A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 2, 2016

I set off for Eyebrook Reservoir in what were not ideal conditions, it was overcast and there was a fresh to strong south-westerly wind, which was pretty cool.  The temperature fell from 6°C to 3°C during the journey but I did see a couple of Red Kites on route, one over Hallaton and the other just after passing through Horninghold.

When I got out of the car at Eyebrook Reservoir near the gate to the fishing lodge it felt pretty raw and after putting on an extra layer and my boots I checked out the area near the old feeding station.  There were a couple of Fieldfare and three Redwings feeding on the ground and two Tree Sparrows flew over.  There were far fewer birds in the bay to the south of the island today and I found nothing unusual and moved on along the Leicestershire bank.  As I went back to the gate a Red Kite flew to the south and there was another quartering the field.  A Little Egret in the small stream at the first bend and two Red-legged Partridges were all I saw before reaching the northern approach road.  I wasn’t at all surprised to find that the Little Owls were not on view in the strong wind and returned to few the reservoir from the bridge but all I saw was yet another Red Kite over the Rutland bank.

Moving further along the Rutland side of the reservoir I stopped to view the inlet but the water level had risen considerably again and there was very little with just a few Lapwing and gulls but a Little Egret flew from down the stream.  My final stop was near the Stoke Dry car park where most the wildfowl were.  I scanned the birds hoping for a Smew and was about to give up when a male and four red-heads flew in.

I decided that I would go across country to get to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water but other than another Red Kite near Wing I saw very little.

After parking I viewed the feeders at the centre but initially there were just four Blue Tits but as there appeared to be plenty of birds at the base of Lax Hill I decided to scan the area with the scope.  One of the first birds I saw was a Slavonian Grebe, which was between the centre and Lax Hill and I assumed would be the same bird that has been in the North Arm recently.  There was also six Curlew amongst the Lapwings and a single Dunlin was observed in flight on a couple of occasions.  I called Steve and he and Terry had just found the Red-necked Grebe in the North Arm along with three Black-necked Grebes but hadn’t seen the Slavonian Grebe.  I made them aware that there was a Slavonian Grebe in the South Arm Two, which we agreed would almost certainly be the bird present in the North Arm recently.

As I set off for Wader Scrape Hide I checked the feeders again where there was a now a Reed Bunting.  On reaching the hide I had seen very little and on entering the hide all of the bunds were now submerged and although there were plenty of Wigeon and Teal in Manton Bay the only other bird of note was a Little Egret near the bridge.

I walked back to the centre seeing just three Redwings of note and moved on to Normanton.  There was very little at Normanton and so I continued around the around the reservoir to Whitwell.  Steve and Terry had seen two of the Great Northern Divers in the creek and it didn’t take too long to locate the two juveniles as they dived frequently and were under the water far longer than on the surface.  As I was watching the divers Steve called to say he and Terry were at Ketton Sewage Works and were watching five Chiffchaffs, two of which were Siberian.  Having not been to the site before Steve provided directions and I left Rutland Water as t wasn’t too far away.

I parked behind Terry’s car and set off down the road towards the sewage works and had a Grey Wagtail as I approached the works.  Steve and Terry were still there and were viewing a fence running away from them through a gate to the works.  There were quite a few birds feeding in the area and I had several sightings of Chiffchaffs but none were of the Siberian race.  I moved along the footpath to try and get a little close and one of the noticeably grey birds perched briefly on the top of the fence and it or another was then seen rather well, if only briefly, in the bushes.  I was hoping to perhaps photograph the birds but the area was not conducive to do so and I gave up and rejoined Steve and Terry at the gate.  The birds appeared to becoming less active and so we went back to the cars to return to Rutland Water.

I headed for the fisherman’s car park on the Hambleton Peninsula where I located the Red-necked Grebe and the three Black-necked Grebes without too much trouble with the Red-necked showing quite nicely.  A Siskin was also observed whilst I was in the car park area.

I had my lunch at the end of the unnamed road before viewing the north arm from the end of the spit.  The two Barnacle Geese were as usual on the north shore and I counted eleven Redshanks on the south shore before a Raven flew over.

I then joined Steve and Terry in the Bird Watching Centre where the water had risen further with just two Pintail on the lagoon and Steve got me onto a male Stonechat near Mallard Hide.  It appeared pretty quiet with virtually nothing in or around the long island and then Steve noticed the reason why, which was a peregrine resting on far side of the spit and being partially obscured.  The Peregrine flew around at one point but soon landed again and became more obvious.  Four Shelduck and at least ten Pochard were on the lagoon and Terry picked up a very distant Kestrel.

Tim had arrived with an Otter in his vehicle, which had been a road casualty and so we went to have a look before heading off to the northern lagoons.  We held the Otter by the tail and were all surprised how heavy it was with it almost slipping out of my grasp as I was wearing gloves.

We checked out Lagoon Four from Sandpiper Hide as four Smew had been reported earlier but we couldn’t find any and moved onto Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.  There were eight Shelduck on the lagoon and we eventually found thirteen Snipe but there was no sign of Saturday’s Jack Snipe.

Steve and I made a final call to Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four to view the gulls.  There were plenty of gulls on the lagoon, mainly Common but with good numbers of Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed and a few Lesser Black-backed but nothing unusual.  Terry had visited Plover Hide and had seen a red-headed Smew but there was no sign of it although there were another four Pintail but little else and I called it a day and headed back to the car park.

It had been an excellent day’s birding with seventy-seven species recorded but it would my last visit for over two weeks as I am heading for Costa Rica on the 4^th for two weeks birding.