I was out on my own today and
headed for Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Buzzard just before turning towards the
reservoir but there was no sign of the Little Owls in the old oak.
I stopped at the bridge but it
was quiet with just a single Blackcap singing and a Kestrel being seen to the
east. I drove and parked overlooking the
inlet and found a single Little Ringed Plover amongst the Lapwing and there was
a female Gadwall with a brood of seven in the stream. There were at least seven Common Terns around
the reservoir, six Swift passed through and there was a very distant Buzzard to
the south-west. I also heard Whitethroat
and Sedge Warbler but didn’t see either and eventually moved onto Rutland
Water.
As I drove down the road
towards Lyndon a Least Weasel ran across the road and after parking I went to
Teal Hide to view the south arm. I could
see both young Osprey and the adults in Manton Bay and it doesn't look as if it
won’t be too long before the young are flying.
There were four Common Terns flying around Manton Bay and another seven
scattered around the south arm and there were five Little Egrets visible
between the hide and the Manton Bay bridge.
I checked the feeders on the way back to the car and found a couple of
Tree Sparrows and I saw three Garden Warblers and a Whitethroat close to the
hide.
A visit to Normanton for
Mandarin looked as though it would be unproductive after checking both the
harbour and the area between the harbour and the church. I had walked about 100 meters towards the
church and as I walked back I found the female with three well-grown young
huddled down amongst the rocks and not concerned although I was just a couple
of meters away.
Female Mandarin and three young
A visit to Normanton for
Mandarin looked as though it would be unproductive after checking both the
harbour and the area between the harbour and the church. I had walked about 100 meters towards the
church and as I walked back I found the female with three well-grown young
huddled down amongst the rocks and not concerned although I was just a couple
of meters away.
There was an adult
Yellow-legged Gull perched on one of the buoys and two Common Terns were
feeding in the bay. Steve and Terry
joined me and after a brief chat and seeing an Osprey we walked back to the
cars when Terry picked up a Sparrowhawk flying over before they went onto
Lyndon and I went to the Egerton Reserve.
After parking I went into the
centre to view Lagoon One, where I found a Great White Egret, a Little Egret
and another Yellow-legged Gull. The
number of Tufted Duck on the lagoon had increased significantly and there must
have been several hundred birds present.
I scanned through them but didn’t find anything of note, although many
of the birds were roosting on the islands, making identification difficult but
most were clearly Tufted Ducks.
I eventually left the centre
and went towards the southern lagoons where I intended to complete a circuit
and then go to the northern lagoons this afternoon. I saw a Chiffchaff just before I came out of
the wooded area and along the path towards the hides.
A rather damp Song Thrush devouring a snail
Song Thrush
On reaching Snipe Hide I found
a single Shelduck and a Green Sandpiper on the Wet Meadow flash but saw very
little else and continued onto Harrier Hide.
Mike Chester joined me in the hide but the only bird of note was an
Oystercatcher flying over. I was
thinking of departing when Steve called to say Terry had found a female Ruddy
Duck on Lagoon One but Mike and I were unable to see and went back to Snipe
Hide to get a different view but again got the same result. Ken had called to say he had arrived and went
to the centre to look for the Ruddy.
When Mike and I went up to the viewing area Steve and Terry were still
there and Ken was scoping the Ruddy Duck.
Mike and I soon found the Ruddy Duck diving amongst a party of Canada
Geese and presumably it was the same individual that had been present over last
winter, which I last saw on May 13th.
Small Tortoiseshell
Gatekeeper
As we walked back to the car
park for lunch a Sparrowhawk flew over and a Red Kite was circling the field to
the south.
After lunch Ken and I went to
the northern lagoons, seeing a Great Spotted Woodpecker on route, and on
reaching the far end of the Summer Trail went into Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon
Four. From the hide, we found a single
Shelduck, seven Little Egrets, a Great White Egret, five Oystercatchers, four
Ringed Plovers and three Redshank. There
were a few large gulls on the lagoon, that included two Yellow-legged Gulls and
eleven Common Terns that were roosting on the spit running from Island Ten
Great White Egret being harassed by a Black-headed Gull
Having moved on to Shoveler
Hide on Lagoon Three, where the water is beginning to drop we found an immature
Shelduck and a Little Egret on the far side of the lagoon. Steve and Terry then joined us and Steve
found a Green Sandpiper in the recently cleared area in the reedbed and whilst
viewing this we also found a female Tufted Duck with a brood of four.
Juvenile Little Grebe
Juvenile Great Crested Grebe
Probable young male Pochard on Lagoon Three
Steve and Terry had seen a
pair of Redshank with four young from Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four and so I
walked around to the hide hoping that I would see them. I found the two adults, one with three young
and another with just one. As I watched
them one of the adults became quite agitated and flew around to where one of
the three had been feeding and then flew into the longer grass. It came out of the grass still calling and
still agitated and continued to call for quite some time after which I only
ever saw three juveniles. Whilst in the
hide I found nine Little Ringed Plovers, two more Ringed Plovers, making six in
total, scattered around the lagoon.
I called at Eyebrook Reservoir
again on route home and saw two Shelduck and heard a Little Owl calling.
Small Skipper at Rutland Water
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