The weather forecast this
morning was for showers dying out before a more persistent band of rain was due
to arrive late afternoon. When I left
home it was dry but overcast but the wind was a fairly light southerly. I headed for Eyebrook Reservoir but just
before I reached the reservoir it rained rather heavily and I waited in the car
until it had stopped before walking up to the fishing lodge. I saw very little of note before reaching the
lodge and continued on down to the out flow where I found that there was plenty
of water flowing out with the runaway was pretty full and the water flowing
very fast. There was no sign of the
hoped for Grey Wagtail and other than a Song Thrush I saw nothing else.
As I started to make my way
back I met Terry who had seen two drake Smew fly into the corner near the lodge
but when we walked around to look there was no sign. Another birder then arrived who had seen them
fly off towards the far shore and when he looked for them he found three males
together and few minutes later he found the female Red-breasted Merganser,
which was also towards the far shore.
Terry and I then walked back to the gate but other than a couple of distant
Red Kites we saw nothing else of note.
Terry went off to check out
the Welland Valley whilst I continued around the reservoir but care is needed
now when parking as the verges are very soft and it would be easy to get
stuck. I parked near the gate
overlooking the bay north of the island and found the Slavonian Grebe, which
was providing some nice views but with rain falling again I moved on to the
bridge over the inlet.
Other than a Little Egret
there was nothing else of note from the bridge and I joined Roger at the Stoke
Dry car park but we couldn’t find the reported red-headed Smew but I did pick
up a Sparrowhawk on the far bank before we eventually decided to head for the
Lyndon Centre at Rutland Water.
It was dry when we arrived at
the centre and the feeders were full and there was a steady stream of tits
coming and going, mainly Blue and Great but also three Coal Tits. There was also a Robin, Dunnock and a
Chaffinch showing some interest but nothing else. Roger then said “Sparrowhawk” as a bird
flashed across the front before heading off behind the centre. I didn’t see the bird at all and after it had
gone Roger began to doubt his initial identification as the bird was showing a
strong facial pattern.
We eventually gave up and set
off for the Egleton Reserve and as I turned on to the Lyndon Road I noticed a
bird at the top of a tree on the left of the road. It soon became obvious that it was a male
Peregrine but I couldn’t stop due to other traffic and continued on to the
Egleton car park. Roger soon followed me
into the car park and he had also seen the Peregrine and felt it was perhaps
the bird he had seen to flash in front of the Lyndon Centre. As we discussed the possibility it began to
rain rather heavily again and so we decided to take an early lunch.
The rain eased as we finished
our lunch and after a brief chat with Rick we went to the centre. The water level had risen further on Lagoon
One but there were still forty four Pintail on the lagoon and I found one of
the Great White Egrets on lagoon two, which then flew in front of the centre
and headed off towards Manton Bay. There
was also three Shelduck on the lagoon with another two visible on the Wet
Meadow flash and two Curlews were feeding between Lagoon One and the Wet
Meadow.
Roger and I then set off to
Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three but had seen very little before we entered the
hide. Other than a Redshank to the left
of the hide there was very little else but just after Rick and Graham arrived Rick
noticed a Snipe on the edge of the reed island.
I got my scope on it as Steve had seen a Jack Snipe in this area on the
1st but it was just a Snipe as were two others that were with it. A Little Egret flew in front of the hide and
a Shelduck dropped in behind the reed island before we left for Sandpiper Hide
on Lagoon Four.
There were four more Pintail
and another Shelduck on the lagoon and as I scanned the small concentration of
gulls near Island Eight I found a rather smart looking white-headed
Herring-type gull in the water. Its bill
looked rather long and parallel sided, suggesting it might be an adult Caspian
Gull. The head looked rather small and
the forehead sloped towards the rather rounded crown and the eye, just forward
of centre was dark. Although there was
no other Herring-type gulls present for direct comparison both Roger and I were
happy that it was indeed an adult Caspian, which was reinforced as it raised its
wings and revealed the extensive white tip to primary ten, with primary nine
also showing plenty of white with a noticeable black band near the tip.
Roger needed to get home early
today and I decided that I would go back with him to the car park and then go
and have a look in the north arm before returning to view the gulls later in
the afternoon. As we approached the end
of the woodland alongside the large meadow we found a Great Spotted Woodpecker
and at the end found circa thirty Siskin feeding in the alders. There was a second Great Spotted Woodpecker
near the Badger Hide and just beyond I heard a Marsh Tit call, which then came quite
close before heading off towards the feeding station.
When I reached the north arm
Colin and Chris were there and they had already located the Red-necked Grebe
and the two Black-necked Grebes, which made it very easy for me and an
Oystercatcher was a nice surprise being only my third January record for the
Counties. There was also two drake
Goosanders in the fishponds, a Little Egret on the north shore and two
Redshanks on the south shore.
On returning to the Egleton Reserve
I went to Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four to be closer to the gulls and on opening
the hide flaps there were two red-headed Smew right in front. I was joined in the hide by Brian, his
granddaughter Rosie and Roger Brett but unfortunately most of the gulls decided
to assemble at the back of the lagoon and were rather distant. We did locate several white-headed Herring-type
gulls and whilst identifying one as a Herring Gull we were unsure about the
others but I strongly suspected at least one was a Yellow-legged Gull.
Despite the earlier rather
disappointing weather it had been a good days birding with seventy-two species
recorded of which two, Sparrowhawk and Caspian Gull, were new for the year.
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