I was up early this morning to
empty the moth trap and for the first time this year trapped and identified
over one hundred moths. The total
reached 138 covering forty-five species of which seven were new for the year and
one Broad-barred White was a lifer.
The following were recorded:
Diamond-back Moth [1]; Emmelina monodactyla [1]; Light Brown Apple Moth [5];
Agapeta hamana [1]; Marbled Orchard Tortrix [3]; Celypha lacunana [2]; Codling
Moth [1]; Bee Moth [2]; Phycita roborella [1]; Small Magpie [2]; Chrysoteuchia
culmella [13]; Crambus pascuella [9]; Agriphila tristella [1]; Riband Wave [5];
Common Marbled Carpet [1]; Green Pug [2]; Foxglove Pug [1]; Common Pug [1];
Mottled Pug [1]; Scorched Wing [2]; Brimstone Moth [3]; Peppered Moth [1];
Willow Beauty [7]; Clouded Silver [2]; Light Emerald [1]; Pale Prominent [1];
Straw Dot [1]; Buff Ermine [6]; Common Footman [3]; Beautiful Hook-tip [1]; The
Spectacle [1]; Silver Y [1]; Marbled Beauty [4]; The Uncertain [7]; The Rustic
[2]; Large Nutmeg [4]; Dark Arches [3]; Marbled Minor Group [2]; Bright-line
Brown-eye [4]; Broad-barred White [1]; Varied Coronet [1]; Heart and Dart [24];
Turnip Moth [1]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [1] and Setaceous Hebrew Character
[1].
Emmelina monodactyla
Common Marbled Carpet
Broad-barred White
Turnip Moth
After finishing identifying
the moths in the trap and having some breakfast I set off for Eyebrook
Reservoir and arrived at the southern end at 08:20. From the gate opposite the entrance to the
fishing lodge there was a Whitethroat in the hedge and a Tree Sparrow flew
over. From the island coral there was a
Little Egret and an adult and a first-year Yellow-legged Gull on the island and
an Osprey was observed to the north of the island. From the northern coral there were three
Little Egrets, a pair of Shelduck with seven young and six adult and at least
six immature Common Terns around the nesting platforms and another Whitethroat
was observed in the hedge. On checking
out the old oak to the north of the reservoir one of the Little Owls obliged. A Chiffchaff was observed and a Willow
Warbler and Blackcap heard from the inlet bridge and I had heard another three
Whitethroats whilst driving around the reservoir.
From Eyebrook Reservoir I
headed off to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water seeing a Buzzard over the
Lyddington road. On reaching the reserve
I went to the southern lagoons and had a brief view of a Garden Warbler as I
approached Snipe hide on the Wet Meadow.
The only thing of note from Snipe hide was a Little Egret and so I moved
on to harrier hide to view the eastern end of the Wet Meadow and lagoon one.
When I arrived in the hide I
scanned the small flash to the left of the hide but there was no sign of either
of the adult, or young, Avocets, which was a disappointment. As I sat scanning the area I was sure I heard
an Avocet call but a further scanned still failed to produce any and so I moved
my position slightly and a single bird was then seen roosting on one of the
islands. A Grey Heron then flew over and
a second Avocet appeared and chased the heron away and just afterwards I saw
two of the young.
Grey Heron
Grey Heron being harassed by an Avocet
Grey Heron being harassed by an Avocet
Oystercatcher over the Wet Meadow
A Shelduck was also on the
flash and the Avocets were rather wary of it and appeared to move the chicks
when it came too close but I could still only see two and assumed that the
third chick had either been predated or died.
An Osprey was seen over lagoon one and a Red Kite more distantly beyond
the centre.
Feeling pleased that at least
two of the young Avocets were still alive and well, I moved on to lagoon six to see if there was
any sign of the young Redshanks.
There was a Whitethroat near
the turn to the lagoon six hides but I couldn’t see anything from tern hide and
so moved on to Pintail hide where I found an Oystercatcher and a Redshank. The Redshank was on the far side of an island
but I couldn’t see it all the time but its behaviour seeing off a Jackdaw would
suggest that there was still young present.
I eventually moved on to the 360 hide where the Mute Swan was still
escorting four young and there were two juvenile Great Crested Grebes. There were two Common Tern chicks on one of
the islands and there were at least five adults and possibly more amongst the
dense vegetation. Two Oystercatchers
were not surprising but two Little Grebes were as I had not seen them on this
lagoon for some time. As I came out of
the hide I scanned lagoon eight where there were two more Oystercatchers and
the Mute Swan was still escorting eight cygnets.
Young Great Crested Grebe
Adult Great Crested Grebe
Young Coot
Juvenile Lapwing
Erik was now on site and I met
him in the car park and after some lunch we went to Shoveler hide on lagoon
three. We had brief views of a Willow
Warbler on route and found Terry in the hide when we arrived. He informed us that there was a Spotted
Redshank, which was a nice summer adult.
There was a Curlew and four Green Sandpipers also present and two adult
Shelduck were observed as well as a single downy young, which appeared to be
fending for its self. This is now the
only young Shelduck I am aware of on the reserve and this pair may well have
started off with ten young and with all the young disappearing on the Wet
Meadow they appear to have had a poor time of it. A pair of Mute Swan was escorting two cygnets
and I counted twenty-five Common Terns feeding over the water.
Steve had joined us in the
hide and Erik and I went to sandpiper hide and Steve went back to the centre
via lagoon two. There were plenty of
Common Terns resting on the spit off island ten and one stood out having a
white forehead, a blackish bill and a faint carpel bar and it also appeared a
little smaller than the Common Terns.
The blackish bill appeared a little thinner then the nearby Common Terns
but we could see that there was some dull red at the base and eventually
concluded that it was a first-summer Common Tern. We also found two Little Ringed Plovers and
two Ringed Plovers on the islands and there were two Yellow-legged Gulls
amongst the more numerous Greater Back-backs.
We called at grebe hide on
lagoon two as we went back to the centre where we found four Green Sandpipers,
which were possible different to those seen on lagoon three.
During the day on the reserve I
heard five Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, four Blackcap, a Garden Warbler, three
Sedge Warbler and three Reed Warbler.
Insect wise there was a Large
White, a Common Blue, three Red Admiral, a Painted Lady, five Small
Tortoiseshell, six Speckled Wood, eighteen Meadow Brown, two Ringlet, three
Large Skipper, Brown Hawker, four Broad-bodied Chaser, five Black-tailed
Skimmer, a Common Darter, a Silver Ground Carpet and a Chimney Sweeper.
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