There was just Roger and I out
today as David was at his son’s new house carrying out some decorating. We headed for Eyebrook Reservoir but other
than seeing a Sparrowhawk from home before Roger arrived there was very little
seen on route.
We checked the old oak for
Little Owls but there was still no sign although there was a Red Kite perched
in one of the more distant trees. We
stopped at the bridge where it was very quiet and so we moved around to view
the inlet. I picked up a Common Sandpiper
along the western shore and Roger located a Snipe and a Green Sandpiper in the
stream. There was plenty of wildfowl on
the reservoir including good numbers of Teal, Mallard and Shoveler and I also
located a couple of Pintail. I then
noticed a Whinchat perched on top of the grasses and Roger then found a second
and shortly afterwards we had three birds quite close together. Over the Leicestershire fields there was a
Red Kite, Buzzard and Kestrel and there was another Buzzard perched in a dead
tree on the Rutland Side. There were
also quite a few hirundines to the north and over the reservoir with most being
House Martins but we did both see a Swallow and I had views of a Sand
Martin. It had been quite bright and
sunny when we arrived but it was now becoming more overcast and with rain
forecast late morning we moved on to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water.
On arrival we had a quick look
at the feeders where we found a single Tree Sparrow, although birds were quite
nervous as there was a Carrion Crow perched on one of the perches. With nothing new appearing to visit the
feeders we moved down to Teal Hide, hoping to see the Long-tailed Duck.
Carrion Crow at the feeding station
On entering the hide I checked
that area where the duck often roosts but it wasn’t there but a few minutes
later Roger found it on the water to the right of the hide where it was
preening. We also looked down into
Manton Bay and found that both of the adult Ospreys were still present. There were at least three Common Terns
feeding over the south arm but they often flew out of sight and there could
well have been a few more but three, was the most seen at any one time. There were two Little Egrets near Goldeneye
Hide on Lax Hill and a third just to the left of the hide.
Whilst we were in the hide the
Long-tailed Duck continued to preen, often raising its wings revealing its now
fresh primaries and then it suddenly swam towards and past the hide as it went
to its normal roosting area on the bank.
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Cormorant from Teal Hide
Cormorant from Teal Hide
Cormorants from Teal Hide
Leaving Teal Hide we walked
towards Deep Water Hide hoping that we might find some late migrants but all we
saw were three Swallow and a Chiffchaff.
With the weather now looking
more threatening we moved on to the dam and after parking in Sykes Lane car
park walked the short distance to the dam.
Roger was hoping that some of the Shags present last week would still be
here. After walking a short distance
along the dam we could feel some rain in the wind but could see possibly two
Cormorant-type birds on the rocks surrounding the pumping station, although we
couldn’t be certain we suspected that they would be Shags. We had no alternative but to walk further
along the dam and it wasn’t until we reached about half-way that we were able
to confirm their identify as Shags but not two, but three.
We got back to the car just as
it started to rain more heavily and headed for the North Arm. As we parked at the end of the unnamed road
the rain was a little more persistent but armed with an umbrella each we walked
out to the spit. We scanned the southern
shore first and found a couple of Ruff and a Greenshank along with nine Little
Egrets. On the north shore there was a
Little Ringed Plover and two more Greenshank along with another Little Egret
and two Pintail. During our stay the
number of hirundines increased significantly and like at Eyebrook Reservoir
they were mainly House Martins but there were also a few Sand Martins and
whilst scanning these we had five Dunlin in flight. There was also a Yellow-legged Gull perched
on a buoy. Brian, Roger Brett and Rosie
then appeared and after us discussing what we had seen Roger and I moved off
for lunch. Roger Brett then called
saying that there were at least seven Ringed Plover type birds on the north
shore. Roger and I walked back and
scanned the shore from under a tree and I picked up a third Ruff and when we
were joined by Brian he indicated where the plovers were. We soon located them amongst the rocks and
were able see that four were Little Ringed and three were Ringed.
On reaching the Egleton car
park Roger and I sat in the car sheltering from the rain whilst we had our
lunch. After lunch we went the centre to
observe lagoon one but all we could find of any significance was a Great White
Egret.
We decided to head off to
Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three as little was happening on lagoon one and I
managed to get there without the use of the umbrella. However we did have further rain once in the
hide and the water level had risen slightly resulting in fewer waders, with
just two Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank.
There was a second Great White Egret at the back of the lagoon and after
we were joined by Brian, Roger and Rosie we managed to find six Snipe and two
Swift and an Osprey flew over. I also
saw a Reed Warbler fly from the reed island and a Cetti’s Warbler sang just to
the left of the hide.
We all moved onto Sandpiper
Hide on Lagoon Four and over a period of time found two Little Ringed Plovers,
seventeen Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper
and a Greenshank. There was an immature
Peregrine sitting on the ground at the back of the lagoon and I picked up a
Hobby over the reedbed area on lagoon three.
There was a quite a
concentration of gulls at the western edge of the lagoon, which we mainly
Black-headed Gulls but there were also a few Lesser Black-backed and Great
Black-backed and five Yellow-legged Gulls.
I had scanned the gulls several times and hadn’t found anything
different but another scan found an adult winter Mediterranean Gull and on
scanning a little further I picked up a bird I suspected was a first-winter
Caspian Gull. It was on its own at the
end of island seven and was clearly an immature. Its head was white with few markings and the
blackish bill was quite long and narrow with just the suggestion of a gonydeal
angle. The forehead sloped gradually to
the crown, giving a drawn out effect, with the crown being nicely rounded. There was some light streaking on the rear
and base of the neck. The mantle and
scapulars were clearly showing some grey feathers with darker markings, whilst
the coverts were a pale brown finely edged whitish and the primaries
blackish. The tertials were dark edge
white, which tended to form a noticeable band of white across the closed tips. The underparts were also whitish with some
faint streaking on the breast and flanks.
It was seen in flight on several occasions but only over short distances
when the most striking feature was the whitish under-wing, with any marking
being at best very pale and perhaps near in colour to a first-winter Iceland
Gull. When first seen another striking
feature was its upright stance, looking tall and proud as it walked around the
end of the spit. It did fly towards
island eight where it joined a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull when its long
slim pink legs were very evident, the tibia looking noticeably longer.
It had been dry for quite some
time now but again looked rather threatening and so Roger and I headed back to
the centre where we spent the last ten minutes of our visit. The weather did close in again and so we
called it a day and headed off home after an excellent days birding.
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