I picked David up this morning
and we headed to Eyebrook Reservoir and we had Red Kites just after Tur Langton
and as we were approaching Cranoe and a Kestrel between Slawston and Blaston.
As we approached Eyebrook
Reservoir there was no sign of a Little Owl this morning and so we continued onto
the bridge. There were a few birds
visiting the feeders that included Blue and Great Tits, Blackbird, Dunnock,
Chaffinch and Goldfinch and we heard a Tree Sparrow but couldn’t locate
it. We drove further around the
reservoir to view the inlet, where we found two Dunlin amongst the Lapwings but
there was nothing else of note. We saw a
Buzzards on both the Leicestershire and Rutland side of the reservoir and two
Red Kites were seen to the south of the Leicestershire side. Another couple of stops produced three
Goldeneye but there was nothing else of note and we headed for Rutland Water.
After parking in the car park
at Egleton we set off towards the southern lagoons and we disturbed some
passerines that were feeding on the path and the vegetation alongside the
path. We stopped and they gradually
came back to feed and there were several Blue Tits and Reed Buntings, a Dunnock
and a couple of Siskin. The Siskin flew
into some Alders alongside the path and on checking the trees we found four and
after hearing a Great Spotted Woodpecker we picked it up in flight.
Male Siskin
We continued along the track
to Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow, seeing three Bullfinches as we approached the
hide but there was very little on the Wet Meadow. We did see three Shelducks and six Goosanders
on Lagoon One from the hide but with little else we moved on.
As we approached Fieldfare
Hide we had a single Fieldfare and there were two Redshanks in front of the
hide and we had brief views of a Red Fox as it approached but it seemed to
sense our presence and turned and headed off in the opposite direction.
We left Fieldfare Hide and
continued onto Gadwall Hide were there was another Redshank and five Pintail
but initially there was no sign of the hoped for Slavonian Grebe but as we were
about to give up David found it some distance away nearer to Fieldfare Hide.
Having exhausted the area in
front of Gadwall Hide we moved onto Goldeneye Hide and found a Green Sandpiper
was still present along with another two Redshanks. David then picked up a female-type Scaup,
which flew almost immediately but I was unable to find amongst the flying
Tufted Ducks. There were a few Tufted
Duck remaining and as I scanned through them I also picked up a female-type
Scaup but these also flew off and out of sight into South Arm Two.
Redshank
Pied Wagtail
We left Goldeneye Hide and
headed off over the top of Lax Hill and dropped down towards Lagoon Eight but
there was very little on the lagoon and we continued onto the 360 Hide. Like Lagoon Eight there was very few birds on
Lagoon Five but we did pick out two Golden Plovers and a Black-tailed Godwit
flying amongst a large flock of Lapwing.
Goldfinch feeding on Teasel
When we got back to the car
park we headed off to the North Arm and met Roger on his way to the reserve. He had spent quite some time looking for the
Green-winged Teal in the North Arm, which he eventually saw and he also
informed us that someone was claiming a Whimbrel
but he had seen the bird and wasn’t sure as he was looking towards the sun and
couldn’t rule out Curlew.
As we arrived at the end of
the unnamed road two birders made us aware of where the Green-winged Teal was
and we soon found amongst a party of Teal but the views were rather
distant. There were three Great White Egrets
on the bund but we could only find a single Black-necked Grebe, although three
had been reported along with a Slavonian Grebe earlier. There was no sign of the Whimbrel/Curlew on
the south shore despite looking on several occasions but whilst scanning the
area I counted forty-six Pintail. We had
lost the Green-winged Teal when Andy Mackay joined us but it didn’t take him
too long to relocate it much to the delight of Dave Grey as it moved his county
year-list onto 195.
David and I went back to the
Egleton car park for lunch and were joined by Roger after he returned from
Goldeneye and Gadwall Hides having seen the Slavonian Grebe and the Green
Sandpiper. Having finished our lunch
David and I set off for the northern lagoons and went into Sandpiper Hide to
view Lagoon Four. The water was very
high and consequently there were few birds with three Shelduck being the best.
As we walked back down the
ramp Roger had caught us up and we then all walked down to Lapwing Hide as
there was a report of Red-crested Pochard in South Arm Three. There were plenty of birds and David found a
pair of Red-crested Pochard towards Brown’s Island and on scanning the area I
found two more pairs but with nothing else I went to Crake Hide.
Drake Pochard from Goldeneye Hide
Andy Mackay had seen three
Water Rails rather well from the hide recently but there was no sign of any as
I scanned the area but I then saw on briefly near the sluice gate as it climbed
up the rocks and disappeared onto the bund.
A few minutes after Roger and David joined me we moved back towards
Shoveler Hide. We called at Smew Hide
but the light was awful, although David did manage to find a couple of distant
red-headed Smew.
Grey Heron from Crake Hide
Grey Heron from Crake Hide
Grey Heron from Crake Hide
Dave Grey was in Shoveler Hide
when we arrived and he, like us, was hoping for views of the Bittern. Roger had to get back home and left the three
of us still hoping for the Bittern to show, which it never did. We did see a forth Great White Egret as it
flew over the lagoon and there were at least six Little Egrets feeding in a
recently cleared area. Two Red Kites passed
over the lagoon and two Buzzards were observed over the reedbed, with another
Red Kite and two more Buzzards over Hambleton.
Dave Grey also picked up a Peregrine on a couple of occasions but with
the light fading we headed back to the car park.
As we walked back along the
track form the hide a Red Fox ran along the top of the Lagoon Four bund at some
speed and a Snipe flew over just after reaching the main path. David and I called at Grebe Hide where we
found six red-headed Smew in the fading light and then had a Barn Owl fly over
before we got back to the car.
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