I went out with David and
Roger today and we headed for Eyebrook Reservoir first, approaching the
reservoir form the northern end and seeing a Red Kite before we dropped down
the hill to the reservoir. As usual this
month there was no sign of the Little Owls along the entrance road and the only
waders, other than Lapwing, we could find were three Little Ringed
Plovers. A scan of the reservoir
produced the pair of Shelduck with seven young, eight Little Egrets and three
Common Terns. There were at least six
Yellow Wagtails near where we had parked and three Ravens flew to the east with
a forth being seen to the west and a Red Kite was observed over the southern
end of the reservoir. There were circa
forty Swift over the water with most appearing to move through and while
scanning these we found a Swallow and a couple of House Martins.
Swift
Yellowhammer with food for young
From Eyebrook Reservoir we
went to the north arm at Rutland Water and walked to the end of the old road to
view. There were three Common Sandpipers
and a second-summer Caspian Gull on the bund and seven Little Ringed Plovers,
two Dunlin and a Redshank at the end of the spit. Six Curlew and two Greenshank were on the
southern shore and we found an eighth Little Ringed Plover on the northern
shore. The two adult Shelduck and their
two young were also on the southern shore and there were at least five Little
Egrets between the bunds and the fishponds and over Burley Wood we had two Red
Kites and a Sparrowhawk.
Adult Common Tern in the north arm
Adult Common Tern in the north arm
Adult Common Tern in the north arm
Adult Common Tern in the north arm
Third calendar year Caspian Gull
Third calendar year Caspian Gull
As we were driving out of the
road from the cottage there were three Stoats, presumably young, on the road
and after parking carefully we were able to watch and photograph them for quite
some time before another vehicle disturbed them.
Two of the Stoats
Stoat
Stoat
Two of the Stoats playing
Two of the Stoats playing
Two of the Stoats playing
Two of the Stoats playing
When we arrived at Egleton
there was a report of a White-letter Hairstreak on Lax Hill and so we headed
off in that direction, calling at Snipe hides first. There were two Redshank on the flash from
Snipe hide and a couple of Oystercatcher flew over and David found two
Black-tailed Godwits on lagoon one but we couldn’t find anything unusual
amongst the ducks and coot on lagoon one.
We continued on to Fieldfare hide as there had been a few waders there
earlier this week. When we arrived the
only wader we could find was a Green Sandpiper along with four Little
Egrets. As we were scanning the area a
Hobby flew over and the Great White Egret then dropped in giving good
views. A nice Buzzard, which was
probably a juvenile, was also observed over Brown's Island. David decided he was going to go see the
Manton Bay Ospreys but Roger and I decided to stay in Fieldfare. Not too long after David had gone we had some
reasonable views of an Osprey over lagoon one and the Great White Egret flew
off and presumably went to Heron Bay, which is its preferred site. Roger and I finally decided to head off back
to the car park for lunch.
Little Egret feeding near Fieldfare hide
Little Egret feeding near Fieldfare hide
Little Egret feeding near Fieldfare hide
Little Egret feeding near Fieldfare hide
Little Egret feeding near Fieldfare hide
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret flying off
Comma near Snipe hide
David was sitting waiting back
at the car when Roger and I got back and Brian, his granddaughter and Roger
Brett arrived followed by Ken after his trip to India. Ken then joined us when we went to Shoveler
hide on lagoon three.
The water level is gradually
coming up on the lagoon although it was still pretty dry close to the
hide. We saw an adult Avocet and heard a
second calling but we couldn’t see any young but apparently two out of the
three are now back with their parents, which is good news. Whilst we were in the hide I saw a
Sparrowhawk causing mayhem on lagoon four and then it or another was observed
over the wood with a Buzzard. In an
attempt to see the young Avocets we went to Bittern hide but due to the
vegetation we were still unable to see them but we did have several views of
Reed Warbler.
Adult Avocet alighting on lagoon three
Having now joy we walked back
to sandpiper hide to view lagoon four where we found an Oystercatcher, two
Little Ringed Plovers, four Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin. There were also twenty-seven Yellow-legged
Gulls but we couldn’t find anything else of note amongst them.
Common Gull over lagoon four
We made a final call at the
centre but the only addition was two Dunlin and we decided to go home via Eyebrook
Reservoir. We didn’t actual stop at the
reservoir but just made another unsuccessful stop for the Little Owls.
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