A Rutland Bird Race - May 12, 2015

I was taking part in a bird race within Rutland today and joined up with Tim Appleton. Lloyd Park, Chris Park, Terry Mitcham and Steve Lister at the cottage at Rutland Water at 04:00.  Just after I arrived we made our way to the reedbed on the reserve and we spent the next thirty minutes in the reedbed picking birds up on song and call.  The rest of the team added Water Rail and Tawny Owl but I failed to hear either of them and they were to be our only contacts of the day.  Other birds recorded were Greylag and Canada Geese, Pheasant, Moorhen, Coot, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Common Tern, Woodpigeon, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin and Reed Bunting.

With little else being added we moved on to sandpiper hide on lagoon four but with the light still rather poor it wasn’t too easy picking up small stuff but as the light improved we realised that there were quite a few waders on the lagoon and we continued to add species quite quickly, although we were in the hide for some time.  With some many people scanning birds came thick and fast with Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Gadwall, Mallard, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Oystercatcher, Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Curlew, Redshank, Great Black-backed Gull, Cuckoo, Carrion Crow, Starling and Pied Wagtail were all added quickly.  As the pace slowed and the light improved Steve saw a Whimbrel drop in and we were able to identify Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin and Turnstone in the flock of waders feeding on the rocky spit and Terry found a Barn Owl over the western bund.  Other species that followed were Teal, Shoveler, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Swift, Green Woodpecker, Goldfinch and Linnet.

As we left the hide and walked to Shoveler hide on lagoon three we heard Blackcap, Whitethroat, Dunnock and Chaffinch.  Shoveler hide only produced one new bird, which was Sand Martin and so we made our way out of the hide hearing a Cetti’s Warbler before we set off for the centre to overlook lagoon one.

A Rook, Jackdaw, Greenfinch and Chiffchaff were heard as we entered the centre and once inside Lloyd kindly serviced everyone with a welcome cup of coffee.  There was another Ringed Plover and a Whimbrel on one of the islands and Tim mentioned he thought he had the Greenland White-fronted Goose and a quick scan produced in on one of the islands.  There were numerous Sand Martins over the lagoon and a single Swallow called and was also observed.  Steve then found a couple of drake Wigeon and a distant Stock Dove and Buzzard and a Magpie flew just in front of the centre.  A quick check of the feeding station and we added Blue Tit, Great Tit, Marsh Tit and Chaffinch and a Collared Dove was heard but they all disappeared pretty quick as a male Sparrowhawk flew in.

There had been a pair of Pintail on the Wet Meadow recently and so our next port of call was Snipe hide.  As we approached the hide a Red-legged Partridge was found on the track but there was no sign of the Pintail on the flash.  We heard a Lesser Whitethroat off to the right of the hide and Lloyd picked up a House Martin over lagoon one and most of the group heard a Long-tailed Tit but I had to wait until late in the day before I eventually saw one.  Steve then announced that the female Pintail was flying in and it landed and began feeding on the flash.

We now entered a quiet period with nothing new being seen from either the 360° hide or lagoon seven, although we did see several more Oystercatchers, two Ringed Plovers, four Redshanks and several Common Terns.  A quick view into Manton Bay added Osprey but nothing else despite Tim walking the shore hoping for a Snipe.  As we headed back to the centre a cry of Great Spotted Woodpecker went up but being in the back of the bus Terry and I couldn’t get on it and I had to wait until our last site before I heard one drumming in Priors Coppice.

Lloyd dropped us off at Bittern hide but our hoped for Little Grebe failed to oblige and we walked over to plover hide to see if anything new had arrived on lagoon four.  There appeared to be more waders present, which included six Sanderling and three Turnstones but nothing new and so we walked across the road to the north arm.  We passed through the wood near the cottage hoping for Jay and Coal Tit but neither obliged.  Chris and I had fallen back from the rest and they had heard a Goldcrest, which had now gone silent.  Steve picked up a Red Kite over Burley and there was also a Raven that landed in a tree.  Lloyd had seen a Goldeneye in the fishponds and we walked towards them Steve picked up a couple of gulls flying over, which turned out to be Herring Gulls.  Chris then thought he had a Scaup amongst a party of Tufted Ducks in the north arm, which were some distance away and feeding but with patience we all got on the bird and confirmed that it was a male Scaup.  We eventually scanned the fishponds and the Goldeneye, which was a male, was no trouble and we also heard a Mistle Thrush call as we walked back to the transport.

We drove down the slope into the first section of Barnsdale Wood in the hope of finding a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that had frequented the area during March and April but there was no sign but we did hear a Nuthatch and I caught up with Goldcrest only to fall behind with a heard Treecreeper and we also had some nice views of a second Marsh Tit.

One of the great things about having Terry with on these days is his superb local knowledge and also he has access to areas that are not public or at least difficult to visit on foot.  Burley Wood in one such place and he was aware of another Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming in one of the roads at the weekend.  After parking we walked the short distance into the wood and down the ride but unfortunately there was no sign of the woodpecker but we did have both Coal Tit and Jay and also saw a Nuthatch.

We next moved Cow Close Farm, which is a site for Little Owl and on arrival Terry climbed over the fence followed by Lloyd to view a nest box in the barn but unfortunately the owl flew and disappeared over a hedge.  Chris saw it briefly but I, Steve and Tim failed to connect and we couldn’t find the second bird.

From here we entered Exton Park, which is a large area that can be accessed on foot but Terry has permission to use a vehicle.  We stopped at the side of a small copse where Terry had seen two Spotted Flycatchers at the weekend but with the wind now quite fresh woodland birds were becoming more difficult but I did hear a Treecreeper.  We spent quite some time looking for them and although they were heard a few times only Chris and Tim saw one well as it fed on the far side of the wood.  As we headed for Fort Henry Ponds we stopped near a barn and scanned the large fields seeing two Kestrels and a Yellow Wagtail and I caught up on Skylark that I had missed earlier.  On reaching the ponds we saw our only Hobby of the day and a pair of Grey Wagtail feeding young.

We then retraced our tracks before turning left and finding a first-year male Wheatear in the corner of a field before stopping alongside a narrow strip of scrub.  We walked below the road and scrub finding a superb male Wheatear, which was considered to be a Greenland Wheatear.  As we got to the far end we flushed a pair of Grey Partridge, which we then had close views of from the vehicle as we were moving towards Exton.  We also heard Yellowhammer and had our first House Sparrows in the village.

Having covered the key sites in the park we made our way back towards the reservoir and stopped briefly to view the River Gwash but other than a Green Woodpecker there was nothing else and we moved on to Normanton.

Our target at Normanton was Mandarin but there was no sign although we did find a single Common Sandpiper.  A quick visit to the old Luffenham Airfield produced Meadow Pipit but nothing else and we moved on to Ketton.

There was no sign of the hoped for Peregrine but we did find three Ravens and there were also several Feral Pigeons.  Still needing Kingfisher we drove the short distance to Tinwell and walked a short distance along the River Welland but without success.  We made a second visit to Ketton and from a different vantage point of the cement works Steve picked up a Peregrine flying in, which then gave some good views as it flew around the taller building before landing.

From Ketton we went to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water where we saw several Tree Sparrows.

There had been a Pink-footed Goose at Eyebrook Reservoir and so we made this our next call.  On arrival we saw quite a few waders flying, which then appeared to fly off to the east but they then back and we moved around to view them from the Rutland bank and identified both Ringed Plover and Dunlin.  With no sign of the Pink-footed Goose we went round to the northern coral to view the fields on the Rutland side but there was still no sign of the goose.  We could see the waders better from here and we counted twenty-one Ringed Plovers and ten Dunlin and also found two Little Ringed Plovers amongst the Ringed.  From the island coral we found two more Little Ringed Plovers, a Ringed Plover and two Common Sandpipers but with no sign of the Pink-footed Goose we headed back to Rutland Water.

From the centre we viewed lagoon one again and eventually found a Little Grebe and Lloyd found a Snipe on one of the islands.  We then walked to sandpiper hide on lagoon four, hearing Bullfinch on route.  Initially we found nothing new on lagoon four but then Steve found an Arctic Tern and we eventually had four.  We dropped Terry off at the cottage and then went onto Horn Mill Trout Farm and walked alongside the North Brook towards Fort Henry Ponds.  Lloyd had gone down closer to the brook when he called Kingfisher, Tim managed to get on it but both Steve and I failed.  As we walked further up stream one called but I failed to hear it and also had the same result as we walked back.

We had been given a reliable site for Grasshopper Warbler near Braunston and so we drove through the village and parked at the end of Wood Lane and then walked further along the track seeing another Spotted Flycatcher, a Bullfinch and hearing a Great Spotted Woodpecker before reaching a superb area of scrub.  There were plenty of birds including Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Meadow Pipit but if there were Grasshopper Warblers they didn’t sing whilst we were there and we eventually called an end to the day and returned to the cottage.

It had been a fun day birding that produced plenty of birds and the group finished on 115, whilst my personal total was 110.