It was dry and overcast after
some overnight ran as I set off for Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Red Kite after
passing through Blaston. I approached
the reservoir from the northern end and found a Little Owl in the old oak,
which was my first sighting here since the end of June. I continued on to the bridge at the inlet
where I had a couple parties of Fieldfare pass over and a single Redwing. There was also a single Little Egret feeding
in the stream and a Kingfisher flew along the stream and passed over the
bridge.
Mike then arrived and after a
brief chat I went further along and stopped to view the inlet where I counted
thirty-four Golden Plover and twenty-five Dunlin. I made a final stop near the Stoke Dry car
park and found the Slavonian Grebe that had been present for a few days. There were clearly more wildfowl present
today, particularly Tufted Duck, which have been pretty scarce recently but
there was at least several hundred. I
also saw a Red Kite and a couple of Buzzards during the visit.
I decided to go to Lyndon at
Rutland Water and after parking went to view the feeding station. As usual there was a constant flow of Blue
Tits with smaller numbers of Great Tits and single Coal and Marsh Tits. Unusually there was a House Sparrow and a
single Tree Sparrow made a brief visit, along with several Chaffinches, two
Greenfinches and a Reed Bunting. Mike
had also arrived and I joined him on the other side of the centre and as we
continued watching the feeders the activity tailed off and shortly afterwards a
Sparrowhawk flashed through. Just before
we set off towards Wader Scrape Hide we found the House Sparrow along with
three Tree Sparrows in the bushes to the left of the feeders.
We had seen a few Fieldfares
and a couple of Redwing in the car park and as we started to walk along the
track a Green Woodpecker flew over. We
saw a second Green Woodpecker as we were approaching Tufted Duck Hide and as
the rain had got a little heavier we went into hide. From the hide I found one of the Great White
Egrets in Heron Bay but other than a Little Grebe just in front of the hide and
two Little Egrets on the bund there was nothing else of note. As the rain eased we continued on to Wader
Scrape Hide seeing quite a few more Fieldfare and an odd Redwing feeding in the
hedgerow alongside the track and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over. We were in the hide for a while as the rain
had become heavier again but all we found of any note were three Shelduck.
The rain eventually eased and
so we set off back to the centre seeing a nice party of five male and two
female Bullfinches feeding on willowherb seeds.
As we approached the locked gate to the car park we saw a couple of
birds drop briefly into the vegetation at the side of the track before flying
off again and I suspected that they were Lesser Redpoll but wasn’t
certain. We searched the car park but
couldn't find them and so decided to go and view South Arm Three from Teal
Hide. As we were passing the centre Mike
found a bird feeding in the willowherb, which turned out to be a Lesser Redpoll
and as we moved our position slightly we found four. Other than a Great White Egret near Goldeneye
Hide on Lax Hill and drake Goosander in South Arm Two we saw little else from
the hide and set off for the North Arm.
We walked down the lane from
the cottage and through the gate to view the North Arm and found Bob returning
to his car for a coffee. He had seen
both of the Slavonian Grebes and a single Black-necked Grebe and also a couple
of Goosander and a Green Sandpiper in the fishponds and also mentioned that
there was a party of Dunlin on the far shore.
We scanned the shore with Bob and found thirty Dunlin but there was no
sign of the Black-necked Grebe. Bob went
back to his car and Mike and I continued on to the end of the spit so as to get
a better view of the arm hearing a Redshank and then seeing it in flight over
the water. There was another Redshank to
the right of the spit and I counted forty-seven Pintail. I then found the two Slavonian Grebes just
off the fisherman’s car park, one appeared to be roosting whilst the other
dived. As I continued looking at the
roosting bird I noticed another bird close to it, which I initially thought
would be the other Slavonian but soon realised that it was the illusive
Red-necked Grebe. I called Bob who came
back to the view the Red-necked and as we began scanning again for the
Black-necked Grebe he found a male Red-crested Pochard just off the end of the
spit. I then found the Black-necked
Grebe out in the centre of the arm towards the tower but we could only locate
two Barnacle Geese amongst the mass off Greylags on the north shore. Mike and I looked for the Green Sandpiper in
the fish ponds but were unable to find it and after a bite to eat headed to the
Egleton Reserve.
There were another fifteen
Pintail on the Lagoon One and eight more Dunlin on the long spit but the only
bird new for the day was a single Curlew.
As we set off towards the northern lagoons it started to rain again but
we managed to reach Lapwing Hide without getting too wet and saw Sparrowhawk on
route. A red-headed Smew and a Scaup had
been reported from here earlier and we soon found a male-type Scaup amongst a
party of Tufted Duck. We watched this
bird for quite some time, although we did lose it on several occasions as it
dived. Potentially it looked like an
immature male but there was just something about it that casted doubt in my
mind and I suspected that it was possibly a hybrid. However before we had come to a final
conclusion the flock took to flight and landed considerably further away and we
were unable to relocate it. I had
checked Lagoon Two on several occasions as the Smew had been on there earlier
but there was no sign, although there was another male and two female
Goosanders. A Great White Egret was also
visible near Brown’s Island where there was also six Pintail. Mike then found the red-headed Smew amongst a
party of duck some considerable distance away and although the views were
rather disappointing we had at least found it.
It had been raining most of the time we had been in the hide and it
suddenly got a lot worse with a torrential downpour, which made it very
difficult to see the more distant birds.
It eventually eased and we went to Smew Hide on Lagoon Two to see if we
could find the Green Sandpiper that had been reported earlier but other than a
Redshank we found nothing else.
We moved on to Shoveler Hide
on Lagoon Three where we found another Redshank and a Knot along with five more
Pintail. A brief visit to Sandpiper Hide
on Lagoon Four produced seventy-five Golden Plover and five more Dunlin but
another look at Lagoon Two from Grebe Hide just produced the Redshank and no
Green Sandpiper. With the light now
fading and rain looking likely again we set off back to the car park.
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