Roger and I were out locally
today and decided to visit the northwest of the county in the hope of catching
up with Grasshopper Warbler and Tree Pipit.
We started at Charnwood Lodge
as the group doing a bird race had seen both our targets species there on
Saturday. Tree Pipit didn’t cause a
problem as we saw at least three but the Grasshopper Warbler, if it was still
present, was elusive. Whilst we were
looking for the Grasshopper Warbler we saw a Cuckoo and heard both male and
female calling. We also heard a Great
Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, seven Willow Warbler, a Blackcap and a
Whitethroat and I saw a Green Woodpecker and a Whitethroat. Roger had seen a pair of Mandarin in flight,
which I had missed, but when we reached the car I saw the same or another pair
in flight.
Our next target bird was
Willow Tit at Kelham Bridge, where Grasshopper Warbler had also been
reported. When we arrived on site we
walked to the first hide where there is a feeding station that Willow Tits
visit. When we reached the hide there
was a Great Tit on the feeders and within a few minutes a Willow Tit appeared
but didn’t stay very long but after a short wait it or another was back.
Dunnock
Willow Tit
Willow Tit
Having seen a Willow Tit, we
moved to the second hide where we found a couple of Little Grebes and there
were at least ten Sand Martins visiting the artificial nesting bank. We saw three Reed Warblers with at least
another four being heard and had seen or heard at least seven Whitethroats
whilst on site and we also heard a Cetti’s Warbler; Chiffchaff, a Willow
Warbler, a Blackcap and three Sedge Warblers but there was no sign of any
Grasshopper Warblers.
From Kelham Bridge we were to
visit a site where the bird race team had seen Corn Bunting, which is now quite
a difficult bird to get locally. The
area just outside Measham on the Tamworth Road but it wasn’t easy to park and
there was a constant stream of traffic and despite spending a good thirty
minutes on site we couldn’t locate any Corn Buntings and the best was a Lesser
Whitethroat, we heard but didn’t see.
We eventually gave up on the
Corn Bunting and headed for Swithland Reservoir where we were hoping to see a
drake Scaup that had been present until at least Saturday. We went straight to the northern section of
the reservoir and on scanning the water we found a Little Egret, two Little
Ringed Plovers and four Common Terns but there was no sign of the Scaup. Whilst were having our lunch we also saw a
Jay and heard a Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap.
A quick visit to Swithland
Wood produced very little with the best being two Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a
Goldcrest and a Coal Tit.
Our final planned destination
was to be Cossington Meadows where the long staying Glossy Ibis was still being
reported as were two Grasshopper Warblers.
When we arrived, we met Dave Grey and after a chat Roger and I went to
Rectory Marsh to see if we could find the ibis, whilst Dave went to few the
pools close to the river.
As we approached Rector Marsh
we could see a Little Egret on the far side that flew off as we continued down
the footpath but there was no sign of the ibis.
We continued around the footpath and eventually came out at the far end
of the main path. We had seen a Great
Spotted Woodpecker and heard a Blackcap but otherwise it was quiet.
We followed the footpath
towards Tern Pool and viewed Middle Marsh where the Glossy Ibis had been
reported a few days ago. We couldn’t
find it and so moved onto Upper Marsh, which is where the ibis was originally
found least year. Dave Grey joined us
and we spent some time scanning the area without success or seeing anything
else of note, although Dave had a Kingfisher that Roger and I missed. Another birder then approached and after
asking what we had seen, said he had seen the Glossy Ibis on Middle Marsh. We walked the short distance to view the
marsh but an initial scan produced nothing but the birder who had made us aware
then said it’s still there. He got Roger
onto it when all he could see was the back of the bird but it eventually came
out into the open to give some nice views.
Whilst we were watching the ibis Roger said there a wader there and when
we looked all we could find was a couple of Little Ringed Plovers. Roger was surprised and said he didn’t think
it was a Little Ringed Plover he had seen. A few minutes later after we had
accepted that it must have been a Little Ringed Plover, Dave said there’s a
Wood Sandpiper here. When I first looked,
I couldn't find it as it was feeding amongst some vegetation and at times it
was necessary to look through the nearer vegetation to see it. It must have been the bird that Roger had
seen just a few minutes earlier and after watching it for a while it was easy
to see how it had disappeared after Roger’s initial sighting.
Glossy Ibis now looking very smart in its summer attire
We waked back with Dave who showed
us where the Grasshopper Warblers had been singing but there was no sign today but
we decided to go to Wanlip where he had seen one on Saturday.
After parking we walked the
short distance to where Dave had seen and heard the Grasshopper Warbler on
Saturday but it was no surprise when there was no sign and we called it a day.
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