A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - July 29, 2014

I decided to go to Great Glen first this morning and walked the footpath south of the village.  As I walked towards the sewage farm I heard a Buzzard calling but was unable to see it.  On reaching the sewage farm I immediately located two Grey Wagtails and eventually had five, which was likely to be a family party.  I heard a Green Woodpecker and a Whitethroat as I walked back and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.  Just before I got back to the road I found a small party of passerines that included several Long-tailed Tits and a couple of Goldcrest.  I also checked out the small lake, which had Canada Geese, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot on it and I heard a Nuthatch call but was unable to locate it.

I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir at 08:20 just as Andy MacKay arrived as well.  We stopped at the side of the road that overlooked the area of exposed mud.  There were plenty of geese both Greylag and Canada and a few Mallard but there were few Lapwing and initially very little else.  I then found a couple of Black-tailed Godwits feeding amongst some of the geese and Andy picked up an Osprey that was flying off with a nice sized trout.  A Snipe then appeared and I noticed two more Ospreys over the far end of the plantation and Andy picked up a Sparrowhawk circling above them.  There had been a report of Mandarin on the stream and so we walked the short distance to the bridge but there was no sign of the Mandarin.  There was a Green Sandpiper and two Snipe visible just beyond the tree in the stream and eventually we found two more Snipe, another Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper.  A Kingfisher then flew from under the bridge and appeared to land on the far side of the tree but unfortunately out of site.  Andy was intending to stay at the reservoir until lunch but I set off to Rutland Water.

Osprey with fish

There had been a report of a Little Gull on lagoon four at Rutland Water and so I set off to the lagoon in the hope of seeing it.  I did see Steve in the centre who informed me that it was a nice second-summer bird but had flown off.  I was hoping that it had only gone off to feed and that it would either comeback or perhaps I would see it on lagoon three.  On reaching the hide there were plenty of Common Terns on the spit and Black-headed Gulls scattered around, however despite a good search there was no sign of the Little Gull.  Bob had joined me in the hide and we eventually found a couple of Ringed Plovers, two Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper.  Three of the juvenile Shelduck and one of the adults were still present and a female Tufted Duck was escorting seven young.  I counted seventy-five Common Terns but could only see a single Yellow-legged Gull.

Juvenile Common Tern over lagoon four

Juvenile Common Terns on lagoon four

Scanning over Burley Wood we found two Red Kites, at least four Buzzards and three Ospreys but having felt I had exhausted lagoon four I moved off to shoveler hide on lagoon three.

 Although the water level was now looking quite good again on lagoon three other than a few Moorhen there was nothing else feeding in the area.  I did locate a single Snipe that was in the reeds just to the left of the hide and was able to get some nice shots of it.  It was now approaching lunchtime and so I made my back along the summer trail finding a very ragged Chiffchaff as I did so.

Snipe on lagoon three

Whilst have my lunch Steve and Terry arrived and informed that there was a Redstart and Wood Sandpiper from shallow water hide in Manton Bay.

I drove round to the Lyndon Reserve and walked to shallow water hide seeing very little on route.  When I got into the hide I peered out of the flaps to look to the left, which is where the Redstart was being seen.  I couldn’t see anything in the bush but it then dropped onto the ground briefly as it snatched an insect before returning to the bush.  I few minutes later it dropped to the ground again and almost immediately went back to the bush.  I looked for it in the bush but couldn’t see it and wasn’t sure where it was.  Steve and Terry then arrived but the Redstart was still out of sight.  Steve then picked up a Green Sandpiper perched on one of the posts that go into the water but there was no sign of the Wood Sandpiper.  I then picked up the Redstart again on the ground and this time it remained for longer and both Steve and Terry managed to get on it.  The Green Sandpiper then called a Terry saw it fly further into the bay and out of sight.  As I scanned the area near the fence I found a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and a second Green Sandpiper and then Terry found another sandpiper to the left of the hide, which turned out to be the Wood Sandpiper and it was very nice juvenile.

Wood Sandpiper

Steve then picked up a Common Sandpiper further into the bay and there was suddenly a lot of House Martins over the water that had presumably come from the village on mass.  There was also six Little Egrets in the bay but there appeared to little else so I decided to leave Steve and Terry and go back to the Egleton Reserve.

Steve had told me that there were a few waders in front of harrier hide as so I set off to have a look.  He had also mentioned that they had seen a Painted Lady near the sluice on lagoon five and surprisingly as I walked around it was still there.

On reaching harrier hide there were four Green Sandpipers visible on the first area of mud and three more distant waders turned out to be two Ruff and a Redshank and a Greenshank was observed also.  There were six Little Egrets near the Green Sandpipers and I eventually found fourteen on the lagoon.  Whilst scanning the area a Common Sandpiper appeared close to the two Ruff before it flew to one of the islands.  I called at snipe hide on the way back but other then another Little Egret there was little else and I decided to go back to the car park and head off home.  I stopped briefly at the Egleton feeding station seeing a Marsh Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over the car park as I was preparing to leave.

An early morning moth trapping in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - July 28, 2014

Last night there were 128 moths trapped and identified and included five new for the year.

The following were recorded: Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner [1]; Bird-cherry Ermine [1]; Crassa unitella [1]; Carcina quercana [1]; Blastobasis adustella [12]; Blastobasis lacticolella [2]; Light Brown Apple Moth [7]; Celypha striana [1]; Cydia splendana [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [6]; Crambus pascuella [1]; Crambus perlella [2]; Agriphila straminella [13]; Agriphila tristella [2]; Eudonia mercurella [2]; Pyrausta aurata [2]; Euzophera pinguis [1]; Pebble Hook-tip [3]; Riband Wave [10]; Common Carpet [1]; Phoenix [1]; Brimstone Moth [1]; Willow Beauty [1]; Poplar Hawkmoth [1]; Dingy Footman [1]; Heart and Dart [3]; Large Yellow Underwing [1]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [2]; Nutmeg [1]; Cabbage Moth [1]; Common Wainscot [1]; Dagger species [1]; Marbled Beauty [4]; Dark Arches [8]; Large Nutmeg [1]; Common Rustic species [24]; Uncertain [1]; Rustic [1]; Silver Y [2] and Straw Dot [2].

Horse-chestnut Leaf Miner

Crassa unitella

An afternoon at Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire - July 26, 2014

I had gone to Birmingham Airport at 04:00 today to pick up my daughter and her family who had come back from Turkey. I had then arranged for Roger to pick me up at 09:00 and then to go with him and Dave to the Birdfair volunteers meeting at Rutland Water.  Dave drove us to the meeting, which started at 10:00 and finished at 11:30.

With nothing of note reported at Rutland Water we decided to go Frampton Marsh as the Lesser Yellowlegs had been reported again on Birdguides.

We arrived in the car park at Frampton only for Dave to find out that the legs had not been reliably reported! However after a bite to eat we drove to the old car park near the sea wall in the hope that it would perhaps show.  We scoped the area to the north of the road and found a nice summer plumage Spotted Redshank and there was also a nice summer plumage Knot as well.  There were at least 100 Black-tailed Godwits on this part of the marsh and we also found a few Dunlin and a single Wood Sandpiper.  As we reached the sea wall we met Bob who hadn’t seen the legs but had seen two Little Stints earlier.  Whilst I was talking to Bob we picked up a single Golden Plover feeding alongside a Ruff to the south of the road.  Dave, Roger and I moved further along the sea wall and scanned back over the area we had been viewing from the road.  There was at least another four summer plumage Knots and we picked out two Spoonbills close to a distant party of Little Egrets.  We sat down on one of the seats on top of the sea wall and continued scoping the area and were gradually joined by other birders.  One the closest pool we had found two more Ruff, a couple of Snipe and Redshanks but there was still no sign of the legs.  Dave decided to wonder further along the sea wall and not too long after he had left another birder questioned the identity of wader on a spit a little further away.  Roger and I both got on the bird and watched it for some time and gradually the number of birders swelled.  The light was poor and very little detail could be made out on the bird and we were mainly relying on jizz.  Whilst we were watching the bird it was seen alongside Redshank and Ruff and it appeared a little longer legged and more elegant.  The light did improve a little and it appeared a little spangled on the back and the legs did appear yellowish at times.  It also flew on a few occasions but not very far but on one occasion I saw it land with its wings and tail spread and there was definitely no visible wing-bar, which ruled out Redshank.  However the tail pattern although seen briefly seemed right for the legs or perhaps a Wood Sandpiper.  Dave had now returned and felt it looked good and he set off back to the road to see if he could see it better.  Roger and I stayed and continued to watch the bird but eventually went back to the road.  However on reaching the road it was clear that the area we were watching was not as viewable but all Dave had seen as we did were a few Ruff, Redshank and a single Wood Sandpiper.  We hadn’t been back too long when a Peregrine flew over, as it had done before, and caused some disturbance but all we continued to see were Ruff and Redshank.  This particular Lesser Yellowlegs has been extremely elusive recently and so it wouldn’t be too surprising that it was perhaps being so again.  That fact that it wasn’t seen from the road didn’t necessarily rule out we had seen was the legs but conversely we could claim it with any certainty either.  A walk down the road produced several Yellow Wagtails and views of the long staying Glossy Ibis.  With still no sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs we finally decided to call it a day.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - July 24, 2014

I started off catching and identifying moths outside the trap before examining and identifying the contents.  There were 168 moths in total covering forty species, five which were new for the year that included two new lifers.

The following were recorded: Bird-cherry Ermine [1]; Diamond-back Moth [1]; Brown House Moth [1]; Autostichidae species [1]; Blastobasis adustella [19]; Clepsis consimilana [1]; Light Brown Apple Moth [3]; Red-barred Tortrix [4]; Celypha striana [4]; Eucosma canmpoliliana [1]; Cydia splendana [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [28]; Crambus pascuella [1]; Crambus perlella [1]; Agriphila straminella [11]; Pyrausta aurata [2]; Anania coronate [1]; Mother of Pearl [1]; Riband Wave [5]; Common Carpet [2]; Willow Beauty [2]; Poplar Hawkmoth [1]; Elephant Hawkmoth [1]; Dingy Footman [1]; Heart and Dart [6]; Large Yellow Underwing [2]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [6]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [1]; Bright-line Brown-eye [3]; Caly [1]; Smoky Wainscot [1]; Dagger species [1]; Marbled Beauty [6]; Dark Arches [26]; Double Lobed [1]; Common Rustic Group [12]; Small Dotted Buff [1]; Uncertain [4]; Silver Y [1] and Specatcle [2].

Autostichidae species

Eucosma canmpoliliana

Double Lobed

Roger had joined me at about 07:30 and we examined a few moths I had kept that I thought might be new for him.  When we had finished we went to Dave’s who had also had his trap out and kept some back for us to see.  Once we had finished we set off for a day out in the field and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir.

After a rather quite drive to the reservoir we arrived at the southern end at 08:45.  There were at least ten Tree Sparrows in the nearby cereal field and Roger found a Lesser Whitethroat in the hedge alongside the track to the fishing lodge.

We stopped at the first of the two corals where we had at least eight Yellow Wagtails but other than a few Cormorants there was little else.  There was no sign of any Little Owls toady in the Old Oak and the only wader we located at the inlet was a single Common Sandpiper.  We did see the feral Barnacle Goose in the vicinity of flocks of Greylag and Canada Geese.  During the visit we had seen a Red Kite, Buzzard and six Common Terns.

We went to the north arm at Rutland Water next where we found an Oystercatcher, three Dunlin and three Greenshanks and a single Shelduck.  As it was beginning to turn warmer we decided to head off to Bloody Oaks Quarry, which is a Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust reserve between Empingham and the A1.

Bloody Oaks is quite a small reserve that can be quite good for butterflies and last year a small population of Chalk Hill Blue had been found.  As we walked along the main path in the reserve we saw several Peacocks and Meadow Browns.  David and Roger stopped to try and catch a moth and I had continued on a little further and I located a blue butterfly which I was saw was a Chalk Hill Blue but it was flying around a lot.  I notified Dave and Roger and before they arrived it settled but closed its wings straight away.  As I tried to get a closer look it took to flight again but we eventually tied it down and confirmed my initial identification.  We continued to work the area and eventually saw a good range of butterflies and a few moths.

Pyrausta purpuralis 

Chalk Hill Blue

Shaded Braod-bar

Marbled White

Meadow Grasshopper

As it was approaching lunchtime and the wind had increased we decided to go back to Rutland Water.  We parked up in the car park and after some lunch Roger and I went to lagoon four, whist Dave went off to Lax Hill hoping for Purple Hairstreak.

There had been a summer plumaged Knot on lagoon four and it was still present near island ten when we arrived.  There was also a single Common Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover on island ten.  There was no sign of the Mediterranean Gull today but there were at least ten Yellow-legged Gulls present on the lagoon.  As we were scanning around I heard a Common Sandpiper calling and was sure it wasn’t the one on island ten and few minutes later I located a second on the exposed area leading to island eight.  A Green Sandpiper then appeared on island ten and there were now two Common Sandpipers also.  I checked for the one that had been towards island nine and it was still present and so there were now three Common Sandpipers.  I then noticed more waders on the end of island four and on checking them they were four more Common Sandpipers and there was also five Ringed Plovers hiding amongst the rocks.  There was a good number of Common Terns on the spit leading to island nine and on I counted 106, many of which were juveniles and they have clearly had a good breeding season.

We moved on to shoveler hide on lagoon three where we found a summer Black-tailed Godwit, a Curlew, three Green Sandpiper and two Greenshanks.  The wildfowl were still increasing but we couldn’t find anything of note amongst them and we eventually made our way back to the centre.

Green Sandpiper on lagoon three

Green Sandpiper on lagoon three

Common Tern over lagoon four

Common Tern over lagoon four

Dave was already back when we arrived but although he had seen plenty of butterflies he hadn’t had any luck with the hairstreaks.  As we scanned lagoon one I found a couple of Dunlin on the long island but there was little else and so we called it a day.

During our visits to Rutland Water we had also seen twenty-two Little Egrets, a Buzzard, two Ospreys and a couple of Oystercatchers.

Holly Blue in the Egleton car park

An early morning moth trapping in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - July 23, 2014

Fewer moths were trapped last with 187 being identified covering forty-five species that including four new for the year.

The following were recorded: Ermine species [1]; Bird-cherry Ermine [2]; Carcina quercana [1]; Blastobasis adustella [20]; Light Brown Apple Moth [2]; Red-barred Tortrix [1]; Celypha striana [5]; Eucosma cana [1]; Cydia splendana [1]; Codling Moth [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [30]; Crambus pascuella [5]; Agriphila straminella [2]; Eudonia mercurella [1]; Mother of Pearl [1]; Riband Wave [16]; Red Wtwin-spot Carpet [1]; Common Carpet [2]; Small Rivulet [1]; Wormwood Pug [1]; Canary-shouldered Thorn [1]; Dusky Thorn [1]; Early Thorn [1]; Purple Thorn [1]; Swallow-tailed Moth [1]; Willow Beauty [3]; Clouded Silver [1]; Iron Prominent [1]; Swallow Prominent [1]; Dingy Footman [3]; Heart and Dart [5]; Large Yellow Underwing [4]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [8]; Lesser Broad-bodied Yellow Underwing [2]; Least Yellow Underwing [1]; Nutmeg [2]; Bright-line Brown-eye [6]; Clay [2]; Dagger species [1]; Marbled Beauty [4]; Dark Arches [15]; Common Rustic species [19]; Uncertain [1] and Silver Y [1].

Cydia plendana

Codling Moth

Small Rivulet

Canary-shouldered Thorn

Dusky Thorn

Early Thorn

Iron Prominent

Iron Prominent

Nutmeg

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - July 22, 2014

I arrived at the southern end of Eyebrook Reservoir just before 08:00 where I found a Tree Sparrow and a Yellow Wagtail but there was little else of note with just a single Dunlin at the inlet being the only wader other than a few Lapwings.  There was an adult and a juvenile Shelduck at the inlet and five Common Terns nearby and a Red Kite and a Buzzard were observed.

On arrival at Rutland Water I initially decided to walk to snipe hide on the wet meadow where there was a Little Egret and a Green Sandpiper but there was no sign of any Wood Sandpipers today.  I continued onto harrier hide where I Sparrowhawk flashed by causing a panic of the few birds that were on the wet meadow.  With little else visible at harrier I moved onto fieldfare hide but there was very little on the main water.  As I walked back along the track from the hide there was a party of Long-tailed Tits and I stopped to try and see them.  As I watched two of them I also had a brief few of a warbler flash through the foliage and then found a Garden Warbler, which was my first in nearly a month.

Grey Heron from harrier hide

Peacock along path to snipe hide

Jackdaw from snipe hide

European Hare from snipe hide

I called at tern hide on lagoon six and found a female Tufted Duck with a brood of four close to the hide.  There was also a single Egyptian Goose and Oystercatcher on the lagoon and four Red Kites were observed in the distance.  Little else in evidence I moved on to the 360° hide.  Again it was fairly quiet but I did find a single Oystercatcher with a chick but worryingly a Red Kite was still circling the lagoons.  As I moved back along the track towards the centre a Red Kite flew over quite low being pursued by several Black-headed Gulls.

Tufted Duck duckling

Tufted Duck duckling

Female Tufted Duck

Female Tufted Duck with two of her brood of four

Red Kite

Black-tailed Skimmer

Ruddy Darter

During the walk around the southern half of the reserve I had also seen a good selection of butterflies and dragonflies that included a couple of Essex Skippers.

As I was having my lunch and considering going to Bloody Oaks, Bob returned from the northern end of the reserve but he hadn’t seen too much although he had seen an adult Mediterranean Gull on lagoon four.  Mike Chester then arrived and so Mike and I set off for lagoon four and decided to go to dunlin hide as we were likely to get a better view of the gulls.  I scanned the area on island one where Bob had seen the Mediterranean Gull and soon found sitting roosting amongst a party of Black-headed Gulls.  Whilst we were watching it, it stood up and moved about on several occasions and could easily have been overlooked as it often sat facing us with its head on its back and showing very little of the key identification points.  The larger gulls were resting on the islands closer to the hide and there was fourteen Yellow-legged Gulls amongst the Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls.  There were six Ringed Plovers, a Green Sandpiper and a Redshank close to island ten and an Oystercatcher on island one.  There was a large gathering of Common Terns on the exposed area between island nine and ten and I counted sixty-six with many juveniles.  Two Buzzards and three Ospreys were observed in the direction of Burley.

We moved on to shoveler hide on lagoon three where there were two Curlew and several Green Sandpipers.  I eventually counted ten Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank appeared from behind the reed island and a Snipe on the edge of the reedbed.

As I walked towards the centre I heard a Whimbrel calling on several occasions and it flew directly over me and off towards the east.  I wondered if it might have come down on lagoon one but there was no sign from the centre, although I did find another Oystercatcher and two more Yellow-legged Gulls.