Roger and I went to Stanford
Reservoir first this morning to give the Grasshopper Warbler another go and we
arrived on site around 06:50. Chris Hubbard was in the car park viewing when we
arrived and had found a nice summer-plumaged Black-tailed Godwit at the inlet. There was nothing else of note in the inlet
and so we started to make our way along the Leicestershire side of the
reservoir and found that the ringing group had several mist nets assembled.
It appeared a little quiet as
we walked out and after reaching the first two ringers they indicated that they
hadn’t trapped the Grasshopper Warbler but that it was singing occasionally
just a little further on. We moved
further along the path and I heard the Grasshopper Warbler singing but it
remained elusive and appeared to be in the same area as the other night. Chris had lagged behind with the ringers but
he eventually joined us and some time afterwards he located the bird in the
small patch of brambles and both Roger and I managed to get on it, although it
wasn’t in full view. It did briefly
perch near the top of the brambles when we could see more of the bird but all too
quickly dropped out of sight.
We continued along the path
and dropped down on the shore to view the small islands where we found four
Little Ringed Plovers and there was an Oystercatcher bathing between us and the
dam. We spent quite some time looking
over the reservoir seeing a couple of Common Terns but very little else until
we were about to walk back when Chris found a Green Sandpiper. Whilst we were in the area we had a Mother of
Pearl moth and one of the second pair of ringers had a Purple Hairstreak sat on
the back of his jacket. He was rather
frustrated as he couldn’t see it but the other ringer managed to get it onto a
small stick and he saw it briefly before it flew up into the canopy.
Roger and I then started to
make our way back seeing Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler,
Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler before we reached the car and a couple of
Buzzards on the Northamptonshire side of the reservoir. Chris had caught us up again before we
departed and he had seen the Grasshopper Warbler again and got some nice record
shots of it.
Roger and I then departed for
Eyebrook Reservoir seeing our only Kestrel of the day near Weston by Welland
and then three Red Kites and a Jay as we approached Eyebrook Reservoir.
There was no sign of the
Little Owls this morning and it was quiet near the bridge where we heard just a
Blackcap and Whitethroat. We moved around
the road to view the inlet where we found two Little Ringed Plovers, a Knot, a
nice summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, a Green Sandpiper and four Redshank
amongst the more numerous Lapwings.
There was a Little Egret in the inlet and another further along the
Leicestershire shore and there were at least twelve Common Terns present. Three Buzzards were observed over the
Leicestershire fields and we had a Red Kite between the reservoir and Stoke
Dry.
We set off for Rutland Water
but as we were travelling through Uppingham, Malcolm called to say that there
was a Caspian Tern at Summer Leys in Northamptonshire. After a brief discussion, we decided to go as
they are not an easy bird to get.
We arrived on site just before
mid-day and the news was that it was still there and so we made our way along
the footpath towards the viewing screen from where it was being seen. It was quite a walk to the screen and as we
were approaching it the news wasn’t good as it had just flown off and was being
looked for on one of the lakes to the north.
When we arrived, birders were already giving up as there was no sign and
it had obviously gone further up the valley.
Roger and I also started to
make our way back after a few minutes and called in the Paul Britten Hide where
we had brief views of a Hobby just after we got into the hide and I then saw it
again on the far side of the scrape. The
Wader Scrape was very green and didn’t look at all suitable for waders but we
did find a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and there were a few Lapwing chicks
scattered around. A single Little Egret
was the only other bird of any note and so we made our way back to the car park
for lunch.
We had just about finished our
lunch when another birder announced that the tern was back but when I asked
where it was he didn’t know. Roger and I
decided to drive down the lane and park as it was a shorter walk to the screen
but when we reached the screen there was no sign of the tern. Other birders then arrived indicating it had
been seen in flight but had gone out of sight behind a stand of poplars and was
perhaps on the Cormorant island.
We walked around to the old
railway line footpath to view the island but there was no sign and we returned
to the car and then drove back to the car park.
When we got back to the car park Andy Cooke had just arrived and he
informed us that another Northamptonshire birders had found it on the spit on
the far side of the main lake but it flew off almost immediately. However, it must have been present for a good
thirty minutes and in hindsight if we had gone into either of the two hides
near the car park we would probably have seen it. Disappointed yet again we spent the rest of
the afternoon outside Pioneer Hide hoping it would come back but it hadn’t when
we left at 16:15. When we got home it had been found again but this time at
Clifford Hill gravel pits around 16:30 and then remained there until around
19:20 when it flew off high to the west.
Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper
Red Admiral
Red Admiral
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