Roger and I were attending a
Birdfair Volunteer’s Meeting at 10:00 but we left earlier and went to Eyebrook
Reservoir before travelling to Rutland Water.
As the northern entrance road
had been closed earlier in the week we drove in from the southern end seeing a
Red Kite along Stockerston Lane as we approached the reservoir turn. We stopped by the gate leading to the fishing
lodge where we were eventually rewarded with a single Tree Sparrow and we found
a Common Sandpiper from the first bend.
There were good numbers of passerines in the hedge running away from the
reservoir but they were mainly Goldfinch and Linnet. We parked and entered the corral overlooking
the island but other than eight Common Terns on the island and a Little Egret
and Yellow-legged Gull to the south there was very little. We checked the old oak unsuccessfully for
Little Owls before parking close to the bridge over the inlet. From the road we had three Chiffchaff and
nice views of a Garden Warbler but other than a distant Osprey it was rather
quiet. Parking further along the Rutland
bank we were able to overlook what appears to be superb habitat for passage
waders but all we could find were three Oystercatcher. A Shelduck flew from the direction of the
stream and settled on the water and there was a single Common Tern flying over
the water. As I scanned the far shore I
picked up a falcon approaching fast from the south and as it got closer I was
able to see it was a Hobby. It dipped
below the hedge and when I next saw it, it was flying higher over the inlet
before continuing to the north. With the
time approaching 10:00 we moved off to the Volunteer’s Training Centre at
Rutland Water.
The meeting was well organised
and didn’t last as long as in previous years and following the meeting Roger
dropped me off at the cottage and he took Erik home to get his gear. I walked down the road and through the gate
to view the north arm and found two Common Sandpipers on the bund along with four
Yellow Wagtails. There were two Curlews
on the north shore and just after I found these Roger returned. After he had seen the Curlew, Common
Sandpipers and Yellow Wagtails we moved through the gap to view the spit but
there were three fishermen and consequently no birds. The small spit was also devoid of birds but
we did find two more Curlew, two Common Sandpipers and two Redshanks on the
southern shore. Erik then came back and
promptly found a female Common Scoter loafing on the water. As we scanned Burley Wood we saw a Red Kite a
Sparrowhawk and an Osprey and second Osprey flew over the north arm. As we started to walk back to the car I
noticed a couple of Ravens flying from Burley towards the north arm before they
disappeared from view.
After some lunch in the
Egleton car park we were joined by Ken and after a quick look at lagoon one,
seeing the Great White Egret, a Snipe and a Greenshank before we set off for
the northern lagoons. As we walked down
the track we stopped to talk to Rick and Graham and whilst doing so noticed
several birders photographing something in the sky but couldn’t locate
anything. As we got closer we realised
it was a bat, which turned out to be a Daubenton’s and it continued to perform
for several more minutes, slowing our pace to the hides.
Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
With the bat eventually
disappearing we continued to Shoveler hide on lagoon three where we found a
Dunlin, three Green Sandpiper and three Redshank, which presumably included the
two we had seen earlier in the north arm.
There were just eight Common Terns on the lagoon, which might suggest
that some have already begun their migration south and a Kingfisher seen twice
by myself was missed by Roger.
Juvenile Redshank
We eventually moved to
sandpiper hide on lagoon four where we found an Oystercatcher and a couple of
Little Ringed Plovers. There was also
Ringed Plover and Dunlin but after Erik spotted what appeared to be more waders
on island eight we moved to Dunlin hide.
From the hide we were able to determine that there were at least five
Ringed Plovers and eleven Dunlin on the lagoon.
Ken then departed indicating he would see us in the centre.
Not too long afterwards we set
off back towards the centre but whilst on the summer trail Ken called to say
that the Great White Egret was stood on the duck trap on lagoon two and was
visible from Redshank hide. As we
entered the hide Ken said quick there is a Marsh Harrier out here but we
needn't have worried as it remained for a while in the company of two Ospreys. We eventually called it a day and headed off
back to the car park and home.
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Juvenile Marsh Harrier and Osprey
Juvenile Marsh Harrier and Osprey
Juvenile Marsh Harrier and Osprey
Juvenile Marsh Harrier and Osprey
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