Malcolm and I were going for a
second look at the Bluethroat with David today as he had not been able to join
us on Tuesday. We set off at around
07:00 and headed across country to Edith Weston at Rutland Water seeing four
Red Kites, three Buzzards and a Kestrel on route and we had a Sparrowhawk fly
off a fence post as we skirted Eyebrook Reservoir. From Edith Weston, we drove along the
southern edge of Rutland Water before heading north and then seeing just a
Buzzard and a Kestrel before we reached Willow Tree Fen.
As we were starting to walk
away from the car a party of twenty-one White-fronted Geese flew over along
with a single Pink-footed Goose.
As we set off down the path it
was clear that yesterday’s heavy rain had raised the water levels and when we
reached the crowd the Bluethroat wasn’t showing and hadn’t been seen for a
while. We didn’t wait too long before it
appeared on the edge of the reeds and then on the path, much as it had done on
Tuesday, although it wasn’t coming quite a close and it didn’t appear to stay
as long before flying back into the reeds.
We saw it on another couple of occasions and I managed to get a few more
photos before we headed off back to the car.
First-winter Bluethroat
First-winter Bluethroat
First-winter Bluethroat
First-winter Bluethroat
First-winter Bluethroat
First-winter Bluethroat
When we arrived back in the
car park there were two Fieldfares, a Redwing and two Mistle Thrushes feeding on
the strip of grass that runs south-west from the car park and there were a pair
of Stonechat on the northern edge of the car park and we had further views of
the White-fronted Geese.
Our intention after seeing the
Bluethroat was to go to Four Mile Bar to hopefully see the Great Grey Shrike as
David had missed with me early in the month and was unable to come on Tuesday. A couple of birders opted to follow us to
ensure that they reached the site and we saw another Buzzard and a party of
Fieldfare before we reached Four Mile Bar.
After parking we walked across
the bridge and met two birders who were leaving but they hadn’t seen the shrike
and apparently, it had been flushed yesterday afternoon and hadn’t been seen
since. We walked down into the field but
after a good half an hour without any sign and very little else, with four
Kestrel being the best we called it a day.
Our plan now was to visit a
site near Thorney for a Rough-legged Buzzard but when we reached the bridge to
get over the river to Crowland we found it closed and an initial view of the
map suggested it was now a long detour to get to the Rough-legged Buzzard
site. We therefore decided to go to
Deeping Lakes to see the Long-eared Owls.
As we drove alongside the
river we found the Long-tailed Duck amongst a party of Tufted Duck and a Little
Egret, along with another two Kestrels.
When we reached Deeping lakes
we walked the short distance to the hide to look for the Long-eared Owls. Malcolm soon found one and as David and I
looked we realised that there were two birds on view but as is usual the views
weren’t stunning.
Long-eared Owls roosting
When we got back to the car it
wasn’t quite 11:30 and David had found a way of getting to the Rough-legged
Buzzard site, which was closer than our other options of Frampton Marsh and so
we set off for Turf Fen Bridge, which is off the A47 between Thorney Toll and
Guyhirn.
We had seen two Buzzards and
two Kestrels on route and arrived at Turf Fen Bridge after just thirty-five
minutes. After parking we could scan the
large fields to the west and north.
Initially there appeared to be little and so David and I sat in the car
having our lunch, whilst Malcolm stood outside using his scope. It wasn’t too long before he said he had a
distant Buzzard to the north but when David and I looked we agreed it was just
a Buzzard. As we were watching the bird
a second buzzard appeared and my first impression was that it was larger and
longer winged and our hopes were raised.
Malcolm then indicated that it had a white tail and so I got out of the
car to set up my scope, when David also confirmed it had a white tail. After getting the scope up I scanned to pick
the bird up again only for Malcolm to say it gone behind the houses. I continued to scan and picked up the other
side of a farm and it then started to fly south and was getting closer. We had soon seen enough to confirm it was an
adult Rough-legged Buzzard and both Malcolm and I managed to get a few record
shorts when it was at its closest. Unfortunately,
it turned west and appeared to come down in a field although we were unable to
find and presumed it had continued flying low over the field.
Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard
Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard
Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard
Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard
We waited about another thirty
minutes but with no further sign we moved on to Eldernell.
After turning onto the A605
and heading towards Eldernell we saw quite a large flock of distant swans and
stopped in a convenient layby to observe them.
I was hoping we might find a few Bewick’s amongst what I assumed would
be Whooper Swans but I was surprised to find that they all appeared to be all
Bewick’s and there must have been at least 250 birds in flock, which is by the
largest number I have seen for a few years.
We turned down the first track
leading to March Farmers to reach the washes and on climbing the bank were
pleasantly surprised to find lots of birds.
The area was Partially flooded and there were good numbers of wildfowl
and numerous Lapwing scattered around the flooded areas. The closer areas produced nine Shelduck,
thirty-five Pintail and forty-eight Shoveler and there were also plenty of
Wigeon, Teal and Mallard and a few Gadwall.
As we continued to scan the area we found three Little Egret,
twenty-three Ruff and at least six Redshank.
Malcolm then found a Peregrine
perched on a distant pylon and there was a rather nice male Marsh Harrier
causing quite some disturbance, flushing most of the birds as it headed
west. A female Marsh Harrier continued
the process and there must have been at least 2000 Golden Plovers in
flight. We also found three Stonechats
but there were few other passerines in evidence and we eventually moved onto
Eldernell.
After parking I walked to the
bridge and found a couple of immature Cranes on the far side of the washes and
we eventually finished up with fourteen in the same area. A dark looking falcon was found a post, which
initially we thought might be a Merlin, and David and Malcolm went off down the
bank to get a better view, whilst I continued to watch it from the bridge. As I was watching it flew and I could see
that it was a Kestrel. When David and
Malcolm returned, they hadn’t seen it fly and were still unsure of it identity
but accepted that it was just a Kestrel.
There were fewer birds that at
March Farmers but there were three Marsh Harriers up on several occasions to
the west and circa twenty Dunlin amongst the Golden Plover and we found another
two Stonechats. Two large flocks of wild
swans were observed one of which were mainly Whooper Swans, whilst the other
was not determined. A Kingfisher was
seen on several occasions along the dyke and a rather nice Barn Owl appeared
but there was no sign of any Short-eared Owls during our stay.
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