A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - May 9, 2015

I was out with David and Roger today and we headed straight to Rutland Water as there had been a Temminck’s Stint yesterday evening on lagoon four.  It was pretty windy when we arrived on site and we walked down the service road to Dunlin hide where we found two Little Ringed Plovers, eight Ringed Plovers, a Sanderling and ten Dunlin but there was no sign of the stint.

We went to plover hide for a different views of lagoon four for another look for the Temminck’s but again all we could find were a few Ringed Plovers and Dunlin and the Sanderling and so we moved, hearing a Cetti's Warbler on route, to sandpiper hide but again had the same result.  The waders were becoming increasingly difficult to locate and we suspected that some might have left but they could of course just be sheltering form the strong wind.  Whilst we were in the hide we saw a Red Kite and several Buzzards over Burley and a Red Kite, Buzzard and two Ospreys came much closer and were soaring over the north east corner of the lagoon.  There were three very vocal Oystercatchers on the lagoon and twenty-five Common Terns were resting on the spit off island ten.

Will little else we moved to Shoveler hide on lagoon three but weren't too optimistic about finding too much but David found a Black Tern amongst the Common Terns almost straight away.  As Roger I and scanned the terns we felt we had seen two and eventually we saw them both together and at last my boggy spring bird was on the list.  There were twenty-nine Common Terns feeding over the lagoon and there were also numerous Swifts both over the lagoon and beyond, with numbers significantly more than in recent days.  It is amazing how these birds all seem to arrive in mass during early May with just a few earlier sightings.  We could hear several Reed Warblers and a Sedge Warbler singing but none were showing.

We walked back to the car park for lunch and were joined by Erik before we set off to Snipe hide on the Wet Meadow.  As we walked to the hide we heard several Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Garden Warblers as well as a single Lesser Whitethroat and a Sedge Warbler actually showed briefly.  When we reached Snipe it was pretty quiet although a Hobby came quite close to the hide and I was able to get a few shots off.

Hobby over the Wet Meadow

Swift over the Wet Meadow

We moved on to the 360° hide on lagoon five there were plenty of Swifts and hirundines and there was a single Dunlin and three Redshanks.  Two Oystercatchers were still sitting on nest and a third bird was seen to arrive and exchange positions on the nest.  There was also a couple of Common Terns feeding over the water and the Greenland White-fronted Goose was preening on one of the islands.

Redshank

Swifts

Sand Martin

We walked back to the centre and Erik went onto lagoon four, whilst we went back to the car for a coffee before setting off with the intention of calling at Eyebrook Reservoir.  Erik sent a text indicating that there was just a Sanderling on lagoon four and so we set off for Eyebrook Reservoir.  As we approached the traffic lights in Uppingham Erik called to say he was watching a Temminck’s Stint and so we went back to Rutland Water and joined him in Dunlin hide.  He still had the bird in view when we arrived and we had reasonable, if distant, views of the bird as it fed along the edge of island five.  It was joined by several Ringed Plovers and Dunlin and eventually flew to the back spit when it was disturbed by a Carrion Crow.  I suspect that it had probably been present all day as it could easily have been overlooked or out of sight behind one of the islands, particularly if it wasn’t particularly active.

Swift over the Egleton Reserve

With nothing else new on the lagoon we walked back to the car park and called at Eyebrook Reservoir on route home.  There were eleven Ringed Plovers, a Sanderling, twenty-nine Dunlin and a Greenshank as well as resident four Common Terns and we also found a single Yellow Wagtail.  As we were leaving we checked out the old oak and found one of the Little Owls and we also had a couple of Buzzards before we got back to David’s.