I had to go a different route
to Eyebrook Reservoir today due to road closers but saw a couple of Red Kites
near Tugby on route. On arrival at
Eyebrook Reservoir there was no sign of the Little Owls and stop at the bridge
produced very little, except for a Little Egret in flight and a Red Kite. The water level had risen quiet considerably
but there was still some exposed mud where I counted fourteen Dunlin. Two more Red Kites were observed and two
Shelduck on the water were the only wildfowl of interest and I found two
Red-legged Partridge in one of the fields on the Leicestershire bank. The feeders in the Stoke Dry parking area
were attracting a few birds that included a Coal Tit and a couple of Marsh
Tits.
I arrived in the north arm at Rutland
Water hoping that the Great White Egret present yesterday would still be there
but all I could find were five Little Egrets. There were a male and two female
Goosanders in the fishponds and a drake Smew was feeding close to the second
bund. I found very little scanning the
north arm but two Egyptian Geese flew over and there was a Buzzard over Burley
Wood. With no sign of the Great White
Egret I went to Dickinson’s Bay hoping it might be there but there was no sign
but I did find one of the Black-necked Grebes and a few Little Grebes.
I had seen Tim earlier who
suggested that I took a walk through the reedbed area on lagoon three and so I
went back to the cottage and then walked into the fishponds area. This is an area that is not public access and
just after entering I found circa forty Goldfinches feeding in one of the
alders but despite completing a circuit around the main area saw very little
else, eight Reed Buntings being the best.
On reaching the Egleton
Reserve I went to the Bird Watching Centre to have a look over lagoon one
before I had my lunch. I checked the
feeders first but a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Coal Tit were the best. From the centre there were two male and a
female Goosander and I counted fifty-nine Pintail. Five Curlews were feeding on the meadow
towards the Wet Meadow and a Water Rail ran across the path in front of the
centre. There had been some rain whilst
I was in the centre but as it eased I went back to the car park for my lunch.
The rain had cleared has I set
off towards lagoon three and the cloud was breaking but it was noticeably
cooler as the wind had veered into the west.
There were another two male and two female Goosanders and a couple of
Shelduck on lagoon two and there was a small party of Redwings in the large
meadow. On reaching lagoon three the
water level was still low and there were at least two Redshanks and a single
Green Sandpiper feeding in the shallows.
There were another nine Pintail on the lagoon and I eventually saw three
Smew, a male and two red-heads. A Snipe was
then observed in flight, but they appear to be pretty scarce at present. As I was scanning an unusual duck flew to the
right before flying back to the left and settling on the water before swimming
out of sight behind the reed island. It
turned out to be a Fulvous Whistling Duck, which I had seen previously in the
States, but was obviously an escape.
With little else and the hide becoming quite full I moved on to crake
hide only to find there was no longer any visible shoreline and on reaching
Lapwing hide the south arm island was gone due to the rising water levels. It always surprises me how quickly the
reservoir fills once pumping starts.
Whilst there were plenty of birds from Lapwing hide there was nothing of
note.
Drake Pintail on lagoon three
Female Tufted Duck from Lapwing hide
Drake Goldeneye from Lapwing hide
Coot from Lapwing hide
Coot from Lapwing hide
On returning to Shoveler hide
it was still full and so I continued on to Bittern hide where I had further
views of the Green Sandpiper and a Green Woodpecker flew in front of the
hide. I eventually noticed that the flaps
were all closed in Shoveler hide and so I went back to get a better look at the
reedbed and hopefully a sighting of a Bittern.
Steve and Terry and the Tim Appleton and Tim Mackrill joined me in the
hide and Terry picked up a Sparrowhawk has we scanned the reeds for a
Bittern. It was quiet late when I picked
up some movement at the top of the reeds and saw a Bittern stretch its wings,
after which it became very difficult to see.
I eventually left as the light faded leaving Steve and Terry in the hide
with Terry still trying to locate it.
Adult winter Herring Gull over lagoon three
Adult winter Herring Gull over lagoon three
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