There were two Buzzards
perched in the dead tree on the approach to Cranoe and a Sparrowhawk flew over
the road to the north just before I entered the village.
I approached Eyebrook
Reservoir from the southern end as I was unsure if the bridge would be open as
work was being carried out from the 2nd. Three Tree Sparrows were observed near the
old feeding station and a Red-legged Partridge was on the road before I reached
the first bend. I stopped to look over
the bay where there was a sizeable flock of wildfowl that included Wigeon,
Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and Tufted Duck and also an odd Great Crested Grebe and
there was a Kestrel perched in a tree just inside the reservoir confines. I continued along the western shore adding
very little except for a few Pochard and Goldeneye. On reaching the turn to Stoke Dry I could see
that the road was open and that there was no sign of any work being carried out
on the bridge. I drove by the turn and
continued to Stockerston before turning and coming back to view the old oak. There was a Buzzard perched in a tree
alongside the stream and there was c.300 Fieldfares in the field on the right
amongst which I found three Redwings and the Little Owl was obligingly sitting
in the oak.
I drove over the bridge to the
eastern side where I counted fourteen Dunlin on the far shore amongst the
Lapwing flock and saw a Red Kite to the northwest. With little else in evidence I continued to
the feeding station in the Stoke Dry car park but most of the feeders were
virtually empty and very little was visiting, although a Marsh Tit came in
several times. I also scanned the flock
of wildfowl between the car park and Holyoaks Farm but there was no sign of any
Smew but just as I was about to leave a red-head flew in from the south. As I left the reservoir a Red Kite was
observed over Stoke Dry village.
I went straight to Dickinson’s
Bay at Rutland Water in the hope of finding the Black-necked Grebes but there
was no sign. I called Steve who had also
looked for them unsuccessfully and he also informed me that he had not been
unable to find the Red-necked Grebe either.
There was very little in Dickinson’s Bay six Little Grebes, a party of
Tufted Duck and a few Goldeneye on the water with Wigeon, Gadwall and Teal on
the bank and a single Egyptian Goose was seen in flight.
I viewed the north arm from
the end of the cottage road but again there was very little with three Barnacle
Geese amongst a small party of Canada Geese being the best.
On checking the book in the
Bird Watching Centre very little had been reported over the last few days and
so I set off for Snipe hide on the Wet Meadow.
When I arrived at the hide there were sixteen Shelduck either on the
flash or roosting alongside it and another two were on the wet meadow. A Curlew was feeding quite close to the hide
and I eventually found another four on the wet meadow along with two
Oystercatchers and a Snipe and there was a third Oystercatcher on lagoon
one. There were also two drake and a
female Pintail along with a couple of Shoveler on the flash. A single Buzzard was also observed over
Brown’s Island and a Little Egret flew in.
Shelduck roosting on the Wet Meadow
Drake Pintail on the Wet Meadow flash
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Curlew on the Wet Meadow
Little Egret on the Wet Meadow
Lapwing over the Wet Meadow
From Snipe hide I headed for
Shelduck hide on lagoon five and to view lagoon seven. There was a single Shelduck and two Pintail
on lagoon seven and from Shelduck hide I found another Shelduck and three
Pintail. I called at Mallard hide on the
way back to the centre where there were five Curlew, which were then joined by
another five, which were presumably the five I had seen earlier on the Wet
Meadow. There was also a single Shelduck
and another ten Pintail and a second Buzzard over Brown’s Island.
Drake Mallard on lagoon five
Drake Pintail over lagoon five
Whist talking to Steve in the
Egleton car park two Red Kites flew north over lagoon one. Steve had seen very little during his circuit
of the reservoir, a single Pink-footed Goose being the only bird of note.
After agreeing with Steve that
it was obviously a quiet day I headed off for Bittern hide on lagoon three,
seeing three Song Thrushes and two Mistle Thrushes on route.
Mistle Thrush
Mistle Thrush
On arrival in Bittern hide it
was obviously very quiet on lagoon three with just another Shelduck being of
note. As I scanned above the trees I saw
a Red Kite and four Buzzards but there was very little else and I moved on to
plover hide on lagoon four.
Moorhen from Bittern hide
There was very little from
plover hide and so I decided to go to Dunlin hide. When I opened the flap at the end of the hide
there were four Curlews on the bank and I then noticed a drake and a red-headed
Smew to the left of island eight. There
was a second red-headed Smew in the centre of the lagoon and just to the right
of the hide. There was also a good
number of Shoveler, with over twenty present, as well as sixteen Pintail and
another eight Shelduck. Two Ringed
Plovers were observed on island seven and then two more, or possibly the same
two, on the end of island nine and a Redshank was on island seven. At least two Red Kites and four Buzzard were
observed over Burley Wood, although intermittently. I final decided I would call it a day and
call at Eyebrook Reservoir again on the way home.
When I arrived at Eyebrook
Reservoir the Stoke Dry feeders had been replenished and there appeared to be
more birds when I first arrived but the only addition to this morning’s
collection was a Coal Tit. I drove
around the northern edge of the reservoir and went into the corral at the
northern end. There were plenty of gulls
on the mud and in the shallow water with all five commoner species represented
but there was nothing unusual. The
Lapwing flock took to flight on several occasions and were joined by a party of
Dunlin and I managed to count twenty-six, which was more than I had seen this
morning. As I looked down towards the
bridge a Little Egret was still present and then I noticed a Barn Owl
quartering over the meadow to the west of the stream. It disappeared for a few minutes and then
headed towards me passing within a few meters of the corral but I had left the
camera in the car thinking as the light was starting to go there wouldn’t be
any opportunities, how wrong could I be.
I rushed to the car hoping it might stay close or comeback but the next
sighting was close to Holyoaks Farm entrance after of which it continued
heading south along the bank.
The strong wind hadn’t helped
today and with many of the Rutland Water wintering birds failing to appear it
had been rather quiet and disappointing but the Barn Owl was a nice surprise
and a good end to the day.
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