Monday 27 June 2016

An afternoon in Leicestershire & Rutland - June 24, 2016

David, Roger and I went to Eyebrook Reservoir this afternoon but saw very little on route with the best being a Kestrel at David’s.

When we arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir we had a brief chat with Phil at the bridge and then moved round to view the inlet and the small area of mud, which was starting to produce results.  There was a Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, five Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper, which had all arrived since Tuesday.  As we were scanning the area Tim called to say that the two Little Terns seen at Rutland Water this morning were still present and could be seen from Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four.

As this would be a patch tick we set off and after parking in the Egleton car park headed off to the hide.  We saw three Chimney Sweeper moths in the meadows, a Black-tailed Skimmer on the path and a Hairy Dragonfly over the big meadow before reaching the hide and there was an Oystercatcher on the path towards Lagoon Three as we came through the gate.

The two Little Terns were both resting on the spit off island ten but after a short time they flew off and began feeding along the western edge of the lagoon for quite a while before returning to the spit.  There were six Oystercatchers, a Little Ringed Plover and two Ringed Plovers on the lagoon and also three Little Egrets and an adult Yellow-legged Gull.  Common Terns are clearly nesting on the lagoon but to get a precise count was difficult as some birds are clearly hidden but twelve at least were observed.

Two Red Kites and a Buzzard were observed over Burley Wood, a second Buzzard was over the woodland near the reedbed on Lagoon Three and a Hobby was observed feeding high over the North Arm.

A visit to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three wasn’t very productive with the water level being so high but we did see a Little Grebe.


We returned to the Bird Watching Centre and found pairs of Shelducks escorting broods of eleven and three and there was also a fifth adult.  David found a single Wigeon in eclipse plumage amongst the more numerous Gadwall and Mallard.  A Buzzard was observed over Brown’s Island and there another distant bird over Hambleton.  Scanning towards the south arm we found three Ospreys, one heading west along the arm and the other two may well have been one of the Manton Bay breeding birds and an intruder.  With little else of interest we called it a day and headed off home, seeing a Buzzard along the A47 near Allexton.

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