It took several minutes to get
the ice of the car before I set off in bright sunlight for a day’s birding in
east Leicestershire & Rutland. My
intention was to visit Great Easton first hoping of seeing a Barn Owl. I had a Red Kite as I approached Tur Langton
and another along Stockerston Lane but little else before reaching Great
Easton.
It was still bright and sunny
when I arrived at the end of the unnamed road just to the east of the village
but was feeling quite cold. When I
viewed the roost tree two Barn Owls were visible but they both dropped out of
sight shortly afterwards. A Little Egret
was observed in flight and three Fieldfares flew over. There is now a locked gate across the old
railway line and it only possible to walk a couple of hundred yards and so I
moved on to Eyebrook Reservoir. A lady
walking her dog indicated that gate had proved very unpopular with the village
residents but she thought that there had been an agreement with the land owner
to leave the gate unlocked but as yet this was still to happen.
There were a couple of
Fieldfares as I dropped down the hill to the reservoir and another five at
least around the old feeding station. I
didn’t see a great deal as I drove along the road to the northern end with
three Bullfinches being the best. On
reaching the turn to the bridge over the inlet stream I continued straight on
and after turning around on the Harborough Hill Road headed back to view the
old oak and found one of the Little Owls sitting in a favoured spot. My last sighting here was in July and so it
was a welcome sight to see at least one back.
A brief stop at the bridge
produced nothing of note but I had another eight Fieldfares as I moved around
to view the inlet. There were plenty of Teal
and Black-headed Gulls at the inlet with a few Common Gulls but very few
Lapwings and no other waders but a surprise was a female Goosander. The bright sunlight was making it difficult
to view the reservoir to the south and so I moved further along the road to get
better light. There was a good selection
of wildfowl including fifteen Pintail and twenty Shoveler and I also saw a
single Goldeneye.
Steve had called to say that
he and Terry had found quite a bit in the North Arm at Rutland Water, including
a Pink-footed Goose and so I left Eyebrook Reservoir and headed for the North
Arm.
After parking at the end of
the unnamed road I viewed the fishponds and found the female Ruddy Duck, which
I hadn't seen for almost a month. As I
continued scanning a Water Rail on the north shore was a surprise and there was
also a Green Sandpiper close to the bund between the fishponds and the North
Arm.
After walking down through the
gate to view the North Arm there were plenty of Greylag Geese and as most were
on the water I was fairly optimistic that I would find the Pink-footed Goose
but there was no sign. As I looked
further down the north shore there were more geese feeding on the edges of the
reservoir but all I found were more Greylags and smaller numbers of Canada
Geese with still no sign of the Pink-footed Goose amongst them or with a
smaller number of Greylag Geese on the south shore.
A female Common Scoter was
then located as it flew into an area to the south of the spit but a few minutes
later it was to the north of the spit.
Another birder then joined me and as we were scanning for the
Black-necked Grebes I found the Common Scoter again but this time it was
swimming rather purposely east towards the draw tower. I then found a Great White Egret on the edge
of Dickinson’s Bay and the other birder found a second on the south shore. I eventually found one of the Black-necked
Grebes after a fishing boat had caused some disturbance near Dickinson’s
Bay. Other than six Pintail to the south
of the spit, two Pochard near the north shore and three Little Egrets around
the arm there was little else of note.
After standing in the North Arm for over an hour the cold was beginning
to get through and so I went to the Bird Watching Centre on the Egleton Reserve
to view Lagoon One.
I counted just eighteen
Pintail on the lagoon, which is a reduction than of late and there was a pair
of Stonechat in front of the centre but with little else and with it too early
to take lunch I decided to go to Lyndon to search for the Red-necked Grebe.
On reaching the Lyndon Reserve
I headed for Teal Hide to view the south arm but found the feeding station
devoid of birds as I walked to the hide.
I spent quite some time in the hide but couldn’t find the Red-necked
Grebe and other than a couple of Little Egrets there was little else. Steve then called to inform of a report of a
possible Great Grey Shrike to the north of Oakham and indicated that he and
Terry were going to look for it. He also
said that they were in Wader Scrape Hide and that there were a lot of waders in
the Manton Bay.
As I walked back to the centre
there were now a few birds around the feeder but as I stopped to take a look
several flew off and a few seconds later a Sparrowhawk roared in, circled the
small bush a couple of times and then flew off to the east. After it had gone just two Great Tits flew
out of the bush and again the feeders fell silent.
Whilst having lunch I decided
I would walk to Shallow Water Hide to view the waders in Manton Bay. I met Steve and Terry near Deep Water Hide
and after a brief chat they departed intending to look for the Great Grey
Shrike and a commitment to let me know if they saw it.
I saw a few Fieldfare and
Redwing as I approached the turn to Wader Scrape Hide but other than three
Bullfinches I had seen little else as I entered Shallow water Hide. I was a little disappointed a warden was
cutting in the grass on the south side of the bay and there were few birds on
the water. There were a few Snipe and
three Dunlin just to the right of the hide and I could see other waders on the
far side. I set the scope up to view the
far shore and counted twenty-three Dunlin, fourteen Snipe, four Green Sandpiper
and a Redshank in the bay. Wildfowl wise
there were eleven Pintail and small numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard,
Shoveler and Tufted Duck. I called in
Wader Scrape Hide on the way back but found nothing new and continued along the
path back to the centre. I then notice a
tweet indicating that the shrike had been seen but was elusive. I hadn’t heard from Steve so I gave him a
call and apparently Terry Mitcham had seen and photographed this morning but he
and Terry hadn’t been able to find it.
When I reached the centre
there were a few more birds visiting the feeders and I hoped a Marsh Tit might
come in but after a few seconds of viewing presumably the same Sparrowhawk
flashed through and so I continued along the path beyond the centre but saw very
little. When I got back birds were
beginning to return to the feeders but again within a few seconds a Sparrowhawk
flashed through, which was probably a different bird.
With no joy with the Marsh Tit
I returned to Egleton and walked to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three. On opening the flaps there were very few
birds close and I suspected something had caused some disturbance and the only
bird of note was a single Little Egret right at the back of the lagoon.
As I walked towards Sandpiper
Hide I met Steve who informed me that he and Terry had seen very little on
Lagoon Four, although a Peregrine was resting on one of the islands. After a chat I continued on to the hide and
soon found the Peregrine but there was very little else. The water level is now rising and
consequently there are small number of gulls assembling but there were still
good numbers of Black-headed and Common Gulls, with smaller numbers of Herring
and Great Black-backed Gull but just one Lesser Black-backed Gull and nothing
unusual.
As I left the hide there was a
Barn Owl hunting in corner near the gate back to the centre, which then perched
in a tree. I informed Steve but before
he could decide what to do the owl took off and disappeared towards Lagoon
Two. I went into Osprey Hide but there
was no sign but I did find another eleven Pintail. As I got back towards the centre there was a
Great White Egret at the back of Lagoon One but with nothing else I went back
to the car park and after a coffee headed off home.
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