Roger and I set off for
Eyebrook Reservoir in what were rather cold and overcast conditions after a
night of heavy rain. On route we saw a
couple of Red Kites near Cranoe and a third just after passing through
Horninghold.
We approached the reservoir
from the southern end and the weather still looked rather threatening as we put
or gear on. Our plan was to walk to the
outflow beyond the dam in the hope of finding a Kingfisher and Grey
Wagtail. As we set off we heard a Raven
and although it called on several occasions we were unable to locate it. There were two Red Kites to the north of the
gate and we had both Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker before we
reached the fishing lodge where there was also a Little Egret. It was quiet as we walked down to the
concrete runaway and just as we reached the end a Little Egret flew up and
headed off downstream. We hadn’t seen
either of the target birds and so walked a little further along the stream
seeing the Little Egret on another two occasions but nothing else. When we got back to the small bridge we
scanned the runaway again but there was nothing but Roger alerted me and
pointed downstream and there was a Kingfisher heading off. Apparently he had turned around and the bird
was sat in a bush overlooking the stream just a few meters away but it took to
flight as soon as it noticed Roger. As
we walked back alongside the runaway I saw something fly further down and as we
scanned we found a female Grey Wagtail, which we were able to get some nice
views of. With both the targets now in
the bag we set off back towards the car scanning the first field where there
were circa seventy Fieldfare and seven Redwing feeding. We had our third Red Kite as we crossed the
cattle grid and then found a drake Smew in the bay before we reached the car
and a single Tree Sparrow before we moved on.
Once back at the car we drove
further along and stopped near the first area of fencing as I had seen a flock
of passerines in flight. We soon located
the birds in a field with numerous Lapwings and were able to identify them as
Linnets and estimated that there were about seventy birds. Surprisingly I then found a couple of Dunlin
amongst the Lapwing but nothing else of note.
We continued along the
Leicestershire bank but didn’t stop until we reached the old oak on the exit
road but not surprisingly the Little Owl wasn’t showing. We returned to the reservoir and parked in a
gateway to view the fields and the inlet.
There was very little in the fields to the east just a Red Kite and four
Skylarks. At the inlet I counted 266
Golden Plover and there were at least twenty Dunlin mixed in with them and the
more numerous Lapwings. There was a
Pheasant shoot occurring in the Leicestershire fields and at one point we could
hear plenty of gunshots but couldn't see the shooters and assumed that they
were in Holyoaks Wood. We did see quite
a few Pheasants emerging from the wood in an attempt to avoid the guns but not
all were successful. Our fifth Red Kite
was observed over the woods as the guns ceased firing. A brief stop near the Stoke Dry parking area
produced two red-headed Smew and another Little Egret.
We eventually moved on to
Rutland Water and in particular the north arm.
I found the two Barnacle Geese on the north shore and after walking to
the end we found the reservoir was now almost on top water. As we scanned Roger picked up the Slavonian
Grebe almost at the same time as I found the four Black-necked Grebes but we
couldn’t locate the Red-necked Grebe. As
I scanned the south shore I counted ten Redshank, which was a good number as
there have only been odd ones seen recently.
Another group of birders then arrived and almost immediately found the
Red-necked Grebe, which was near the north shore and further into the arm than
usual and our first Buzzard of the day was observed to the south.
Roger and I went to the
Egleton car park where we had some lunch seeing both a Red Kite and a Peregrine
over the car park as we were getting ready to head off to the centre.
Red Kite over the car park
Redwing from the car park
The water level on the lagoon
had risen further and the number of Pintail had continued to decline with just
twelve being present. We eventually
found both the male and female Stonechats that were feeding in front of Mallard
Hide but the only other birds of note were six Shelduck.
We set off for Shoveler Hide
on Lagoon Three but saw very little as we walked through the meadows but had a
Sparrowhawk fly over as we reached the gate leading to the hide.
As we entered the hide Rick
beckoned me as he said there was a great opportunity to photo Snipe, which were
near the end of the hide. I sat down and
scanned and saw that there were nine birds and immediately began to photo some
of the closer birds. I hadn’t really
looked at the birds in great detail but became aware that there might be a
possibility of one being a Jack Snipe.
As I started to scan Roger joined me and mentioned one did at least look
smaller and realised I was focussing on the same bird. It was roosting with its bill tucked under
its wing. However other than the size there
were several other characters that were different to the other snipe. Its facial pattern was different with dark
eyebrow above the pale supercilium, a dark spot on the ear-coverts and a paler
band below the lowest dark band. The
tramlines on the back were also a deeper yellowish-buff and the patterning on
the breast and flanks were also different.
Perhaps most significantly the crown appeared dark with no centre crown
stripe but this could have been due to the angle of the head. However I was convinced, as was Roger, that
it was indeed a Jack Snipe. It
eventually stopped roosting and revealed the dark crown and short bill but it
didn’t stay for much longer as it fairly quickly moved towards the edge of the
reeds before disappearing around the far side.
It was an excellent and unexpected addition to the year list, although
one had been seen on the lagoon on the 1st. After the excitement a scan of the rest of
the lagoon produced very little with just two Shelduck of note on the water, a
Kestrel over and at least three distant Buzzards over Burley Wood.
Snipe on Lagoon Three
Snipe on Lagoon Three
Snipe on Lagoon Three
Jack Snipe on Lagoon Three
Jack Snipe on Lagoon Three
Jack Snipe on Lagoon Three
Jack Snipe on Lagoon Three
Jack Snipe on Lagoon Three
A visit to Dunlin Hide on
lagoon Four produced two more Shelduck, a red-headed Smew and a Peregrine on
Island One and all five species of the commoner gulls but there was nothing
unusual.
A final visit to centre to
view Lagoon One produced a single Little Egret but otherwise it was much the
same as earlier and so we called it a day and headed off home.
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