I left home in rather dull and
drab conditions and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir, passing through some light
drizzle on route, seeing a Kestrel just to the east of Kibworth and a Green
Woodpecker after passing through Blaston.
When I arrived at the
reservoir it was dry and I stopped opposite the gate leading to the fishing
lodge but it was very quiet today with just a couple of distant Red Kites
worthy of note. I moved on to the bay
just to the left of the hide where I heard a Redshank calling but failed to
see. A few seconds later a black
Labrador totally out of control came bounding through the grass and I suspect
that it had flushed the Redshank as many of the duck were now taking evasive
action by moving out onto the water. I
could hear someone calling the dog but they seemed to be some distance away but
the dog after creating havoc did eventually disappear and had presumably
returned to their irresponsible owner. I
checked the hedge leading away from the reservoir where there were still in
excess of 100 Linnets and I also found a couple of Chiffchaffs. I moved on towards the fence near the
entrance to find the road covered in Red-legged Partridges just before the
entrance to Holyoaks Farm and I estimated that there was well over100. They are released, along with Pheasants for
shoots on the farm and probably won’t be too long before we see injured birds
flying into the confines of the reservoir.
From the fence there were eight Ringed Plovers, nine Dunlin and five
Ruff. There were also three Pintail on
the water, which were the first I had seen here this autumn.
I drove along the road towards
Stockerston but there was no sign of the Little Owls and it has been over two
months now since my last sighting. I
turned around and went back to the reservoir stopping at the bridge but there
was virtually nothing on view and so I continued on and parked overlooking the
grassy area. David had seen three
Whinchat yesterday but there was sign in the now quite damp conditions. As the drizzle stopped I saw a Kingfisher
perched on a branch overhanging the stream and a few minutes later when I
looked again it had been replaced by a Whinchat. There were good numbers of both Swallow and
House Martin over the reservoir and odd Sand Martins were also present amongst
the more numerous Swallows and House Martins.
With little else I moved on to
Dickinson’s Bay at Rutland Water to hopefully find a Red-necked Grebe. As I was about to walk down the road to view
the bay I heard a Marsh Tit call and managed brief views before it
disappeared. It was still very dismal as
I walked through the gate to view the bay and there was a concentration of
hirundines, many of which were settling in a tree and on the fence close to the
water in the murky conditions with all three species present and probably in
about equal numbers. I scanned the bay
but there were fewer birds than on my last visit but I did find five Pintail
but there was no sign of the two Black-necked Grebes or the Red-necked. I went back through the gate to view the
north arm and spent quite some time scanning the water without success but
suddenly the Red-necked Grebe appeared in the centre of the arm and was
swimming slowly to the east. It was a nice
summer plumaged bird and possibly the bird reported earlier in August, which
had been dismissed by some observers, but it was around the same time as last year’s
August arrival and could well be the same bird.
With still no sign of the two Black-necked Grebes I went view to the
north arm from the end of the cottage road.
After parking at the end of
the lane I walked out towards the point finding five Barnacle Geese on the
north shore and there were also ten Little Egrets but there was no sign of any
waders. I scanned a flock of Tufted Duck
and almost immediately found the two Black-necked Grebes. I walked into the field to view the point,
which was totally devoid of birds and the only birds of interest were a couple
of Pintail just off shore. Before I left
I sat in the car and observed the hedge near the cottage where I saw four Blackcaps.
I drove on to the Old Hall to
view the south arm but again it was very quiet except for another party of
hirundines. As I walked west to view the
green bank I flushed a couple of Yellow Wagtails and found a Common Sandpiper
feeding along the green bank.
On reaching the reserve I went
to the Bird watching Centre to view lagoon one before taking my lunch. As I scanned through the mass of birds on the
water I found six Red-crested Pochard and counted nineteen Little Grebes. Other wildfowl included Wigeon, Gadwall,
Teal, Mallard, Shoveler and Tufted Duck and there was also a large number of
Coots. A Hobby, almost certainly the
same bird as seen on Saturday, was observed perched in the same area but with
little else I went for my lunch.
After finishing my lunch I
headed off to Shoveler hide on lagoon three but saw very little on route. There were just three Green Sandpipers
feeding to the left of the hide but Bob who had joined me in the hide said
there had been seven earlier. Two
juvenile Reed Warblers then made their way through the reeds just in front of
the hide but with little else I moved on to crake hide, hearing a Cetti’s
Warbler on route. There was very little
from crake and so I moved to Lapwing hide to check out lagoon two. From Lapwing hide it is possible to see a
significant amount of shoreline not visible from elsewhere and I found a Ruff
and a couple of Green Sandpipers. Once I
was satisfied that there was no other waders on view I turned and opened a flap
to view south arm three. I scanned the
water and almost immediately saw a large dark bird resting on the water. It appeared close to two Great Crested Grebes
and was considerably larger and I was thinking that it might be a Great
Skua. I grabbed my scope to view the
bird more closely but it was difficult, even on x60 magnification, to get any
real details as still just looked all dark.
However I was even more convinced that it was a Great Skua as it still
appeared to be a big and powerful bird with a noticeable thick neck and large
head and even the bill was prominent at this range. I called Bob to inform him and he said he
would come and join me but before he got to me the bird took to flight
revealing that white flashes in both the upper and lower wings. As it continued to fly towards me the
wing-beats were steady and powerful and it gained height rather quickly. I suspected that Bob might arrive at any
second and so ran to the other end of the hide near the door where I would
hopefully still be able to get him on to it but when I looked out I couldn’t
find it and it wasn’t seen again. When
Bob arrived we spent a few minutes scanning but it had obviously gone and so we
diverted our attention back on to lagoon two, where we found another two Ruff
and a Greenshank.
As we walked back Tim Mac and
Lloyd were coming down the track and after a brief conversation about Lloyd's
Wryneck and news of a Turnstone on lagoon four we went to sandpiper hide. We found nine Ringed Plovers and a seven
Dunlin and Bob found a Red Kite over Burley but there was no sign of the
Turnstone. Bob went back to his car
whilst I went to plover hide to get a different view of lagoon four and whilst
I could see several Ringed Plovers and Dunlin most were out of sight behind
island five. A made another visit to
Shoveler hide on lagoon three where there was now a Snipe in view and seven
Green Sandpipers before heading back to the car park.
As it was still quite early I
decided to go to Lyndon where there were twenty-one Tree Sparrows around the
feeders. Another birder informed me that
all he had seen in Manton Bay was a Ruff and a Greenshank and I considered that
it wouldn’t be worth the walk and went back to Egleton.
The Great White Egret had been
seen on lagoon one earlier but there was no sign of it and whilst I
contemplated what to do I thought I heard a Spotted Redshank call and saw two
birds appearing to drop out of sight on to lagoon two. I therefore went to Redshank hide to view the
lagoon but the view is rather restrictive and there was no sign of any waders
and so I decided to go back to Lapwing hide, which I considered to be the best
option. Unfortunately all I could find
from Lapwing were two Green Sandpipers, although I did see a Goldeneye in south
arm three.
Another visit into Shoveler
hide produced six Green Sandpipers and I heard a Water Rail call and a walk to
Dunlin hide on lagoon four produced three Yellow-legged Gulls and a few Ringed
Plovers and Dunlin. As I started to walk
back to the car I had some rather nice views of a Chiffchaff but had seen nothing
else as I reached the car park and called it a day.
Despite the rather dreary
weather it had been quite a good day with the highlight being the Great
Skua. The Great Skua was only my third
for the counties and on a day with just a light north-easterly breeze was most
unexpected and good addition to my County Year List.
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