David, Roger and I were out
locally today and we headed off to Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Red Kite as we
were approaching the turning to Slawston.
There was no sign of any
Little Owls as we approached the reservoir and there wasn’t any parking at the
bridge as birders were out looking for a ring-tailed Hen Harrier that had been
reported yesterday afternoon. We saw a
Great White Egret fly off towards Rutland Water as we were driving around to a
gate where we could park. With the water
level being so high there was no exposed areas for waders but an Oystercatcher
flew over calling but there was little else.
There was a Buzzard perched in a tree on the Leicestershire side and two
Red Kites were observed towards Stockerston.
Feeling we had exhausted
Eyebrook Reservoir we moved onto the North Arm at Rutland Water and after
parking and a quick look in the fishponds produced nothing of note and we moved
down to the spit. David soon found the
Slavonian Grebe off the point and it was now pretty much in full summer
plumage. There was a Little Egret and a
Great White Egret on the north shore and four female Goosander on the edge of
the fishponds. Malcolm had called to
find out where we were and he then joined us on the spit and spent a few
minutes looking for the Slavonian Grebe, Great White Egret and Goosanders. We all then focussed on Burley Wood and there
were Red Kites and Buzzards visible almost all the time. I then picked up a Raven and David found an
Osprey and whilst looking for it I had a very distant Sparrowhawk.
Feeling good with what we had
seen in the north we moved to the Egleton Reserve and decided to head towards
Snipe Hide as Roger was still hoping to see the Whimbrel. There was a Chiffchaff singing near the end
of the woodland behind Lagoon One, which I photographed and we heard at least
one other.
Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
We continued around the path
to Snipe Hide but hadn’t seen or heard too much else as we arrived at the
hide. There was very little on the flash
today, with four Shelduck being the best.
I then had a brief view of a wader as it was flushed by a Carrion Crow
but sadly it dropped out of sight almost immediately but my first impression
was Green Sandpiper. I tried to get a
look along the gully from outside the hide but was unable to get a clear view
and there was no sign of the bird.
The others had gone onto
Harrier Hide and as I approached the hide I could see another pair of Shelduck
and a Pintail on the Wet Meadow flash.
When I entered the hide, they had already found the Whimbrel and a
Curlew in the normal area but they had both disappeared into the long grass but
it wasn’t long before I saw them. Whilst
I was looking at the Whimbrel, Malcom suddenly piped-up saying I've got a drake
Garganey and we were all soon watching a superb male in the emergent vegetation
and as I continued watching the male I noticed a female nearby. Something then disturbed all the birds and
the Whimbrel flew around calling before flying over the lagoon and dropping on
the long island. As we left the hide we
heard the Whimbrel calling and presumably it was in flight and appeared to be
returning to its favoured area.
As we walked back towards the
centre we saw another Chiffchaff singing from the top of a tree and as we
approached the path to Snipe Hide there was a Brimstone butterfly. Further on we had another Brimstone and a Peacock
and learnt that there was another drake Garganey on Lagoon Two.
Chiffchaff
Peacock
David nipped into the centre
to put the Garganey at Harrier Hide in the book and managed to see the second
drake Garganey but we decided we would have our lunch first and then go and
look for it. Brian and Roger arrived
whilst we were having lunch and I was still chatting to Brian when the others
set off for the centre. As I approached
the centre Roger was outside on the phone and on getting the viewing area David
and Malcolm had seen the Garganey but it had now disappeared. David was making some noise about a gull on
part of the long island but I was more interested in finding the Garganey. Roger then arrived and shortly afterwards we
had both seen the drake Garganey.
I then turned my attention to
David’s gull and confirmed that it was the second-winter Caspian Gull I had
seen on Lagoon Four on Thursday. David,
Malcolm and Roger were all delighted as it was a year-tick for all of
them. I called Roger Brett to make him
aware and he and Brian then joined us in the centre. After seeing the Caspian Gull, Roger Brett
started looking for the Garganey and said there are two males. When I looked sure enough there were two
males side by side and then I noticed a female and presumably the two seen
earlier on Lagoon One had joined the other male. Andy Mackay then arrived and was delighted to
see the Caspian Gull but then turned his attention on the Garganey. We had noticed three Curlew at the back of
the lagoon and Brian then managed to find the Whimbrel, which was feeding
further to the right.
David, Malcolm, Roger and I
then set off for the northern lagoons seeing yet another Chiffchaff on
route. A trip to Lapwing Hide produced
just a pair of Scaup and so we returned to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three. Most of the islands had now almost
disappeared under water and there was no suitable habitat more most waders but
we did find a pair of Oystercatcher and two Snipe just to the right of the
hide.
Our intention was to go to
Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four before heading off to Eyebrook Reservoir again in
the hope that the Hen Harrier would appear.
There were twenty-three Shelduck and six Pintail on the lagoon and on
scanning the area we found a Little Ringed Plover, three Ringed Plover, two
Dunlin and four Redshanks. David who was
scanning the gulls said I might have a Mediterranean Gull but by the time we
had got on it, it had started roosting.
It was an immature and the head pattern, whilst not clear, did tend to
show a mask and didn’t look anything like any of the nearby Black-headed
Gulls. When it did eventually raise its
head, confirming its identity, it flew off towards the main water with a flock
of other gulls.
First-winter Mediterranean Gull
Pair of Pintail on Lagoon Four
As we were leaving the hide I
picked up an Osprey approaching from the south and then landed on the nest on
Lagoon Four. We went back into the hide
only to see the nest empty and the Osprey heading off northwest.
Osprey
Osprey
I sent the photos to John
Wright as I wondered if it was the male that had attempted to breed on the
lagoon last year and had just returned.
However, John identified it as 5N, a female that breeds nearby but is
still awaiting the return of her partner.
Apparently, she is usually back first and whilst waiting, tours around
hoping to find another male that will feed her and provide some companionship,
which the male on Lagoon Four did last year.
We approached Eyebrook
Reservoir from the north and parked next to the coral overlooking the
inlet. There was a single Shelduck and
three Little Egrets on the eastern shore and a Kestrel to our left. Whilst waiting I received a text from Colin
asking if we had seen the harrier, to which I replied no. I then noticed that he and Chris were on the
Rutland bank and shortly afterwards it became clear they were scoping
something. I then noticed Colin was
trying to send a text but he gave up and called me to say they were watching
the ring-tailed Hen Harrier quartering over the fields behind us. The hedge was too high to see into the fields
and so we drove around to where Chis was parked. As I got out of the car I said to Colin is it
still showing, yes was his reply but it’s now in the reservoir grounds. When I looked, it was quartering the ground
right in front of the coral, which would have been a superb photo opportunity. It then flew over the reservoir to our side
but then went south before crossing the water again and continuing towards the
island and disappearing to the west. It
was only my sixth in the counties and the first at Eyebrook Reservoir, with the
others being a wintering ring-tail at Rutland Water in 1977, another ring-tail
at the same site in 1982, a third-ringtail at Rutland Water in 2001. a
ring-tail at Cossington Meadows in 2002 and a male at Market Bosworth in
2004. It’s a pity we didn’t stay in the
coral but at least we had seen it well and what an end to an excellent day’s
birding.
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