I was helping with the WeBS
count today and therefore went straight to Rutland Water and after a chat with
Steve agreed to count South Arm Three and Lagoon One.
Whilst I was getting ready
after parking a couple of Swallows were coming quite close and collecting
nesting material from the roadside allowing me to get one or two shots of them
doing so.
Swallow
Swallow
Swallow
I initially walked towards the
Old Hall to count the area out of sight from the cattle grid. There were a few Mute Swan, two Egyptian
Goose, a few Mallard and Tufted Duck and a single Little Egret.
I then walked west along the
track counting the far side where there were a few Greylag Geese, more Mallard
and Tufted Duck and a single Shoveler. I
had seen a single Common Tern but I then noticed several more towards the bund
around lagoon two. The Arctic Tern Roger
and I had looked for on Saturday had been seen in the arm on Sunday and had
been reported on Lagoon Four yesterday and I was hoping I might see it.
As I scanned the terns I
noticed one was an immature and as it came closer I suspected that it might be
the first-summer Arctic Tern. It
continued to come closer and I managed to get a few shots of it before it
headed out to the centre of the reservoir and I continued counting. I then noticed that it was back towards the
bunds but was heading towards me again and I got some more shots of it as it
passed quite close. Any first-summer
tern is quite unusual and I had seen it well enough to be certain that it was a
first-summer Arctic and my first ever.
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
First-summer Arctic Tern
Tim had asked me to complete
the Wet Meadow and I agreed to call him when I had finished as he hadn’t been
able to contact Nigel, who normally counts the new lagoons.
I checked out the Spotted
Flycatchers and saw both birds including one returning to the nest. There wasn’t a great deal on Lagoon One of
interest and two Shelduck were the best on the Wet Meadow from Snipe Hide,
although I did have brief views of both Sedge and Reed Warbler. I continued onto Harrier Hide and found an
Oystercatcher and a Redshank on the other flash on the Wet Meadow.
I then called Tim and agreed
to complete Lagoons Five and Six, leaving him to complete Lagoons Seven and
Eight. I saw a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap
between Harrier and Tern Hides. Lagoon
six produced a pair of Mute Swan with four young and there were also two
Oystercatchers.
As I approached the 360 Hide a
Kestrel flew over and I had views of a Lesser Whitethroat as I walked down to
Shelduck Hide to count Lagoon Five and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as
I returned and went into the 360 Hide to complete the count.
I had been surprised to see
that the grass on the bunds was being cut, which is probably why there are so
few birds on the lagoon, which was disappointing as it tends to be the best of
the new lagoons. All I had of interest
were four Little Egret and three Oystercatchers and very little else in terms
of numbers. It seems a rather strange
time to be cutting the grass as it is possible birds could still be breeding or
at least their young using the long grass as cover. Two of the commoner butterflies, Meadow Brown
and Ringlet, which have not yet emerged, also tend to use the banks.
I returned to the centre to
hand in my count figures and then spent fifteen minutes in the viewing area
with Steve and Terry, where we had two Osprey and a Hobby, before we went for
lunch.
European Hare on the path adjacent to Lagoon Five
European Hare on the path adjacent to Lagoon Five
Female Black-tailed Skimmer close to Snipe Hide
There had been reports of a
Baird’s Sandpiper at Frampton yesterday and again today and after some lunch
Steve and I decided we should go as there wasn’t too much at Rutland Water.
The Baird’s was being seen
from the sea wall and so we drove to the parking area close to the wall seeing
a Kestrel as we approached the reserve.
After parking Steve spoke to another birder who indicated where the bird
was saying that it was quite elusive and that he wasn’t convinced that it was a
Baird’s.
There were two birders sitting
on a bench overlooking the marsh and they indicated where the bird was being
seen but it wasn’t showing and they left shortly afterwards. As Steve and I continued to scan the area
three of the wardens arrived, including the finder, as recent reports had cast
some doubt on its identity. Steve then
noticed a bird preening behind a tussock, which turned out to be the bird. Over the next thirty minutes or so it showed
intermittently and we also saw it in flight.
It was certainly an unusual bird with the upperparts and the neat
pectoral band being a biscuit colour with an odd darker covert feather. The rest of the underparts were white, with
no noticeable streaking. In flight,
there was a pale wing-bar with the tail showing off-white sides and darker
central area. The bare parts were dark
with the bill looking rather long with a distinct droop towards the tip. The consensus was that it was an aberrant
Dunlin and unfortunately not a Baird’s Sandpiper.
From the sea wall, it was nice
to hear the drumming of two displaying Snipe, which I haven’t heard for some
time and when they weren’t in flight we could hear their chipping calls. We had also seen a couple of Barnacle Geese,
a lone Brent Goose, four Oystercatchers, a Little Ringed Plover and good
numbers of both Avocets and Redshank.
There had been a report of a
Wood Sandpiper to the south of the road and so we walked back along the wall to
view the area. It wasn’t long before
Steve picked the Wood Sandpiper up but unfortunately it was rather
distant. There were also good numbers of
Redshank and a few Avocets and two more Little Ringed Plover.
As we walked back to the car
there was a single Black-tailed Godwit to the left and then Steve found a male
Ruff displaying to the right. Another
car was parked along the road as we started to leave and we then realised that
he was watching something. We stopped
and four Least Weasels kept coming ono the road chasing one another and mock
fighting. I took some photos but another
car came down the road and disturbed them after which they didn’t reappear and
we departed.
Least Weasel
Least Weasel
Least Weasel
Least Weasel
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