I didn’t leave too early today
due to fairly thick fog, however when I departed in still quite foggy
conditions within about five miles the fog disappeared and it became a
beautiful sunny morning. On route I had
seen a single Buzzard just after turning onto the B664 to Uppingham towards Eyebrook
Reservoir.
As I approached Eyebrook
Reservoir the fog thickened again and it was still quite misty when I reached
the track to the fishing lodge. There
was very little visible just a few Blackbird and Chaffinch. I moved around to the first coral where I
counted twenty-one Cormorants but there was nothing else of note. When I reached the second coral the fog had
almost gone but I realised that I had left my tripod at home, which was not
good news. I did find three Dunlin and
counted 640 Golden Plovers but other than a single Snipe there was little of
note.
I called Steve to find that
there was no sign of yesterday’s Snow Bunting and it would appear that it had
gone. I went to the Egleton Reserve and
asked in the centre if I could borrow a tripod and Tim Mackrill thankfully
sorted me out. Now having a tripod and
went to the north arm where I met Nigel.
Between us we found two Barnacle Geese, a Shelduck, six male and three
female Red-crested Pochard, seventeen Little Egrets, a Black-necked Grebe and a
single Redshank. A Green Sandpiper was
also found in the fishponds and two Red Kites and a Buzzard were observed over
Burley Wood and a male and female Kestrel were hunting in the north arm.
I eventually went back to the
Egleton Reserve and took an early lunch before going to the centre with Mike to
view lagoon one. There was at least four
Snipe, nine Curlew and a Redshank feeding in the shallows and there was a
female Stonechat right in front of the centre.
The Great White Egret was still present and there were four Little
Egrets also on the lagoon.
Mike and I then set off to
Shoveler hide on lagoon three and were joined by Pat. Mike and Pat had got a little ahead of me as
I had received a phone call from Dave and they flushed a Sparrowhawk, which
then flew across the meadow before disappearing on the far side. On reaching Shoveler hide other then two male
and two female Red-crested Pochard and couple of drake Pintail there was little
else, although a Red Kite and three Buzzards were circling overhead.
Pat and Mike departed but I
continued on to Lapwing hide to view South Arm Three. Again there were fewer birds, particularly
Tufted Ducks, and there was no sign of the Ring-necked Duck. The island that has failed to appear this
year was now close enough to the surface to allow Cormorants to rest and it may
still appear but too late for wader migration.
I scanned lagoon two from the hide and found a single Black-tailed
Godwit but there was little else.
A visit to Dunlin hide
produced very few gulls as the water level had risen further and consequently
there were also fewer Lapwings, although there was at least fifty Golden
Plover.
Wren from Dunlin hide
Wren from Dunlin hide
With still some daylight
remaining I decided to go back home via Eyebrook Reservoir and managed to find
another Dunlin, two Ringed Plover and fourteen Snipe.
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