Sunday 31 August 2014

A day’s birding in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 30, 2014

I visited Eyebrook Reservoir first this morning and drove in from the northern end where there was no sign of the Little Owls.  There had clearly been some rain overnight as it was very wet underfoot.  I parked overlooking the area of exposed mud but found only two juvenile Shelduck of interest.  I decided to go back to the Leicestershire bank to get and different view and found three Ruff and a Yellow Wagtail but there was little else in evidence.


I moved on to Rutland Water and went to the Lyndon Reserve where there we a few birds on the feeders, mainly Blue Tit and Great Tit but also a single Tree Sparrow.  I scanned the water from the footpath and found four Black Terns feeding over the south arm just below Lax Hill along with two Common Terns.  I continued to walk along the top path to shallow water hide seeing a couple of Chiffchaff on route.  On reaching the hide there appeared to be fewer birds than last week but both Ospreys were still present.  I did find a single Ruff and a Green Sandpiper on the edges of Manton Bay and a single Pintail was feeding just off shore.  One of Osprey flew off, presumably to fish, whilst the other remained on the perch.  After a short while it began calling and initially I thought the male was coming back with a fish but it was calling as a Buzzard was close.  A small bush to the left of the hide provided nice views of another Chiffchaff and a couple of Long-tailed Tits but with little else I decided to walk back to the centre.


Juvenile Lapwing


Juvenile Ruff


House Martin collecting mud


Robin


Chiffchaff


Long-tailed Tit

I saw another four Chiffchaffs along the first stretch of woodland and then another just past the turning to wader scrape hide, where there was also a Willow Warbler singing.  There had been no sign of the Spotted Crake this morning and so I continued on to Tufted Duck hide.  I hadn’t been in the hide many minutes when I heard a Kingfisher calling and it flew in front of the disappearing behind some emergent vegetation.  It called again and flew back across the small pool in to the bushes on the right but wasn’t seen again.  There were plenty of Cormorants roosting in the tree and bunds and there was a single Little Egret visible in Heron Bay.  I moved back to the centre where there were know at least seven Tree Sparrows on the feeders but little else.


Cormorant

When I arrived in the car park on the Egleton Reserve I called Roger who had gone down to lagoon four but as there was nothing worth rushing down there for I went in to the centre to kill some time before I had my lunch.  As I sat down a couple were discussing the identity of something just in front of the centre.  I scanned and picked up two waders close to the first small island and through the scope I identified one was a juvenile Wood Sandpiper and the otheraa juvenile Redshank.  The water level has dropped quite a bit on lagoon one and is now far more attractive to waders.  Chris Hughes came into the hide and whilst looking for the Wood Sandpiper he found a couple of Ruff and there were at least six Snipe and three Green Sandpipers quite close and a Pintail fed close by.  We could also see a few waders at the back of the lagoon and Chris decided he would go and take a look from harrier, whilst I decided to have an early lunch before going round to harrier.

When I joined Chris in the hide he had seen several Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin, two Ruff, three Green Sandpiper and a Greenshank.  I soon seen all that Chris had seen and added a Little Ringed Plover that was with the Ringed Plovers.  Tim then joined us in the hide and he found a third Ruff as well as picking up the immature Marsh Harrier as it flew towards the hide and headed off over the wet meadow.  I called Roger to let him know about the harrier and he picked it up from the centre.  Tim then found a Whinchat perched in a bush to the left of the hide and I was back on the phone to Roger who was able to pick it up from the centre.

When I got back to the centre I had informed Eric about the increased numbers of waders present and arranged to meet him in Dunlin hide on lagoon four.  I couldn’t find the Wood Sandpiper or the Redshank from the centre but a Hobby flew over and headed off to the west.  I was leaving the centre to head off to lagoons three and four Ken arrived and I waited for him before setting off to Shoveler hide on lagoon three.  There were two more Green Sandpipers and seven Pintail on the lagoon but despite the number of wildfowl we couldn’t find anything else of note.


Little Egret on lagoon three

Eric was in Dunlin hide when we arrived and he had already located an adult winter Mediterranean Gull amongst the roosting gulls.  I short while afterwards he saw a adult Little Gull arrive but it only stayed very briefly and I only picked it up as it was flying off to the south.  I counted four Little Ringed Plovers and nine Ringed Plovers amongst the rocky areas and there was also a single Dunlin, five Ruff and a Greenshank.  An Osprey was observed perched on one of the perches before it flew off.


Osprey

We visited Lapwing hide and observed five very distant Black Terns feeding close to south arm two.  There was a large raft of Tufted Ducks but other than a few Great Crested Grebes there was little else and we returned to the centre.

Ann and Richard were in the centre and had seen most of the waders we had seen earlier but they had been unable to find the Pintail.  We found the Wood Sandpiper to the right of the hide with a couple of Ruff and there were now nine Snipe present. Just after Ann and Richard departed I found the Pintail again and also a single Garganey.  Colin then called to see what we had seen as he and Chris were having a tea in the car park.  They had looked for the Wood Sandpiper from harrier hide but failed to see it and said they would probably join us.  Ken who was last to get on the Garganey said he had a second, which was now alongside the other one.  Colin and Chris then arrived and after watching the Wood Sandpiper for a few minutes Colin said that he had four Garganey and surprisingly there were now four right in front of the centre.  As we were looking around the lagoon the Lapwing and other birds took to flight, with the Lapwing rising quite high and a few seconds later there was a immature female Peregrine flying over the centre.

What had started off as a pretty quiet day and turned out to be an excellent days birding with nice birds.

An early morning moth trapping in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 29, 2014

The moth trap was out again last night and I trapped and identified sixty-four moths of fifteen species but there were no additions to the year list.


The following were recorded: Orange Swift [2]; Light Brown Apple Moth [5]; Agriphila tristella [2]; Agriphila geniculea [11]; Garden Pebble [1]; Double-striped Pug [1]; Dusky Thorn [1]; Swallow Prominent [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [25]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [7]; Setaceous Hebrew Character [2]; Square-spot Rustic [1]; Common Wainscot [1]; Flounced Rustic [3] and Vine’s Rustic [1].


Agriphila geniculea


Double-striped Pug


Swallow Prominent


Setaceous Hebrew Character


Common Wainscot


Flounced Rustic


Vine's Rustic

Thursday 28 August 2014

A day in West Norfolk - August 27, 2014

Dave, Roger and I decided to go to West Norfolk today in the hope of seeing some drift migrants.
We called at Choseley Barns on route where we found four Grey Partridge but there was very little else and so we continued onto Titchwell.

As we approached the centre at Titchwell they were emptying a moth trap and so we stayed a few minutes to see what they had a caught, the best being a Purple Bar, which was new for me.  We checked the book as we passed through the centre and found out that the warden had seen a Pied Flycatcher, a Spotted Flycatcher, a couple of Whinchat and a Wheatear at Thornham Point.  It was quite breezy as we walked along the west bank and there was very little on either Thornham Pool or Reedbed Pool and so we continued along the path stopping just before island hide to view the fresh marsh.  There were plenty of Avocets and c.200 Bar-tailed Godwits were roosting with circa fifty Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the marsh.  A careful scan produced a few Dunlin and three Knot and we also found a few Ruff.  Dave picked up ten Grey Plover in flight and another was observed on Thornham Marsh but Dave then decided he was going to go straight to the sea, while Roger and I decided to take a more leisurely approach.  We hadn’t gone too far when we saw Dave hurrying back as apparently he found out that there was a Curlew Sandpiper on the fresh marsh.  Dave then found in flight with a party of Dunlin and Roger and I found it after the flock had landed and like yesterday’s Rutland Water bird it was a juvenile.  Whilst we were watching the sandpiper a Spotted Redshank flew off the marsh and over Thornham Marsh.  Having seen the sandpiper Dave set off for the beach and it wasn’t too long afterwards when we joined him as the water was very high on Volunteer and the Tidal Marshes and there were few birds.

There were seven Eiders just off shore to the left and we saw about a dozen distant Common Scoter flying west and seven Gannets heading east.  I also saw a couple of Fulmar heading west and Roger found another three Eiders on the beach towards Thornham Point.  There were plenty of distant terns over the sea, which were probably mainly Sandwich Tern, as we did see three juveniles fairly close in and we also had a very distant Skua flying west.


With the sea being fairly quiet and no new news we decided to head off to Thornham Point.  We went on the south side of the copse as it was more sheltered and also catching the sun.  Initially we saw very little with just a couple of Pied Wagtails and several Meadow Pipits feeding on the salt marsh.  A passerine then flew from the eastern end to the brick building at the western end, which turned out to be the Spotted Flycatcher.  After some time I then found a Wheatear and shortly afterwards a Whinchat but there was no sign of the Pied Flycatcher but three more Grey Partridge was a surprise.  A Whimbrel was heard calling but we were unable to locate it.  As we headed back to Titchwell we saw five rather nice Grey Plovers on the beach but there was very little else and so on reaching the path we set off back towards the car park.  There were now far fewer birds on the marsh with the roosting Bar-tailed Godwits having gone back to the shoreline and there was no sign of the Dunlin flock but there was a nice party of Golden Plovers and a Whimbrel flew over.  Just after passing island hide we heard Bearded Tits calling but although they continued to call they remained very elusive.  There was news of a Greenish Warbler at Stiffkey and after some lunch we set off in the hope we might see it.


Ruff on the fresh marsh

When we arrived on site there were a few birders scattered around and the news was that it had been calling and showing briefly and intermittently.  We remained on site for three hours and heard it call just once and possibly seen it but all to brief to be certain.  Whilst we were looking for the warbler we had a Sparrowhawk and a Hobby and also at least three Little Egrets and a Spoonbill on the salt marsh.  The vegetation was quite dense and with the wind birding was quite difficult.  I had several sightings of birds in the bushes but only managed to identify a Whitethroat and a Chaffinch as they skulked amongst the vegetation.

After what had been a reasonable morning it had been a little disappointing this afternoon.  News we received later was that there were two other Greenish Warblers, an Icterine Warbler and a Barred Warbler, all of which were proving difficult to see.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 26, 2014

I started out a little later today due to the weather, which had been very wet yesterday with the rain not forecast to clear before 09:00.  When I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir the rain had almost ceased and did so shortly afterwards but there was a brisk north-easterly wind, which raised expectations for the day.  I started at the southern end of the reservoir but the highlight was a single Little Egret on the island and numerous Swallows over the water.  It was quite at the inlet as well and only waders I located were two Green Sandpipers.  Three Shelduck were still present but the wildfowl were mainly Mallard with just a few Teal.  Again there were plenty of Swallows with a few House Martins and I did find a single Yellow Wagtail.

As I drove to Rutland Water I spoke to Steve who was in wader scrape hide but had not seen the Spotted Crake or very little else.  I then called Erik who was in dunlin hide on lagoon four who informed me that there were juvenile Little Stint and a Sanderling but I decided to check out the north arm before going onto the reserve.  This proved to be pretty unproductive as other than a few Lapwing there wasn’t another wader to be seen.  There was a Little Egret in the fishponds and two Ospreys were attempting to fish further down the arm, which must have been difficult due to the rough weather.  I counted forty-nine Egyptian Geese, with most on the bund, and twenty Little Grebes.


When I arrived in the car park at Egleton Lloyd informed me that both the Little Stint and Sanderling were still present on lagoon four. I walked along the service road and joined Erik in dunlin hide but initially all I saw was a Little Ringed Plover, a few Ringed Plover and a couple of Dunlin.  Further scanning produced more Ringed Plovers, five more Dunlin, a Ruff, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Greenshank and eventually the Little Stint.  As we continued to scan Steve called to say that there was a nice summer plumaged Red-necked Grebe off the dam.  This is now quiet a rare bird for the counties and new bird for Erik and so we walked back to the car park and drove to the dam.  The bird had moved further across the dam but after a quick walk we soon had some excellent views of the bird.  It was quite obliging and came close enough to get obtain a few decent photographs.  It was my first sighting in the counties since January 15th, 2011.  As we returned we had a Hobby fly over the dam.






Summer Red-necked Grebe

Having had good views we returned the Egleton Reserve and after some lunch went into the centre to view lagoon one.  There were four Ruff on the long island but other than a Little Egret there was little else of note.  As we were scanning the lagoon the Lapwings, the Ruff and some of the wildfowl took to flight and we then picked up a juvenile Marsh Harrier, which then flew over the lagoon before heading off towards lagoon three.


Juvenile Marsh Harrier

We returned to dunlin hide on lagoon four but were unable to find either the Little Stint or Sanderling, although what I thought was a distant roosting Greenshank turned out to be a Bar-tailed Godwit.  Terry had gone off to plover hide in an attempt to find the Little Stint and when we joined him and Steve in the hide they had located the Stint on one of the islands.  It was a little closer then this morning and offered better views but there was still no sign of the Sanderling.  From plover hide I saw four Little Ringed Plovers, a Curlew and a Common Sandpiper and there were at least fifteen Ringed Plovers and three Greenshanks on the lagoon.  An Osprey was observed on the ground with a large trout and then on one of the perches still eating the fish.  A Hobby flew over causing some disturbance before moving off towards lagoon three and there were three Yellow Wagtails briefly on island three.


Common Sandpiper

The water level on lagoon three was still high and although there were plenty of wildfowl nothing of note was found.  An Osprey flew off towards the north arm carrying a fish which we assumed would be the bird on lagoon four and a Hobby was observed on the northern edge of the lagoon.

I made one more attempt to find the Sanderling from sandpiper hide on lagoon four but there was no sign but Erik thought he had a Curlew Sandpiper that took to flight.  Tim then found it on the strip of land between island seven and ten, confirming Erik’s initial identification.  It was a nice juvenile and a first for the year for me but it had flown again before Colin and Steve entered the hide but after some searching I found it again back in the same place.  The Little Stint was also observed briefly and the Osprey was still present minus the fish, which perhaps suggested it was bonding with a female, which was almost certainly the bird we saw from lagoon three.

Despite not seeing the Sanderling it had been an excellent day with a year-tick, the Curlew Sandpiper, and two county year ticks with the Red-necked Grebe and Little Stint.  Steve had also had a Little Gull and a couple of Sandwich Terns but they all just headed off east early this morning.

Sunday 24 August 2014

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland & Lincolnshire - August 23, 2014

I called at Wistow Church on route to Eyebrook Reservoir where I found a Nuthatch and a Treecreeper and there were good numbers of House Martins in the fields with a few Swallows.

When I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir it felt much cooler as there was now a cool westerly wind.  The Little Owl was visible in the old oak as I approached the reservoir, which was the first time I had seen it since July 19th.  A Little Egret flew further up the stream as I glanced over the inlet bridge but there was nothing else of note.  I could see that there were fewer birds at the inlet with very few geese and only a few Lapwing and Black-headed Gulls.  I parked off the road and scanned the area of exposed mud but could only find eight Dunlin.  There were plenty of duck, which were mainly Mallard interspersed with a few Teal and I did eventually find an adult and three juvenile Shelduck.  Another birder informed me that he had seen a Black-tailed Godwit on the Leicestershire bank and a Whinchat in a field closer to Stoke Dry.  I parked further on but there was no sign of the godwit although there was at least ten Swift amongst the numerous House Martins feeding over the reservoir.

I stood in the gateway to the field in which the Whinchat had been seen and had Swift, Sand Martin, Swallow and House Martin over the field and a good number of Linnets.  Roger had called to say he was on his way over and joined me in the field when he arrived.  I had not seen the Whinchat and there was no sign before we departed to Rutland Water but we did have two Willow Warblers, a Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat in the hedgerow and three Red Kites, three Buzzards and two Kestrel over the fields and I had seen an Osprey earlier.


Roger went to Rutland Water via the Little Owl site and joined me in the Lyndon Centre having no luck with the owl.  There was quite a bit of activity on the feeders outside the centre with at least eight Tree Sparrows present.  Having signed in we set off for shallow water hide where we hoped to see a female Scaup and Wood Sandpiper that had both been present recently.  On route we had a couple of Yellow Wagtails on wires and a Chiffchaff in a mixed flock of tits.  On reaching the hide we soon found a Ruff, three Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpipers and eventually the Wood Sandpiper, which was feeding on the far side.  A Yellow Wagtail was observed amongst a party of Pied Wagtails and two Little Egrets were observed in flight.  Roger then found a Whinchat just to the right of the hide and it eventually showed well, perching on the barbed wire that runs to the left of the hide.  We had scanned the wildfowl for the Scaup but there was no sign, although there was an increase in the number of Shoveler.  A Hobby was observed as it hunted between LAX Hill and Heron Bay.


Yellow Wagtail


Common sandpiper


Whinchat


Whinchat


Whinchat

We walked back to the centre and called at tufted duck and deep water hides but there was still no sign of the Scaup but there were eleven Common Terns and a single Oystercatcher below Lax Hill and six Little Egrets in Heron Bay.

After some lunch we went around to the Egleton Reserve and initially went to the centre to look over lagoon one.  It was generally rather quiet but I did find a single Pintail amongst a party of Gadwall.  I called Ken, who had gone down to lagoon four, to see what he had seen but there was nothing unusual.  Whilst we were debating what to do next my phone rang and it was Tim giving us advanced news of a Spotted Crake at deep water hide on the Lyndon Reserve.  The debate stopped and we headed back to the Lyndon Centre but I was a bit surprised as I thought it was most unsuitable site for a Spotted Crake.  I called Ken to make him aware of the crake on route and we arrived we set of for deep water hide.  On arrival there were a couple of birders present but no sign of the crake and so I called Tim who informed me it was from wader scrape hide.  I am not sure if I misheard him or whether he did say deep water hide but we were soon heading off to wader scrape hide.  I called Ken again to make him aware of the mix-up and as we arrived Tim Mackrill was just leaving and he informed us it was still showing.  It wasn’t too long before Roger and I were watching the bird and it performed exceptionally well over the next couple of hours.  It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t received a tweet from Andy and so I gave him a call and although he had heard something it hadn’t been confirmed, which it now was and he tweeted the information.

Apparently it had been found earlier but the observers assumed it was a Water Rail and the true identity wasn’t established until Andy Howes saw it later.  If only Roger and I had visited the hide earlier we might well have found it.











Juvenile Spotted Crake

A day’s birding in East Yorkshire - August 22, 2014

Dave, Roger and I decided to go to Flamborough in the hope of seeing some seabirds.  C.200 Golden Plover near Goole were the only birds of note we had on route and we arrived at Flamborough just before 09:30.  There was a brisk northwest wind on arrival and we could see plenty of Gannets from the car park and so we were quite optimistic.  On reaching the fog-horn station there were clearly plenty of Gannets and also a few Fulmar flying around.  There was a female Common Scoter on the sea and I picked up a couple of Arctic Skuas harassing a Kittiwake.  Shortly afterwards Roger picked up a single Manx Shearwater heading north and we found several Guillemots and a single Razorbill on the sea.  However it soon became very quiet with even the Gannet numbers dropping off.  Roger did pick up two Manx Shearwaters and another Arctic Skua heading south and Dave found a drake Common Scoter also heading south but that was about it.  A Little Egret was a surprise and then Roger noticed a bird on the cliff face that turned out to be a Purple Sandpiper and we had also seen a single Wheatear in fog-horn grounds.

We finally called it a day and went to South Landing seeing a Lesser Whitethroat just as we were leaving the car park.  There were quite a few people with some very noisy dogs on the beach at South Landing but we found an Eider just of shore and a party of waders in flight contained Dunlin and at least one Ringed Plover.  We walked along the shore towards Bridlington and found a concentration of Cormorants and gulls.  As we scanned through the flock we found three Oystercatchers, two Whimbrel, two Redshanks and six Turnstones amongst them as well as two Rock Pipits feeding on the shore line.  When we got back to road we scanned the other way and found four Ringed Plovers, two Sanderling and ten Dunlin and we assumed these were probably the waders seen in flight earlier.


As we drove home a tweet arrived indicating that there had been a Great Shearwater off Flamborough mid-afternoon and later two tweets of a juvenile and then an adult Sabine Gull, which was rather disappointing as it was so quiet earlier.

Thursday 21 August 2014

An early morning moth trapping in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 21, 2014

I caught and identified twenty-six moths of fourteen species with two being new for the year.


The following were recorded: Orange Swift [4]; Light Brown Apple Moth [1]; Agriphila tristella [3]; Agriphila geniculea [1]; Brimstone Moth [1]; Willow Beauty [1]; Poplar Hawkmoth [1]; Shuttle-shaped Dart [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [4]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [2]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [1]; Square-spot Rustic [3]; Marbled Beauty [2] and Flounced Rustic [1].


Lesser Yellow Underwing


Square-spot Rustic


Flounced Rustic

A visit to Eyebrook Reservoir, Leicestershire & Rutland - August 20, 2014

I had spoken to Dave early who had gone out and had seen the Whinchat at Eyebrook Reservoir.  I decided to give it another go and arrived at the reservoir mid-morning.

There were two other birders present on arrival but they had not seen the Whinchat.  Richard also turned up and shortly afterwards Phil arrived and I stood with Phil overlooking the area the birds had been in.  We saw a couple of birds flying low over the vegetation but they dropped in and disappeared.  The only other bird we saw was a Reed Bunting that also dropped into the vegetation and disappeared.  It was just after midday when Phil announced he had one perched up further to the left.  I got on the bird, which was a juvenile, and we beckoned Richard.  By the time Richard arrived it had disappeared and we didn’t see it again.  I spent about four hours on site and saw the bird once and only for a few minutes.

Two Little Egrets had flown off just after I arrived and there were six Dunlin at the inlet and I found a Snipe and a Common Sandpiper on the Leicestershire side of the reservoir and a Green Sandpiper was observed in flight.  There was an adult and three juvenile Shelduck and a single Garganey present around the inlet and two drake Wigeon were feeding on the bank.  An Osprey was observed with a Red Kite and then probably a different bird was seen with a fish when it was harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull and a Raven.  They flew around for quite some time before the Great Black-backed Gull and then the Raven gave up and the Osprey came down into a tree briefly before flying off with the fish.  Two more Red Kites were observed towards the dam.

Two Yellow Wagtails were observed and there were numerous Sand Martins over the water and several House Martins and a few Swallow were seen, along with at least five Swift.
I called at the island where there was a Little Egret and a Common Sandpiper and I found a Green Sandpiper in the southwest corner before I departed.


I had seen a Red Kite near Hallaton on route to the reservoir and saw four in the area of Blaston as I drove home.


Osprey being harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull and a Raven

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 19, 2014

I called at Eyebrook Reservoir first today but only visited the inlet.  There was a Green Sandpiper feeding in the inlet stream and I found three Dunlin at the mouth of the inlet as well as a Common Sandpiper.  There were plenty of gulls at the inlet; mainly Black-headed but I did find a couple of Common and a single adult Yellow-legged Gull.  There were quite a few Sand Martin and several House Martins over the water and at least fifteen Swift were observed.  An Osprey was observed further down the reservoir and a Sparrowhawk flew over the inlet flushing most of the birds.  As the birds began to settle I saw a forth Dunlin but there was nothing else of note and so I moved onto Rutland Water. 


On reaching Rutland Water I went to the north arm where there had been a Black-necked Grebe yesterday.  There was no sign of the grebe but I did see four Greenshanks and a Common Sandpiper.  I spent some time trying, unsuccessfully, to photograph Sand Martins that were numerous and flying low over the water.  Two Red Kites and two Ospreys were also observed over Burley Wood.  I called Steve to see if he had found the grebe but he had also had no luck but informed me that there were four Red-crested Pochard and a Black-tailed Godwit in Dickinson’s Bay.


Canada Geese over the north arm


Sand Martin over the north arm

I drove around to Barnsdale and walked into Dickinson's Bay and found the Red-crested Pochard almost straight away and also the Black-tailed Godwit, which was quite close to the Pochard and there was a Greenshank a little further round.


Eclipse Mallard over the north arm


Juvenile Common Tern over the north arm

I walked to harrier hide once on the Egleton Reserve but a single Little Egret was the highlight from there and so I continued to fieldfare hide to see if the receding water level had attracted any waders.  The water level was such that there was some exposed shoreline but there were no waders but I did see a Clouded Yellow butterfly.  Lagoon six was pretty full and there was very little on it but from the 360° hide I found four Curlew, a Common Sandpiper and five Greenshanks.  I assumed the Greenshanks were probably the five I had seen earlier as I had seen four fly in the direction of the reserve.


Southern Hawker near snipe hide

Whilst I was having my lunch Ken arrived and we then went into the centre to view lagoon one.  There was a Green Sandpiper just in front of the centre but there were fewer birds on the lagoon than of late although there was noticeably more Shoveler today.  Steve then called to say that he and Terry were back in the north arm and had found the Black-necked Grebe.

Ken and I decided to go and take a look and Steve and Terry were still there when we arrived.  As we walked towards them and Osprey flew down the north arm and then went towards Burley.  We were soon watching the Black-necked Grebe that was starting to moult and looked a little drab.  Steve then picked up a Hobby over Burley and there was also a distant Buzzard.

On returning to the reserve Ken and I set off towards sandpiper hide on lagoon four but called at both redshank and grebe hides on lagoon two on route.  We had nice views of a Sparrowhawk from redshank and there was another Green Sandpiper from grebe hide.

On reaching sandpiper hide we soon found two Black-tailed Godwits and five Dunlin on island seven and there were two Little Ringed and seven Ringed Plovers between islands nine and ten.  A third Common Sandpiper was also observed towards island eight and three Common Terns flew over.

Lagoon three is now full again and whilst there were plenty of wildfowl there was nothing unusual.
As we walked back to the centre Ken received a text informing him that there were two Whinchat at Eyebrook Reservoir.  We called in the centre again as Terry had seen two Garganey and we did managed to find one, albeit rather distant before moving onto Eyebrook Reservoir.

On reaching Eyebrook Reservoir the Whinchat had disappeared and did not reappear despite a thorough search in ninety minutes.  I did see a fifth Dunlin and a Peregrine flew over and a nice juvenile Little Gull was also observed as it flew along the Leicestershire bank.

A short visit to Eyebrook Reservoir, Leicestershire & Rutland - August 14, 2014

Dave and I had called at Eyebrook Reservoir on route to a briefing meeting at Rutland Water regarding our Birdfair duties.


It was rather quite but we did have three Ospreys and a Red Kite over our heads and there was a single Shelduck and Little Egret at the inlet.  A Lesser Whitethroat and a Yellow Wagtail were also observed.

A day at Rutland Water, Rutland - August 12, 2014

I was helping out with the wildfowl count today and started in south arm three.  It was blustery on the north shore, which is pretty exposed and with choppy water it wasn’t easy counting.  The wildfowl numbers begin to increase during August and I counted over 500 Tufted Ducks and plenty of Mute Swans and Great Crested Grebes.  There were smaller numbers of Mallard and I had two Gadwall and a single Pochard.  There was five Little Egrets on the far shore and although the water level is now falling and there is a muddy edge there were no waders.  A Red Kite was observed close to the Old Hall but there was nothing else of note.

Having completed the count in the south arm I moved to Dunlin hide on lagoon four on the Egleton Reserve.  There were about fifty Teal but other than a few Mallard and couple of Shelduck and an odd Tufted Duck there was little else except for plenty of Greylag and Canada Geese.  I did find six Little Ringed Plovers, five Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper and counted over 150 Lapwings and there were three Ospreys over Burley Wood.  I moved on to sandpiper to try and get a better view of the waders but they were keeping low in the vegetation but I did count forty-four Common Terns on island ten spit.  I finally moved to plover hide on lagoon four to complete the count but added just a few Mallard and I assumed a Common Sandpiper was the one I had seen earlier.

Having completed my count duties I moved to shoveler hide on lagoon three where the water is now quite high.  There were circa twenty Swift over the woodland along the northern shore and plenty of Sand Martins but I found nothing unusual amongst the numerous wildfowl.  As I was scanning I picked up three waders flying over the water and immediately identified them as Turnstones.  They flew around several times before heading off towards lagoon four and disappearing behind the bund.  With nothing else of note I went back to sandpiper hide on lagoon four to try and locate the Turnstone.  There was no sign of the Turnstone but I did manage to increase the Ringed Plover count to eleven.  On my way back to the centre I called at grebe and redshank hides on lagoon two and found two Green Sandpipers from both of them.


After some lunch I handed in my count figures and spent some time looking over lagoon one from both the centre and mallard hide but there was no sign of the Pintail Terry had seen earlier but I did find a Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper.  I eventually went back to dunlin hide on lagoon four to view the gulls.  There were plenty of Black-headed Gulls on the lagoon and quite a few Great Black-backed Gulls on the area to the left of the hide.  Scanning through the gulls to the left I found nine Yellow-legged Gulls, including a moulting juvenile and there were a few Common and Lesser Black Backs as well as a single Herring Gull.  I then located a much paler juvenile that was about the same size as a Lesser Black-backed Gull.  Its head was pear-shaped and looked rather small and it was rather full breasted with the belly drooping behind the legs.  It was rather long-winged and also appeared to be long-legged.  I suspected that it was in fact a juvenile Caspian Gull but it had flown off before Steve arrived to confirm my identity.  There were now fourteen Ringed Plovers, two Dunlin, a juvenile Ruff and a Snipe flew over.


Adult Yellow-legged Gull


Second-summer Yellow-legged Gull


Second-summer Yellow-legged Gull


Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull


Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull


Juvenile Black-headed Gull


Adult Common Tern


Adult Common Tern


Adult Common Tern


Juvenile Common Tern


Adult Common Tern