A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - September 16, 2014

I was out a little later today due to the foggy conditions and only left as the sun began to shine.  However on route to Eyebrook Reservoir the fog thickened again and was very slow to clear at the reservoir.

Initially I went to the first cattle pen to view the inlet but could see very little although eventually found a couple of Shelduck and eight Pintail.  With no sign of any waders I drove to the southern end to view the island but other than a couple of Little Egrets and a Yellow-legged Gull there was very little.  I counted over a hundred Red-legged Partridge, which have been released for shooting, along the road and in the fields.  As the fog began to clear I went to the Rutland bank to view the inlet.  There were a couple of juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and a Snipe feeding in the stream and I eventually found three more Snipe and three Dunlin and a Green Woodpecker flew over the road.

With visibility still not perfect I decided to go to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water.  It was about 11:30 when I arrived in the car park and I went to the centre to observe lagoon one before I took my lunch.  One of the first birds I saw was a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper in the company of a single Dunlin.  There was also four Ruff, two Black-tailed Godwits and a Green Sandpiper and a Kingfisher made a brief visit.  Scanning through the wildfowl I found a single Pintail and there were seven Little Egrets on the lagoon.

Whilst having lunch I had a Kestrel over the car park and a distant Sparrowhawk over Brown’s Island.  I went back to the centre after lunch but there was no sign of the Curlew Sandpiper or Dunlin, apparently the Sparrowhawk had flushed everything and they had not returned.  Ken joined me in the centre and we then went to shoveler hide on lagoon three.  There were two Snipe and three Green Sandpipers to the left of the hide and masses of wildfowl.  Scanning the wildfowl I found a couple of Pintail but there was no sign of the recent Red-crested Pochard.  A couple of Hobbies were observed over the northern edge of the lagoon, a distant Sparrowhawk over the north arm and a juvenile Marsh Harrier flew over the lagoon before alighting in the reedbed.  The Marsh Harrier had green-wing tags on both wings and apparently it had been raised somewhere near Holkham, Norfolk.

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Juvenile Hobby

Having exhausted lagoon three we moved to sandpiper hide on lagoon four.  There was a Little Ringed Plover on the first area of mud in front of the hide and a Ruff and Greenshank were also observed on more distant areas.  Whilst in the hide an adult male Peregrine flew over and I saw a distant Red Kite and Buzzard.

Male Peregrine

A further visit to the centre failed to add anything new for the day and I eventually called it a day and headed off home, looking forward to a day in Norfolk with Roger and Steve tomorrow.