A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - November 11, 2014

Dave had gone to Rutland Water yesterday and found a Long-tailed Duck in the north arm and so I decided I would head there first.

I saw a Buzzard on route near East Norton and arrived at Rutland Water around 07:30.  Steve and Terry were there and we walked down the road to the end of the spit together.  We stopped and the gate when Terry picked up an adult Peregrine perched in a dead tree to the right of Burley House.  When we reached the end of the spit it there was a fresh south easterly breeze and it felt quite cool.  We scanned the water for the Long-tailed Duck and the Black-necked Grebes but were not having much luck.  I mentioned that the duck was with Goldeneye yesterday and Steve indicated that there was a group of them between us and the near end of Armley Wood.  I scanned the group of Goldeneye and almost immediately found the Long-tailed Duck just slightly behind the Goldeneye but despite further searching we couldn’t find the grebes.  There was at least eighteen Little Egrets with most of them quite close to the bund and there were four males and four female Red-crested Pochard to the right but with little else Terry and Steve departed.  After they had gone I saw a couple of Red Kites over Burley Wood and just before I was about to leave a Great White Egret flew out of the fishponds.

When I arrived at the centre there was a Great White Egret on lagoon one, which had been there at least fifteen minutes and was almost certainly the second bird.  I also counted forty Pintail on the lagoon and there were five Snipe on the long island and six Curlew feeding in the meadow.  Dave had indicated that there had been some Lesser Redpolls on Lax Hill yesterday and so I set off in that direction.

I called at Snipe hide first but there was nothing unusual and so I moved on to harrier hide.  As I lifted the flaps in the hide I noticed and egret amongst the cattle and assumed it would be a Little Egret.  However on lifting the binoculars I saw that it was a Cattle Egret, which was a new arrival.  I called Steve to let him know about the find and then Andy who would tweet the information for local birders.  I also called the centre having taken a few photos in case it decided to depart.  It was about 09:40 when I located and it was apparently still there at 11:30 when it flew off and was then found on private land at 12:45 but the news was not released until after dark.  I also saw c.500 Golden Plover in flight over the lagoons whilst in the hide.

Cattle Egret on the wet meadow

Once I knew that others had seen it I moved onto Gadwall Hide where there was a large raft of duck, which were mainly Wigeon and Tufted Duck but there was also Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and Great Crested Grebe.

I continued onto Lax Hill and went to Robin Hide to view the feeding station, which is where the Lesser Redpoll had been yesterday.  There wasn’t too much food in the feeders but there was a steady coming and going of Blue and Great Tits and also Chaffinch and there was also a couple of Coal Tits, a Marsh Tit and a Nuthatch.

I continued on around Lax Hill before dropping down to the hides on Heron Bay.  There was nothing of note from either Wigeon or heron hides and Kingfisher Hide on lagoon eight produced the same result.  There was very little on lagoon five, which I viewed from the 360° hide and so I walked back to the car park for lunch.

Hare near heron hide

Rook near the 360° hide

Colin arrived as I was having lunch and I joined him in the centre but there was no sign of the Cattle Egret and so he went to harrier hide whilst I went to Lapwing Hide to view a concentration of wildfowl I had seen from Gadwall hide earlier.  There were plenty of Wigeon and Tufted Duck and a few Goldeneye but very little else.  I called at crake hide on the way back towards Shoveler Hide but again there was very little except for a Little Egret.  Whilst in the hide Colin text to say there was a Slavonian Grebe in the north arm and so I walked back to the car park and drove to the north arm to join him and Richard.  Colin had been looking unsuccessfully for the Long-tailed Duck and wasn’t sure where the grebe was now but said Steve had said it was differing off towards Dickinson’s Bay.  Colin departed back to his car for a coffee and I began to scan for the Slavonian Grebe, which I found almost immediately and it wasn’t too far away.  The Great White Egret was still on the bund but even when Colin returned we were unable to locate the Long-tailed Duck.

My final call at Rutland Water was to the Lyndon Reserve as Steve had seen a five or six male Scaup to the east of the centre.  After checking the feeders where there was a single Tree Sparrow and walked along the track to view the bay the Scaup were apparently in.  When I arrived they were some distance away but I did locate a male and female.

As I drove along Lyndon Road a party of fifteen Fieldfares flew over, which was my largest flock of the autumn.  Although I had seen a couple of Fieldfare and several Redwings early they still remain quite scarce in the counties.

I called at Eyebrook Reservoir briefly on route home but other than a Pink-footed Goose, six Golden Plovers, a couple of Dunlin and a Red Kite and Buzzard there was little else and I called it a day.