A day in Leicestershire & Rutland Jun 19, 2017

I was out with David today and our plan was to go to Ketton as he was hoping to see a Hornet Moth.  As Eyebrook Reservoir was basically on route we called there first seeing a Great Spotted Woodpecker as we stopped to look, unsuccessfully for a Little Owl.  At the reservoir there were good numbers of Swift, Swallow and House Martin over the water and we did find a single Sand Martin amongst them.  There were four Common Terns and three young terns on each of the pontoons.  Two Egyptian Geese were unusual visitors but other than hearing a Willow Warbler and Blackcap near the bridge there was little else and so we moved on to Ketton.

There was a Red Kite over Glaston on route to Ketton but on arrival the weather was not in favour of seeing Hornet Moths as it was overcast and fairly windy, although it wasn’t cold.  We parked alongside the poplar trees that the moths favour and I found a couple on the first tree I looked at, but they were the only ones.  With our target safely in the bag we moved to the parking area near the reserve entrance and spent a couple of hours on site.  There were over twenty spikes of Bee Orchids just through the gate onto the reserve and we found another along the valley where there were also so plenty of Spotted Orchids and a smaller number of Twayblade.  A party of birds were clearly mobbing something inside the wood and as we were searching I saw a Tawny Owl fly across the valley followed shortly afterwards by a Jay.  We also found a couple of Chrysoteuchia culmella and a Common Carpet and as the weather seemed to be improving we entered the barbeque area where we found a Large Skipper and perhaps more surprisingly a Green Hairstreak.

Bee Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Twayblade

Large Skipper

Green Hairstreak

With some intermittent sun we decided to go further and into the quarry area where we found three Marbled Whites, a Small Heath and a Burnet Companion.

Six-spot Burnet caterpillar

Marbled White

Before leaving we scanned the cement works from both sides in the hope of finding a Peregrine but there was no sign and so we continued on to Rutland Water.  A Red Kite was observed over the A606 before we reached Empingham and a Hobby was observed over Burley Wood from the north arm at Rutland Water.  With little else we went to the Egleton car park where we had lunch.

After lunch we made our way to the northern lagoons visiting Shoveler hide on lagoon three first.  There were two Green Sandpipers and two Shelduck were escorting three young.  There were fewer Teal today with just six being seen but there were ten Pochard on the lagoon.  At one point there appeared to be quite some disturbance over lagoon four and then on lagoon three and David then picked up a juvenile Peregrine amongst a party of Lapwing.

From sandpiper hide on lagoon four we found four Oystercatchers, two of which were escorting a single young bird, a Little Ringed Plover, a Ringed Plover, a Curlew and an adult and two second-summer Yellow-legged Gulls.  We also had at least two Red Kites, two Buzzards and two Ospreys over Burley.

Female Kestrel from sandpiper hide

Female Kestrel from sandpiper hide

With still some time before we needed to leave we went to harrier hide to check on the breeding Avocets.  When we arrived both birds were present with the female still sitting and the behaviour of a couple of Redshanks suggested that they may have young but we were unable to locate any.  An Osprey flew in over the lagoon and provided some nice views as it hovered looking for fish and a second Hobby was observed.

Osprey over lagoon one

Osprey over lagoon one

Osprey over lagoon one

Osprey over lagoon one

Despite the weather not being great until late in the day we recorded eighty species of bird, six species of butterfly, three damselflies and six moths.  With Marbled White, Hornet Moth, Chrysoteuchia culmell and Burnet Companion at Ketton and Emerald and Blue-tailed Damselflies and Nemophora degeerella and Chimney Sweeper at Rutland Water all being new for the year.

Nemophora degeerella