David had decided that he
would join me today and we headed for Eyebrook Reservoir on a rather warm
overcast morning. We had seen several
parties of winter thrushes on route, which were certainly predominantly Fieldfare
but the only other bird of note was a Kestrel as we approached Hallaton.
We approached the reservoir
form the northern end and found the Little Owl sitting in the old oak as we
drove around to the bridge. There were
more winter thrushes passing over and again they were predominantly Fieldfare
but there were also smaller numbers of Redwing.
We had heard a Green Sandpiper calling as we got out of the car but when
I looked down the stream there was no sign.
David then heard and saw a Siskin, which I missed and I then noticed
that there was a party of circa fifty Golden Plover flying high over the
reservoir. It soon became apparent that
something had disturbed the birds at the inlet as there was a large flock of
Lapwing as well, which also contained at least six Dunlin. When I looked down the stream again there
were two Green Sandpipers under the willow and whilst looking for the Siskin we
found a Chiffchaff.
There were lots of Lapwing,
Black-headed and Common Gulls and good numbers of Teal but we couldn’t either
the Golden Plover or Dunlin at the inlet.
On the water there were numerous Wigeon and smaller numbers of Mallard
and careful scanning also produced nine Pintail, two Shoveler and five
Goldeneye as well as a few Gadwall and Tufted Duck. There was a Red Kite soaring to the east of
the reservoir and two Little Egrets on the Leicestershire bank but with little
else we moved off to Lyddington.
We often go via Lyddington to
Rutland Water but as there had been up to eight Waxwings in the village it
influenced our decision. As we left
Stoke Dry there were two Red Kites visible to the north and on reaching
Lyddington we turned left towards Windmill Way, where the Waxwing had been
seen. We weren’t terribly optimistic as
they hadn’t been reported yesterday and it was no surprise that they weren’t
there although there were plenty of berries still on the bush.
We turned around and headed
off to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water and after passing through Glaston we
had another Red Kite and a Kestrel as we dropped down towards an old railway
line. There is an area of scrub we often
stop at for a few minutes but today it appeared rather quiet and I was
surprised when a Woodcock flew out of the cover but quickly disappeared into
the vegetation and David unfortunately missed it. As we started to climb the hill to Wing we
saw another Red Kite but hadn’t seen anything else of note before we reached
the Lyndon car park at Rutland Water.
There was some light rain as
we pulled up in the car park and with nothing on the feeders we went straight
to Teal Hide. There were plenty of birds
in the South Arm and as I scanned towards Manton Bay I found five Pintail, a
couple of Pochard and several Goldeneye.
As usual there were good numbers of Great Crested Grebe and Tufted Duck
but there was no sign of our target the Red-necked Grebe. David had been looking out into South Arm
Three but hadn’t faired any better and so I joined him and picked up a couple
of Curlew in flight and we watched them as they came down at the base of Lax
Hill. There were lots of birds on the
water, particularly towards Fieldfare Hide, but we were unable to find the
grebe or anything else of note. Terry had
called to say Steve wasn’t with him today and that he had seen a female Scaup
from the Old Hall and he then called again to say that he had seen the
Red-necked Grebe to the east of the Old Hall and when he called back again to
say he had also found a Water Pipit near Hambleton Wood we decided to go and
take a look. We stopped briefly at the
feeders and there were now a few birds, mainly Blue and Great Tits but also
Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch and we could hear Tree Sparrows but
couldn’t find them.
After parking at the bottom of
the hill near the Old Hall we walked east towards Hambleton Wood and once beyond
the Old Hall David started scanning for the Red-necked Grebe, whilst I was
putting my tripod up. He announced he
had got the grebe and once I was in a position to use the scope I asked him
where it was. He gave me directions and
said it must have dived as it’s not there now.
We both scanned the area near a buoy but there was no sign and so we
began searching a broader area but with still no sign he said it must have
flown. I thought if it has been here
since Terry saw it and it flew just after David saw it I would be pretty
unlucky. I was on the point of giving up
when I found it probably two hundred meters from where David had seen it and it
was close to ten minutes later. It had
obviously been there all the time and just goes to show why this bird is so
elusive at times.
We continued along the path
towards Hambleton Wood before walking across the grass to view the edge of the
water. There was no sign of the pipit
where Terry had seen it and a search as we walked back towards the Old Hall
just produced a Grey Wagtail, several Pied Wagtails and a Meadow Pipit but no
Water Pipit. We also looked for the
Red-necked Grebe again but it was no surprise when we couldn’t find it.
Once the other side of the Old
Hall we scanned a party of Tufted Duck and found a drake Scaup amongst them
just before they were all flushed by a fishing boat. We had also seen Redshanks on either side of
the Old Hall.
From the Old Hall we went to
the North Arm and after parking at the end of the unnamed road scanned the
fishponds. There were fewer birds than
on Sunday and there was no sign of the either the Goosander or Ruddy Duck and
so we continued out to the point.
Terry had been here earlier
and hadn’t seen too much and indicated that there no geese present but there
were now several hundred and they had obviously comeback from their feeding
areas. David found the two Barnacle
Geese on the north shore but we couldn’t locate the Pink-footed Goose I had seen
on Sunday, although it was seen later. A
Great White Egret then flew into the southern bay and David picked up a second
much further down the arm. I had counted
twenty-two Dunlin on the north shore but after they flew a recount revealed
thirty-eight and Erik had over forty later.
I found a Black-necked Grebe close to the north shore and there were two
Pintail close to the north shore and another twenty-five in the southern
bay. David then said here’s the Whimbrel
and it was feeding quite close to the right of us but shortly afterwards it
flew over to the north shore, which appears to be its favoured location.
As we were leaving the North
Arm Terry arrived and after briefing him on what we had seen David and I went to
the Volunteer’s Centre as Lloyd had called to say he thought he had possibly
heard a Corn Bunting in the old treatment works area. When we arrived he hadn’t heard it for a
while but it then sang again but I didn’t hear it, although David did and
thought it might be a Corn Bunting. We
moved our position and David and Lloyd heard it again but I still couldn’t hear
it. I went back to the yard to try and
get a little closer and might have heard the bird, which appeared quite close
but I didn’t think it sounded quite right for a Corn Bunting and we then didn’t
hear it again and we gave up. Lloyd was
going to put some seed down on the path in the hope that whatever it was might
come out and feed in the open. This is not an area we generally visit as the
area is not open to reserve visitors but in the short time we were there we
also had a Stonechat.
Having given up on the
possible Corn Bunting we made our way to the Egleton car park for lunch and
whist we were having lunch Mike came back from the northern lagoons and Terry
joined us shortly afterwards. We all
then made our way to the Bird Watching Centre to view Lagoon One. There was a third Great White Egret at the
back of the lagoon and I counted forty-one Pintail. A male Stonechat was visible in front of the
centre, which was joined by a female and we then saw another pair in the
vegetation in front of Mallard Hide.
Other than a couple of Curlew I saw drop on the Wet Meadow, which were
probably the same as we had seen earlier there was little else and we moved off
to the northern lagoons.
David and I decided we would
go and take a look at South Arm Three from Lapwing Hide, whilst Mike and Terry
went into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.
As we approached Smew Hide David heard a Chiffchaff call and we located
it feeding in the vegetation alongside the path. We called in Crake Hide where we found three
Little Egrets along Lagoon Three bund and there were four Little Grebes just in
front of the hide. Although there were
plenty of birds in South Arm Three most were distant and other than another
three Little Egrets we saw little else.
I looked onto Lagoon Two from the hide and found eight Pintail but there
was little else and we made our way back to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.
When we opened the flaps in
the hide the habitat looked good for wading birds but there was very little
close to the hide and the only bird of note was a single Black-tailed Godwit.
We moved to Sandpiper Hide on
Lagoon Four and again found it very quiet and perhaps the Peregrine sat on one
of the Osprey perches had something to do with it. It didn’t remain on the perch too long and
moved to rest on one of the islands. As
the water level was rising there were fewer gulls with just Common and Great
Black-backed being present in any numbers with just a few Black-headed and
single Lesser Black-backed and Herring.
There were three Shelducks on the Lagoon, which were our first of the
day but with little else we made our way back to the centre.
When we got back we went to
the viewing area and David picked up a Barn Owl perched towards Harrier Hide
and it was then seen hunting over the area.
We saw it drop down into the long vegetation and it disappeared for
while but then we picked it up again perched just to the left of Harrier Hide
before we called it a day having seen two more Shelduck fly into the Wet Meadow
area.
Erik then called and joined us
in the car park for a chat as we hadn’t seen him for a while but eventually we
left for home after a good day’s birding.
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