It was extremely windy when I
set off for Rutland Water hoping that the two Temminck’s Stints would still be
present, although I had my doubts due to the poor overnight weather. The rain had ceased when I arrived in the
Egleton car park but it was still incredibly windy as I walked along the
service track to lagoon four and sandpiper hide. When I arrived in the hide I found Tim
Mackrill already scanning the lagoon but he had seen just a Little Ringed
Plover, a couple of Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin. I had no better luck and when he left I had
found just the two Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin.
Shortly after Tim left Steve arrived and soon became obvious that there
were few waders present. Steve did find
Hobby towards Oakham and a Yellow Wagtail on island six and whilst I scanned
for the wagtail I found a Little Ringed Plover and we finished up with three
Oystercatchers. Steve departed and went
to lagoon three and I followed a short while afterwards going to Bittern hide
on the lagoon. Other than a few Common
Terns there was very little and I went to plover hide on lagoon four but only
added Common Gull to my day list. I
decided to call at Shoveler hide on lagoon three before going back to the
centre and found three Teal, a drake Wigeon and four drake Pochard and I had an
Osprey visible over the north arm. As I
was about to leave a text arrived indicating that a Little Tern had been seen from
Wader Scrape hide in south arm two.
I was intending to visit the
southern lagoons after calling at the centre but decided to give the centre a
miss and head off towards the south arm.
I called at the 360° hide on route and
found a single Oystercatcher and two Redshanks on the shore leading away from
the hide and there was a single Common Tern on one of the islands. There were also three Oystercatchers and a
Redshank on lagoon eight and all nine Mute Swan cygnets were still
present. I continued on to Wigeon hide
that overlooks south arm three and to my relief the wind was not blowing
directly into the hide and I was able to scan the area without too much
trouble. There were quite a few Common
Terns feeding over the water and it didn’t take too long to locate the Little
Tern and although it was rather distant I did get some reasonable scope
views. The two Ospreys were both
present, although it is not yet possible to see any of the three young
birds. I called Steve to inform him that
the Little Tern was still present before making my way back to the centre.
I called at both Pintail and
tern hides on lagoon six but other then four Shelduck and a single
Oystercatcher there was little else.
From harrier hide the pair of Avocets was still present and there was
also a pair of Shelduck with a brood of eight in the same area. I continued on to Snipe hide on the Wet
Meadow where there was another Oystercatcher and one of the Avocets made a
brief visit to the flash. With little
else I went back to the car park for lunch where I saw Mike, who had seen what
he thought was a Sanderling on lagoon three.
Ken arrived an shortly afterwards Steve appeared and after a brief chat
Ken and I set off for lagoon three. When
we arrived we soon located the Sanderling on one of the exposed areas of mud
and a Hobby provided some nice if brief close views. We had discussed whilst in the car park news
of a Grey Phalarope at Brandon Marsh, which had been identified as a female and
Pat texted me to say it was worth seeing as it was in full summer plumage. I had already called Roger to see if he was
able to go tomorrow but after talking to Pat decided that we should go this
afternoon. I called Roger back and thought
he could get away the afternoon after finishing his grandfather duties. So after checking lagoon four unsuccessfully
for a reported Little Tern but seeing an Oystercatcher chick Ken and I returned
to the car park.
After some discussion Ken
decided he would like to go as well and so he followed me to Roger’s and then I
drove from there to Brandon Marsh. When
we arrived the centre was shut but am employee showed us the out of hours
entrance and we walked towards East Marsh only to be told that it had departed
at 16:30, just about the time we left Roger’s.
We continued on to the hide to find out that it been harassed by a
Lesser Black-backed Gull and after making several attempts to land decided to
go, flying over the hide and not being seen again. During the short time we were in the hide we
saw five adult and three juvenile Oystercatchers, four Little Ringed Plovers,
two Redshanks and a couple of Common Terns.
It was very disappointing not
seeing this bird and I suspect it might some time before another in this
plumage appears. It also seem quite
likely that if the Lesser Black-backed Gull had not taken an interest it
probably would still have been there when we arrived but that’s birding for you
as sadly you can’t win them all.
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