I went to Hallaton first this
morning hoping that there might be some visible migration but it was very quiet
with only Buzzard, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Robin, Dunnock and Reed Bunting
being found.
From Hallaton I went to the
Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water and after having no luck from Teal hide with a
Common Scoter and Black and Little Terns present yesterday I walked to Shallow Water
Hide in Manton Bay. There were eleven
Tree Sparrows around the feeding station but with nothing else of note I
started to walk to Shallow Water Hide.
Just before I arrived at deep water hide I saw a juvenile Whitethroat in
a hawthorn bush and there were two Chiffchaff close by and I saw two more
Chiffchaffs close to Tufted Duck hide.
There was a concentration of birds in the hedge just before I got to the
turning to wader scrape hide, which contained another two Chiffchaffs, a Willow
Warbler, a Blackcap, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Treecreeper. From shallow water hide I counted fifteen
Pintail amongst the more numerous Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler and there were
five Ruff and a single Green Sandpiper and a Buzzard flew over the bay giving
nice views in the rather nice light. I called
at Tufted Duck hide on the way back to the car park and saw a Hobby quite close
before it flew off towards the Egleton Reserve and there was also a Reed
Warbler in the small patch of reeds just in front of the hide. Other than another couple of Chiffchaffs I
didn’t see anything else of note before I got to the car.
Adult winter Black-headed Gull from Teal Hide
Cormorants in the South Arm
Immature Cormorant in the South Arm
Drake Mallard almost out of eclipse plumage
Drake Mallard moulting out of eclipse plumage
Female Mallard in the South Arm
Buzzard over Manton Bay
Buzzard over Manton Bay
Buzzard over Manton Bay
Wren from Tufted Duck Hide
From the Lyndon Reserve I
drove to the end of the cottage lane to view the north arm. There were seventeen Barnacle Geese and three
Curlew on the north shore and five Pintail on the south shore. With no sign of the Black-necked or
Red-necked Grebes and far fewer birds today I went to the Egleton Reserve.
After a bite to eat I called
in the centre but there was some work being carried out on lagoon one and
consequently there were fewer birds and those that were still present were more
distant. A quick scan produced the Great
White Egret but nothing of note and so I set off towards harrier hide as there
had been four Whinchat and a Stonechat present yesterday. As I was walking along the path towards Snipe
hide I met Tim who was showing some new work experience guys around. He had seen three Black-tailed Godwits and a
Spotted Redshank from harrier hide but had failed to connect with any of
yesterday’s Whinchat. Whilst we were
talking a Red Kite flew over, which was my only sighting of the day flew over.
When I arrived in Harrier Hide
there was no sign of the godwits or Spotted Redshank or the accompanying Ruff
Tim had also mentioned. There was a
Greenshank and a Snipe flew over but other than three Little Egrets and a
distant Hobby there was little else. I
suspected that the waders seen by Tim had been flushed and so I went on to
Fieldfare Hide in the hope that had perhaps gone there. When I opened one of the hide flaps I could
see four Ruff stood in the water but after a few minutes they came to the shore
and wandered off in the direction of Gadwall hide but a few minutes later two
flew over and appeared to come down on lagoon one. I called at harrier hide on my way back and
found all four Ruff were back on Lagoon One but there was still no sign of the
godwits or Spotted Redshank.
Ruff from Filedfare Hide
As I made my way back, seeing
a Sparrowhawk near Snipe Hide, I called at Mallard Hide to see if I could find
the godwits and Spotted Redshank from there.
The work had ceased and some birds were starting to return and I started
to scan the lagoon a Stonechat popped into my field of view and performed quite
well for the next thirty minutes but there was still no sign of the godwits or
Spotted Redshank although I did find two Red-crested Pochard and a Redshank.
Sparrowhawk
Having reached the centre I
continued on to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three where there was a Snipe and two
Green Sandpipers to the left of the hide.
I checked out Lagoon Two from Smew hide where I found the three
Black-tailed Godwits and there were four Little Egrets on the lagoon. I continued on to Lapwing Hide where I found
a couple of Goldeneye towards the green bank but there was little else.
Drake Gadwall on Lagoon Three
As I walked back from Lapwing Hide
there were three Chiffchaffs moving through the bushes with a party of tits and
calling at Dunlin Hide there were five Pintail, six Ringed Plovers, six Dunlin
and two Yellow-legged Gulls on Lagoon Four.
As I walked back to the centre a Sparrowhawk flew over near the badger
hide
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