I was out with David and Roger
today with Roger driving and we headed for Eyebrook Reservoir first. There were both Swallow and House Martin over
Newton Harcourt when we picked David up and we had four Red Kites over a hill
as we approached Cranoe.
Not surprisingly considering
the cool wind there was no sign of the Little Owls as we approached Eyebrook
Reservoir. We parked near the bridge and
heard and saw a Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler and three Tree Sparrows. A Blackcap, another Garden Warblers, a Lesser
Whitethroat and a Whitethroat were also heard.
I picked up a distant Osprey and then it or another flew over the road
heading towards the reservoir. A Buzzard
was observed to the east and another flew over the reservoir and there were two
Little Egrets visible form the bridge.
We moved around the reservoir to view the inlet and found a single
Shelduck and an Osprey was observed fishing.
There were a fair number of hirundines over the water, which consisted
of both Sand Martin and House Martin and a single Swallow was observed feeding
between the road and the reservoir. A
second Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat were heard and just before we were
about to leave the Osprey was observed carrying a fish. We watched the Osprey as it flew over the
Leicestershire fields and then drop onto the field with the fish. It didn’t stay on the ground too long as it
was harassed by a couple of Carrion Crows, which continued to pursue the Osprey
as it flew off to the west.
Osprey
We drove to Rutland Water via
Bisbrooke, Glaston, Wing and Lyndon and saw a Whitethroat just north of
Brisbrooke and a stop before Wing produced a Buzzard and a Stoat and a
Chiffchaff and Blackcap were also heard.
A further stop at Lyndon church didn’t produce too much but we saw a
couple of Ravens before we reached the Lyndon entrance.
We turned right onto the road
to Edith Weston and headed for the Luffenham airfield and drove around to one
of the old runways. As we stopped and
parked we found two Wheatears on the golf driving range and we also had two
Buzzard, two Kestrel, two Swallow and a Meadow Pipit during our brief stay.
From the airfield, we retraced
out steps before heading off to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water. After seeing just a few Common Terns and a
Little Egret on Lagoon One we headed for the northern lagoons and David and I
called in at Redshank Hide on Lagoon Two.
As we walked beyond the badger
hide we saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker and entering the hide found the female
Ruddy Duck alongside a Pochard. We
called Roger who had been behind us to let him know about the Ruddy Duck but he
had gone by the hide and had to come back.
When he arrived the Pochard had flown off and the Ruddy had drifted
behind the vegetation with a couple of Tufted Ducks and although the Tufted
Ducks reappeared the Ruddy didn’t.
As we left the hide we had a
Jay at the start of the summer trail and we then joined Malcolm in Sandpiper
Hide on Lagoon Four. We had four
Oystercatchers, a Little Ringed Plover, ten Ringed Plovers, a Grey Plover,
sixteen Dunlin, three Bar-tailed Godwits, two Redshank and a Turnstone on the
lagoon. The pair of Pintail were still
present but sadly the Avocets appeared to have deserted their nest on Island
Eight but the Oystercatcher was still sitting.
Bar-tailed Godwits
Grey Plover
From Lapwing Hide there were
quite a few Common Terns feeding in South Arm Three and we eventually found two
Arctic Terns amongst them.
I left the hide just after the
others and when I caught them up they had seen a Hobby and heard a Cuckoo. We went into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three
but the visit just produced more Common Terns and a single Little Egret. As I reached the end of the path from
Shoveler with Roger we heard a Cuckoo but it appeared to be some distance away.
We called in Redshank Hide on
the way back for lunch hoping that the Ruddy Duck had reappeared. There was still no sign of the Ruddy Duck but
there was a Sedge Warbler singing, which was seen on several occasions doing
its display flight. I then noticed that
the Sand Martins had suddenly got tightly packed together and a few seconds
later a Hobby flashed through, which the others failed to see.
With still no joy with the
Ruddy Duck we went back to the car park for lunch. Malcolm then decided to go to Luffenham
airfield for the Wheatears as he hadn’t seen them during his earlier visit.,
whilst David, Roger and I returned to the northern lagoons.
We had heard the Nightingale
singing near Osprey Hide earlier, which was still singing as we went back. We didn’t waste too much time looking for it
though and moved onto towards Bittern and Plover hides. David and I had got ahead of Roger and after
seeing a Sedge Warbler before reaching the path to Bittern Hide we found the
Nightingale perched on the fence. We
singled to Roger who soon joined us and we then had excellent views of the bird
on several occasions as it perched and sang on the fence.
Nightingale
Nightingale
Nightingale
After visiting Plover Hide and seeing a Common Sandpiper David and Roger had gone back into Redshank Hide to look for the Ruddy Duck and I popped in to let them know I was going back to the centre and they joined me shortly afterwards having seen the Ruddy Duck. Other than a couple of Swift over Brown’s Island and a distant Red Kite over Hambleton there was little else and we called it a day.
Oystercatcher
Common Sandpiper
After visiting Plover Hide and
seeing a Common Sandpiper David and Roger had gone back into Redshank Hide to
look for the Ruddy Duck and I popped in to let them know I was going back to
the centre and they joined me shortly afterwards having seen the Ruddy
Duck. Other than a couple of Swift over
Brown’s Island and a distant Red Kite over Hambleton there was little else and
we called it a day.
We drove back via Eyebrook
Reservoir but the Little Owls were still not visible and other than a single
Red Kite just beyond Cranoe we saw little else.
Shelduck over Lagoon Four
Buzzard over Lagoon Four
Buzzard over Lagoon Four
Brimston
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