With Roger on short break in
Wales, David, Malcolm and I went to Deeping Lakes where I was hoping for more
luck with the Cattle Egret than on Tuesday.
When we arrived in the car
park there was no sign of the Cattle Egret again but we did spend some time
scanning the lake to the north-east of the car park. There was a good selection of birds on the
lake that included Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and Shoveler and we also
found a single drake Pintail. There were
a couple of Oystercatcher on the grass surrounding the lake and I found a
single Little Ringed Plover on one of the islands. Interestingly there were quite a few adult
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and two adult Herring Gulls present and presumably
they are nesting nearby.
With no sign of the Cattle
Egret we started to walk to the hide when Malcom picked up rather smart male
Marsh Harrier that was observed in the southwest corner and was seen to carry a
stick into the reedbed. When we reached
the hide, there was no sign of the Long-tailed Duck but with quite a few Tufted
Duck being visible through the trees on the island we walked southwest to see
if we could view them better from outside.
As we walked along the path a
Green Woodpecker flew into a bush and remained a few minutes but flew again
once we got too close. We could see at
least some of the Tufted Duck but there was still no sign of the Long-tailed
Duck. I walked a little further down the
path but wasn’t able to get a better view but I did see a Chiffchaff. When I re-joined David and Malcolm they
hadn’t seen anything else but then David found a female Goldeneye.
When we got back to the main
path we went up the bank to view the river and another Green Woodpecker flew
over. On reaching the top of the bank we
could see two egrets up stream but they were both Little Egrets. A third egret then flew from the river bank
and was quite close, it flew down stream and right in front of us and we could
see it was the Cattle Egret. It
continued downstream before veering off to the left and towards the car park
area.
When we got back to the car
park it wasn’t visible in the fields but Malcolm then found on one of the
islands on the lake to the northeast and we were able to get views of it preening
and resting on the island.
Cattle Egret
With the Cattle Egret on the
list we set off for Frampton Marsh and arrived around 10:30 seeing just three
Kestrel of note on route. After parking
we scanned the wet meadows to the west and found a few Avocets, a couple of
Ruff, several Curlew and quite a few Redshanks.
We went into the visitor’s centre to see what was about and found the
water level on the reedbed area to be very high with very little of the islands
visible. There were a few Avocets on one
of the remaining islands and five Little Grebes but otherwise it was quiet.
Most of the more unusual birds
had been seen towards the sea wall but with Malcom and I needing Corn Bunting
for the year we took the path leading to the northeast edge of the
reserve. Just before we reached the path
to the 360 Hide and adult Mediterranean Gull flew over and landed quite close
to the hide. It flew again briefly but
again came down close to the hide and so we took the path to the hide to
hopefully find it still there.
When we reached the hide,
there was no sign of the Mediterranean Gull but there was a Ruff quite close and
Malcolm then found a Little Ringed Plover and I was able to photograph both
birds.
Little Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Ruff
Ruff
From the hide, we saw plenty
of Avocets and there was also a party of thirty plus Black-tailed Godwits but
with little else we came out of the hide an went to look for the Corn
Buntings. The small area of scrub
between the reserve and the arable farmland seemed very quiet and there was no
sign of any Corn Buntings. We walked
northwest along the path seeing just a few Linnets and Reed Buntings and a
single Buzzard. As we approached the turn
back to the centre a Kestrel flew over and we saw a single Tree Sparrow in the
hedgerow as we made our way back.
When we got back to the car we
drove to the sea wall car park and found a Spotted Redshank almost straight
away. After taking a few photos of the
Spotted Redshank we had lunch and scanned the area whilst doing so. We found more Avocets and Redshanks and I
picked up a single Dunlin in flight, which dropped out of sight and the others
didn’t see it. There was also lots of
Brent Geese in both directions from the car park but we couldn’t see either the
Pink-footed Goose, which had been reported earlier or the Black Brant present
over the last few days.
Spotted Redshank
Spotted Redshank
Brent Geese
As we walked towards the sea
wall we found seven Pintail and several Black-tailed Godwits and another Little
Ringed Plover and a further two Little Ringed Plovers were observed displaying
above us. On reaching the top of the sea
wall we could get good views in both directions and found another Spotted
Redshank. Other than more Redshank and
several Meadow Pipits there appeared to be very little on the salt marsh,
although the heat-haze was bad. Malcolm
and I had seen a party of swans fly off towards the fields to the west and
after some discussion we decided it might be worth a walk to the raptor watchpoint.
As we walked along the sea
wall we could get better views of the Brent Geese that were feeding to the west
but there was no sign of either the Black Brant or the Pink-footed Goose
amongst the flock. As David and I
started to continue along the sea wall, Malcolm called me back, as he had found
a goose well away from the Brent Geese and thought it was the Pink-footed
Goose, which proved to be correct.
When we reached the point where
we could view the fields we could see a group of swans that were quite distant
and with heat-haze being bad they weren’t easy but I was pretty sure that the
three left hand birds were Whooper Swans, which David and Malcolm eventually
agreed with. The main party to the right
of these were Mute Swans but there were two nearer the Whooper Swans we
couldn’t see very well. As we continued
to try and identify the final two birds, David indicated that he was sure there
was a Corn Bunting singing and he then heard again and was certain. Malcolm and I hadn’t heard and when it sang
again I asked him where he thought it was.
It appeared to further down the footpath and so we started to walk along
the path and I saw a bird at the top of a bush I was fairly sure would be
it. However, as I altered the others and
tried to get the scope on it, it flew and disappeared.
We continued along the track
and sat down on a bench hoping it might return, whilst we scanned the
meadows. We didn’t find anything new but
the Pink-footed Goose was now a little closer but eventually we went back
through the gate to view the swans again and were able to identify the other
two as Whooper Swans. I then noticed a
bird at the top of bush, which I thought might be the Corn Bunting and as I was
getting my scope into position, David said the Corn Buntings was singing again
and on getting the bird in the scope we confirmed it was the Corn Bunting.
Corn Bunting
We made our way back to the
car park seeing a distant Marsh Harrier over the salt marsh as we did so and found
the Spotted Redshank in better light when we got back and therefore took a few
more photos.
Spotted Redshank
Spotted Redshank
We popped into the centre to
see if there was anything of note but there was nothing new and we returned to
the car. As we were getting ready to
leave Malcolm noticed what he thought was a White Wagtail, which was on the wet
meadow and quite close and after agreeing with his identification were able to
get some nice shots of the bird as it continued feeding.
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
We eventually left Frampton
and headed back towards Rutland Water but called at Barnack Hills and Holes
hoping we could find some Pasqueflowers.
We arrived on site at around
16:00 and walked out from the car park into the area where there are areas
roped off to protect the rare flowers.
There were plenty of Cowslips and it appeared that they were the only
flowers but Malcom then spotted a group of Pasqueflowers and we eventually
found a second group.
Cowslips
Pasqueflowers
Pasqueflowers
Pasqueflower
Pasqueflowers
When we arrived back at
Rutland Water, David and I decided we would go northern lagoons hoping we find
a Sedge Warbler. There was an Osprey
visible on the nest platform on Lagoon one but a brief visit to Osprey Hide on
Lagoon Two produced just a few Sand Martins.
When we reached Shoveler Hide we found a couple of Little Grebes close
to the hide and there was also a Shelduck and Pochard. As we sat in the hide I thought I heard our
target bird, a Sedge Warbler, but David didn't hear it. I then heard it on another two occasions but
was surprised he still hadn’t heard it.
I suggested that he shifted his position in the hide and this time when
it sang again he heard it, after which it seem to be in song all the time. With not much time left we went to Sandpiper
Hide on Lagoon Four where we found a pair of Avocet, a Little Ringed Plover and
two Redshanks in our brief stay.
I left the hide slightly
behind David and when I approached the badger hide I thought I heard a Tawny
Owl, only for it to call again a few seconds later confirming my initial
thoughts.
It had been a pretty good
day’s birding with eighty-six species recorded, three of which, Cattle Egret,
Sedge Warbler and Corn Bunting, were new for the year.
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