A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - January 5, 2016

I headed for Great Easton this morning in the hope of finding Barn Owl but felt I might have arrived too late.  There was no sign when I arrived and by about 08:15 the only birds of note I had seen were nine Fieldfares and a Red Kite.  As I was thinking of giving up I found one roosting in a tree to the north of where I had parked and then realised that there were actually two birds.  Feeling quite pleased with find them at what is clearly a roost sight I moved on to Eyebrook Reservoir where I hoped to find yesterday’s Slavonian Grebe.

When I arrived I scanned the area to the north of the reservoir, where there was nothing of note, before I went through the gate to fishing lodge, with another birder to view the southern bay.  There were plenty of birds in the bay including two drake Smew but there was no sign of the Slavonian Grebe and after about thirty minutes I moved off to have a look in the bay to the north of the island.  There were three red-head Smew but again there was no sign of the Slavonian Grebe and so I moved off to check the old oak for Little Owls.  There was no sign of the Little Owls but I saw a Buzzard and a Raven in the field before I returned to the Stoke Dry car park to continue searching for the Slavonian Grebe.  There had also been a first-winter Little Gull present yesterday but I couldn’t find that or the Slavonian Grebe and decided to head off to Rutland Water.  The Barn Owl and Raven were both additions to the year list and I had also heard several Song Thrushes singing, which took my year list on to eight-seven.

At Rutland Water I headed straight to the fisherman’s car park on the Hambleton Peninsula and eventually found the two Black-necked Grebes in Dickinson's Bay.

With little else on view I drove to the end of the peninsula and walked around the cycle track to view the North Arm.  As initially scanned the area between Whitwell and the dam hoping to see one of the divers but having no joy looked back towards Armley Wood where I found the Red-necked Grebe.  I moved slightly and viewed the area between the peninsula and the southern corner of the dam and immediately found the Great Skua, which has now been present since the 1^st.  I called Steve but he had seen it from Whitwell and he and Terry were now at Normanton where they were hoping for a better view but it was still pretty distant.  He also told me that all four Great Northern Divers were feeding in Whitwell Creek and wouldn’t be visible from the peninsula.  I spent a few more minutes viewing the mouth of the creek and luckily one of the divers swam out.

I walked back to the car and headed back to view the north arm from the end of the unnamed road at the cottage.  There were four male an two female Goosander in the fishponds and a Pintail flew over but there was no sign of the reported drake Smew and I saw very little else and after some lunch went to the Egleton Reserve.

There was still a good number of Pintail on Lagoon One and when something disturbed the Lapwings eight Curlew also took to flight.  There was also a pair of Shelduck on the lagoon and I could see another pair on the Wet Meadow flash.

I saw very little as I walked to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon three and there was still very few birds on the lagoon.  A single Redshank feeding to the left of the hide and party of eleven Pochard were the best.

Eight of the Pochard on Lagoon Three

From Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four there were four Shelduck, a Little Egret, circa twenty-five Golden Plovers and three Dunlin.  Dunlin was a year-tick and I also added Linnet taking the year’s total to eighty-nine.

Ken had called earlier to say that both the Slavonian Grebe and Little Gull had been found but I had decided to stay at Rutland Water and call at Eyebrook Reservoir again on my way home.  When I arrived at the bridge both Andy and Ken were present but they hadn’t seen the Little Gull for over half-an-hour and so I continued on to the island coral to look for the Slavonian Grebe. I was joined by another birder but there was no sign of the Slavonian Grebe from the coral and we moved to the fencing near the hide to get a different view but with still no sign I went through the gate to the fishing lodge.  Despite having a good view of the whole bay I still couldn't find the grebe but I did find an extra male Smew.  As the light was beginning to fade I went back to view the northern bay from the gateway.  As I scanned the area I picked up a bird close to the shore but it dived before I got a good look.  A few seconds later a bird appeared and I thought no it’s a red-headed Smew but it dived and what I assumed was the same bird appeared but was head-on and again I suspected it was the Slavonian Grebe but it dived again and the Smew reappeared.  Thinking I had made a mistake the Slavonian Grebe then appeared nearby and both birds were on the surface together and it was success at the eleventh hour.  After a coffee I set off for home and found the Little Owl in the old oak as I left the reservoir.  I had added seven to the year list today and with a visit to Norfolk tomorrow I was expecting plenty more.