I was out on my own today and
went straight to Rutland Water having to take it easy due to the icy
conditions. I had a Red Kite just west
of Cranoe and then two more as I approached Uppingham.
On arriving at Rutland Water I
went into the centre checking the feeding station before entering the
centre. There appeared to be more birds
visiting the feeding station mainly Blue and Great Tits but also, Pheasant,
Moorhen, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock and Chaffinch and a single
Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Dunnock at the feeding station
The light looking out from the
centre wasn’t brilliant due to the bright sunshine but I did count twenty-seven
Pintail and there was a pair of Shelduck and two male and two female Goosander
on the lagoon and a single Little Egret and two Curlew flew over. Erik had arrived and was buying a new pair of
binoculars and he decided to stay on and we walked to Shoveler hide on lagoon
three.
It was pretty quiet as we
walked down but we did have a single Marsh Tit near the gate at the far end of
the summer trail. From the hide we found
three male and six red-headed Smew and three Pintail on the lagoon and there
was a Green Sandpiper and three Redshanks feeding at the edges and areas of
exposed mud. A Red Kite also flew over
and I was able to get a few nice shots of it as it did so.
Red Kite
Red Kite
Red Kite
Red Kite
Lapwing
We made a brief visit to
Lapwing hide in south arm three but the light was pretty awful although we did
see the two European White-fronted Geese with Greylag Geese. We called at sandpiper hide on lagoon four
before going back to the centre seeing a Green Woodpecker as we approached the
path to the hide. There were a couple of
Shelduck, three Pintail and a couple of Little Egrets on the lagoon and we saw
another Red Kite, a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard and a couple of Ravens over Burley
Wood. Tim then called to ask where I was
as he had agreed to take me to hopefully see Jack Snipe in a restricted
area. I agreed to meet him the car park
and Erik and I left to return to the car park via the service road seeing a
Peregrine being harassed by two corvids over lagoon four and a Lesser Redpoll
before we reached the car park.
When Tim arrived we went to
the area and he walked through the grasses flushing a Snipe and another bird
which we didn’t get on to. With no luck
in the normal area we went to a different area we several Snipe were flushed
before a single Jack Snipe flew but disappeared out of sight behind one of the
hides.
On returning to the car park
we had some lunch and whilst talking two Pat a Grey Wagtail flew over the car
park and landed in the field gateway.
I was unsure of what to do in
the afternoon and decided to have another look on lagoon one that produced a male
Stonechat. I eventually decided to go
back to Shoveler hide on lagoon three, where we found Terry who was leading a
birding walk. The group were watching a
Jack Snipe and were able to get some nice views but the only other bird of note
not seen earlier was a Green Woodpecker and with no sign of the Bittern I
finally called it a day and headed back to the car park.
A Buzzard near Great Glen was
my only sighting of note on the drive home.
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