When I arrived at Eyebrook
Reservoir this morning I found Stephen on the bridge, who had called prior to
going to Rutland Water hoping to see a Kingfisher. We hadn’t seen very much by the time he left
and the Kingfisher didn’t appear after he had gone but I did have a nice view
of a singing Garden Warbler. I moved
around the road towards Stoke Dry and parked to view the inlet but the water is
still so high there is no suitable feeding for waders and there wasn’t even a
Lapwing. An Osprey flew over fishing
briefly and I also saw a Red Kite and two Buzzards over the Leicestershire
fields and there were four Common Terns present.
Osprey
Goldfinch
After parking in the Egleton
car park at Rutland Water I saw a singing Garden Warbler near the service road
but there was nothing in the book today and so I walked towards the southern
lagoons. As I made my way along the
trail through the woodland I found a Chiffchaff, Blackcap and yet another
Garden Warbler but saw nothing else before reaching Snipe Hide.
Chiffchaff
There were three Shelduck on
the Wet Meadow and a Little Egret flew over and I eventually saw a Sedge
Warbler that was singing just in front of the hide and the off-duty Avocet
dropped in to feed.
I continued onto Tern Hide on
Lagoon Six seeing a Chiffchaff close to the turn to Harrier Hide. The Avocet was still sitting on and there
were a pair of Shelduck and an Oystercatcher nearby. The second Avocet returned whilst I was in
the hide and a Common Tern spent a while fishing over the lagoon. To the west I had distant views of a Red Kite
and a Buzzard.
Greylag Goose on Lagoon Six
Canada Goose on Lagoon Six
Drake Tufted Duck on Lagoon Six
Black-headed Gull on Lagoon Six
I went back along the track
and headed for Fieldfare Hide seeing another Chiffchaff as I turned down the
path to the hide and a Cetti’s Warbler burst into song just as I entered the
hide but as usual I didn’t see it and there was nothing from the hide.
As I returned towards Lagoon
Six I heard a couple of Whitethroats but didn’t see either of them and on
reaching Pintail Hide on Lagoon Six found another Oystercatcher and a Little
Egret and the off duty Avocet was also visible.
Walking past Lagoon Eight there were pairs of Shelduck and
Oystercatchers on the nearest island.
I continued down the track to
Shelduck Hide and saw a Sedge Warbler briefly and then viewed Lagoon Seven from
the entrance track. The water level in
the lagoon is now much higher after the repair work but other than a few Common
Terns I saw nothing else. From Shelduck
on Lagoon five I found a Little Egret, two Oystercatchers and a Redshank but
sadly there was no sign of the any young Oystercatchers.
After some lunch in the car
park I went back to the centre and found that three Sanderling and a Turnstone
had been seen on Lagoon Four but I checked out Lagoon One before heading in
that direction. There were three Oystercatchers
on the lagoon and I counted seventeen Common Terns feeding over the water.
There were three Shelduck, an
Oystercatcher and a Little Egret visible from Shoveler Hide and thirty-three
Common Terns over the lagoon but other than a Buzzard over the woodland I found
little else. I moved onto Plover Hide on
Lagoon Four and soon found the three Sanderlings along with four Ringed Plovers
but there was no sign of the reported Turnstone and so I went back to Bittern
Hide. The reeds are now well
re-established in the area cleared by the volunteers but there was a female
Mallard escorting six half grown young, which are probably the remains of the
brood of eleven I saw earlier this month.
There were several Reed Warblers singing and I saw three quite close to
the hide.
I decided to go into Sandpiper
Hide on Lagoon Four in the hope of finding the Turnstone. As I scanned the lagoon I found the three
Sanderling and a fifth Ringed Plover but there was still no sign of the
Turnstone. There was a single Shelduck
near island ten and one of two Oystercatchers on the bank was brooding at least
one young Oystercatcher. There were
another three Oystercatchers scattered around the lagoon but unusually there
was nothing over Burley Wood, although I did see a Buzzard over the
fishponds. It had turned rather cold
this afternoon and I was beginning to feel it but on doing one last scan before
leaving I found the Turnstone.
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