I was out with Roger today and
with the Waxwing still being present we went to Corby first to see it. When we arrived we found Dave who had seen
the bird but after hearing it call he had been unable to relocate it. Malcolm had told me yesterday that it did
disappear at times but would return to feed in the bush it was in last
night. After about twenty minutes it
flew back into the top of the trees across the road and then flew towards the
small bush before veering off and landing in the trees opposite. It remained in the trees for several minutes
but eventually came to the small bush and immediately began feeding on the
berries, provided some excellent views before flying back across the road.
Waxwing
Having seen the Waxwing superbly
well we moved off and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir. As we turned and headed for Great Easton
there was a Red Kite over the road and we stopped at a roadside tree just
beyond the village hoping for a Little Owl.
There was no sign of the Little Owl but we did have seven Fieldfares and
a couple of Redwing in the field behind the tree.
When we arrived at Eyebrook
Reservoir we headed for the northern corral and counted twelve Shelduck and
found a Snipe and a Redshank. We then
checked the old oak for a Little Owl without success and we saw very little
from the Rutland bank, a single Red Kite being the best.
Kestrel at Eyebrook Reservoir
Kestrel at Eyebrook Reservoir
Appearing to have exhausted
Eyebrook Reservoir we headed off to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water. On arrival we inspected the feeders, seeing
at least nine Tree Sparrows, before walking east beyond Gibbets Gorse to view
the south arm and hopefully the Great Northern Diver. We were on the point of giving up when I
picked it up almost in South Arm Three.
We then saw it several times between dives and at one point it appeared
to becoming closer but the next time we saw it, it had moved considerably
further away. When we walked down from
the car park we had heard a Chiffchaff but it stopped singing and we were
unable to locate it but as we walked back it was singing again. However as we approached the area it stopped
singing again but this time we were more persistent and after a few minutes it
started singing again and we found high up in one of the tallest trees. After some lunch we drove the short distance
to Egleton seeing a Buzzard as we turned towards the village and then a
Sparrowhawk as it flashed across the road heading down the first of the
streets.
After parking we checked the
book in the centre and then headed off towards lagoons five and seven. We had a quick scan of lagoon seven as we
went up the ramp to Shelduck hide on lagoon five but there was nothing
unusual. From Shelduck hide we found a
couple of Little Egrets, a pair of Oystercatchers and a Redshank and there was
a Red Kite towards Egleton. On leaving
the hide we checked out lagoon seven more carefully and found three Shelduck,
seven Pintail, a Green Sandpiper and two Redshanks. As I had seen the Great White Egret in Heron
Bay on Sunday we decided to go to heron hide to take a look. We saw both a Red Kite and Buzzard close to
lagoon six and an Oystercatcher on lagoon eight with two more on Lax Hill. When we reached the hide there was no sign of
the Great White Egret and there was very little else in the bay and with the
sun making if difficult looking towards Manton Bay we headed off back towards
the centre.
Male Reed Bunting at the Egleton feeding station
Little Egret over lagoon five
We called at Snipe hide on the
Wet Meadow and there were sixteen Shelduck and seven Pintail on the flash with
a Little Egret and a Curlew on the Wet Meadow and a nice male Sparrowhawk
perched on a post between the meadow and lagoon one. There were another two Pintail and at least
twelve Dunlin on lagoon one and as we were watching these Steve joined us in
the hide. Roger and I were about to
leave when Gerry called Steve to inform him that he had found a Red-necked
Grebe from heron hide and we thought that we should have perhaps persisted
longer earlier as we headed back to the hide.
When we arrived Gerry apologised as he had made a mistake as it wasn’t a
Red-necked Grebe but a Slavonian Grebe, which wasn’t really a problem as it was
a County year tick. We called Erik to
let him know about the grebe and he indicated that he would join us soon. Although he was cycling from Oakham we all
decided after forty minutes we couldn’t wait any longer and Roger and I set off
for the centre, whilst Steve and Gerry headed for Goldeneye hide. As we approached the cycle track we saw Erik
who was standing at the end of the track.
We were surprised he didn’t come towards us but on getting to him he had
unfortunately had a puncher and was having to almost carry his rather heavy
bike. He was talking about walking back
to Oakham with it but we convinced him he better off leaving it at the centre
and then coming back and repairing the puncture on site. Roger even offered to take him home so he
could back tonight and get it fixed today but he declined as he wanted to see
the grebe. I had a text from him latter
saying he had seen the grebe and was hoping for the Waxwing tomorrow.
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