I was out locally today and
set off for Eyebrook Reservoir but saw very little on route but one of the
Little Owls obliged as I approached the reservoir. A stop at the bridge produced a Chiffchaff,
Willow Warbler and a male and female Blackcap.
I parked overlooking the inlet and could see a number of Ringed Plovers
on the far shore and as I scanned through them I found a Sanderling and a
Dunlin. I thought I might be able to see
them better from the coral and drove around to the Leicestershire side. However on entering the coral I couldn’t see
a single wader and so returned to the Rutland bank. Graham had arrived and I parked close to him
and his friend and finished up counting thirty Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin as
well as seeing the Sanderling again.
Graham then departed and shortly afterwards Roger arrived and I stayed
with Roger looking for the Sanderling and counting the Ringed Plovers
again. We soon located the Sanderling
and three of the Dunlin but couldn’t get as many as thirty Ringed Plovers and
we assumed that some birders were now resting amongst the ground disturbed by
the cattle and were out of sight. I
picked up a Red Kite and three Buzzards on the Leicestershire side and Roger
found a soaring Sparrowhawk. Roger then
found a Pink-footed Goose amongst several Greylags and there was a single
Shelduck roosting on the Leicestershire bank.
The geese eventually flew off and I picked up the Pink-footed Goose
amongst only to realise that were in fact two.
We eventually called it a day and headed off to Rutland Water but not
before I added a Little Egret in flight as I drove away.
At Rutland Water we went
straight to sandpiper hide on lagoon four as two Temminck’s Stints present
since Thursday evening were apparently still on lagoon four. When we arrived in the hide it was pretty
full but we were able position our scopes and were soon watching the two
Temminck’s Stints. There were quite a
few waders on both islands six and nine that we joined by a narrow strip of
land exposed by the low water. There
were twenty-six Ringed Plovers, fourteen Sanderling and a couple of Dunlin and
these were joined briefly by a single Redshank.
Elsewhere on the lagoon were two Egyptian Geese, four Shelduck and two
Oystercatchers. One of the Temminck’s had
disappeared when Ken joined us in the hide and as we got him on to one, we
eventually realised he was in fact looking at a different bird and that they
were now both on few again.
Roger and I went on to
Shoveler hide on lagoon three, which was pretty quiet but we did have a Mallard
with a brood of three, a Little Egret, a Hobby and three Common Terns and a
Cetti’s Warbler was heard. I called Ken
as we left the hide to return to the car park and he joined as we walked along
the summer trail.
Female Mallard with one of the three ducklings
Common Tern over lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
Common Tern over lagoon three
After lunch we went to Snipe
hide on the Wet Meadow where we saw a couple of Oystercatchers. I had seen both the Avocets that were closer
to harrier hide but we decided to go there to get better views as Roger hadn’t
seen them and Ken only part of the head of the sitting bird. When we arrived in the hide both Avocets were
still present and there was also a Redshank.
As I scanned the sky above lagoon one I picked up a Hobby above Brown’s
Island and eventually found a second as they were hawking over the wood. We moved on to Pintail on lagoon six where
there were four Shelduck but there was no sign of any Oystercatchers or chicks.
As we continued around the
path towards the 360°
hide an Osprey flew over heading towards lagoon one only to
return a few minutes later. From the 360°
hide there we saw a couple of Oystercatchers but again no young,
two Redshanks and there were at least four Common Terns nesting on one of the
islands. With little else we made our
way back to the centre but other than three drake Wigeon and a Little Grebe
there was little else and I called it a day.
During the day at Rutland
Water I had also observed two Red Kites, a Sparrowhawk, six Buzzards a Blackcap,
a Garden Warbler and Whitethroat and also heard Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler,
Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler.
No comments:
Post a Comment