I called at Newton Harcourt
today before heading off to Rutland Water but it was pretty quiet with the best
being a couple of Goldcrest and a Treecreeper.
At Eyebrook Reservoir there
were three Dunlin and two Black-tailed Godwits at the inflow and twelve Common
Terns over the water. Fourteen Swift
were observed over the plantation, a Sparrowhawk over Stoke Dry Wood and an
Osprey further down the reservoir.
At Rutland Water I went to the
North Arm and viewed the north shore finding the four juvenile Shelduck but
there was little else and so I moved into the field to view the southern
bay. There was a Common Sandpiper, a
Green Sandpiper and a Greenshank in the bay and also eleven Little Egrets
between the bay and the fisherman’s car park and a female Tufted Duck escorting
a brood of five on the water. I counted
twenty Common Terns feeding over the water and there were four Swift over
Burley. I checked out the fishponds
before going to the Egleton Reserve and found another thirteen Little Egrets.
I went straight to Plover Hide
on Lagoon Four once on the reserve but there were fewer birds than on Tuesday
but I did find five Curlew and thirteen Yellow-legged Gulls on the rocky area.
A brief visit to Bittern Hide
produced nothing and so I moved onto Shoveler Hide where I found a couple of
Green Sandpiper and the female Gadwall was still escorting six now almost
half-grown young. There were two more
Little Egrets on the lagoon and plenty of wildfowl on the water, which were
mainly Gadwall and Tufted Duck but I did find a couple of Wigeon and several
Pochard.
There were three Little Ringed
Plovers, eight Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper just in front
of Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon four. A
female Tufted Duck escorting six young and fourteen Little Egrets were scattered
around the lagoon and five Curlew amongst the gulls, which included thirteen
Yellow-legged Gulls and there were also forty-six Common Terns on the lagoon.
I returned to the car park for
lunch and afterwards joined David in the Bird Watching Centre to view Lagoon
One. One of the Great White Egret was
showing intermittently at the back of the lagoon and there was a Buzzard on the
man-made Osprey nest. I then noticed the
female Marsh Harrier perched in the reeds towards the Wet Meadow but as there
was little else I moved onto Snipe Hide, whist David went to the northern
lagoons.
There was a Great Spotted
Woodpecker was at the feeding station and I had a brief view of a Chiffchaff on
route but there was very little from Snipe Hide. As I walked toward Harrier Hide, seeing an
Osprey to the east, two other birders informed me that there was a Great White
Egret on Lagoon Six and so I went into Tern Hide.
Grey Heron
The Great White Egret was
feeding near the island just to the left of the hide and provided some
excellent views but other than two Little Egrets it was fairly quiet.
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
Great White Egret
From Tern Hide I went back to
Harrier Hide on Lagoon One but saw nothing new and moved onto the 360 Hide on
Lagoon Five. From the 360 Hide I found a
couple of Dunlin, a Green Sandpiper and five more Little Egrets.
I called in Mallard Hide on
Lagoon One as I made my way back towards the centre and had a Buzzard fly from
Brown’s Island towards me and it passed almost directly above the hide but I
saw nothing else of note and called it a day.
Buzzard
Buzzard
Buzzard
Buzzard
Buzzard
Buzzard
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