David and I set off for Eyebrook
Reservoir this morning, seeing just a Buzzard as we approached Cranoe before we
turned into the northern approach road to the reservoir. The Little Owl was partially visible in the
nest hole in the old oak and we parked just beyond the inlet bridge and found a
Red Kite quartering the field. We walked
back to the bridge to view the stream and feeders seeing a Little Egret and two
Snipe between the bridge and the reservoir and three Tree Sparrows on the
feeders. We didn’t see a great deal else
at Eyebrook Reservoir, where the wind and some light rain was making it rather
unpleasant and we moved onto Rutland Water.
As we reached Bisbrooke a
Green Woodpecker flew over and we had another Red Kite as we were approaching
Wing. We stopped briefly at Lyndon
church where we found a Treecreeper but there was no sign of any Nuthatches.
When we reached the reservoir,
we headed for the North Arm and found Roger’s car parked at the end of the
unnamed road. There were two
Oystercatchers visible from the parking area but little else and so we walked
out to the spit and joined Roger. I
doubt it would be possible to get any more water into the reservoir as the
water was coming up through the ground on the spit, which was rather wet. Roger had already located the two Slavonian
Grebes, which were now both in summer-plumage.
He indicated where they were and although it was quite breezy they were
quite easy to locate and there was also a pair of Shelduck nearby and a Little
Egret on the shore. Two more
Oystercatchers flew in and where joined by the other two in an aerial display
and David picked up a Great White Egret in flight as it came down on the north
shore and then promptly moved out of view.
We then turned our attention onto Burley Wood where we saw two Red
Kites, at least five Buzzards and an Osprey. The wind was making it feel quite
cold and eventually we moved onto the Egleton Reserve.
At long last there were
feeders back at the feeding station, which were new and had a catch tray to hopefully
reduce the seed dropping to the ground and therefore discouraging the
rats. There were a few Blue and Great
Tits visiting the feeders but little else although we did see a Chiffchaff
feeding amongst the vegetation.
Roger and I went to the
viewing area and found good numbers of Sand Martin over the lagoon, whilst
David paid for his annual permit. The
light wasn’t too good but as I scanned through the martins I was sure there was
a Swallow amongst them. I alerted Roger
and we had seen at least two when David joined us but other than a single
Pochard there were little else on the lagoon.
As we left the centre and
started to head for the northern lagoons we heard a Blackcap singing and walked
the other way but couldn’t locate it and so we then continued onto the northern
lagoons. As we approached the badger
hide David thought he heard a Willow Warbler but two calling Green Woodpeckers
distracted us but we never managed to see either of them, although they were
both very vocal. As we continued he
heard the Willow Warbler again and I also heard it and as we went over the
small bridge it appeared very close. We
scanned the bushes and trees alongside the small stream and I eventually found
it feeding in a hawthorn bush. A
Blackcap had been singing intermittently behind us and as we walked around the other
side I saw it briefly and there was also a Chiffchaff. As we continued along the track I was heard
another Blackcap in sub-song. Roger and
I stopped and it eventually appeared and provided some nice if brief views.
We hadn’t seen or heard a
great deal else by the time we reached Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four. From the hide, I soon found the two reported
Avocets and David found a Little Ringed Plover and there were also four
Oystercatchers, three Little Ringed Plovers and at least eight Redshanks on the
lagoon. There were seventeen Shelduck
scattered around the lagoon and a Little Grebe, which can be quite elusive at
this time, appeared to the left of the hide.
Surprisingly we were unable to find any Pintail, which have been
favouring this lagoon recently.
We moved onto Lapwing Hide but
we had forgotten that the fishing boats can now come right into the arm and with
five of them near the bund there were very view birds and it wasn’t long before
we returned to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.
There was more wildfowl on the
lagoon than there has been recently and presumably some had come off South Arm
Three. However, we couldn’t find
anything of real note and a couple of Shelduck and a Pochard were the
best. A Buzzard was observed over the
woodland behind the reedbed and a Cetti’s Warbler was heard several times but
there was no sign of a Sedge Warbler Tim had found whilst undertaking his
common bird census earlier.
The weather was showing signs
of improvement with some sun and the wind feeling less cold as we walked back
to the centre. There were fare fewer hirundine
over Lagoon One now but there was an Osprey sitting on the man-made nest. I tried to see if it was ringed but couldn’t
make anything out, seeing only its bluish legs, but it was some distance away. It then disappeared off the nest and
presumably a bird then seen over Lagoon Three area was the same bird. With little else being evident we went back
to the cars for lunch.
Male Blackbird in the Egleton Meadows
Song Thrush in the Egleton Meadows
Mistle Thrush in the Egleton Meadows
There didn’t appear to be a
great deal else at Rutland Water and after some discussion David and I decided
we go for a Ring Ouzel that had been reported today at Warren Hills. Roger had seen the Ring Ouzel yesterday and
also had to be home early and so stayed at Rutland Water.
We left Rutland Water and headed
for Cossington Meadows where we were hoping to see the Glossy Ibis that has
been present since late October last year.
We parked near the recreation ground at Cossington and walked the short
distance to Rectory Marsh at Cossington Meadows. We were surprised to find a Swallow and a
drake Pintail on the marsh and as we walked around we flushed several Teal and
saw a drake Shoveler, a Little Egret and Grey Heron. We were starting to feel that the ibis wasn’t
present when it suddenly flew onto the small island and began preening. I took a few photos of it and then we made
our way back to the car and went to Warren Hills.
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Drake Pintail
Drake Shoveler
When we arrived at Warren
Hills the sun was shining and the wind had eased considerably and it was now a
pleasant afternoon. I walked on ahead of
David and found a Kestrel hunting over the hill top before it flew off to the
west. I had seen some birders further
along the path and so David and I walked towards them hoping they would have
the Ring Ouzel. However, when we reached
them they had seen the Ring Ouzel but when they first came up the track. They described where it was and David and I
then walked back to view the fields below the first field. Initially there was no sign and I called
Roger who appeared t have seen it in a different area yesterday. Whilst I was taking to Roger David said I've
got it. I finished the call with Roger
and then had a job finding it as I was looking where I thought the others had
seen it and it had moved into the next field.
It was quite some distance away, which was a pity, as it was a superb
male and looked rather smart. There were
a couple of Buzzards visible towards Bardon Hill and a Meadow Pipit was
observed but with the target seen we went to Swithland Reservoir to finish the
afternoon.
We parked along the causeway
to view the southern section of Swithland Reservoir and found two drake Mandarin
Ducks but with little else other than a singing Chiffchaff we drove around to
the dam to view the northern section.
When we arrived, it was now a very pleasant afternoon, feeling quite
warm and little wind, which makes a pleasant change at Swithland Reservoir. David found a pair of Mandarin Duck near the
wall viewpoint and there were twenty-five Goldeneye on the water. We did find another drake Mandarin Duck and a
pair of Grey Wagtails with another Swallow flying over and we also heard both
Jay and Coal Tit but didn’t see either of them.
Four different Buzzards were observed soaring over the woodland, with
one coming fairly close and David picked up a Peregrine, which was some
distance away, that then flew over reservoir heading for Buddon Wood before
dropping into the quarry. We stopped
overlooking the new landscaped area before leaving but didn’t see anything of
note.
David decided we should call
at Stoughton Airfield to see if there were any Wheatears. We checked an area to the south of the
airfield before parking just inside the entrance. There was no sign of any Wheatear but David
was sure he heard a Grey Partridge. I
walked to the road to hopefully get closer but with the constant traffic noise
I didn’t hear it. When I got back to the
car he had heard it again and we wondered if it was in the airfield
grounds. However, it wasn’t heard again
and there was no sign of it and we called it a day. I had mentioned that there was a nice strip
of land behind the hedge on the other side of the road that might be suitable
for Grey Partridge and on seeing it as we were leaving David agreed. As he turned left onto the road a Grey
Partridge appeared at the roadside but with David watching the road he missed
it and we couldn’t go back easily but it was nice to prove conclusively that
they are still in the area.
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