Dave, Roger and I were out
locally today and started off at Eyebrook Reservoir. We arrived at the southern end of the
reservoir just after 08:00 after a quiet journey over. We soon found a single Tree Sparrow close to
the entrance gate and there was a nice Sedge Warbler showing well in a field
hedgerow. Roger and I checked out the
island where we found a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin and a Common
Sandpiper. As is usual we checked out
the Little Owl sight at the northern end and one was sat in the old oak. Stopping for a few minutes at the bridge
produced nothing of note and we moved on and parked up overlooking the mud at
the inlet. There was another Little
Ringed Plover and Dunlin and also a five Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper
and four Yellow Wagtails. The wildfowl
consisted of mainly Mallard but Roger did locate the Barnacle Goose amongst a
party of Greylag Geese. Feeling we had
exhausted Eyebrook Reservoir we moved onto the north arm at Rutland Water.
We walked down to the end of
the spit of the road and scanned the north shore where we found four Little
Ringed Plover, a Ruff, a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper and another
Greenshank was observed on the south shore.
A single juvenile Shelduck was also observed close to the north shore
and an adult Yellow-legged Gull was sat on a buoy but there was little else.
Two Wood Sandpipers had been
reported on the wet meadow and so we set off to snipe hide after arriving at
The Egleton Reserve. As I opened the flap
in the hide I saw both Wood Sandpipers fly from the near shore but on sitting
down there was just one feeding close the far shore and one must have gone back
alongside the near shore and out of sight.
It wasn’t too long before the second appeared and there was generally at
least one on view most of the time we were in the hide. Four Green Sandpipers and a single Snipe was
also observed.
Little Egret over the wet meadow
Wood Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
After some lunch we set off to
the northern end of the reserve and learnt on route that there was a Black Tern
on lagoon four. The Black Tern was
roosting with a large concentration of Common Terns and there were at least
seventy on the lagoon. There were at
least eight Ringed Plovers, six Dunlin and a single Common Sandpiper on the
lagoon islands and a single adult Shelduck remained with the five young now
looking independent. Whilst we scanning
two Black-tailed Godwits arrived and we assumed that they were the two that had
been reported on lagoon three.
When we arrived in shoveler
hide on lagoon three there were still two Black-tailed Godwits and apparently
they had been there for some time and therefore the two on lagoon four were two
new arrivals. The water level close to
the hide is now excellent for waders and there was also a Curlew, a Common
Sandpiper, nine Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank and a Redshank. We hadn’t been in the hide too long when the
two Black-tailed Godwits flew from lagoon four and joined the other two. The wildfowl were increasing and Dave found a
single Pintail amongst the large flock of Gadwall and Tufted Duck and there
were also a few Wigeon and Shoveler but very few Teal. There were at least four Reed Warblers and a
single Sedge Warbler just in front of the hide with some of the Reed Warblers
looking a bit ragged. A Hobby made a
brief visit flying low over the mud and causing all of the waders to scatter
and we also saw two Sparrowhawks and two Ospreys soaring over the north arm.
Moorhen and chick on lagoon three
Lapwing on lagoon three
Black-tailed Godwit on lagoon three
Black-tailed Godwit on lagoon three
Black-tailed Godwit on lagoon three
Black-tailed Godwits on lagoon three
Curlew on lagoon three
Greenshank alighting on lagoon three
Greenshank on lagoon three
Green Sandpiper on lagoon three
Sedge Warbler on lagoon three
Sedge Warbler on lagoon three
Reed Warbler on lagoon three
Reed Warbler on lagoon three
Reed Warbler on lagoon three
When we got back to the centre
there were another sixteen Black-tailed Godwits and a single Curlew and we had
just missed a couple of Whimbrel that were with the Curlew for a short
while. There was little else of note on
the lagoon but during our visit to the reserve we had also seen sixteen Little
Egrets and four Red Kites but surprisingly we hadn't seen a single Buzzard. We eventually decided to call it a day and
call at Eyebrook Reservoir on route home but we couldn't find anything of note
and headed off home.
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