Roger arrived and examined the
contents of the trap before we set off to David’s who had also put out his trap
and had kept three moths to show us, which were a Privet Hawk-moth, a Pale
Tussock and a Brown Rustic.
We then left for Bedford
Purlieus calling at Eyebrook Reservoir on route. We approached the reservoir from the north
and heard the Little Owl calling from the old oak but couldn't see it. From the bridge we had a Mallard escorting
nine young on the stream and we also saw a male and female Blackcap. We parked overlooking the inflow but there
was very little actually on the water or even the margins but we did see three
Red Kites and two Buzzards over the Leicestershire fields and an Osprey was
observed over the reservoir. The only
other birds of interested were four Common Terns, which are probably attempting
to nest on the man-made platforms.
As we made our way to the A47
we saw a Red Kite just after leaving Lyddington and three more together as we
approached Seaton.
Surprisingly we had never been
to Bedford Purlieus before but we have driven by it on many occasions and we
were surprised to find the entrance no more than a hundred meters off the
A47. We had a bit of luck on arrival as
a dog walker arrived at the same time and they knew where the Fly Orchids were
and took us and pointed out a couple of spikes.
Although Colin and Chris had given us a good idea where to look it
probably saved us quite a bit of time.
We then found a third spike whilst we were observing and photographing
the orchids.
Fly Orchid
Fly Orchid
Columbine
Silverweed
Yellow Pimpernel
We spent quite some time
exploring the site and even drove further along the road and walked along
another ride but we didn’t see much bird-wise.
A Buzzard, a Marsh Tit and a female Blackcap were the best and we also
heard Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat.
It was quite warm and overcast
no improvement likely we headed off to Rutland Water.
We agreed to check out a
meadow in Empingham but on arrival parking was very restricted and so we decided
against it and headed to the Egleton car park where we had lunch before going
into the centre. Lagoon One was pretty
quiet but there was a pair of Shelduck escorting eight tiny young and two other
Shelduck on the lagoon. There were six
Common Terns over the lagoon and I noticed three Redshanks in flight over the
Wet Meadow.
As we walked towards the
northern lagoons Roger found our first Chimney Sweeper moth of the year in one
of the meadows and we also had a couple of Speckled Wood as we walked along the
Summer Trail.
When we reached Shoveler Hide
on Lagoon Three there were fewer wildfowl than on Tuesday but still included a
single Shelduck, several Shoveler and three Pochard and I also found the drake
Wigeon just beyond the islands. Several
Reed Warblers were also observed, a Cetti’s Warbler was heard and a Hobby put
in an appearance on a couple of occasions.
Young Coot from Shoveler Hide
We moved onto Plover Hide to
view Lagoon Four seeing our first Large Skipper of the year and a Large Red
Damselfly as we did so. On entering the
hide we found the male Red-crested Pochard reasonably close and the two Common
Terns were still showing some interest on island three but there was no conclusive
evidence of breeding. There was a Little
Egret close to island three and another flew over and there was also an adult
Yellow-legged Gull amongst the Great Black-backed Gulls on the exposed rocky
area.
Drake Red-crested Pochard
Drake Red-crested Pochard
Great Crested Grebes
Great Crested Grebe
David had left the hide before
Roger and me to photograph what we believed to be Grass Vetchling, which was
flowering on the path side of the bund.
When we reached him he was even more convinced and we were able to prove
that it was Grass Vetching when we got back to the car.
We made a visit to Bittern
Hide but other than two broods, eight and one, of Mallard we just found a
single Jay and saw several more Reed Warblers.
As we approached Sandpiper
Hide there was a Jay feeding on the newly seeded area that allowed us to get
some nice shots.
Jay
Jay
Jay
Jay
Jay
When we entered Sandpiper Hide
to view Lagoon Four we soon found two Little Ringed Plover and five Ringed
Plovers on the exposed area between islands seven and ten. There were also at least four Oystercatchers
on the lagoon along with three young.
When a Red Kite flew over it caused some disturbance and it was
surprising to see how many Common Terns were actually on island ten with at
least forty being present.
We eventually headed back to
the car park seeing another Jay on route and whilst on the reserve we had heard
three Chiffchaff, two Willow Warbler, five Blackcap, six Garden Warbler and two
Sedge Warbler.
David was quite keen to show
us some Bee Orchids on a small wild space that he helps out on near Great Glen
and so we made this our final call. As
we walked from the centre of the village we heard both Blackcap and Whitethroat
and on reaching the area where the orchids are we found sixteen spikes.
Bee Orchid
Bee Orchid
Common Spotted Orchid
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