I was returning to Rutland
Water today to assist with the WeBS count and there was a good covering of snow
that had fell overnight. I left a little
earlier hoping I would be able to get there but was surprised how good the main
roads were and entered the Egleton car park ahead of schedule.
As there was still plenty of
snow on the minor roads I needed a different strategy to count South Arm
three. I called Tim to let him know I
was on site and that I would count South Arm Three and Lagoon One as usual. I wanted to walk to Lapwing Hide, which has
been closed whilst new screening has been erected but with the screening now
finished except for a gap where Crake Hide will be repositioned, it was
complete but still closed but Tim agreed it would be OK to visit Lapwing Hide.
As I was first onto the
reserve the snow was still lying untouched except for a few mammal and bird
tracks and looked stunning.
Egleton Meadows
There were plenty of birds in
South Arm Three, mainly Gadwall and Tufted Duck but there were also Mute Swan;
Greylag Goose; Canada Goose; Wigeon; Teal; Mallard; Pochard; Goldeneye; Great
Crested Grebe and Coot but the best was a single red-headed Smew. Whilst I was in the hide a Sparrowhawk flew just
in front and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
I walked back to the centre to
count Lagoon One, which was partially frozen over but more so than
yesterday. There were only thirty-five
Pintail today, which was fewer than yesterday’s sixty. There were also Mute Swan; three Shelduck;
Wigeon; Gadwall; Teal; Mallard; Shoveler; Pochard; Tufted Duck; Goldeneye; a
Little Grebe and Coot.
Having completed the count of
Lagoon One I headed for Fieldfare Hide to complete the South Arm Three
count. I saw very little on route but on
reaching the hide there was 170 Teal as well as good numbers of Mallard and a
few Wigeon. There were also three Snipe
amongst the grasses and a single Tufted Duck.
Lax Hill
With the counted completed I
headed back to the centre and headed off home.
There was news of a juvenile
and a third-winter Glaucous Gull at a recycling centre in Leicester and as it
was almost on route to my daughters I persuaded my wife that we should have a
look on route. I wasn’t certain where the
site was but as I turned a corner on Sunningdale Road it became clear where I
needed to be as there was a mass of gulls circling overhead. As I pulled up I noticed Brian with his
granddaughter Rosie and Carl Baggott was also present. As I got out of the car most of the gulls had
disappeared behind the building and I learnt that it was only possible to see
them when they took to flight and to make matters worse it was amongst the mass
of gulls as I drove down the road. Brian
and Carl picked it up again but it disappeared almost immediately and I became
concerned that I might not see it as my wife wouldn’t want to hang about too
long. However I biker then came down the
road doing a wheelie and with engine roaring a mass of gulls reappeared and I
then had reasonable views of the juvenile as it circled overhead for a while.
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