A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - March 19, 2015

I was out with David and Roger today and we initially went close to Gartree Prison as there had been a Wheatear in the field to the east yesterday.  We saw a Buzzard perched alongside the Great Glen bypass on route, however there was no sign of the Wheatear this morning but we did have a flock of circa seventy Golden Plover flying over the field.

With no sign of the Wheatear we set off for Eyebrook Reservoir and arrived at the southern end where we found four Tree Sparrows near the old feeding station and a Little Egret and a Dunlin were at the island.  A stop at the northern corral produced just four Shelduck but nothing else and so we checked out the Little Owls but again there was no sign.  From the Rutland Water we found eight Shelduck but the only wader was a single Lapwing and there was a Buzzard over Holyoaks Wood.

Feeling we had exhausted Eyebrook Reservoir we went to Barnsdale to view the north arm.  There was a Goldcrest and Chiffchaff hawking insects as we walked down to view the water and there was another Chiffchaff near where we stopped to view.  Roger soon picked up the two Black-necked Grebes and there was a female Scaup quite close with a group of Tufted Duck.  Although there were a few geese on the far side of Dickinson’s Bay we could only see Greylag and Canada Geese.  As we walked back there were three Chiffchaff hawking insects, which made it four in total.

We then headed for Hambleton and dropped down to the Old Hall to view the south arm.  I picked up one of the Great Northern Divers straight away but there was no sign of the second bird.  The news was that the Slavonian Grebe was showing well just a short walk into the south arm three.  When we arrived at the spot we found that the grebe had gone further out but it gradually came back towards the shore and provided some excellent photos opportunities, despite the poor light.

Slavonian Grebe

Roger then found a nice male Red-crested Pochard, which was my first sighting since January 1^st, when there were six males in the north arm and we had our fifth Chiffchaff as we walked back to the car.

We called at the western end of the north arm where there were two female Goosander and the three Barnacle Geese on the north shore.

After some lunch in the Egleton car park we checked the Egleton feeding station where a Marsh Tit obliged before we checked out lagoon one from the centre.  A Snipe and a Dunlin were observed in flight over the lagoon with both heading off towards Lax Hill.  There were three Shelduck and five Pintail on the lagoon and we then picked a party of Dunlin in flight as they landed on one of the islands.  Roger scoped them and confirmed that there were nine.

We heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and saw a Bullfinch and Treecreeper and had four Curlews in flight as we walked to the northern lagoons.  We decided our best option was to go to plover hide on lagoon four and hopefully avoid the chilly northerly wind.  I checked to the right of the hide and found a male and two red-headed Smew in the corner.  As we scanned the lagoon I counted eight Shelduck, twelve Pintail, two Little Egrets and four Ringed Plovers.  David then picked a party of waders in flight and we eventually established that there were two of the Ringed Plovers and ten Dunlin.  Roger then found a third red-headed Smew in the corner and I picked up a forth close to Dunlin hide.

Drake Smew

Being close to Bittern hide we made a visit and were rewarded with a Water Rail, which called several times before Roger found it skulking in the reeds.  Two Buzzards soaring over the wood behind the reedbed was our only sighting today and there were two more Shelduck and a pair of Pintail between Bittern and Shoveler hides.

Female Gadwall on lagoon three

Male Mallard on lagoon three

We returned to the centre for a further look over lagoon one and saw several Dunlin still on the islands and an additional three Shelduck and two Pintail were visible on the Wet Meadow.  Roger noticed a Barn Owl sitting outside the nest box close to the poplars and a male Sparrowhawk flew in front of the centre before heading off over lagoon two.

As there appeared to be little else at Rutland Water we decided to call at Eyebrook Reservoir again on the way home.  We had both Coal and Marsh Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the feeders and there were six Dunlin at the inlet and a Red Kite was observed to the west.  There were plenty of gulls assembling at the pre-roost that included all five common species but there was nothing unusual and we finally called it a day having recorded eight-four species.