A day out in Leicestershire & Rutland - July 28, 2015

I arrived at the northern approach road to Eyebrook Reservoir but yet again there was no sign of the Little Owls and so I continued and parked overlooking the inlet, seeing a Green Woodpecker as I approached the parking spot.  There appeared to be fewer birds at the inlet today and very few Lapwings, which was not a good sign and the only waders I could find were three Little Ringed Plovers.  There were several Little Egrets feeding in the feeder stream and the female Shelduck was attending the now well developed seven young.  The only Common Tern I found was resting amongst the small flock of Black-headed Gulls and a single Great Black-backed Gull on the mud.  There were a few hirundines over the water, which included both Sand and House Martin and there was a small party of circa ten Swallow feeding around one of the roadside trees.  Feeding higher than the martins were at least eight Swift but the majority of these seem to have already moved out.

With little else at Eyebrook Reservoir I drove to the north arm at Rutland Water and after parking walked down the old road to view the shoreline and I found three Common Sandpipers on the bund and a Little Ringed Plover on the northern shore. I continued to walk around to view the spit but disappointingly there was a fisherman encamped on the spit and not surprisingly there were no waders.  I scanned the southern shore where I found a single Greenshank but nothing else.  On the northern shore martins were dropping onto the ground and resting on the dried mud before exploding into the air periodically and then dropping down again.  They were mainly Sand Martins, with a few House Martins involved, and the flock must have easily reached 100 birds at times and there was still even more over the north arm.  It’s impossible to count this number of birds, particularly martins, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the total was not close to 500.

I moved on to Egleton and after parking set off towards Snipe hide on the Wet Meadow.  When I reached the hide there were several Mallard on the flash as well as a single Shelduck and a Little Egret but little else.  I continued on to Fieldfare hide, seeing a Sedge Warbler on route, and from the hide there was a female Shelduck escorting three half-grown ducklings, three Little Egrets and three Greenshanks and careful scanning of the large raft of Tufted Duck produced a female-type Goldeneye.

Greenshank

Greenshank

Three Greenshank

Three Greenshank

Greenshank

Two Greenshank

I went to harrier hide to view the eastern end of the Wet Meadow and lagoon one and found a single Green Sandpiper on the Wet Meadow but very little else and continued on to tern hide on lagoon six.  There was very little on lagoon six but whilst in the hide I did see the Great White Egret heading towards Heron Bay and so set off to heron hide hoping it had come down.

Swift from harrier hide

When I arrived in the hide a couple present and hadn’t seen the Great White Egret and all there was were four Little Egrets.  One of the juvenile Manton Bay Ospreys was visible in a tree but other than three Little Grebes and a Common Tern there was little else.  The couple departed only for one of them coming back a few minutes later to say that the Great White Egret was visible from Kingfisher hide.  I walked the short distance to Kingfisher hide but couldn’t see it where I had expected but then noticed that it was now feeding out in the open and so I returned to heron hide, where I got a reasonable view.

Little Egret

Great White Egret

House Martin

Sand Martin

Sand Martin

I walked back towards the centre calling at 360 hide on lagoon five but other then four Little Egrets there was nothing of note and I moved on to Mallard hide on lagoon one.  From the hide I saw three Avocets in flight towards Brown’s Island but they flew on towards lagoon two and three but I suspected that they were probably the two fledged young and one of the adults.  There were also three Redshanks on the nearest spit of the long island and a Buzzard flew over before disappearing to the west.

Whilst having my lunch Ken arrived shortly followed by Erik and Mike returned from lagoon three and four.  Mike had seen four Green Sandpiper on lagoon three but very little else and so we went to the centre initially to see if we could find two reported Red-crested Pochard.  Whilst scanning the lagoon for the Red-crested Pochard I noticed that there appeared to be four Redshanks and when I looked through the scope found that one was a Spotted Redshank, which was presumably the bird that has been present for a while and was now almost in winter plumage.  The Spotted Redshank then flew off but returned shortly afterwards but we still hadn’t sound the Red-crested Pochard and eventually moved off to the northern lagoons.

Craig was coming back from the lagoons as we walked down and he had seen a Sanderling and several Dunlin on lagoon four and so we went into sandpiper hide first.  We soon found the Sanderling along with three Ringed Plovers and four Dunlin near island six.  We continued scanning the lagoon seeing a couple of Little Ringed Plovers on island two but we couldn’t find the chick and there was also two more Ringed Plovers on island ten and a couple of Common Sandpipers near or on island eight.  We then noticed that Tim was cutting the vegetation on the western bank, which did cause some disturbance, but not unduly and we eventually finished up with ten Dunlin and we also noticed three resting Curlew.  Erik then thought he had found the Little Ringed Plover chick but it was on island five and as we scanned further we found two more and realised that the adults were actually Ringed Plovers.  There was at least eighteen Yellow-legged Gulls resting between islands seven and eight, along with several Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls but these had moved near to island seven as Tim moved along the bank cutting the vegetation.  At one point during our stay there was considerable disturbance and Ken picked up the cause, which was a female Sparrowhawk and we also had a distant Osprey over Burley House.

From sandpiper we went to Shoveler hide on lagoon three but a Green Sandpiper that Erik noticed disappeared almost immediately but it did reappear a little later.  We then heard an Avocet and the adult followed by two others, that we were able to confirm as juveniles, flew in.  They settled quite close to the hide and it was nice to see Leicestershire & Rutland’s first confirmed Avocet breeding success after so many near misses.

Adult Avocet over lagoon three

Juvenile Avocets over lagoon three

Juvenile Avocet on lagoon three

Juvenile Avocet on lagoon three

Juvenile Avocet on lagoon three

Adult Avocet on lagoon three

Steve then called to say that the usual adult Mediterranean Gull and third-calendar year Caspian Gull were both on lagoon four and suggested we should go to Dunlin to observe them.

When we got to the hide all of the gulls were now on and around island one, having moved when Tim cut the vegetation on islands seven and eight.  The larger gulls were mainly on the island and I picked out the Caspian as it preened at the right hand end of the flock but the Mediterranean Gull proved a little trickier.  Erik then found it asleep amongst the Black-headed Gulls that were resting to the right of the larger gulls and it eventually picked it head up and we able to get better views.  Steve had also mentioned that he and Terry had seen the two Red-crested Pochard on lagoon one and so we made our way back to the centre.  We soon found the Red-crested Pochard and they were almost the closest birds and I can only assume that they were behind one of the islands when we had looked for them earlier.

Having had a pretty good day at Rutland Water I decided to call at Eyebrook Reservoir briefly on route home and was rewarded with five Black-tailed Godwits and a Curlew but the Little Owls still remained elusive.

An early morning at Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - July 26, 2015

After a few pretty poor days weather and a cool night I wasn’t too surprised to see the number of months trapped to be only ninety-nine but there were thirty different species although none were new for the year.

The following were recorded: Ermine Species [1]; Blastobasis adustella [7]; Cnephasia sp. [2]; Celypha striana [1]; Small Magpie [1]; Chrysoteuchia culmella [10]; Crambus pascuella [4]; Crambus perlella [1] Agriphila tristella [8]; Poplar Hawkmoth [1]; Privet Hawkmoth [1]; Riband Wave [2]; Foxglove Pug [1]; Brimstone Moth [2]; Peppered Moth [1]; Willow Beauty [2]; Buff Ermine [1]; Common Footman [3]; Silver Y [1]; Marbled Beauty [2]; The Uncertain [3]; Dark Arches [6]; Common Rustic Group [28]; Bright-line Brown-eye [1]; Smoky Wainscot [1]; The Clay [1]; Heart and Dart  [2]; Large Yellow Underwing [3]; Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [1] and Lesser Yellow Underwing[1].

A day out in Leicestershire & Rutland - July 25, 2015

Roger and I set off for Eyebrook Reservoir this morning but saw very little on route and there was no sign of the Little Owls, yet again, along the approach road.  We stopped at the inlet bridge and whilst we were there David called, who was only out for the morning, to inform us he had only seen four Little Ringed Plovers and a Black-tailed Godwit at the inlet and was now on his way to the north arm at Rutland Water.  He also mentioned that there was a family party of Lesser Whitethroats in a bush close to where we normally park.

I parked in the normal area and soon found the Black-tailed Godwit but there were now two adult Dunlin close to it.  We found three Little Ringed Plovers close to the family party of Shelduck, which are now quite well grown and must be close to fledging.  As I continued to scan there was a single Common Tern amongst a party of Black-headed Gulls on the mud and a Yellow-legged Gull close by and then I found a third Dunlin, that was an immature and my first of the autumn.  We also found the Lesser Whitethroats in the bush close to where I had parked but there was very little else other than a couple of Little Egrets and a few Swift.

Lesser Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

As we were driving to Rutland Water David called again to say that yesterday’s Knot was still present in the north arm and then indicated he had also found a Sanderling.  After Roger and I had parked we went through the gate to view the north arm hearing and then seeing a Green Sandpiper before we found David who was viewing the south shore.  As we approached him he said he thought he found a Wood Sandpiper and he got us viewing the right area.  There were a couple of Curlew and two Greenshanks and we then saw the bird in question, which we saw in flight and agreed it was a Wood Sandpiper.  Turning and viewing the spit all I could see were two Dunlin but eventually there were four and also the Knot and the Sanderling.  Both the Knot and the Sanderling were adults with both beginning to saw signs of moult but the Knot still looked quite nice.  There was also an Oystercatcher, a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and a Common Sandpiper as well as several Common Terns on the spit and a female Common Scoter just off the point.

Knot

Female Common Scoter

Erik had now joined us but we found very little on the north shore just the pair of Shelduck with their two young and a couple of Little Egrets.  Erik and David then indicated that the Great White Egret was in the fishponds but by the time Roger came over it had disappeared.  We decided to walk around to the southern shore to hopefully get better views of the Wood Sandpiper.  As we approached the area the two Greenshanks flew but only a short distance and we could also see the Curlew.  David and Erik continued as they thought the Wood Sandpiper was in the next bay but I thought it would be with the other waders and stopped to scan the shore and soon had nice views of the adult Wood Sandpiper.  I got Roger on to it and then phoned David to let him know we had found it.  They returned to gat views of the bird before it disappeared behind some vegetation.  As we stood we heard a Raven call and then saw two as we walked back to the cottage road, which was my first sighting here since May 12^th.  Whilst we were in the north arm I was also able to get some nice shots of the Common Terns and there were five Common Sandpipers on the bund.

Juvenile Common Tern

Juvenile Common Tern

Adult Common Tern

Adult Common Tern

Adult Common Tern

We all eventually moved off to the Egleton Reserve and after David had checked the book we set off for Shoveler hide.  There was a female/immature Kestrel over the last meadow, which went ahead of us as we walked towards the hide but we saw virtually nothing else.

Female/immature Kestrel

Female/immature Kestrel

When we arrived in the hide the water was still showing signs or rising but other than a couple of Curlew resting on the mud there were no other waders.  We spent quite a while in the hide and eventually saw one of the two juvenile Avocets when it appeared from behind the reeds and also had distant views of a Red Kite and a Buzzard over Burley.  There was an adult and a juvenile Shelduck but despite scrutinising the wildfowl, which were mainly Tufted Duck, we were unable to find anything of note.

Before returning to the car park for lunch we called at sandpiper hide on lagoon four where Erik found a Little Ringed Plover with a chick towards the new Volunteer Centre, which was one of the four moved from the yard at the centre.  There was also three Ringed Plovers and three Dunlin on island six and at least twenty Yellow-legged Gulls resting towards the western edge of the lagoon.

After some lunch David departed to carry out a butterfly count and Roger, Erik and I went to view lagoon one form the centre.  There were plenty of bird, mainly Gadwall, Tufted Duck, and Coot but also eight Little Grebes just in front of the centre.  I also saw a Shoveler escorting two well grown young and there was also a Gadwall with five young and two broods of Tufted Duck of five and one.  We had seen Tim as we walked to the centre who had gone off to view the southern area and whilst we were discussing what to do we had a text indicating that he had seen two Greenshank and six Green Sandpiper and so we decided to visit the Lyndon Reserve.

When we arrived the car park was almost full and it wasn’t therefore surprising when we reached shallow water hide that it was also pretty full.  We did find a Little Ringed Plover, seven Black-tailed Godwits, three Curlew, a Greenshank and two Green Sandpipers and there was at least eleven Little Egrets in the bay.  The two adult Osprey and their three young were all present and two did fly around briefly but we eventually headed back towards the centre.

Juvenile Osprey

Juvenile Osprey

Juvenile Osprey

Juvenile Osprey

Juvenile Osprey

Juvenile Osprey

House Martin from shallow water hide

House Martin from shallow water hide

Chiffchaff near shallow water hide

We called at Tufted Duck hide on the way back but due to a large bed of emergent reeds we couldn’t see very well, although we did see three more Little Egrets in Heron Bay and another four along the southern shore of Lax Hill.  Two of the Osprey from Manton Bay also flew by towards heading east and we assumed that they were probably the adults going fishing. We stopped before reaching the centre to view the spit near Goldeneye hide on Lax Hill where we found a Common Sandpiper and a Yellow-legged Gull.  After dropping Erik back at Egleton, Roger and I went home via Eyebrook Reservoir but again there was no sign of the Little Owls.

A day in Staffordshire - July 23, 2015

I was out with David and Roger today and we were heading for Chatterley Whitfield in Staffordshire to hopefully see a first-summer male Red-footed Falcon that has been present since the 9^th.

When we arrived on site there were a few birders already present and they were watching the bird in a tree alongside the road, although it was partially obscured.

First-summer Red-footed Falcon

It didn’t remain in the bush too long before it flew across the field and settled in another more distant bush and although further away the whole bird could now be seen.

First-summer Red-footed Falcon

It then remained in the bush for the whole of our visit with the exception of it dropping onto the ground to feed on one occasion, although whilst perched it was clearly looking for food items.

First-summer Red-footed Falcon

First-summer Red-footed Falcon

Whilst it was only a first-summer male it was still a cracking bird and very obliging, providing excellent views.

A Black Redstart had also been reported on a number of days and this was eventually seen rather well as it perched on a fence near the entrance and occasionally dropping to the ground to feed.  It was a rather scraggy looking female but still a nice bird to see on a day out.

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

The area was an old coal mining area and to get two good birds in perhaps an unlikely spot was excellent but we saw very little else with a single Buzzard being the best.  We had been on site for an hour and forty minutes in which the falcon had only moved on two occasions and with the weather showing no signs of improvement we moved on.

We made our way towards Leek and then on towards Royal Cottage in the hope of seeing Red Grouse but we were unable to find any at several suitable sites but we did see three juvenile Stonechats at Swallow Moss.

Having no luck with the grouse we moved on to Wetton Mill in the Manifold Valley where we were hoping to find Dipper, Redstart and Grey Wagtail.  When we arrived it was still overcast and grey but we did have one or two sunny spells during our visit.  After a bite to eat we walked to the mill to view the river and found a Grey Wagtail preening downstream but there was no sign of the hoped for Dippers.  Our plan was to walk up stream along the valley and check out the viewable areas of the stream for Dippers.  Whilst we were waiting for Roger I walked across the road to view the area around a ford and we found a Treecreeper and Spotted Flycatcher.  We walked a good way up the valley before returning to the car seeing five Buzzards, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and another target bird a female-type Redstart.  We saw a Sparrowhawk flying up stream as we walked back and we continued to the bridge over the river again but there was still no sign of any Dippers but we did have a couple of Raven and a juvenile Grey Wagtail.

Juvenile Grey Wagtail

Feeling a little disappointed that we hadn’t seen a Dipper we decided to call at Milldale on the River Dove before heading for home.  When we arrived there were quite a few people around and so we decided to walk down stream and we hadn’t gone too far before we found a juvenile Dipper and then a second a little further along.  I did manage to get a couple of shots of one of the birds, although the light was pretty poor and I had to use a high ISO, which doesn't give the best results.  There was also another Grey Wagtail along the stream.

Juvenile Dipper

Young Dunnock

Young Dunnock eagerly accepting food form an adult