With a summer plumage Spotted Redshank
being present on the Wet Meadow at Rutland Water yesterday I headed off with
high hopes of a County year tick. When I
arrived in the Egleton car park there was a brisk north east wind that made it
feel rather chilly but at least the sun was shining. I set off to snipe hide on the Wet Meadow but
it was pretty quiet with little song and just as I approaching the turning to
the hide Steve and Terry appeared indicating that the bird was not there. I knew that it had been present on lagoon
five at some stage during yesterday afternoon and so we continued on to the 360
hide, having brief views of a Lesser Whitethroat before reaching the hide. There was no sign of the Spotted Redshank and
the only things of interest on the lagoon were two Pochard and several Common
Terns nesting on one of the islands.
There were a couple of Red Kites and two Buzzards visible to the west
but with still no sign of the Spotted Redshank, Steve and Terry decided to go
and check out lagoon four whilst I continued on to check out lagoon seven.
As I walked down to view the
lagoon there were a couple of Buzzards and a Kestrel soaring to the south west
and there was a single Redshank on lagoon seven along with an Egyptian Goose,
six Shelduck and at least eight Common Terns sitting on nests. Having no luck with the Spotted Redshank I
decided to go to Wigeon hide to overlook the south arm as there had been a
Black Tern there yesterday.
Juvenile Long-tailed Tit
On reaching the hide I could
see that there were plenty of terns over the south arm and Manton Bay area and
it wasn’t too long before I located the Black Tern amongst the thirty plus
Common Terns. Both of the Ospreys were
present with the female on the nest and the male on the cross perch but there
was no sign of the young.
After calling Steve to let him
know the Black Tern was still present I walked the short distance to Kingfisher
hide on lagoon eight. There was very
little of note present on the lagoon but it was nice to see that all of the
nine Mute Swan cygnets were still present and there were also a couple of
Oystercatchers.
Mute Swan with cygnets
Cygnets
Cygnets
Pair of Tufted Duck on lagoon eight
Having photographed the
cygnets I continued on to Pintail on lagoon six where there was couple of
Shelduck and an Oystercatcher. From tern
hide on the same lagoon there were another two Oystercatchers and a pair of
Mute Swan with five cygnets.
I continued on to harrier hide
to get a view of lagoon one and the Wet Meadow. There was very little visible
on the lagoon from the hide but an Avocet was still sitting on the Wet Meadow
but sadly there were now only five of the eight Shelduck ducklings
present. As I scanned the area to try
and locate the second Avocet I found a Little Egret but there was no sign of
the Avocet and I assumed that it was out of sight on the distant flash. The sitting Avocet suddenly got off the nest
and flew around calling and I suspected it was seeing off a potential predator
but I couldn’t see what it was from the hide.
It had no sooner dropped back onto the island than it was up again
calling but this time on landing returned to the nest. I was a little surprised that the other bird
failed to make an appearance and began wondering where it was.
Avocet
Avocet
Avocet
Swift
I eventually moved on and
headed for Snipe hide at the other end of the Wet Meadow, hearing just a single
Willow Warbler before reaching the hide.
Brian was in the hide when I arrived who had not seen very much from the
hide. As I scanned the flash looking for
the second Avocet I found the Spotted Redshank in the far corner and got Brian
onto it. At one point it disappeared
behind an island of Juncus and it is possible that it was perhaps here when
Steve and Terry had looked earlier but was out of sight. I then noticed that the two Shelduck and the
brood of five and they went onto the flash, having walked across the
meadow. Once on the flash the male bird
began chasing everything in sight, including the Spotted Redshank, which flew
much closer and allowed me to get a few record shots of the bird.
Spotted Redshank
Spotted Redshank
The Spotted Redshank
eventually returned to the far corner where it was joined by a couple of
Redshank. I called Steve to inform him
that the Spotted Redshank was still present but other than seeing a drake
Wigeon on lagoon one and a Buzzard flying west over the lagoon I saw little
else. As I approached the cycle track a
Hobby came over but disappeared a quickly as it had appeared heading towards
lagoon six. I called at Mallard hide on
route back to the centre but other than another couple of male Wigeon there was
very little.
I made a brief visit to the
centre before going for lunch and found Steve and Terry just leaving to go to
Snipe hide but they had seen little, other then the Black Tern, during their
circuit of the reservoir.
After some lunch I set off to
the northern end of the reservoir and called at sandpiper hide on lagoon four
first. One of the first birds I noticed
was a Greenshank directly in front of the hide before it flew off and dropping
near island seven where it continued to feed.
As I scanned the lagoon I found four Oystercatchers, several Ringed
Plover and a single Dunlin and there was also an adult Yellow-legged Gull just
beyond island seven.
Greenshank
I moved onto Shoveler hide on
lagoon three and found an Avocet bathing just in front of the hide, which I
assumed to be one of the two birds nesting on the Wet Meadow as this would
explain why I had only seen one this morning.
As I scanned around to my left there was a Redshank feeding on the now
exposed mud and I then noticed another bird close to it, which turned out to be
the first returning Green Sandpiper.
Avocet
Avocet
I went on to Bittern hide but
now the water had dropped it looks less appealing to birds and so I moved to
plover hide on lagoon four where I found a Ringed Plover sitting on island
three but before I had left the hide it had joined another bird some distance
away and didn’t return. There was an
Oystercatcher escorting what is now a good sized young bird and what I presumed
was the other adult reappeared and landed on island three. After quite a bit of dialogue between the two
adults I was surprised to see the one escorting the young bird join the other
and actually mate whilst the young bird remained on the shore.
Ringed Plover on island three
Oystercatcher on island thre
Oystercatcher and chick
Oystercatchers copulating
I called at Shoveler hide
again and saw much the same as earlier except for seeing a Hobby flying low
over the reeds before climbing and disappearing behind the wood. A further visit to sandpiper hide produced a
Little Ringed Plover and the Greenshank again.
I finally returned to the car
park and was just about to change my shoes when Tim called to say that there
was a drake Garganey in front of the centre.
As I hadn’t seen one locally this year I walked the short distance back
but it had disappeared and I had an anxious few minutes wait before it reappeared. It was still looking rather smart although
there was signs of it starting to moult into eclipse plumage and it was an
excellent close to the day.
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