David and I were out locally
today and initially headed for Eyebrook Reservoir but saw very little on
route. There was no sign of the Little
Owl as we approached the reservoir and a brief stop at the bridge produced very
little but we did hear Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden Warbler. We moved around to few the inlet where there
were three Little Egrets and an adult Yellow-legged Gull amongst the more
numerous Black-headed Gulls. As we
scanned the small area of mud we found a couple of Snipe and shortly afterwards
we had three in flight. I saw a Green
Sandpiper fly in and we then found a second close to where the original bird
had landed. There were sixteen Common
Terns including at least one juvenile and we had distant views of an Osprey
that was fishing closer to the dam. A
female Tufted Duck with three young was also observed.
We eventually made our way to
the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water hoping we might find a Great White Egret
that has been here recently. When we
arrived the centre was still closed and so we went to Teal Hide to view the
south arm. We could see two Ospreys in
Manton Bay and there were several Little Egrets scattered around the arm and
also a single Common Sandpiper on the shore near Goldeneye Hide. There was no sign of the Great White Egret
and after signing in at the centre we started to make our way down to Wader
Scrape Hide.
We stopped briefly in Deep
Water Hide but there was still no sign of the Great White Egret and with the
reeds restricting the view considerably we moved on towards Tufted Duck
Hide. There were plenty of Meadow Brown
and Ringlet butterflies and we also saw several Gatekeepers as we continued and
we had nice views of a Marsh Tit before we reached the hide. From Tufted Duck Hide we had a good view of Heron
Bay but all we could find were several Little Egrets and so we continued onto
Wader Scrape Hide. We saw a Great
Spotted Woodpecker and a Red Admiral on the path just after turning towards the
hide and one of the Ospreys flew over.
Red Admiral
There was just one Osprey
visible from the hide and other than a few more Little Egrets and two female
Tufted Ducks escorting broods of eleven and six there was little else.
My phone then rang and it was
Tim checking to see if I was around as Nigel had called him saying he thought
he might have a White-rumped Sandpiper on Lagoon Four and with little else
David and I were soon making hasty retreat back to the centre.
Just after we reached the
Egleton car park Tim drove through and continued down the service road towards
Lagoon Four. I gave him a call and he
said he would come back and give us a lift to Plover Hide on Lagoon Four. However by the time he got back to the car
park Nigel had called him and said the bird had now flown and was just a
Dunlin.
After a chat with Tim David
and I decided we would go to Lax Hill to hopefully see a White-letter
Hairstreak as they had been showing well this past week. There was a Green Sandpiper on Lagoon Eight
as we walked along the path before climbing the hill to reach Lax Hill. We went around to the north side but after
about twenty minutes with no sign I went to Goldeneye Hide to check out the
southern arm or the reservoir for the Great White Egret. Needless to say David called to say he had seen
a hairstreak but I was almost at the hide and so I continued. There wasn’t any sign of the egret but there
was a nice adult Yellow-legged Gull out on the water and a Willow Warbler was
observed just to the left of the hide.
First-summer Black-headed Gull
First-summer Black-headed Gull
When I got back to David he
hadn’t see the hairstreak again but after another fifteen minutes one flew down
and was observed and photographed on the edge of a tree.
White-letter Hairstreak
We called at the 360 and Snipe
Hides on our way back to the centre and saw five Little Grebes, a Little Egret
and four Curlew on Lagoon Five and two Snipe, two more Curlew, two Green
Sandpiper and a Redshank on the Wet Meadow.
Whilst we were having lunch in
the car park a Hobby was observed right above us but there was nothing else of
note.
After lunch we headed for
Bloody Oaks Quarry which is only just to the east of Empingham and we were soon
parked and entering the small reserve. The
area was awash with wild flowers and was excellent for butterflies and we saw
nine species during our forty-five minute stay that included at least six
Dark-green Fritillaries and numerous Marbled Whites but there was no sign of
either a Silver-washed Fritillary or Chalk Hill Blue and so we returned to
Rutland Water.
We initially went into the
centre to view lagoon one but couldn’t find anything unusual among the numerous
Gadwall and Tufted Duck but we did have a Sparrowhawk fly over.
We then walked to the northern
lagoons and visited Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three first. The water level on the lagoon is still quite
high and consequently unsuitable for waders but there were four juvenile
Shelduck, a Gadwall with a brood six tiny young and several Reed Warblers were
active just in front of the hide.
We walked down to Lapwing Hide
and checked out the now completed Crake Hide in its new position, which should
give good views when and if the water drops.
However it was a pity that the reeds in front of the hide hadn’t been
removed or at least cut as they were partially blocking the view and will
probably cause some frustration if waders do appear here later in the autumn.
Grey Heron from Crake Hide
A walk to Plover Hide didn’t
prove to be very productive although there were forty-three Common Terns and
five Curlews amongst the gulls on the stone island. There were also twelve Yellow-legged Gulls
and several Common Gulls amongst the more numerous Great Black-backed Gulls.
As we walked up the ramp to
Sandpiper Hide we saw our only Buzzard of the day off to the west. There were eight Little Ringed Plovers, four
Ringed Plovers, and a Dunlin just in front of the hide and we also found a
Common Sandpiper and three Redshanks on the lagoon and an Osprey was using the
perch again.
With time now pressing we made
our way back to the car park and headed off home.
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