single Little Egret and four Common Terns and we saw five Red Kites
and an Osprey. Surprisingly as the
weather was overcast we saw just a single Swift, a Swallow and a House
Martin. A Whitethroat also appeared
briefly close to where we were standing and a Kingfisher was observed perched
on the old branches in the inlet.
Despite the weather we decided
to go Ketton in the hope of seeing a Hornet Clearwing. As we arrived we didn’t hold out too much
hope but we found four close to the first poplar we looked at and on the next
tree we found two more mating pairs. A
close look at the cement works also produced a Peregrine. Having taken some photos of the moths we
moved off to the north arm at Rutland Water.
Hornet Clearwings
As we scanned the far shore we
found a Little Ringed Plover and a Little Egret and there was a pair of
Shelduck with three downy young. We then
saw a group of raptors over Burley Wood, which turned out to be a Red Kite and
five Ospreys. With just four Common
Terns visible over the water we decided to move onto the reserve.
On checking the book in the
centre we found that there had been a Marsh Harrier and first-summer Little
Gull yesterday at the northern end but we decided to go to snipe hide and go
and look for the harrier and gull after lunch.
When we arrived in the hide
there was a single Avocet that was still chasing most birds of the flash but
there was no sign of the second bird or the three young. After quite some time Roger noticed the other
adult just beyond the close Juncus and as I looked I saw the three young
appearing. There was an Avocet still
sitting close to harrier hide with a second bird close by and two more were
resting on one of the islands. There was
a pair of Oystercatcher, a Redshank and at least six Little Egrets feeding on
the wet meadow and after hearing a Cuckoo we saw it in flight and then perched
in a distant tree. A singing Reed
Warbler in front of the hide remained elusive despite the reeds not being too
dense. Ken had joined us in the hide and
after a heavy shower we returned to the car park for some lunch.
After another heavy downpour
we moved off to sandpiper hide on lagoon four.
There were eight Little Egrets just to the left of the hide and we found
four Ringed Plovers and two Oystercatchers on the exposed areas and there was a
single third-year Yellow-legged Gull.
From sandpiper we moved to
shoveler hide on lagoon three where there was a single Little Egret and we had
some nice views of several Reed Warblers.
An Osprey flew over and then a nice surprise, a Barn Owl, which was
observed in flight and perched until it started to rain heavy again and it then
flew off. A Cuckoo was also observed as
it flew almost over the hide and across the lagoon.
Lagoon one was very quiet with
only a single Oystercatcher worthy of note.
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