There was a light
north-easterly wind this morning and it felt quite pleasant in the early
morning sun, when I arrived at Newton Harcourt.
I spent about twenty-five minutes looking for Spotted Flycatcher without
success but did hear three different Blackcaps singing.
There was a Buzzard perched in
a tree just after I passed through Blaston but I saw nothing else of note
before I reached the northern entrance road to Eyebrook Reservoir. One of the Little Owls was perched on an
exposed branch in the old oak and was presumable enjoying the early morning sun
and a Green Woodpecker was observed flying south-west across the field.
A stop at the bridge over the
inlet provided some nice views of a Garden Warbler that was calling constantly
and had a beak full of food and was presumably nesting close by. As I drove around the Rutland side there was
a Buzzard perched in a tree and a Tree Sparrow and Yellow Wagtail were observed
whilst overlooking the inlet.
From Eyebrook Reservoir I
drove to the North Arm at Rutland Water and found a pair of Shelduck with a
brood of eight close to the north shore.
There was another pair of Shelduck on the north shore and a single bird
was in the bay to the south of the spit and there were four Common Terns
feeding in the fishponds area.
After parking in the Egleton
car park I made a brief visit to the Bird Watching Centre before heading off in
the direction of the southern lagoons.
Other than a single Garden Warbler I saw little else before I reached
Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow. Another
birder informed me that he had seen two Avocet chicks but that they had both
disappeared. Surprisingly there appeared
to be still just one adult bird but after a short wait the second bird flew in
and appeared to take over guarding the young whilst the other bird went a rested
at the back of the flash. Eventually one
of the chicks appeared and I then noticed a second feeding along the eastern
edge, which was then joined by a second.
The original bird then swam across the flash and joined the other two
and I had three birds in view for a short time before they all disappeared
again, after which I only saw one young at any one time.
Avocet over the Wet Meadow
Female Tufted Duck over the Wet Meadow
Other than a Little Egret and
a Jay flying over there was very little else on the Wet Meadow and I moved on
to Tern Hide on Lagoon Six, seeing a Willow Warbler on route. There was a single Oystercatcher with a young
bird to the left of the hide and there were another two Oystercatchers on the
lagoon along with a pair of Shelduck.
Willow Warbler
As I walked past Lagoon Eight
there were two more Shelduck on the lagoon along with two Oystercatchers.
I went into the 360°
hide to view Lagoon Five where there was a further two
Oystercatchers and quite a number of downy young Black-headed Gulls. As I walked back towards the centre there was
a Red Kite passing over Lagoon Five as it drifted off to the south.
Whilst having lunch an Osprey
was observed over Lagoon One and on finishing my lunch I went into the centre
to view Lagoon one but all could find of note was a pair of Shelduck and twelve
Common Terns feeding over the lagoon and four Oystercatchers flew over Lagoon
Two.
I saw very little on route to
Plover Hide on Lagoon Four where I was hoping to see a Red-crested
Pochard. There was a female Mallard
escorting seven young just outside the hide and two Common Terns that were
possibly looking to nest on the island.
As I scanned the exposed rocky area I found an adult Yellow-legged Gull
amongst the Great Black-backed Gull and then a Little Ringed Plover dropped on
island three but it didn’t stay too long.
The male Red-crested Pochard was some distance away towards island nine
and whilst looking for this I picked up several waders flying around the island
and when they landed I could see that seven were Ringed Plover and two were
Little Ringed Plovers. There was also a
pair of Oystercatchers with two well grown young just to the left of the hide
and three more on the northern bund of the lagoon.
Great Crested Grebe
I went into Bittern Hide and
found a Mallard escorting a brood of eight and there were quite a few active
Reed Warblers providing some nice if brief views in front of the hide. As I scanned Lagoon Three there were at least
twenty Common Terns feeding over the water and a single Black Tern. I then heard
a Water Rail calling but despite a patient wait it failed to appear and I moved
onto Shoveler Hide.
As I walked down the path to
the hide a Garden Warbler was observed and on entering the hide there were
clearly more wildfowl, particularly on the island in front of the hide. Not surprisingly there were a few Gadwall and
Mallard but there was also a few Teal, several Shoveler, a pair of Pochard and
a single male Wigeon. A pair of Shelducks
were observed on the pool just to the left of the hide and a second pair
towards Bittern Hide and I had further views of the Black Tern and again there
were a few active Reed Warblers. Gerry
had joined me in the hide but we were unable to find the Black Tern and so
moved on to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four in the hope that it had gone on there
to rest and he was also hoping to see the Red-crested Pochard.
Drake Shoveler on Lagoon Three
Female Shoveler on Lagoon Three
There were just eight Common
Terns resting on the spit off island ten and there was no sign of the Black
Tern. We couldn’t find the Red-crested
Pochard either and presumably it was probably out of view behind island nine. As we scanned the lagoon we found the two
Little Ringed Plovers and eventually had ten Ringed Plovers. There were three young Oystercatchers just to
the right of the hide that were almost fledged and I saw a single Red Kite and
Buzzard over Burly Wood.
Oystercatcher over Lagoon Four
Two of the three young Oystercatcher on Lagoon Four
Jackdaw on Lagoon Four bund
I made my way back to the car
and whilst having coffee had a chat with Erik before heading off. I called at David's on route home as he had
trapped and indentified a micro moth that was new for me, which was Mompha
subbistrigella.
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