David and I were out locally
and initially set off for Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Buzzard close to
Hallaton.
When we arrived at Eyebrook
Reservoir we checked out the old oak for Little Owls but there was no sign and
so we moved on to the bridge over the inlet stream. The reservoir was now full following the
recent rains and was also heavily stained with mud. There was a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the
feeders and a Little Egret along the stream but there was very little visible
on the water and so we headed for the North Arm at Rutland Water.
We felt the best place to view
the arm would be the fisherman’s car park along the Hambleton Peninsula and was
surprised how cold it felt in the light northerly wind. David picked up the Red-necked Grebe almost
immediately but it dived and as we were searching for we both locked on to a
Great Northern Diver, which was close to where he had seen the Red-necked
Grebe. The diver dived but we did see it
another two times before we re-found the Red-necked Grebe, which had moved some
distance. Whilst searching for the
Red-necked I found the Slavonian Grebe and three Black-necked Grebes towards
the north shore. Despite a fairly
lengthy search we unable to locate yesterday’s reported Common Scoters. Just as we were about to move to the Old Hall
a Buzzard circled behind before drifting off towards the east.
After parking at the bottom of
the lane we walked through to the Old Hall to view the South Arm but there were
very few birds and so we went to the unnamed road to view the north arm again
from the end of the spit.
The water level had risen
further following the rains and must now be on top water. The two Barnacle Geese were on the northern
shore and a male and two female Goosanders were in the fishponds but there was
little else and so we went to the Bird Watching Centre at Egleton.
The water level on Lagoon One
had risen further and now the middle section of the long island was almost
submerged but still provided a resting area for a few Lapwings. As we scanned the lagoon a pair of Pintail
dropped into the area to the right of the centre and there were three
Oystercatchers on the lagoon and just a single Curlew was visible.
We moved off to view the
northern lagoons, seeing a Redshank on the flooded large meadow. Initially we went to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon
Three and as we entered the hide another couple of birders indicated it was
still there and were referring to the Long-billed Dowitcher. It had not been reported yesterday during the
heavy rain and David had seen it fly off with some urgency on Tuesday and we
had assumed that it had probably finally departed. We soon picked it up feeding along the edge
of what would appear to be its favourite location. There was also a Redshank on the same island
and three Shelduck and a drake pintail to the left of the hide. A couple of Cetti’s Warbler were heard but neither
were observed, although one was quite close.
Wigeon on Lagoon Three
A visit to Lapwing Hide failed
to produce anything of note on either South Arm Three or Lagoon Two and so we
returned to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four, seeing circa fifty Golden Plover
flying north as we approached Shoveler Hide.
There were seven Shelduck
resting on Island Ten and we eventually found ten on the lagoon. The female Peregrine was on Island Six and
there were two Oystercatchers not too far away on Island Five along with a
Ringed Plover. A further two Ringed
Plovers were on Island Two and we then we found a male a four red-headed Smew
behind Island Five and also four Pintail on the lagoon. I was pretty sure I heard a Kittiwake call
but David didn’t hear it and we couldn’t find it amongst the Black-headed and
Common Gulls. When I thought I heard the
call quite a lot of birds took to flight and I then noticed what I assumed was
the Peregrine on Island Seven but David indicated that the female hadn’t moved
and was still on the same island. I
checked out the bird on Island Seven and found it was an adult male and
surprisingly we now had two Peregrines on view on the lagoon.
We eventually returned the
centre and after checking the book went for some lunch after which we headed
for the Lyndon Reserve.
Redwing in the Egleton car park
Redwing in the Egleton car park
Once at the Lyndon Reserve we
checked out the feeders where there were plenty of birds, including Blue, Great
and Coal Tits, Robin, Dunnock, at least five Tree Sparrows, Chaffinch,
Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Reed Bunting.
We then walked as far as Wader Scrape Hide but saw very little either
during the walk or from the hide.
When we got back to the centre
we set of Eyebrook Reservoir and hopefully the adult Iceland Gull that had come
in on the last three nights. We had a
Red Kite as we dropped down the hill to Stockerston and this time a check on
the old oak did produce a Little Owl.
There were two more Red Kites quartering above the area near the first
fence but they moved off as we stopped.
There were no gulls in the area where there had been hundreds on Tuesday
when I had the eight Kittiwakes and so we continued along the Leicestershire
bank as far as the gate to the fishing lodge.
With still no sign of any gulls we decided to walk to the dam and
dropped down the slope to observe the outflow.
However the sluice gates were open to lower the levels of the water and
the outflow was like a raging torrent and consequently there was no sign of any
Grey Wagtails.
When we got back to the car we
drove and parked near the fencing just north of the island but there was still
no sign of any gulls. We even went back
to the inlet but still found that gull less and so we returned to the fencing
hoping that the gulls would at some point come in. Whilst we stood waiting we heard a Tawny Owl
call on a couple of occasions and it would appear that it was being mobbed by
Blackbirds later but we couldn’t find in the hedgerow. The gulls did eventually come in but not till
quite late when there were streams of gulls just passing by, although
eventually there was a good concentration of the water. Most were Black-headed and Common Gulls with
small numbers of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls but regretfully there
was no sign of the Iceland.
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