I made a later start than
usual having been out all day yesterday and headed off for Eyebrook Reservoir
around about eight o-clock.
I had a Red Kite over Slawston
and a Green Woodpecker flew off the road just after passing through Blaston.
I approached Eyebrook
Reservoir at the northern end seeing a Red Kite as I turned onto the road
leading to the reservoir. I stopped at
the bridge over the inlet but other than a single Chiffchaff I saw nothing
else. I moved along the Rutland bank to
view the inlet where I found a Little Egret and there were at least eleven
Common Terns feeding over the reservoir as were 50+ Swift, 30+ House Martin and
two Swallows. I stayed scanning the
reservoir and Leicestershire fields but all managed to see was a single Buzzard
briefly and when I final decided to leave I was feeling quite cold.
After parking in the Egleton
car park I made my way to the centre to view Lagoon One but it was pretty quiet
with a pair of Shelduck escorting three young, two Oystercatcher flying over
and a single Common Tern over the water being the best.
Juvenile Black-headed Gull
Juvenile Black-headed Gull
Juvenile Black-headed Gull
I went through the woodland
heading for Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow, seeing a Chiffchaff just as I was
leaving the wooded area but saw little else.
From the hide there was a pair of Shelduck escorting five young on the
near flash and two more flew over. A
Green Sandpiper was feeding at the back of the flash along with a Redshank,
which eventually departed being followed by a second. I eventually saw a young Avocet that was
joined by a second and then after some time the third appeared along the
opposite shore.
Adult Avocet
Adult Avocet
Adult Avocet
Roger had called to say that
he had arrived and was heading towards Snipe Hide and so I waited in the hide
for him. After he had seen the Avocets
and the Green Sandpiper we moved on to Tern Hide on Lagoon Six. There were four young Lapwing just in front
of the hide and we could see two more on a more distant island and there was a
young Redshank, which was about half-grown, in the company of an adult. There was a Mallard escorting two young and three
Oystercatchers were on the lagoon but we couldn’t find any young. As we left the hide we could a Whitethroat
singing and were able to locate in the group of bushes near the path.
A brief visit to Pintail Hide
produced another Lapwing chick with the two we had seen from Tern Hide and
another tiny young bird on island one.
From Pintail we moved around
to the 360 Hide on Lagoon Five where we found five Little Egrets and three
Redshanks but with very little else we went back to the car park for lunch.
After lunch we went to
Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three and weren’t surprised to find the water level
very high with no sign of any of the island that had been present
recently. There were a couple of Pochard
and plenty of Gadwall and we did eventually see a Teal but the wildfowl were
well down on what had been present recently.
A Reed Warbler was observed to the left of the hide and a Hobby flew in
front of the hide and then into the Silver Birches just beyond the reedbed.
Avocet on Lagoon Three
Avocet on Lagoon Three
After some debate we decided
to go to Plover Hide on Lagoon Four seeing an Osprey over the lagoon as we did
so. There was a Little Ringed Plover on
the island in front of the hide, which was joined briefly by a second bird
along with a single Ringed Plover. There
were also two adult Oystercatchers escorting three young birds, which were
looked like the adults other than having noticeably shorter bills. A Yellow-legged Gull and a Lesser
Black-backed Gull were observed amongst the Great Black-backed Gull that were roosting
on the exposed stones and there was also a single Common Gull towards Dunlin
Hide, which was the first I had seen in a few weeks.
Little Ringed Plover
A visit to Bittern Hide didn’t
produce very much other than a single Reed Warbler and from Sandpiper Hide on
Lagoon Four all we added were eleven Common Terns. We saw a Chiffchaff on the way back to the
centre but saw nothing new from there and called it a day.
On the way home I saw a Red
Kite and a Buzzard near Uppingham and another Red Kite near Billesdon and
Buzzards near Gaulby and Newton Harcourt.
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