I went to Eyebrook Reservoir
on route to Rutland Water seeing a couple of Red Kites as I drove along
Stockerston Lane and a Buzzard just after coming out of Blaston.
I approached the reservoir
from the southern end and found five Fieldfare and two Tree Sparrows near the
old feeding station. Surprisingly there
were still plenty of Red-legged Partridges around considering the regular
shoots and I counted sixty from the southern perimeter road. When I arrived at inlet most birds were in
the air but they soon settled and there were twenty Golden Plovers, four Dunlin
and twelve Snipe, although the water had risen and there was no visible
mud. I had counted forty-eight Pochard
near the island, which is a good number for here but other than a Shelduck at
the inlet there was little else.
When I arrived at the Rutland
Water Bird Watching Centre I decided to walk to Lax Hill and check out the
feeding station. I had single Coal and
Marsh Tits on the centre feeders and Tim asked me to fill the feeders on Lax
Hill if necessary. I called at Snipe
hide initially and as I approached the hide a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew
over. There was a pair of Shelduck on
the flash and a Great White Egret was visible on the long island on lagoon one
and a Buzzard on the old Kestrel box and I also counted thirty-three Pintail on
the lagoon. With little else I moved on
to harrier hide but saw very little and so moved onto Fieldfare hide. As I walked along the path a Red Kite was
observed to the east and eleven Redwings were observed in the wood to the right
but there was very little from Fieldfare and so I continued. On reaching Gadwall I was surprised to find
very little as there had been plenty of ducks just over week ago and the
Long-tailed Duck was seen from here yesterday.
Despite a good search I was unable to find the Long-tailed Duck and so I
continued onto Robin on hide on Lax Hill.
The feeders were completely empty as was the dustbin that contains the
food and so I was unable to fill the feeders.
I went to Goldeneye hide but other than hearing a Redshank saw noting of
note. I decided to recover my steps and
called at Mallard hide on lagoon one where I found nine Curlews bathing in the
shallows and there was a single Little Egret but the Great White Egret had
disappeared.
Nine Curlew on lagoon one
Eight Curlew flying off after being disturbed by an aircraft
After some lunch I set off
towards Shoveler hide on lagoon three and bumped into Bob as he was returning
to the car park. I Great Spotted Woodpecker
flew over as we stood talking, although Bob hadn’t seen too much but said the
Red-necked Grebe was still on lagoon three.
When I reached the hide I soon found the juvenile Red-necked Grebe but
there was very little else. I called at
crake hide on route to Lapwing hide but other then another Little Egret there
was little else. On reaching Lapwing
hide there was a mass of birds between the hide and the green bank but on
scanning I found that most were Coot, although there were good numbers of Wigeon
and Tufted Duck as well with a few Goldeneye but I didn’t see anything
else. On scanning another flock
alongside Brown’s Island I found a single female Scaup amongst the Tufted
Ducks. I had a look on lagoon two from
the hide and found a Great White Egret on the far shore, which was then joined
by the second after a few minutes. I
continued onto Smew hide but couldn’t see either of the Great White Egrets but
counted fourteen Pintail. After a few
minutes one of the Great White Egret appeared and then they both flew towards
Lapwing hide but I could then only find one on the lagoon.
Great White Egret
I called at Buzzard hide on
lagoon three and found the Red-necked Grebe close enough to get a record short
but unfortunately it gradually moved away towards the centre of the lagoon.
Juvenile Red-necked Grebe
As I was walking towards
sandpiper hide on lagoon four a Cetti’s Warbler burst into song but as usual
there was no sign of it. There were
thirty Shoveler on lagoon four as well as two Shelduck, four Little Egrets and
two Yellow-legged Gulls. I eventually
made my way back to the car park and drove to the north arm.
The light was beginning to
fade and I couldn’t find the Greenland White-fronted Goose, the Slavonian Grebe
and either of the two Black-necked Grebe, although they had all been seen
earlier. One of the two Great White
Egrets was on the bund along with nineteen Little Egrets with another three Little
Egret in the fishponds. There were three
Barnacle Geese amongst a flock of Greylag Geese on the north shore with a drake
Goosander on the water and two females on the shore. Again I heard a Redshank calling but was
unable to locate it although I did find another Yellow-legged Gull amongst the
pre-roost gathering.
With the light fading fast I
eventually called it a day and headed off home seeing a Buzzard and Green
Woodpecker near Tugby.
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