I arrived at Eyebrook
Reservoir from the north this morning but there was still no sign of the Little
Owls. I stopped at the bridge where I
had a Marsh Tit and a Chiffchaff and there was a Green Sandpiper feeding on the
stream and a Kingfisher made a brief visit.
I saw eleven Little Egrets during my visit and an Osprey was observed
perched in a distant tree. The only
other birds of note were two juvenile Shelduck and two Common Terns.
From Eyebrook Reservoir I went
the north arm at Rutland Water and found a Common Sandpiper and a Green
Sandpiper on the now exposed bund within the fishponds and there were another
three Common Sandpipers on the new bund.
Another birder then picked up the Wood Sandpiper on the southern shore
and there were five Curlews on the north shore.
There was a Red Kite and seven Buzzards observed over Burley Wood and a
Kestrel was located perched on a post on the north shore. A Yellow-legged Gull was resting on the north
shore and there were at least three Yellow Wagtails amongst the more numerous
Pied Wagtails around the new bund.
Having exhausted the north arm
I decided to visit the Lyndon Reserve and on arrival walked down to shallow
water hide. I had seen very little
walking down to the hide but on arrival found three juvenile Ruff just to the
right of the hide. Further scanning
produced six Common Sandpipers and five Green Sandpipers and there were three
broods of Tufted Duck present in the bay.
The juvenile Ospreys from the Manton Bay nest are now starting to roam
and consequently seeing an Osprey in the bay cannot be guaranteed, although two
were seen during my visit.
Ruff
Steve and Terry had joined me
in the hide and said that they had seen two Spotted Flycatchers on their way to
the hide and Terry then picked up a Black-tailed Godwit in flight. I walked back with them and we saw at least
two Spotted Flycatchers before getting back to the centre. There was a Whitethroat close to the feeders
at the centre but the usual Tree Sparrows remained ellusive.
Erik had arrived just as we
got back to the centre and asked us where the Spotted Flycatchers were and as
they weren’t too far back along the track I went back with him. It only took a few minutes to reach the area
and we were soon watching possibly up to three birds. We were helping one another in pinpointing
the birds, when Erik said one is flying right and as I looked I focussed on
bird that clearly had significant white in the wing and it landed in a small
oak alongside the tree we had been watching.
As it landed it was clear that it was a female-type Pied Flycatcher and it
remained in the tree for close to two minutes before flying and disappearing
behind the tree. Although Erik was right
next to me he was unable to locate it and when I finally decided to find it in
his scope it flew before I did so. We
called Steve to make him aware and shortly afterwards he and Terry came back
but after a patient wait of over an hour the bird failed to reappear and
unfortunately eluded everyone else.
Whilst we were overlooking the area we continued to see Spotted
Flycatchers and also had Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat. As we walked back to the centre Steve heard a
Willow Tit on three separate occasions and although both Erik and Terry heard
it, it eluded me as my hearing is not what it was. It had presumably flown towards the feeders
in the centre but with no sign of it there I went out the other side but didn’t
see it although I had a nice view of a Garden Warbler.
I returned to Egleton and met
Bob in the car park who had seen a Mediterranean Gull on lagoon five and I
decided to go and have a look, despite him saying it wouldn't be easy due to
the number of gulls. I called at the
centre briefly where Tim found three Red-crested Pochard, an eclipse male and
two female-types. When I arrived at the
360 hide there were very few gulls present and there was no sign of the Mediterranean
Gull and so I continued on to Heron Bay where there was a Green Sandpiper but
nothing else. I called at snipe hide on
the Wet Meadow on my way back to the centre where there was another Green
Sandpiper and I saw a Snipe in flight over lagoon one.
I felt the afternoon had been
a bit of an anticlimax and on reaching the centre was unsure what to do
next. After a coffee back at the car I
decided I would at least go to lagoon four.
As I was walking down to the lagoon Terry was returning and he informed
me that he and Steve had seen a Mediterranean Gull on lagoon four and the Wood
Sandpiper on lagoon three. I went into
sandpiper on lagoon four and scanned the gulls but there was no sign of the Mediterranean
Gull but there were ten Yellow-legged Gulls.
I also found a Little Ringed Plover, eight Ringed Plovers and two
Dunlin.
With little time remaining
before I had to leave I went to Shoveler hide on lagoon three and was rewarded
with two Little Ringed Plovers, a Ringed Plover, a Dunlin, five Green
Sandpipers, a Greenshank, the Wood Sandpiper and a Redshank. It would appear that the feeding area in
front of Shoveler hide is now attracting plenty of birds and hopefully the
water levels will remain the same over the next few weeks.
I walked back to the car park
and set off for home seeing a Buzzard as I approached Gaulby. I had recorded eighty-five species during the
day, which I felt was pretty good only to find out that Steve and Terry had
recorded 100 at Rutland Water. I had
seen a couple they hadn’t, a Kestrel and of course the Pied Flycatcher and a
Marsh Harrier had also been reported but not seen by any of us, which means
that at least 103 species had been recorded today, which in August is a
remarkable number for a landlocked county.
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