Having finished emptying the
moth trap and having breakfast I set off for Eyebrook Reservoir. I arrived at the southern end and headed for
the northern coral checking unsuccessfully again for the Little Owls as there
was no sign. From the coral all I could
find were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and a single Little Egret. I heard an Oystercatcher calling and three
dropped in amongst the Lapwings, shortly followed by a second Little
Egret. There were five Common Terns and
the pair of Shelduck was still escorting their seven young. David had done quite well yesterday with
three Sanderling, four Dunlin and a Black-tailed Godwit but there was no sign
of any of them today. I drove to the
southern end of the reservoir and parked near the entrance to the fishing lodge
but all I saw of note was a single Tree Sparrow. I drove back to the island coral where there
were another six Common Terns but nothing else of note. Three fishing boats then came across causing
some disturbance and four Little Egrets flew over and I then noticed a single
Dunlin on the spit and an adult Yellow-legged Gull flew in. I eventually returned to the northern end of
the reservoir where I saw a Yellow Wagtail and heard a second and found four more
Little Egret. With little else visible I
set off for Rutland Water.
At Egleton I went to Snipe
hide on the Wet Meadow but there was no sign of the reported Great White Egret
and it had probably moved on to Heron Bay or South Arm Three near Fieldfare
hide. There was a lot of disturbance on
lagoon one with all the ducks moving of the islands and the Lapwings and
Black-headed Gulls taking to flight and a few minutes of scanning and I had a
brief view of a Sparrowhawk just before it dropped in to a bush on the edge of
the meadow. I eventually moved on to
Fieldfare hide where there were four Little Egrets, a Greenshank and three Green
Sandpipers. Surprisingly there was also
a pair of Shelduck with three well grown young that was close to fledging. I haven’t seen any broods of Shelduck for
some time at this end of the reserve and it is possible that they were part of
the brood that were originally on the Wet Meadow. A Hobby flew over between the hide and lagoon
one but with little else I moved on.
Juvenile Robin near the centre
Shelduck with young
Pair of Shelduck
Two of the three young Shelduck
Black-tailed Skimmer
My next stop was harrier hide
to see how the Avocets were doing but when I arrived it was very quiet and
there was no sign of any young or adults.
After about a quarter of an hour there was still no sign and I became
concerned and so I called Tim.
Apparently the chicks had been rung yesterday and the adults were now on
lagoon three but there was no sign of any young. With little else of note visible from the
hide and went back towards the centre and after checking the Wet Meadow
unsuccessfully for the Great White Egret from Snipe hide and returned to the
car park for lunch.
Whilst I was having lunch Tim
called to say he had found an Avocet chick along the path to Lapwing hide near
lagoon three and caught it and released it on to lagoon three with the adults.
After finishing my lunch I set
off for the northern lagoons when Erik arrived and so we walked to Shoveler
hide together seeing a Whitethroat near the badger hide. We saw both adult Avocets but there wasn’t any
sign of the young, although their behaviour suggested that young were
present. Tim Mac then entered the hide
with two others and they had been looking for the missing Avocets but without
success. He went to check behind the island
of reeds and was able to confirm that there was just one young bird. In checking behind the island there was some
disturbance and thirty Teal took to flight but most other birds just seemed to
move away and Erik picked up a Spotted Redshank on the furthest island. A few minutes later I thought I heard a
Greenshank and shortly afterwards Erik indicted that there was one on the same
island as the Spotted Redshank. There
were three Shelduck on the lagoon and one was a young bird now fledged and was
presumably the only survivor of the brood on lagoon three.
One of the adult Avocet on lagoon three
Erik and I then went to
sandpiper hide on lagoon four where we found six Little Ringed Plovers, three
Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper and a Redshank. There were also seventeen Yellow-legged Gulls
and as we scanned the gulls Erik located a summer adult Mediterranean Gull
amongst a party of Black-headed Gulls.
There was some disturbance towards the new centre and a few second later
a female Sparrowhawk flew over the lagoon carrying prey and a Hobby then
flashed across the front of the hide and headed off towards lagoon two. Erik eventually called it a day and headed
off to the centre but all I saw after he had departed was an Osprey over the
fishponds. My phone than rang and it was
Erik informing me that Colin and Chris had found a Whimbrel and Little Tern in
the north arm. I informed Normal who had
joined me in the hide before I set off back to the car park and then driving to
the north arm.
Yellow-legged Gull over lagoon four
Yellow-legged Gull over lagoon four
When I arrived Erik was with
Colin and Chris and the Little Tern was observed just off the spit before it
flew further up the reservoir. The
Whimbrel had disappeared but it wasn’t long before it reappeared and although
quite distant the head pattern could just be made out. Colin, Chris and Erik then departed just as
Norman arrived and although I got him on the Whimbrel we were unable to
relocate the Little Tern. I eventually
had to leave and left Norman looking in vain for the Little Tern.
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