A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - May 21, 2016

I set off this morning and headed straight to Rutland Water where there had been thee Sanderling and five Turnstones yesterday afternoon.  I didn’t see too much on route with a Buzzard between Wistow and Kibworth being the highlight.  When I arrived in the Egleton car park it was dry and overcast with a fresh southerly wind.  I set off for Plover Hide on Lagoon Four hearing Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap before reaching the hide but seeing nothing of note.

I scanned Lagoon Four but it was very quiet with just a few Great Black-backed Gulls on the area favoured by waders and an Oystercatcher and three Common Terns on the closer islands.  I then picked up a couple of waders in flight but lost them almost immediately but was sure at least one was a Ringed Plover.  Shortly afterwards three Ringed Plovers appeared on some tiny exposed areas of mud before they flew and landed in the favoured area.

With little else I moved to Bittern Hide where I could hear at least two Reed Warblers but there was little else just a couple of Greylag Geese and a few Mallard and so I moved onto Shoveler Hide hearing a Nightingale as I did so.  From Shoveler I could see that the water levels had risen further and there was now much less exposed mud.  I counted twenty-nine Common Terns feeding over the lagoon and there was a pair of Shelduck, a single drake Shoveler, three Pochard and an Oystercatcher present and also saw a Reed Warbler and a Buzzard over the reedbed.

I went into Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four to get a different perspective of the lagoon but other than finding a couple of Ringed Plovers there appeared little else, although I did pick up a Red Kite and a couple of Buzzard over Burley Wood.  A party of birders then entered the hide and with some having to stand I was about to leave to give them some room, when one of them mentioned a Dunlin.  As I scanned the nearest island I found three Dunlin and also a Sanderling and a Turnstone and suspected that they had just arrived.  The three Dunlin and Sanderling after briefly feeding flew and landed near the furthest island and the Turnstone also eventually moved.  The Sanderling and Dunlin continued to fly around the lagoon on several occasions and were not always visible and I also lost sight of the Turnstone.

The party of birders eventually moved on and as they did so Roger arrived as I had made him aware of the waders.  It didn’t take too long to relocate the Sanderling, Dunlin and Turnstone but we also had at least eight Ringed Plovers, which was an increase in what I had seen earlier.  There were two Oystercatchers on the spit and I initially thought that it was the pair that had two young on the last visit but I then noticed a third bird in the vegetation.  A forth bird then joined the bird in the vegetation and although I couldn’t see any young their behaviour when a crow flew over suggested that at least one was still alive.

With nothing new appearing we returned to the car park for lunch seeing a Chiffchaff just as we reached the car park.  After lunch we went to the centre to view Lagoon One but other than three pairs of Shelduck a drake Pochard and several Common Terns it was pretty quiet and we eventually headed for Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow.

We had brief views of a male Blackcap just after leaving the centre but saw little else on route.  There were two pairs of Shelduck on the Wet Meadow but other than a female Shoveler and a Redshank we couldn’t find anything else of interest.

We continued on to Tern Hide on Lagoon Six and found the Avocet still sitting and there were another two pairs of Shelduck and four Oystercatchers on the lagoon.

A brief visit to Pintail Hide also on Lagoon Six didn’t result in anything new and so we continued on to the 360° Hide on Lagoon Five.  As we went by Lagoon Eight we could see a pair of Shelduck and two more Oystercatchers and from the 360° Hide there were two Little Egrets, two Oystercatchers and two Redshanks.

We checked out Lagoon One again form the centre but with northing new we departed seeing a Mistle Thrush mobbing a Sparrowhawk as it flew across the car park towards Lagoon One.

I called at Eyebrook Reservoir briefly on my way home where there was a pair of Shelduck on the Leicestershire bank, a Kestrel hunting along the Rutland bank and a Little Egret at the inlet.  A Yellow Wagtail flew over calling and a Buzzard was also observed just east of the reservoir.