Roger and I headed for
Eyebrook Reservoir first today as there had been a Jack Snipe reported from the
inlet bridge during the last few days.
We approached the reservoir from the northern end, checking the old oak
for Little Owls, as we did so but as is the norm at present we didn’t see any. We parked just beyond the bridge to view the
stream but there was no sign of the Jack Snipe on the areas we could see. On viewing a feeding flock on the north side
of the bridge we found a Chiffchaff, a male Blackcap and a Treecreeper amongst
the Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits. I
drove further round and parked on the Rutland bank overlooking the now vast
area of mud, whilst Roger chose to walk to checkout areas of the stream we were
unable to see from the bridge. There
were eight Golden Plovers amongst the Lapwing n the mud and I also found a
juvenile Shelduck and nine Pintail close to the inlet. Roger then called to say that the Spoonbill
was still here and was now visible. I
walked back down the road to join Roger and found the juvenile Spoonbill
feeding in the stream. There were two
Little Egrets and a Snipe near the stream and we saw four Red Kites and three
Buzzards over the fields on the Leicestershire side. With still no sign of the Jack Snipe we
continued on to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water.
After parking in the car park
we walked the short distance to Teal Hide to view South Arm Three to hopefully
find the Red-necked Grebe. There were
plenty of Great Crested Grebes and on the second scan I picked up the
Red-necked Grebe amongst several Great Crested Grebes. Roger then noticed that both Great White
Egrets were on the bund across Heron Bay.
Having found our target bird we set off for Shallow Water Hide where
there was a Garganey and a Green Sandpiper still yesterday. As we approached Deep Water Hide we noticed a
bird feeding at the side of the track and closer inspection found that there
were actually three Lesser Redpolls feeding and a little further on a Great
Spotted Woodpecker flew over. Other than
a female Kestrel we hadn’t seen a great deal else by the time we had reached
Shallow Water Hide.
Female Kestrel
There were three Ruff to the
right of the hide and Roger noticed an adult winter Mediterranean Gull on the
shore not too far from the hide that remained the whole time we were in the
hide. There were two Redshanks on the
far side of the bay and both Great White Egrets were still on Heron Bay bund
and I found a Yellow-legged Gull on the Manton Bay Bund. There were twenty Pintail in the bay and a
Red Kite and Buzzard were observed to the west but we couldn't find either the
Garganey or the Green Sandpiper. We saw
very little as we walked back to the centre but heard a Chiffchaff when we
reached the car park.
Mediterranean Gull
On reaching the car park we
had lunch before going to the Bird Watching Centre to view Lagoon One. There were plenty of birds on the lagoon
including a Shelduck, thirteen Pintail, four Dunlin and five Snipe and we found
one of the Stonechats towards Harrier Hide and a Buzzard perched on the
man-made Osprey platform.
With reports of a Wheatear on
Lagoon four we set off towards the northern lagoons but called at Grebe Hide on
Lagoon Two first to see one of the Great White Egrets.
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
As there had been a Peregrine
causing havoc on Lagoon Four we went to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three
first. All of the vegetation on the
island had been cut and we now had excellent views of most of the lagoon but
other than a Pintail, a Little Egret and a Curlew it was pretty quiet with very
few birds present. We moved on to
Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four and Erik who had joined us found the immature
Wheatear on island nine but the only other birds of note were a couple of
Shelduck, a Little Egret and a Yellow-legged Gull.
Ken had called to say that
there was a female Mandarin at Eyebrook Reservoir and has we hadn’t seen the
Jack Snipe we decided to call there on the way home.
On arriving at Eyebrook
Reservoir we drove around to the railings on the Leicestershire bank and soon
located the female Mandarin on Rutland bank.
We also found a single Dunlin amongst the Lapwing and the number of
Golden Plover had risen to twenty-eight.
The immature Spoonbill was still feeding in the stream and we also saw
it in flight when something spooked the birds.
Juvenile Spoonbill
We retraced our steps back to
the bridge in the hope of finding the Jack Snipe but only managed to find four
Snipe. Andy and Ken joined us as they
had been in the plantation but hadn’t seen too much and Andy who had been there
for some time and seen the Jack Snipe yesterday hadn’t seen it today. Ken called it a day and just afterwards the
birds around the inlet were spooked by an immature female Peregrine but with
still no sign of the target bird Roger and I called it a day.
Greylag Goose over Eyebrook Reservoir
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