A day in Leicestershire & Rutland and Lincolnshire - August 29, 2015

David, Roger and I set off for the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water seeing very little on route.  After parking we set off towards shallow water hide but after just passing through the entrance gate we viewed the feeders where there were eleven Tree Sparrows which were the first I had seen here for some time.  Most of the Tree Sparrows flew into the hedge to the left of the centre and whilst watching these Roger found a pair of Blackcap.  We could see that there were plenty of birds near Goldeneye hide and decided to go into deep water hide to view the shore below Lax Hill.  As we approached the hide I picked up two Lesser Whitethroats that were feeding at of a rather tall hawthorn bush.  From the hide we found nothing of real interest but I was certain that there were at least two Black Terns in south arm three but David and Roger couldn’t find them and so we moved on, agreeing to have another look on the way back.  We saw a couple of Chiffchaffs and heard several more as we continued along the track and found another Blackcap as we approached shallow water hide.

From the hide there were two Ospreys present, the female and an immature, and a third bird, another immature came in.  The two immature birds were then observed flying around the far side of the bay and often dropping in to the water in a half hearted attempt at fishing.  There were twelve Ruff, two Common Sandpipers, two Green Sandpipers, two Greenshanks and two Wood Sandpipers in the bay and a juvenile Spotted Redshank dropped in just as we were thinking of making our way back.  Seven Pintail were also worthy of note and other wildfowl included Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler and Pochard as well as three Little Grebes.

Greenshank in Manton Bay

Ruff in Manton Bay

Ruff in Manton Bay

Woodpigeon in Manton Bay

We called in Tufted Duck hide on the way back to the centre and found at least five Chiffchaffs in a bush to the left of the hide and single Sedge and Reed Warblers in the small patch of reeds and there were also six Little Egrets.

Chiffchaff from Tufted Duck hide

Chiffchaff from Tufted Duck hide

Sedge Warbler from Tufted Duck hide

Reed Warbler from Tufted Duck hide

Wren from Tufted Duck hide

We continued making our way back to the centre and then went on to Teal hide to view south arm three and hopefully pick up the Black Terns.  It didn’t take too long to find a couple and we eventually agreed that there were at least six feeding over the water with at least a dozen Common Terns.  As I was counting the Little Egrets, of which there were seven I found the Great White Egret feeding just of Brown’s Island.

Steve had found a Black-necked Grebe in Dickinson’s Bay yesterday and we therefore went around to Barnsdale and walked through the gate to view the bay.  David picked up the bird almost immediately and we could see it was a rather scruffy summer adult.

David had discussed taking Erik to see the first-summer Red-footed Falcon at

Willow Tree Fen and so before leaving Dickinson’s Bay I tried calling Erik but there was no answer and so we went to view the north arm.  After parking we found three Common Sandpipers and another Wood Sandpiper in the fishponds, along with a single Yellow Wagtail.  After passing through the gate to view the north arm I counted eight Ruff and Roger found some Ringed Plovers on the north shore.  We eventually found six Ringed Plovers and four Dunlin and David picked up a Sparrowhawk over Burley Wood.  We walked further and went into the field to view the spit and the southern shore but could only find a single Little Ringed Plover and three Common Terns.  Further scanning of Burley Wood produced two Red Kites but nothing else, although another Sparrowhawk flew over the north arm and headed off to the wood.

I had tried to contact Erik on another couple of occasions without any joy and so we went to the Egleton car park for lunch.  Whilst having lunch I found an obliging Garden Warbler that was sitting out in the open enjoying the warm sunshine.  As we were deciding what to do Erik called and was with us within fifteen minutes being pretty keen to go and see the falcon.

Forty minutes later we pulled in to the rather small car park at Willow Tree Fen and set off down the long track to reach the hides and the area the falcon was being seen.  There were at least thirteen Yellow Wagtails amongst some grazing cattle in a field adjacent to the path but we saw very little else before reaching the hide.  Some other birders were coming out of the hide saying that the falcon was visible but was perched towards the next hide.  We soon found the bird and had reasonable cope views of what was probably the same bird we had seen in Staffordshire in late July.  I decided I would go further along the track to see if it was visible and was soon followed by the others and we were able to get closer, although it flew off just as we approached but soon returned to what appeared to be its favourite tree. 

Forty minutes later we pulled in to the rather small car park at Willow Tree Fen and set off down the long track to reach the hides and the area the falcon was being seen.  There were at least thirteen Yellow Wagtails amongst some grazing cattle in a field adjacent to the path but we saw very little else before reaching the hide.  Some other birders were coming out of the hide saying that the falcon was visible but was perched towards the next hide.  We soon found the bird and had reasonable scope views of what was probably the same bird we had seen in Staffordshire in late July.  I decided I would go further along the track to see if it was visible and was soon followed by the others and we were able to get closer, although it flew off just as we approached but soon returned to what appeared to be its favourite tree.

Red-footed Falcon

Whilst we were on site there was also a Marsh Harrier briefly but we saw very little else.

After dropping Erik off at Egleton we called at Eyebrook Reservoir briefly on route home.  We stopped by the fencing to view the inlet where there was a group of birders scanning the area.  There were quite a few waders present and we saw seven Ringed Plovers, two juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, seven Dunlin, two Black-tailed Godwits and a Greenshank and there was also several Ruff with more on the edges leading away from the inlet and I counted eighteen but on the water the only thing of note was a juvenile Shelduck.  We stopped briefly at the bay just to the west of the hide where there was a single Wood Sandpiper.

During our travels we had three Red Kites along Stockerston Lane just after leaving Eyebrook Reservoir and a Marsh Harrier as we approached Baston Fen on route to Willow Tree Fen.  It had been another good day’s birding helping Erik get yet another lifer with the Red-footed Falcon and I had recorded eighty-five species.

An early morning at Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 28, 2015

I put the moth trap out last night, which was the first time in two weeks due to poor weather and commitment as a volunteer at Birdfair.  It wasn’t an ideal night but I trapped and identified fifty-two moths covering fifteen species, none of which were new for the year.

The following were recorded: Orange Swift [2]; Light Brown Apple Moth [6]; Garden Rose Tortrix [1]; Agriphila tristella [3]; Agriphila straminella [3]; Agriphila geniculea [3]; Brimstone Moth [1]; Dusky Thorn [2]; Willow Beauty [2]; Flounced Rustic [7]; Common Rustic species [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [15]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [5]; Square-spot Rustic [1] and Setaceous Hebrew Character [1].

Square-spot Rustic

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 27, 2015

I was out with David and Roger today and we headed off to the southern end of Eyebrook Reservoir, seeing three Red Kites as we drove along Stockerston Road.  When we arrived at the reservoir we parked near the entrance to the fishing lodge and viewed the fields to the north.  At one point we had nine Red Kites in the air together, which would probably have included the three we saw along Stockerston Road and we also found four Red-legged Partridges and two Tree Sparrows flew over.  There was also a good selection of common birds including Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Linnet and we also heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

We moved on to the first bay visible from the road where we found two Common Sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper along the shore running to the island.  Walking a little further along the road we were able to view the shoreline to the south and found two Little Ringed Plovers, four Ringed Plovers, four Curlew Sandpipers, three Dunlin, five Common Sandpipers and a second Wood Sandpiper.  Before walking back to the car we viewed the hedgerow running northwest from the reservoir where there were good numbers of Linnet.  We also saw Chaffinch and Greenfinch and Hobby flew across the field and then behind us before turning and coming right back over our heads and flying off over the hedge.  Roger then picked up a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Carrion Crow, which induced some of the passerines to fly out of the hedge as it disappeared on the far side, to only reappear a few seconds later as it came quite close before disappearing out of sight.

Happy we had seen most of what was in this southwest corner we moved along the Leicestershire bank and along the northern entrance road to view the old oak but there was no sign of the Little Owls.  We stopped on the bridge before continuing along the Rutland bank and was rewarded with a distant Whinchat and there were three Greenshank in the stream and also another three Red Kites over the fields.  There was little passerine activity around the bridge and so we moved further along to view the inlet.  There were ten Dunlin and I counted twenty-eight Ruff at the inlet and along the Leicestershire shore.  David then picked up a single Swift and a party of circa fifteen Yellow Wagtails flew over.  I moved back along the road and saw an Osprey to the north but it disappeared behind some trees and didn’t reappear.  We left Eyebrook Reservoir feeling quite pleased with what we had seen and headed towards the north arm at Rutland Water.

There were three Common Sandpipers on the north shore of the fishponds and we counted eight Ruff on the north shore of the north arm.  Looking out to the east we found a single Black Tern and five Common Terns and there was a Little Ringed Plover and Dunlin on the spit.  We scanned Burley Wood and found two Red Kites, a Sparrowhawk, two Buzzards and two Hobbies, although I only managed to get on one.

The Old Hall in south arm three was our next location and we found four Ruff and twenty-three Common Terns just after going over the cattle grid.  We found another nine Ruff and five Common Sandpipers along the green bank and I found five Black Terns and another thirteen Common Terns over the far side of the arm.  An Osprey was observed to the north but there was little else and so we went to Egleton.

The car park is still not in full use as the Birdfair is still being cleared and so we parked in the overflow area.  After lunch we watched an area in the corner of the field frustratingly watching several birds dive in to cover as they moved through the area and we managed to just identify a female-type Blackcap, with Roger and I feeling we also had brief and partially obscured views of a Garden Warbler.

We finally gave up and went to the Bird watching centre to view lagoon one.  There were plenty of birds on the lagoon, mainly Gadwall and Coot with good numbers also of both Mallard and Shoveler.  There were also smaller numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck and we did find two Red-crested Pochard and a single Pochard.  A juvenile Marsh Harrier was also seen on several occasions, an Osprey briefly over the lagoon and a Hobby was seen hawking over the poplars.  There were three Ruff on the long island and Roger found a Snipe and a Common Sandpiper and just after I picked up a Greenshank.  David then found a juvenile Spotted Redshank but unfortunately the Marsh Harrier flushed everything just after we had got on to the it and we couldn’t relocate it after things had settled down again.

We decided to move on to Shoveler hide on lagoon three where we found a Common Sandpiper, nine Green Sandpipers and a single Wood Sandpiper but other than an Osprey flying towards south arm three there was very little else and so we moved on to Lapwing hide.

Calling at crake hide where two other birders excitedly pointed out two Kingfishers in the bushes near the sluice.  They both remained with one diving into the water on several occasions without success but they both disappeared during a rather heavy shower and so we continued on to Lapwing.

There were several very large rafts of Tufted Ducks and David found a couple of Goldeneye close to one of the closer rafts of birds but there was very little else other than Tufted Ducks.  A Buzzard was observed over Brown’s Island and three Black Terns came a little closer as they appeared to be heading to lagoon one.

Juvenile Black Tern

Juvenile Black Tern

As we walked back along the path towards Shoveler hide a party of Long-tailed Tits contained a Chiffchaff and brief visit into crake again produced another Chiffchaff and two Reed Warblers.

Our last port of call was going to be lagoon four and I suggested that we should go to Dunlin hide as we would be closer to any resting gulls and also get a better view of the area between island six and nine, where any waders had been recently.  There were quite a few gulls, mainly Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gull but there was also several Lesser Black-backed Gulls and six Yellow-legged Gulls.  To my surprise there were few waders between island six and nine but Roger did find a Little Stint.  David then noticed that there were a number of waders almost directly in front of sandpiper and we eventually went there to get a better look.  There were at least thirty Ringed Plovers and fourteen Dunlin but we also found two Little Ringed Plovers, another Little Stint, four Black-tailed Godwits and two Common Sandpipers.  We also had three Ospreys in view with one perched on lagoon four and the other two off to the east.

After a quick chat with Erik, who was attempting to count the waders around most of the reservoir, we set off for home.  It had been a pretty good day with eighty-eight species recorded and a wader tally of 165 birds, excluding Lapwing.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 25, 2015

There had been quite a bit of rain yesterday and although the wind was from the south west I hopeful of a few waders at least.  I left home just after 07:00 and headed for the southern end of Eyebrook Reservoir, seeing a Kestrel on route.

I dropped down the hill towards the reservoir and stopped briefly at the gate to the fishing lodge but other than eight Red-legged Partridges there was little else and I moved on to the first bay.  There was a Greenshank on the shore towards the island but I could see little else and so I walked a little further down the road to view the hedge that runs away from the reservoir.  There were fewer birds in the hedge than during my last visit but there was still quite a few Linnets and I did see three distant Red Kites and four Ravens.  I walked further along the road to look along the shoreline towards the fishing lodge, although the light was pretty poor.  I found three Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin but another wader a little further away and facing me was not instantly recognisable.  I was struggling partially because of the light and secondly the angle of the bird and I thought I might see it better from the old hide.  I went back to the car as I left my camera on the front seat and after putting in the boot headed back towards the hide.  When I reached my original position I could see that the bird had moved closer and had been joined by a second and I could now see that they were two Wood Sandpipers.  I also found three Little Ringed Plovers but I couldn’t see the Dunlin, although the original three Ringed Plovers were still present.

I moved on to the railing at the inlet but the light was so bad I continued on to the bridge.  After parking I went to the bridge and viewed the area up stream and there were a few birds feeding in the willows on the edge of the stream.  I could see three Long-tailed Tits and a Chiffchaff but with patience I found five Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher.  From the other side of the bridge looking towards the reservoir there was a Little Egret and two more Greenshanks.  I then continued around the reservoir to view the inlet where there were another three Ringed Plovers, two Dunlin, a Curlew and several juvenile Ruff.  The Ruff were well spread out and each time I counted them I seemed to find more and eventually finished up counting thirty-one.

Feeling pretty pleased with what I had seen I headed to Rutland Water and after filling up with petrol went to the north arm.  I had seen that a Little Stint had been reported and presumed it would have been seen by Steve and Terry.  When I arrived I scanned the fishponds first finding a single Green Sandpiper on the north shore before moving through the gate to view the north arm.  I scanned the bund but couldn’t find either any Common Sandpipers or Yellow Wagtails but there were plenty of Ruff on the north shore but no sign of the Little Stint and so I walked in to the field to view the south shore.  There was a party of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin feeding quite close in the bay and I soon noticed the juvenile Little Stint amongst them as well as two Common Sandpipers and I counted eleven Ringed Plovers and seventeen Dunlin.  I also found a single Little Ringed Plover on the shore and a female-type Red-crested Pochard to the east as well as counting fifteen Ruffs scattered around the arm.  I scanned Burley Wood and found a couple of Red Kites and there were several Buzzards between the wood and the fishponds.

Buzzard over the north arm

Ringed Plover in the north arm

Ringed Plover in the north arm

Juvenile Little Stint in the north arm

Juvenile Little Stint in the north arm

Juvenile Little Stint in the north arm

Juvenile Little Stint in the north arm

Moulting juvenile Dunlin in the north arm

From the north arm I went to the Old Hall to view south arm three and found three more Ruff and thirty-two Common Terns just after crossing the cattle grid.  I walked west to view the area between the Old Hall and Lapwing hide on the reserve and found six Common Sandpipers along the shore line and another sixteen Common Terns towards Lax Hill as well as a couple of Black Terns.  I also counted twenty-six Little Egrets scattered around the shoreline.

Common Sandpiper over south arm three

When I reached the Egleton car park it was a little chaotic following the Birdfair as the car park was still being used to short rubbish and to load vehicles.  As it was about 11:45 I decided I would have my lunch before going to the centre to view lagoon one.

Whilst I was viewing the lagoon Erik arrived and was still enjoying telling everyone one about his successful Scillies pelagic and particularly the incredible view he had of a Fea’s Petrel, jammy beggar.  He joined me in the viewing gallery and between us we found two Garganey, three Red-crested Pochard, an Osprey perched on a post and a Greenshank.  I saw a juvenile Marsh Harrier but as I called it, it dropped on to the ground and didn’t reappear and I also had brief views of a Dunlin.

Steve, who was on his own, called to see what we had seen and after a short discussion it was clear that there were plenty of waders on site, his best being two Wood Sandpipers in Manton Bay and he had also seen at least eleven Black Terns in south arm three.

Erik and I went to Shoveler hide on lagoon three were the water had risen considerably following yesterday’s rain and was perhaps now a little too deep for waders.  However we did find a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper and the Wood Sandpiper was still present but other than a couple of Swifts amongst the numerous hirundines there was little else and so we moved on to Lapwing hide.  I eventually managed to locate eleven distant Black Terns and three Greenshanks and two Ruff flew across the arm and appeared to come down in front of Fieldfare hide.  There was also four Goldeneye just in front of the hide and on lagoon two we found six Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank, which was presumably the one we saw earlier on lagoon one.

As it was now beginning to rain we decided that lagoon four might be a good place to be and so we walked back to sandpiper hide.  We could see that there several Ringed Plovers on the exposed area between islands six and nine but felt we would see them better from Dunlin hide and headed in that direction but not before seeing yet another Common Sandpiper.  Our assumption was correct and we could see the bird better and I counted twenty-one Ringed Plovers and three Dunlin and there was an Osprey on the lagoon that flew off towards the north arm.  Erik then found a couple of Little Stints in the same area and I picked up a couple of Pintail and to the left of the hide there was a Curlew and seven Yellow-legged Gulls but we couldn't find anything else unusual amongst the flock of gulls.

I called Steve to find he had just arrived in the north arm and that he felt there was perhaps more waders than earlier.  I informed him that we now had two Little Stints on lagoon four and he said he hadn’t seen one in the north arm and presumably it had joined the one he had seen earlier on lagoon four.  It was only a few minutes later when he called back to say that there was a Knot now in the north arm and so Erik and I walked back to the car perk and headed to the north arm.

Steve was just leaving as we arrived and after a quick chat we joined Lloyd to view the waders on the north shore.  I soon located the Knot, which was an immature and just afterwards both Erik and I found a Little Stint amongst the other waders.  I counted twenty-four Ringed Plovers and twenty Dunlin and there was another four Ringed Plovers on the southern spit making twenty-eight in total.  Two Common Sandpipers flew in front of us and there were three Yellow-legged Gulls on the north shore but with nothing else I dropped Erik back at the centre and headed off for my second visit to Eyebrook Reservoir.

As I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir it started to rain again and so I drove to the far end in the hope that two Curlew Sandpipers reported earlier were still there.  As it was till raining I went into the hide and quickly found three juvenile Curlew Sandpipers along with three Common Sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper.  There was no sign of the second Wood Sandpiper seen earlier this morning or the Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers present earlier and so  I went back to the fencing but other than a Yellow Wagtail I saw nothing new and after a coffee I headed off home.  As I was leaving the reservoir I noticed a small bird perched on a small mound, which turned out to be a rather wet Wheatear.

A morning in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 20, 2015

I had arranged to meet Chris at Rutland Water around 13:00 to check out the Birdfair Lecture theatres in preparation for tomorrow but called at Eyebrook Reservoir and the north arm and lagoon three at Rutland Water before doing so.

I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir at the southern end after seeing very little on route.  I stopped briefly near the gate to the fishing lodge before moving on to the bay just south of the hide.  Today there was just a single Green Sandpiper in the bay and I couldn’t find anything else between there and the island.  I walked a little further along the road and viewed the hedgerow running away from the reservoir where there were quite a few birds, mainly Linnets but also Blackbirds, Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits and a single Lesser Whitethroat and Reed Bunting.  As I walked back to the car there was a wader in the bay, which I though looked a bit elegant for a Green Sandpiper and on raising the bins saw that it was a juvenile Wood Sandpiper.  I continued on to the fenced area where I found a few Ruff and a couple of Greenshanks but there appeared to be little else.  The birds were then disturbed and I notched a group of smaller waders flying amongst the Lapwings and when they had landed I was able to see that they were Ringed Plovers and Dunlin and in fact seven of each.  There were four juvenile Common Terns sitting on the posts of the rafts and a fifth flying around and there was a Yellow-legged Gull on the Rutland bank.  I stopped briefly at the bridge where I had a Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Treecreeper and Spotted Flycatcher.  Finally I stopped to view the inlet where I counted eleven Ruff but found nothing else.

A Raven flew over the road just beyond Stoke Dry but I had seen nothing else of note before I arrived in the north arm.  There were two Yellow Wagtails on the fence in the field and I saw another four amongst the more numerous Pied Wagtails on the bund.  I also found a single Common Sandpiper on the bund before scanning the north shore.  There were clearly a lot of waders on the north shore and I counted twenty-three Ringed Plovers, sixteen Dunlin and six Ruff.  I continued on to view the south shore where I found another three Ruff.  When I returned there was another birder who had seen ten Ruff on the north shore I scanned the shore and also found ten and so walked back to see if the three were still on the south shore.  I could only find two now making twelve in total but I did also find four Common Sandpipers.  I went back and joined the other birder and saw a couple of Red Kites and three Ospreys over Burley.  As we stood talking the waders all flew across the north arm and the other birder picked out a smaller bird amongst the flock.  They didn’t come back and so I went to have another look along the south shore.  There was no sign of the flock of waders but I did find a female-type Red-crested Pochard and five Little Ringed Plovers.  When I got back the Ringed Plovers and Dunlin were back on the north shore but on scanning that is all we could find and there was no obvious sign of a smaller wader.  Just before I left the other birder picked up a Hobby over Burley and shortly afterwards the waders flew off again and appeared to heading for the reserve.

As I was leaving the north arm I saw Tim and after making him aware he suggested that I should go on to the reserve by the Volunteer’s Training Centre and view lagoon three.  I parked up by the path to Shoveler hide and took my lunch with me to the hide.  When I opened the flap in the hide I could see there were several waders and found the closer birds were juvenile Ruff, which I assumed might be part of the flock from the north arm.  There were also five Green Sandpipers visible and eventually I had eight Ruff and six Green Sandpipers.  As I continued to scan I found an Osprey over the north arm and then noticed another wader that turned out to be the juvenile Wood Sandpiper that had been present for a few days.  I then noticed a Sparrowhawk that was stood on the ground between the fence and the reedbed.  As I continued to watch the Sparrowhawk it suddenly appeared to become interested in something and suddenly ran like a Water Rail into the reeds emerging a couple of meters to the left.  It remained alert on the ground and then suddenly flew to the right and dived into the reeds but again emerged without any prey but this time perched on one of the fence posts.  It eventually flew around the reedbed island causing some disturbance before flying off towards lagoon four.  The disturbance had brought the waders closer and they started feeding quite close to the hide and I was able to get some nice shots of both a Green Sandpiper and the Wood Sandpiper.

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

I eventually had to leave and headed to the lecture theatres and as I was parking an Osprey flew over.  It had been an excellent morning’s birding with good numbers of waders present at both sites.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 18, 2015

With the threat of rain today I arrived in the south arm at Rutland Water at about 08:45 to begin the wildfowl count.  When I started the count it was dry and I was able to complete the south arm before the rain started.  There were plenty of birds but not a great variety with most being Tufted Duck of which I counted 1850, but there were also smaller numbers of Mute Swan, Egyptian Geese, Mallard, Teal and Pochard.  There were thirty-two Little Egrets scattered around the arm from the Old Hall to Goldeneye hide and I counted twenty-eight Common Terns.  I had a brief view of a Black Tern, which flew through the scope whilst I was counting the Tufted Ducks, but I couldn’t relocate it once I finished counting the Tufted Duck.

Having completed the count I drove to Egleton and went into the centre to count lagoon one.  There was a better variety on here with over 300 Coot and good numbers of both Gadwall and Mallard.  There was also three Wigeon, a few Teal, Shoveler and Tufted Duck and I found an eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard and there were twenty-seven Little Grebes, which is a good number for the lagoons.  There was also a single Dunlin on the long island and several more Little Egrets.

Whilst I had been counting the rain started and I was given permission to drive to Snipe and harrier hides to complete the count.  There were only a few birds on the Wet Meadow flash the best being three Shoveler and a single Teal and from harrier larger numbers of Teal were counted.

Whilst at the southern end of the reservoir I visited lagoons five, six, seven and eight but there were very few birds, particularly on six and eight and certainly nothing of note.  I also went into heron hide and saw two of the Manton Bay Ospreys, a Yellow-legged Gull on one of the signs on the Manton Bay bund and three more Common Terns.

After returning to the centre to submit my count figures and seeing the Great White Egret on lagoon one, which hadn’t been present earlier, I had my lunch.  After lunch I returned to the centre as it was still raining but other than a Snipe I saw else nothing new.

As the rain began to easy I set off for lagoon three but it was still raining when I reached the hide and did so all the time I was in the hide.  I was surprised on looking out of the hide, considering the weather, to see an Osprey carrying a fish and heading off towards the south arm.  There were three Green Sandpipers to the right of the hide and a Greenshank flew in but was harassed by a Black-headed Gull and departed towards lagoon two.  The juvenile Wood Sandpiper, present for a few days now, had been seen early morning but not since but it did reappear during my stay and provided some nice if distant views.  Another good bird was a single Swift, which was my first for a few days.  Whilst in the hide I called Steve to see if he had seen anything but was surprised when the phone was answered by someone else.  It turns out someone had found the phone in a hide and returned it to the centre.  I called Terry expecting him to still be with Steve but he had returned home being fed up with the weather but whilst talking to him Steve came into the hide.  Steve had realised he had lost his phone when he thought about calling me and had comeback to look for it being relieved when I confirmed that it had been handed in at the centre.

I eventually moved on to sandpiper hide on lagoon four but saw very little except for a single Common Sandpiper and so I moved on to Dunlin hide to get a different view.  There were plenty of Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls to the left of the hide and the number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls was increasing, although there were only six Yellow-legged Gulls present.  I then found five Ringed Plovers resting near island one and noticed more between islands six and nine and on scoping these I counted fourteen along with thirteen Dunlin.  I scanned the gulls again I picked up an adult Little Gull amongst some of the Black-headed Gulls, which was a nice surprise.  Just before leaving I checked the area where the Ringed Plover and Dunlin had been but could only find a few Ringed Plovers and on looking for the Little Gull afterwards that had also disappeared.  Steve and Terry hadn’t seen any Dunlin earlier and presumably they had dropped in and probably left again as the weather improved.

I thought I would check out the north arm before heading off and found three Red-crested Pochard, a Little Ringed Plover, a Ringed Plover and two Yellow-legged Gulls.  One of the Red-crested Pochard was an eclipse male and presumable the same bird I had seen earlier on lagoon one and one of the other two was beginning to get some red on the bill and is presumably a young male.

I had spoke to wife earlier and was surprised to find out there hadn’t been any rain in Leicester but was even more surprised when visiting Eyebrook Reservoir to establish that there had been very little there also and it only a few miles from Rutland Water.  I stopped briefly at the bridge seeing a single Ruff in the stream but went to the fence on the Leicestershire bank as I could see other waders.  There were eleven Ringed Plovers, two Sanderling, twelve Dunlin, eleven Ruff and a Snipe and there was a single Yellow-legged Gull close to the Rutland bank.  I drove to the southern end to check the bay where the Wood Sandpipers had been on Saturday and found four Little Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper.

Perhaps not one of my best days out but considering the weather there had been a few highlights in Sanderling, Wood Sandpiper, Little Gull and Black Tern.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 15, 2015

It had been a pretty miserable day yesterday but there had been some good birds in the counties and I set off for Eyebrook Reservoir with some expectation.  A Green Woodpecker flew up from the side of the road as I entered Slawston but as usual there was no sign of the Little Owls along the entrance road to the reservoir.

When I reached the fence of the Leicestershire bank David there and had been to the southern end and had seen Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper but nothing else.  I scanned the mud and found a Little Ringed Plover with several Ringed Plovers and there was also a single adult Dunlin.  I had a message on my phone from Malcolm, who was watching from the Rutland bank and on calling him back he said there were three Mandarin from the bridge and six Ruff on the Leicestershire bank.  We scanned the bank and soon found the six Ruff and then moved off to the bridge and hopefully the Mandarin.  However another birder at the bridge informed us that they had flown up stream about twenty minutes ago.  As we were scanning over the bridge the other birder said is that the Garganey and after following his directions I was soon watching a Garganey and there was a Green Sandpiper nearby and shortly afterwards an Osprey flew over carrying a good sized fish.  We eventually moved along the Rutland bank and looked back towards the inlet where we found two juvenile Shelduck and thirteen Ringed Plovers but with little else we moved off to the north arm at Rutland Water.

Whilst waiting for David to arrive I had a Kestrel over the fishponds but there was very little else.  When David arrived we walked down towards the point finding four Common Sandpipers and three Yellow Wagtails on the bund and seven Curlews and a Redshank on the north shore.  We continued on and viewed the point for the field but there were just three Dunlin and so we walked further into the field and found two Ruff and a Wood Sandpiper in the first bay.  I picked up a Raven whilst scanning Burley Wood and then we added two Red Kites, at least six Buzzards and two Ospreys over the Wood.  Roger then arrived who had seen the Garganey at Eyebrook Reservoir but the Little Terns present yesterday at Cropston Reservoir had moved on.  There had been a drake Common Scoter, a Knot, a Turnstone and a Little Gull in the north arm yesterday but they also appeared to have moved on.  The Wood Sandpiper had moved some distance to a bay near the fisherman’s car park and whilst Roger walked around to get reasonable views we had two more Raven right over our heads.

David called it a day and I saw very little else whilst I waited for Roger to come back.  I called Malcolm to let him know about the Wood Sandpiper, has he hadn’t seen it earlier.  He was on the Egleton Reserve and said he thought he might have had some Black Terns in South Arm Three but they were very distant and it wasn't certain.  When Roger got back we went to the Old Hall to view the south arm.  The drop in the water level was more apparent here and there was considerably more exposed shore line but surprisingly no waders.  We scanned the area for the Black Terns but could only find Common Terns initially but I then picked up a Black Tern over the far side and eventually managed to count thirteen.

Adult and juvenile Common Terns in the south arm

Juvenile Common Terns in the south arm

We went back to the north arm to collect Roger’s car before going to Egleton for an early lunch.  We were a bit uncertain what to do during the afternoon as the reports from the reserve were a bit sparse but as a Water Rail had been seen on lagoon three we headed off to Shoveler hide.  As we approached the hide we had brief views of a Chiffchaff but had seen very little else on route.  There were several other birders in the hide who had seen a Hobby and several Green Sandpipers.  We found four Green Sandpipers and there were six Common Terns over the lagoon and we had brief views of two Reed Warblers.  Despite a lengthy stay in the hide there was no sign of the hoped for Water Rail and so we moved off to lagoon four.

Green Sandpiper over lagoon three

We felt that Dunlin hide was the better bet to get better views of the gulls and there were nine Yellow-legged Gulls amongst the more numerous Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls with small numbers of both Common and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and we also found a single Herring Gull.  As we scanned the islands I noticed a couple of Dunlin running and then Roger picked up a party of circa fifteen waders in flight, which he thought were Dunlin but I didn’t get on then and he lost them.  We couldn’t find the two Dunlin I had seen and presumably they had flown off but there were three Little Ringed Plovers and eighteen Ringed Plovers on the lagoon and a Common Sandpiper flew by the hide.  An Osprey was observed eating a fish on one of the islands and was seen later on one of the perches and there was a second bird high over Burley Wood.

Osprey with fish

Osprey with fish

We went back to the centre where Roger found a Snipe on lagoon one and I then found a couple of Dunlin just after he had left.

As it was still quite early I decided to call at Eyebrook Reservoir on route home and met up with Malcolm on the bridge.  I had further views of the Garganey and we also found a couple of Curlew, two Greenshanks, a Green Sandpiper and a Redshank.  We drove around to the fence and whilst scanning I heard a Whimbrel calling, which was clearly not too far away but we couldn’t locate and it eventually stopped calling.  Richard then arrived telling us that there were five Wood Sandpipers that could be seen from the road in the last bay.  We drove and parked up and found four Wood Sandpipers and three Common Sandpipers almost straight away but apparently the fifth had flown off just before we arrived.  I took a few record shots of the four birds and was considering going when Malcolm found the fifth, which had appeared from the right and obviously hadn’t flown too far earlier.  Five together in the counties is quite exceptional and it may well be the first occurrence at Eyebrook Reservoir.

Four of the five Wood Sandpipers

I was feeling a little disappointed earlier when all of yesterday’s good birds appeared to have gone but after recording eighty-one species during the day and finishing with five Wood Sandpipers it was suddenly a good day.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 13, 2015

With easterly winds blowing all day yesterday and continuing today I was hoping for a few more waders and possibly a scarce migrant.

I saw very little on route to Eyebrook Reservoir and it was no surprise that the Little Owls were not showing but a Buzzard was in flight over the field.  I stopped at the bridge where I had brief views of presumably the same Marsh Tit I had seen on Tuesday and there were a couple of Shelduck on the stream.  I could see some distant Ringed Plovers and therefore drove further along the Rutland bank to view the area.  There were nine Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin and a Curlew feeding at the inlet and two Yellow Wagtails were feeding on the drier area of mud.  I was thinking of leaving when I saw Andy Mackay on the Leicestershire bank and so I gave him a call.  We had a chat about on unidentified moth I had sent him photos of and it would appear that is what it is likely to remain.  Shortly afterwards I drove further along and stopped to view the more southern area seeing a couple of Ospreys further down the reservoir.  Andy then called to say he had a possible Garganey and so I went back but couldn’t find it and with the phone no longer working due to a poor reception I drove around and joined Andy.  He informed me that the bird was now on the bank and that he was now certain it was a Garganey and I soon found the bird close to the Rutland bank.  There were also three Greenshanks feeding in front of the reedbed at the beginning of the plantation but with little else I moved on to the north arm at Rutland Water.

I walked down towards the point seeing a couple of Common Sandpiper on the bund as I did so.  There were several waders on the point that turned out to be a single Ringed Plover and nine Dunlin and there was a Redshank and two more Common Sandpiper further around on the south shore.  As I walked back I found at least four Yellow Wagtails on the bund and there were twelve Little Egrets still roosting in the fishponds.

After parking at Egleton I went in the centre to view lagoon one, planning to take an early lunch before going to the northern lagoons.  Tim had let more water out of the lagoon and there were a couple of Dunlin feeding on a freshly exposed area towards the long island.  There were also another nine Little Egrets resting on one of the islands and a female Tufted Duck was escorting a brood of eight very small ducklings.

With little else visible I went back to the car for lunch before heading off to Shoveler hide on lagoon three.  There were a few waders on the lagoon but initially all I could find were four Green Sandpipers and two Greenshanks.  A wader then flew in and around the island reedbed, which was a Ruff and it that then flew back and was joined by a second.  As I continued to scan I found the reported Wood Sandpiper and eventually had six Green Sandpipers.  Most of the waders were feeding at the far end with only the Greenshank coming close on occasions.  I then noticed what I thought might be a Water Rail disappear into the reedbed on the right of the hide and thankfully it came back out a few second later.  I informed another birder in the hide who managed to bang the side of the hide in his rush to see the bird.  I was still watching the rail which initially just looked alert but a couple of seconds later it shot back into the reeds and I didn’t see it again.  My patience eventually paid off when the juvenile Wood Sandpiper eventually came reasonably close and I was able to get a few shots before it returned to the far end.  Three Little Ringed Plovers then appeared to the left of the hide just as David arrived and a short while afterwards we went to Smew hide on lagoon two to hopefully see the Great White Egret.

Teal from Shoveler hide

Lapwing from Shoveler hide

Greenshank from Shoveler hide

Greenshank from Shoveler hide

Greenshank from Shoveler hide

Greenshank from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

Wood Sandpiper from Shoveler hide

As we approached Smew hide another birder came out saying Great White Egret but when we got in we couldn’t find initially but I then caught sight of it on one of the nearby tern rafts.  Whilst in the hide we also had a couple of Willow Warbler amongst a party of birds moving through feeding.

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

As I came out of the hide I disturbed a Red Underwing that then landed on the fencing and I was able to get a photo in pretty poor light.

Red Underwing

As we were walking towards Lapwing hide the same birder, who had indicated the Great White Egret was in front of Smew, came towards us saying Black Tern, three out of three, and presumably he had come hoping for three birds and had seen all three.

There were masses of Tufted Ducks in front of the hide and as we scanned we found at least twenty Common Terns but couldn’t find the Black Tern and nothing else amongst the Tufted.  We were about to give up when I picked up a tern feeding towards the Green Bank, which I was able to identify as a Black Tern and it was perhaps surprising we hadn’t seen it before.  I checked lagoon two and found two Green Sandpiper and two Greenshanks and so we went back to Shoveler to see if the Greenshanks were still there.  There was no sign of the Greenshanks from Shoveler and we therefore assumed that they were the same birds on lagoon two but David then found the Black Tern over lagoon three, which is perhaps why we didn’t see it initially from Lapwing hide, although we hadn’t noticed it earlier from Shoveler either.

We moved on to Dunlin hide on lagoon four to view the gulls and although there were plenty of Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls we couldn’t find the hope for Mediterranean Gull.  There were also a small number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and at least ten Yellow-legged Gulls amongst the more numerous Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls.  David then noticed some waders to the right of the hide and as I scanned I found several Ringed Plovers and Dunlin and the last bird I came to was a juvenile Little Stint, which was a county year tick.  We eventually counted ten Ringed Plovers and five Dunlin and I also found a couple of Little Ringed Plovers on the lagoon.

David was keen to go to Eyebrook Reservoir to try and see the Garganey I had seen this morning and after getting back to the car park we made our way to Eyebrook Reservoir.

We stopped at the bridge but there was nothing of note and we drove around to the fencing on the Leicestershire bank.  There were five Ruff on the Rutland bank and a Redshank at the inflow that I hadn’t seen this morning but we could find the Garganey and set off for home as the rain increased.