Malcolm had informed me
yesterday of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that was performing quite well
yesterday at Lings Wood in Northampton and as it is a species that is quite
difficult to see these days I decided to go and take a look.
I left home quite early to
ensure to give myself the best chance of seeing the bird and arrived in the car
park at around 07:00. The bird could be
heard drumming from the car park yesterday but there was no sign when I got out
of the car and put on an extra level of clothing. There was quite a bit of song that included a
Chiffchaff and a Nuthatch but the woodpecker was still silent after about ten
minutes and I began to wonder if it was going to perform today. However it suddenly began drumming and on
scanning the tree I thought it was in I couldn’t locate it and moved a little
closer until I appeared to be right under the tree where it was drumming but I
still couldn’t find it. I knew it took
Malcolm almost an hour yesterday to find it and so I gave him a call. He described the branch it was drumming on
yesterday, which I located but still couldn’t see it but then I saw some
movement and after moving back from the tree had good views of a male sitting
on the top of the branch it was drumming on.
The branch was almost horizontal and consequently by getting too close
to the tree it was out of sight and I suppose I was focusing more on vertical
type branches.
I went back to the car to get
my scope and whilst I was trying to get the scope on the bird I noticed a bird
fly in and the Lesser Spotted fly off.
The new arrival was a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which began to drum on
the same branch. It didn’t stay too long
and the Lesser Spotted soon returned to continue drumming. I managed to get a few shots of the bird without
disturbing it and when I left it was still drumming almost constantly.
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Malcolm had also heard that
there was a Cuckoo back at Great Easton and so as it was on the way to Rutland
Water I called in there in the hope of getting my first Cuckoo of the year.
When I arrived Malcolm was
already there and was a good way down the footpath and so I set off after
him. He called to say don’t rush as I
haven't seen or heard a Cuckoo, however when I eventually caught up with at the
end of the path he had heard one but it was rather distant. We hung around at the end of the path for a while
but with no further sign of the Cuckoo we made our way back along the
track. The area is quite good for
warblers and we did see or hear two Chiffchaff, six Willow Warbler and a couple
of Lesser Whitethroats but I was surprised not to have any contact with
Blackcap or Whitethroat, which would suggest that there hopefully more to
arrive. We also found a couple of Marsh
Tits with one providing good views and initially I thought they might be Willow
Tits as one was very drab, particularly on the underparts. However after confirming that they were Marsh
Tits we realised that the underparts were probably coated in the pollen from
the catkins they were feeding amongst.
As we got back to the cars we had a Red Kite and a Buzzard soaring just
to the north of the footpath.
Willow Warbler
Willow Warbler
Malcolm was going to call at
Eyebrook Reservoir but I was heading straight to Rutland Water but called Bob
to see if he was there and if so what had he seen. He was there but hadn’t seen anything of note
in the North Arm and I said I would probably catch up with him on the Egleton
Reserve.
When I arrived in the car park
Bob’s car was there but he had obviously gone on and I went to the centre to
see what was in the book. Stephen was
volunteering today had been down to Lagoon Four earlier and had seen three
Whimbrel, a Common Sandpiper and a Wheatear and so I set off in that direction.
As I approached the hide two
Ospreys were soaring high just to the south and a third bird then flew low over
the hide and headed off south before soaring close to the other two birds. When I entered Sandpiper hide Bob was there
and indicated that he had seen a Greenshank with a Redshank at the back of the
lagoon. I soon found the bird, which was
the first of the year for Rutland Water and obviously a patch-tick but also a
year-tick. The Redshank was still there
and there were also six Ringed Plovers and eight Dunlin. I then located the three Whimbrel feeding on
the west bank and Bob found a male Wheatear on the same bank. There was also five Common Terns resting near
island ten and there were three pairs of Oystercatcher on different islands and
a forth Osprey was still on the nest with a single Yellow Wagtail making a
brief visit to island ten. As we scanned
Burley Wood we located a Red Kite, six Sparrowhawk, at least ten Buzzards, yet
another Osprey and a Raven.
Bob had heard a Lesser
Whitethroat singing towards Dunlin Hide and as I still haven’t seen one we went
to search for it. As we walked towards
Dunlin Hide it sang again and we then saw it perched nicely at the top of one
of the bushes alongside a Willow Warbler.
A visit to Shoveler Hide on
Lagoon Three produced very little, except for three more Common Terns and I
went to check South Arm Three from Lapwing Hide. As I walked along the track I could hear a
Reed Warbler singing and managed to get brief views whilst in was in a small
bush. When I reached Lapwing Hide the
water was almost like a mill pond but there were few birds on the water and all
I found of note were two more Common Terns.
As I made my way back to the
centre I had brief views of a Sedge Warbler and some rather nice views of a
Blackcap as it sang from the top of a tree alongside the path. I little further along I found Bob taking it
easy resting on one of the benches and we then continued on to the centre
together.
When I reached the car park
Stephen had finished his volunteering shift and after a brief chat was on his
way back to Lagoon Four in search of the Yellow Wagtail. Ken had also arrived and after lunch he and I
set off towards the southern lagoons.
We stooped on a couple of
occasions to observe a Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff and as we were alongside Lagoon Five bund I
heard an Avocet calling and saw it briefly as it passed in front of heading
south. On reaching Snipe Hide
overlooking the Wet Meadow we found a couple of Pintail and several Shoveler on
the flash and there were two Oystercatchers just to the left of the hide and a
single Little Egret.
We moved onto Harrier Hide
seeing another Willow Warbler on route but we found nothing new from the hide
and continued on to Fieldfare Hide. As I
scanned a small group of Tufted Duck diving to the right of the hide I found a
female Scaup and then Ken noticed that there were actually two amongst the
Tufted.
We walked back to Tern Hide on
Lagoon Six where we found a couple of Oystercatchers and three Redshanks with
another Osprey flying over the hide and then presumably it was the same one
returning a few minutes later.
Osprey over Lagoon Six
As we passed Lagoon Eight
there was another pair of Oystercatchers on one of the islands, which were
possibly nesting but there was little else on the lagoon. We did our best to check out Lagoon Seven
where we found a Green Sandpiper and another two Oystercatchers and from
Shelduck Hide on Lagoon Five we found another three Redshanks.
As we were walking back to the
centre an Osprey flew over again, which was presumably the bird we had seen
over Lagoon Six earlier.
Osprey over path between Lagoon Five and Six
On reaching the centre we went
to the viewing gallery and found a Black-tailed Godwit, a Curlew and another
Pintail but there was nothing else new.
Grey Heron on Lagoon One
I called at Eyebrook Reservoir
briefly on route home and was just in time to see a Short-eared Owl on the
ground in one of the fields on the Leicestershire bank. There was also three Whimbrel and two Common
Terns and a good number of hirundines, which were mainly Sand Martin but I did
also notice a few Swallow. As I left the
reservoir the Little Owl obliged in the Old Oak but other than a Buzzard on the
right as I was climbing away from Eyebrook Reservoir I saw little else.
It had been quite a successful
day with two year-ticks, a Greenshank and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, with
the Greenshank also being a patch-tick, which moved my total on to 130 with a
point’s score of 156.
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