With strong winds and rain
forecast today I considered not going out but finally decided I would rather be
out than in and left home just after 08:30.
I set off and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Buzzard near the
turning for Newton Harcourt, a Red Kite just after passing through Slawston and
another Red Kite as I approached Blaston and then a Green Woodpecker in the
village.
As I approached Eyebrook
Reservoir it was a little windy but dry and not surprisingly there was no sign of
the Little Owl but there was a Red Kite over the road as I approached the
bridge. Stopping at the bridge I could
see that the water level was high and other than single Blue and Great Tits on
the feeders I saw little else and moved around to view the inlet. There were a few Lapwings and Teal around the
inlet but with the water so high there was little else. Further along I found three Goldeneye and
there was a selection of common wildfowl but nothing unusual and so I headed
for the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water.
There was yet another Red Kite
just after I passed through Stoke Dry and I reached Rutland Water just before
10:00. The feeders were empty at the centre,
although there were still Blue and Great Tits visiting along with a single
Chaffinch. I walked the short distance
to Teal Hide and as expected found the water quite calm until some way out when
the fresh southerly winds were whipping it up.
There were a few birds close to the hide, the best being a Little Grebe
and several Goldeneye. I scanned the
area towards Manton Bay and found a pair of Goosander close to the bund and two
Great White Egrets in Heron Bay along with a couple of Little Egrets and there
were another six Little Egrets on the bund.
With no sign of the Red-necked Grebe I left for the North Arm seeing a
Red Kite alongside Manton Bridge.
I stopped for a few minutes
observing the feeders at Tim’s cottage where there was a constant procession of
Blue and Great Tits but a Coal Tit and a Marsh Tit along with a Great Spotted
Woodpecker also made brief visits. After
parking I viewed the fishponds where there were seven male and five female
Goosanders but little else and so I moved into the shelter to view the North
Arm.
I found the two Barnacle Geese
on the north shore and there were several Pochard feeding off the end of the
point but I was unable to locate any scarce grebes and moved onto the
spit. The wind was more noticeable now
and the water was rather choppy, making finding small grebes difficult to find
but I did see a single Slavonian Grebe some distance away.
It wasn’t very pleasant
standing at the end of the point and I decided I would go to Dickinson’s Bay
and try and view the North Arm from there.
I managed to get some shelter from the wind behind a hedge and could
view the North Arm in some comfort. I
found a Black-necked Grebe almost immediately but when another couple of
birders joined me on trying to relocate it I could only find two Slavonian
Grebes. I was beginning to think that
maybe I hadn’t seen a Black-necked Grebe when I found one a little further away
and eventually saw two.
It was now approaching midday
and so I moved to the Egleton Reserve and after some lunch went into the centre
to view Lagoon One. When I opened the
flaps in the viewing area the wind appeared to blowing straight in but I
managed to position myself to avoid the worst and view the lagoon in some
comfort. There was a sizeable gathering
of Pintail to the right of the centre and I counted eight-four on the lagoon,
which was slightly fewer than on my last visit.
There was also eleven male and five female Goosanders and five Shelduck
on the water and I did see the head of a Great White Egret, which was close to
Harrier Hide.
I moved onto Shoveler Hide on
Lagoon Three where there were ten Curlew resting on the exposed muddy island
and another four Shelduck feeding towards the reedbed. I could see several Red-crested Pochard but
was unsure of how many there were as the nearby reeds were obscuring my view
and so I went to Buzzard Hide to get a better view, where I counted sixteen, eleven
males and five females.
I paid a brief visit to Smew
Hide on my way to Lapwing Hide and found a couple of drake Smew. When I reached, Lapwing Hide it was rather
unpleasant due to the southerly wind, which was now whipping the water up
considerably. As I scanned towards the
poplars on the Green Bank I found two more drakes and a red-headed Smew and a
drake Goosander. Most of the Coot were
now between the hide and Brown’s Island, where they were getting some shelter
form the wind. It wasn’t easy viewing this area as I could feel the full force
of the wind and I was unable to find anything of note and soon called it a day.
I went into Sandpiper Hide on
Lagoon Four where there were plenty of Mute Swans, Greylag and Canada Geese and
Wigeon but little else. However, as the
sun appeared for a few minutes I did see a Red Kite over the North Arm and a
Buzzard to the west of Burley House.
Redshank Hide was open again
after the reconstruction of the ramp leading to it and so I made a visit. There was a drake Smew along with four
red-heads in the direction of the Sand Martin bank but with little else I
decided I would head for Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow.
There were four Redwings in
one of the meadows and I had a couple of Bullfinches as I walked through the
wood behind Lagoon One. Snipe Hide looks
north and it was therefore quite pleasant viewing but other than a few Gadwall,
Teal, Mallard and Shoveler there was little else. although I did get a better
view of the Great White Egret, which was still on Lagoon One.
I moved onto the 360 Hide on
Lagoon Five were I received a call from Ken who was cruising in the Caribbean
and soaking the sun up but hadn’t seen too much bird wise. There was nothing of note on Lagoon Five,
except for a couple of Pintail, and so I moved onto Pintail Hide on Lagoon Six
where there was a pair of Shelduck.
With there still some light
left in the day so I made my way to Fieldfare Hide and found the water much
higher than on my last visit. However,
the area now seemed well suited to the numerous Teal that were feeding and
resting along the shoreline and as I scanned through the Teal I found a single
Redshank.
With the light beginning to
fade I made a brief visit to Mallard Hide on Lagoon One where I found two
Curlew amongst a party of Herring Gulls that had assembled before going to
roost.
It hadn't been one of the best
days at Rutland Water, with only sixty-nine species recorded, but the weather
hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as the forecast suggested with very little
rain and I was pleased I had made the effort to get out.
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