I went to Eyebrook Reservoir
first this morning but saw very little either getting there or at the
reservoir. There was a single Barnacle
Goose and four Shelduck near the inlet but other than Lapwing I couldn’t locate
any waders but there were three distant Red Kites.
I had arranged to meet Roger
in the Egleton car park at Rutland Water at 08:00 and we would then drive to
the dam to hopefully see the Red-necked Grebe.
Roger had arrived a few minutes before me and I transferred my gear to
his car and he drove to the dam.
Apparently due to a request by the police the entrance to the south side
of the dam has now been closed off to the general public but there is a style just
a short walk from the pumping station.
As we scanned the water Roger found the grebe towards the Sykes Lane end
and other than a Yellow-legged Gull there was nothing else and we went to the
north arm.
There were several fishing
boats in the north arm and some of the birds had been pushed towards the
fishponds and I found the moulting Black-necked Grebe just off shore. There was a Common Sandpiper feeding on the
north shore and five Dunlin flew from the point as we approached. There were two Little Egrets and I counted
forty-nine Egyptian Geese around the causeway and thirty-three Little Grebes.
We eventually moved back to
the Egleton Reserve and found a Wood Sandpiper on lagoon one in pretty awful
light and so moved off to lagoon four, seeing a nice Lesser Whitethroat on
route. An Osprey, 51, was resting on one
of the perches and we found a single Ringed Plover, a Ruff, two Black-tailed
Godwits, two Common Sandpiper and two Greenshanks. There was a single Pintail and at least five
Yellow-legged Gulls and a Sparrowhawk flew over causing some disturbance.
Although the water has fallen
on lagoon three there is still very little exposed mud, although there were a
couple of Green Sandpipers feeding towards Bittern Hide. There were masses of
ducks on the lagoon, mainly Gadwall and Tufted Duck but there were also more
Wigeon and Shoveler today and several Pochard as well as seven Pintail. There were two nice juvenile Sedge Warblers
feeding just in front of the hide and there was also a single Reed Warbler and
a Water Rail in the reeds to the right but we only managed fleeting
glimpses. Nigel who had joined Roger and
I in sandpiper hide on lagoon four then shouted Bittern as it flew across the
lagoon and disappeared in the small southern reedbed. Roger had to leave early today and he wanted
to check out lagoon one before doing so. I walked back to the car park with him
and we had some lunch before returning to the centre to view the lagoon. There were ten Curlew on the long island and
we saw the Wood Sandpiper again as well as a Little Ringed Plover, four Ringed
Plovers, three Dunlin, eight Ruff, four Snipe and a couple of Green
Sandpiper. Roger eventually had to leave
and I was joined in the centre shortly afterwards by Pat. A Hobby then flew over and there were three
Garganey not too far away.
Sedge Warbler
Pat and I eventually left the
centre and went back to lagoon three but we saw very little and I went to
Dunlin hide on lagoon four with Pat leaving for home.
Pat and I eventually left the
centre and went back to lagoon three but we saw very little and I went to
Dunlin hide on lagoon four with Pat leaving for home.
Gadwall over lagoon three
Shoveler over lagoon three
Nigel was in Dunlin Hide when
I arrived only to inform me he had been watching a juvenile Little Gull for
about forty minutes but the gulls had flushed a few minutes before I arrived
and I was unable to find it, although an adult was seen after I had gone. There were two Dunlin and most of the waders
I had seen earlier were still present so I decided to go back to the north arm
where a Black Tern had been reported.
Second-year Yellow-legged Gull over lagoon four
I walked towards the end of
the spit and found the Black Tern almost immediately and two Redshanks feeding
in the southern corner where my last additions of the day.
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