A lunchtime visit at Rutland Water, Rutland - Augsut 17, 2017

I was at Rutland Water today to ensure that the lecture marquees for Birdfair were operational.  I had checked the sound and light systems in marquees two and three but wasn’t able to do anything else until the laptops arrived and so I visited the northern lagoons.

I heard a Chiffchaff and two Treecreeper as I walked down to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four and found David in the hide when I arrived.  There was a Little Egret, four Ringed Plovers, four Dunlin, a Ruff, a Common Sandpiper, three Yellow-legged Gulls and forty-three Common Terns on the lagoon.  Scanning Burley Wood I picked up a Red Kite but there was nothing else of note and I moved onto Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.

David had seen a Black Tern earlier and I soon found it feeding over the lagoon along with ten Common Terns.  There were two immature Shelduck resting on the near island along with six Shoveler and good numbers of Gadwall on the lagoon.  To the right of the hide there were five Little Egrets and a Great White Egret and I saw two Buzzards and two Ospreys between the lagoon and Burley Wood.

I went to the Events Marquee and met Chris and Mike and we then went and loaded the lecture slides for the talks in the marquees and ensured that they and the projectors were functioning correctly.

A morning at Bradgate Park & Cropston Reservoir, Leicestershire - August 13, 2017

I was out with my wife and grandchildren today and I had persuaded them to go to Bradgate Park for a picnic, which would then also give me the chance to look for the Pectoral Sandpiper.

After parking in Hallgates car park we walked along the path towards the Deer Barn Tea Room and Visitor’s Centre. I heard a Raven but didn’t see it and when I reached the first viewing hole in the wall surrounding the reservoir and went to look for the Pectoral Sandpiper but there was no sign and we continued along the path to view some deer that were resting in an area adjacent to the path and we then walked back to the team room for a coffee.

As we started to walk back to the car I saw a Black-tailed Godwit feeding at the edge of the water and I walked down to the viewing hole to take another look.  The godwit couldn’t be seen from the hole but I then noticed three female-type Mandarin that were quite possibly juveniles but they walked left and disappeared.  I scanned again and noticed a wader feeding on the mud on the far side of the inlet stream.  I got the bird in the scope and could see it was the Pectoral Sandpiper but the light made it very difficult to get too much detail.  It looked very dark on the upperparts and it was difficult picking up any detail and therefore impossible to age, although it had been reported as both a juvenile and an adult.  Pleased with finding the bird I walked back to the car and then went and found a nice spot for the picnic.

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 15, 2017

It was the monthly WeBS count at Rutland Water and I was assigned my usual areas, South Arm Three and Lagoon One.

I called at Eyebrook Reservoir on route where I found nothing of note at the bridge and so I moved and parked overlooking the inlet.  There were plenty of gulls, including a Yellow-legged Gull, and Lapwings at the inlet but I couldn’t find any waders.  An Osprey passed over and flushed the birds confirming that there wasn’t anything else.

As I scanned the Leicestershire bank I found three a Little Egret, three Black-tailed Godwits and three Green Sandpiper and there were eight Common Terns over the water and with little else I moved onto Rutland Water.

I drove to the Old Hall and after parking began counting South Arm Three where there were plenty of Tufted Ducks and I eventually counted over 2300.  As I went through the flocks of Tufted I found a female-type Scaup and there was also good numbers of Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe.  There were also Mallard, Teal, three Little Egrets and a few Coot.  An Osprey flew over and I heard a Willow Warbler sing briefly and after finishing the count I drove to the Egleton car park.

Lagoon One is never easy to count due to the number of islands and is made even more difficult when the sun is shining, which it was today. The best place is from the viewing gallery in the centre but when it’s sunny it makes it extremely difficult, particularly with many of the ducks now in eclipse plumage.  I felt my best option today was to go to Mallard Hide and then onto Snipe Hide as I was also counting the We Meadow and then finishing the count from Harrier Hide.

I managed to get most of the birds counted from Mallard Hide, also seeing a Marsh Harrier and when I reached Snipe Hide there wasn’t a single bird on view on the Wet Meadow.  I checked the backside of the long island and added a few to the Lagoon One count and then moved onto Harrier Hide.

I added quite a bit to the Lagoon One count form Harrier Hide but only found a single Mallard on the Wet Meadow.  The Lagoon One count had produced good numbers of both Greylag and Canada Geese, along with more Mallard, Tufted Duck and Coot.  There were also smaller numbers of Gadwall and Teal and I found three Shelduck, a Shelduck and a Pochard.  An Osprey was observed on one of the posts on Lagoon One and then in flight as it flew off across the lagoon.

I decided to go to Fieldfare Hide to see if there was anything in the bay, which is difficult to see from the Old Hall but other than a Tufted Duck with six young and a Great White Egret there wasn’t any other wildfowl.

On my way back to the centre I went via Tern Hide on Lagoon Six finding very little and the 360 Hide on Lagoon Five.  There were more birds on Lagoon Five with the highlights being six Little Grebes and a Little Egret.  A second visit to Snipe Hide produced a Greenshank and a Peregrine harassing an Osprey.  As I walked through the woodland I found a couple of Chiffchaff and a Lesser Whitethroat near Mallard Hide.

Once back at the centre I submitted my figures and then went back to the car for lunch.  Mike was in the car park and hadn’t seen a great deal at the northern lagoons and with a Pectoral Sandpiper at Cropston Reservoir I was unsure of if go for it.  However, as it’s a good hour drive to Cropston Reservoir I decided to stay at Rutland Water and after a chat with Steve and Terry I went to the northern Lagoons.

Common Blue on Lagoon Four bund

I initially went to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three where I found three more Shelduck, sixteen Little Egrets, two Great White Egrets and twenty-two Common Terns.  I picked up two distant Ospreys and a Yellow-legged Gull flew over and then a Kingfisher obligingly perched on one of the posts for a while.

Great White Egret, Little Egret and Grey Heron on Lagoon Three

Great White Egret

Great White Egret

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfisher

Despite spending quite some time in Shoveler Hide I didn’t see a great deal else but a Cetti’s Warbler close to the hide was quite vocal but despite seeing reeds moving I didn’t get to see the bird.

I eventually moved on the Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four spending the rest of my time there.

I found ten Dunlin to the right of the hide and seven Ringed Plovers and another Dunlin amongst the rocks between two of the islands.  As I continued to scan there were eight Yellow-legged Gulls amongst the more common Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls. There was also nine Little Egrets scattered around the lagoon and thirteen resting Common Terns.

On my way back to the car park I saw another three Chiffchaff, which took my daily tally to sixteen, although eight had only been heard.

Common Darter on path back to the car park

A visit to Eyebrook Reservoir on the way home that produced two Red-legged Partridge, three Red Kite and an Osprey.

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 14, 2017

A better night last night with 133 trapped and identified covering twenty-seven species with five being new for the year.  One, Mullein Wave was a lifer, with the last reference of a record for VC55 being in a publication ‘Victoria County History’ published in 1907, making it the first record in over 100 years.  You just never know what might be in the trap but clearly this was a significant record for Leicestershire & Rutland.

The following were recorded: Autostichidae species [1]; Blastobasis adustella [9]; Amblyptilia acanthadactyla [1]; Light Brown Apple Moth [7]; Acrobasis advenella [1]; Mother of Pearl [2]; Crambus perlella [1]; Agriphila tristella [15]; Agriphila straminella [13]; Agriphila geniculea [3]; Riband Wave [4]; Mullein Wave [1]; Comon Carpet [3]; Double-striped Pug [1]; Brimstone Moth [4]; Willow Beauty [13]; Straw Dot [3]; Mouse Moth [1]; Marbled Beauty [8]; Pale Mottled Willow [1]; Flounced Rustic [5]; Comon Rustic species [2]; The Nutmeg [1]; Shuttle-shaped Dart [1]; Flame Shoulder [2]; Large Yellow Underwing [23] and Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [7].

Flounced Rustic

Pale Mottled Willow

Mullein Wave

The Nutmeg

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 13, 2017

The trap was out again last night with just forty-six moths trapped and identified covering twenty-one species four of which were new for the year.

The following were recorded: Blastobasis adustella [1]; Amblyptilia acanthadactyla [1]; Light Brown Apple Moth [5]; Agriphila tristella [5]; Agriphila straminella [5]; Agriphila geniculea [1]; Riband Wave [1]; Common Carpet [1]; Brimstone Moth [1]; Dusky Thorn [1]; Willow Beauty [4]; Straw Dot [1]; The Spectacle [1]; Gold Spot [1]; Marbled Beauty [3]; Vine’s Rustic [1]; Common Rustic species [1]; Flame Shoulder [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [7]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [3] and Setaceous Hebrew Character [1].

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla

Agriphila geniculea

Gold Spot

Dusky Thorn

A day in West Norfolk & Cambridgeshire - August 12, 2017

David, Malcolm, Roger and myself were off for a day’s birding in West Norfolk and after Roger took David and I to Malcolm’s, Malcolm drove for the rest of the day.

We saw a Hobby as we were approaching Guyhirn but hadn’t seen a great deal else by the time we reached Titchwell.

We arrived in the car park just before 08:30 and then spent some time in the overflow car park looking for a Turtle Dove, without success, although Malcolm did see a dove fly out of its favoured tree.  Whilst looking for the dove we did have three Blackcaps and a Lesser Whitethroat and a few commoner species.

From the car park, we walked to the west bank and then headed out towards the sea.  We hadn’t seen anything of note when we reached the Freshwater Marsh, where there were plenty of birds.  Most appeared to be Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits but there was also a good number of roosting Oystercatchers and Bar-tailed Godwits and Roger found a Common Sandpiper and I picked up a first-summer Little Gull.  As we moved further along the path we noted three Spoonbills on the Freshwater Marsh and there was a Little Egret on Thornham Marsh and a Grey Plover on Lavender Pool.

It was clear that the tide was coming in as the creeks on Thornham Marsh were quite full and so David and I headed for the beach, leaving Malcolm and Roger observing the marsh.  Volunteer Marsh was also flooded and on reaching the Tidal Marsh we found several more Grey Plover and there was also several Dunlin, Redshank and Turnstone.  There had been a juvenile Purple Sandpiper on the Tidal Marsh yesterday but there was no sign today.

When we reached the beach Malcom and Roger had joined us again but there was very little on the sea.  We did see a dozen Common Scoter, four Gannet, several Great Crested Grebes and a few Sandwich Terns.  When we looked along the shore there were a few Oystercatchers and several Sanderling to the east and good numbers of Sanderling to the west along with a single Dunlin and a Turnstone.

Sanderling and single Dunlin over the tide line

Sanderling over the tide line

We could see David Gurney looking and photographing something further along the beach and eventually we and several other birders walked along the beach to join him.  When we reached we found he was looking at the Purple Sandpiper, which was most obliging, allowing close views and a good photo opportunity.  We spent a good thirty minutes observing the bird before we walked back to the west bank.  As we walked back there were clearly more Sandwich Terns and we spent more time observing the sea but didn’t see anything new.

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

Juvenile Purple Sandpiper

As we walked back there were more birds on the Tidal Marsh but we saw nothing new and when we reached Volunteer Marsh it was still flooded and so we continued onto the Freshwater Marsh.

We viewed the Freshwater Marsh from the northern corner and David found a couple of Knot amongst the Bar-tailed Godwits.  He then started to walk back to the car after which we found two adult and two immature Mediterranean Gulls amongst the roosting Black-headed Gulls and the Little Gull also put in an another appearance.

We eventually got back to the car as David was returning from the overflow car park not having any luck with the Turtle Dove.  He had seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker that then flew over the car whilst we were getting our lunch.

After lunch, we walked out along the Fen Trail to view Patsy’s Pool, where we found the water level quite high.  There were a few birds on the pool, which were mainly Mallard and Coot but as were thinking of leaving David saw a bird drop in but out of sight at the water’s edge.  He thought it was a dove but a Woodpigeon dropped in afterwards and we assumed that what he had seen.  However, the Woodpigeon flew again a few seconds later and was followed by a Turtle Dove and we then also saw a couple of Snipe.

We walked back around the Fen Trail to the West Bank, seeing a couple of Jays, and then went into Island Hide to look out over the Freshwater Marsh.  David saw a Spotted Redshank in flight but it dropped out of sight before Roger and I got onto it.  We were seeing much as we did this morning including the Little Gull and several Mediterranean Gulls and there was also a single Little Ringed Plover.

Malcolm hadn’t come into the hide but had continued along the West Bank and was sitting on a seat scoping the marsh.

Juvenile Spoonbill over the Fen Trail

Malcolm viewing the marsh from the West Bank

Ruff

Dunlin

Adult Spoonbill

Adult Spoonbill

Adult Spoonbill

Avocet

We joined Malcolm and found he had seen two Spotted Redshanks but they had flown off over Thornham Marsh but he hadn’t seen much else.  David then picked up four Bearded Tits on the edge of the reeds but I only managed to see three, although David and I had seen one briefly earlier.  He then found a Spotted Redshank feeding up against the reedbed and Malcolm then found a second.  There were fifteen Golden Plover with some still in summer plumage and seven Spoonbill but we weren’t seeing too much else and decided we would call at Eldernell on the way home.  As we walked back along the path a rather tatty Emperor Dragonfly provided some nice views.

Dunlin

Emperor Dragonfly

We drove back to King’s Lynn via Choseley but didn’t see a great deal and arrived at Eldernell at around 16:30, which gave us about thirty minutes before we needed to head off home.  We didn’t see the hoped for Cranes but did have three Marsh Harriers, two Buzzards, five Kestrel and a Hobby.

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - August 11, 2017

I put the trap out last night, which was the first time since I returned from my Alaskan cruise.  There were sixty-eight moths covering twenty species three of which were new for the year, with one new for the garden.

The following were recorded: Ermine species [1]; Ypsolopha scabrella [1]; Blastobasis adustella [6]; Emmelina monodactyla [1]; Light Brown Apple Moth [6]; Agriphila tristella [3]; Agriphila straminella [12]; Common carpet [1]; Double-striped Pug [1]; Brimstone Moth [5]; Willow Beauty [9]; Straw Dot [1]; The Spectacle [2]; Mouse Moth [2]; Marbled Beauty [3]; Common Rustic species [1]; Shuttle-shaped Dart [1]; Large Yellow Underwing [8]; Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing [2] and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Ypsolopha scabrella

Mouse Moth

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - August 10, 2017

David had gone to look for the Bee-eaters at Ulverscroft and after he had hopefully seen them he would then join Roger and I at Rutland Water, where there had been a White-winged Tern in the North Arm yesterday.

Roger and I headed for Eyebrook Reservoir first seeing a Hobby near Cranoe and a Red Kite at Blaston on route.  There was no sign of the Little Owls in the old oak and a stop at the bridge produced two Chiffchaff, two Willow Warbler and a Treecreeper with a third Willow Warbler being heard.

We moved around to the Rutland side to view the inlet where we found a Little Ringed Plover, a Snipe, a Redshank and a Yellow-legged Gull.  There was a Little Egret and a Grey Heron resting in the willow near the bridge and Roger then found a Common Sandpiper on Leicestershire side.  Scanning the water, we could only find four Common Terns and three Swallows and two House Martins flew over.

We moved onto the north arm at Rutland Water but after receiving a tweet from Tim regarding the number of Little Grebes and Great Crested Grebes in the North Arm with no mention of the tern we assumed it had gone.

We parked at the end of the unnamed road and walked out onto the spit and began scanning the north shore.  I found a sandpiper that was feeding behind the wire fencing which is covered in dead weed and therefore making it difficult to see the bird clearly but when it eventually emerged out into the open we could see that it was a Green Sandpiper.  Four Osprey then performed over Burley Wood where we also found a couple of Buzzards.  Pete Findon then joined us and whilst I was chatting to him Roger found a ringed plover species on the north shore and when we looked there were two and they turned out to be Little Ringed Plovers.  David then arrived having been successful in seeing five of the Bee-eaters and not long afterwards a Hobby flew overhead.  Steve then arrived and we then had an Osprey and two Hobby soaring quite high above us.  I then walked through into the meadow to view the south bay but found just a single Shelduck.

As David, Roger and I got back to the car Tim called to say that the White Winged Tern was on Lagoon Three and then Steve called to say there were two Greenshanks in the south bay.  I made him aware that the White-winged Tern had been located on Lagoon Three and also informed Pete as we were leaving and then called Ken as he was at Eyebrook Reservoir.

When we reached the Egleton car park it was almost full as preparations for the Birdfair was gathering pace and we decided to have an early lunch before walking to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.

When we reached Shoveler Hide we weren’t surprised to find that it was almost full but it didn’t take too long to find the adult summer White-winged Tern, which was feeding between the tern rafts and the reedbed.  It was a cracking bird and it was a pity that it was just too far away to photograph.  Another birder said that the Great White Egret was out again but their directions had us looking totally in the wrong place and we missed it but then David noticed that there was another amongst a party of Little Egrets feeding to the left of the hide.  I never did see the first bird although it did appear again on another couple of occasions.  David then found the Garganey and a Sparrowhawk flew over.  We could hear a Reed Warbler and Roger found it perched out in the open to the right of the hide and I counted forty Common Terns on the lagoon.

Garganey

Little Grebe

We moved to Bittern Hide where we had further views of the White-winged Tern but saw little else and moved to Plover Hide on Lagoon Four.

David picked out a Dunlin amongst a party of Lapwing and Ken then found a Black-tailed Godwit but a Red Kite, Buzzard and an Osprey overhead disturbed them and with nothing else we moved to Sandpiper Hide to get a different view of the lagoon.

Red Kite

Red Kite

Buzzard

Buzzard

There was a Common Sandpiper on the spit in front of the hide and as we scanned the lagoon we found a Little Ringed Plover, seven Ringed Plovers, a Ruff, nine Dunlin, eighteen Black-tailed Godwits; a Curlew and a Redshank.  Ken then found a Little Gull amongst a party of Black-headed Gulls and then David said he thought he had a Mediterranean Gull but his directions just got us onto a Black-headed Gull but eventually we realised the Mediterranean Gull he had seen was sitting down behind the Black-headed Gull and shortly afterwards it flew off to the north.

A visit into Osprey and Grebe Hides on Lagoon Two produced just a single Common Sandpiper and from the centre there was very little on Lagoon One as work had been carried out the islands in preparation for Birdfair.

Ken had seen a Wheatear on the island at Eyebrook Reservoir earlier today and so we decided it would be worth a visit on the way home.  We approached the reservoir from the northern approach road but there was still no sign of the Little Owls.  David was already in the coral overlooking the island when Roger and I arrived and he had found a pair of Red-crested Pochards.  Roger then found the Wheatear on the near shore of the island and three Yellow Wagtails flew over.  I picked up a Red Kite and a Buzzard over the planation and then a Sparrowhawk over the reservoir.  Whilst watching the Sparrowhawk we picked up four Red Kites circling quite high and presumed that they included the one I had seen earlier.

We eventually called it a day and headed off home seeing another Buzzard as we approached Blaston.

An afternoon at Ulverscroft Priory, Leicestershire - August 9, 2017

There had been reports of up to six Bee-eaters at a private site near Poultney Wood at Ulverscroft since the 7^th and yesterday they were seen by a few local birders.  With more details of their location I planned to go to day but had my car in for service and couldn’t go until the afternoon.

They were reported as being seen from a footpath near the priory this morning and Roger had snapped and gone to see them.  I wasn’t too sure of the area and he agreed to comeback this afternoon with me.

After picking up my car I drove to Roger’s and then he drove to the site.  After parking we walked along a footpath to the priory and could then see a small group of birders assembled where Roger had seen them earlier.  When we reached the other birders, they informed us that they had flown off about ten minutes ago having been flushed by a Sparrowhawk.  Hoping they would comeback we stood chatting to the other birders but after about ten minutes there was still no sign and some departed.  A Spotted Flycatcher then appeared, showing quite well but at some distance and three more birders arrived.  A few minutes later one of then indicated that a Bee-eater had flown in and I was soon watching a couple of them.  Eventually all seven of them returned and we spent a good hour scoping them in the top of an ash tree.  They made regular flights from the tree and on most occasions, came back with an insect and I heard them call occasionally.  They are most certainly the same birds that I had attempted to breed and I had seen in June at East Leake, Nottinghamshire.  They had been at East Leake until Friday when all seven were reported as flying off north.  The RSPB had reported that birds had hatched in three nests but the inclement weather recently had probably resulted in the young starving and the adults left the site.

This is only the fourth confirmed record of European Bee-eaters in Leicestershire & Rutland with the others all being of single birds and the last in 1992.  An unidentified Bee-eater was heard in 2002 but was not seen and its identity was not confirmed.

Seven Bee-eaters

Five Bee-eaters

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland - August 8, 2017

The weather today had been awful during the morning with some really heavy rain and it was continuing into the afternoon.  However, I decided to go to Rutland Water during the afternoon to see if the poor weather had resulted in any new arrivals.

When I pulled up in the Egleton car park the rain had eased but as I walked to the centre it started to come down heavy again.  There was very little on Lagoon One other than a good number of roosting Cormorants and I suspect the Birdfair activity was having an effect.

I walked along the Summer Trail to get to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four and it was quite miserable viewing from the hide as the northerly wind was blowing the rain into the hide.  As I started scanning I found a party of waders on the near spit that included a Little Ringed Plover, two Ringed Plovers and eleven Dunlin and there was also a couple of Common Sandpiper.  There were two immature Shelduck and three Pochard to the left of the hide and I counted twenty-three Common Tern that were resting on the lagoon.  In the area were the gulls often congregate there was a good number of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a single Great Black-backed Gull.

It was clear the weather hadn’t dropped any birds in and so I moved to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.  There were six Little Egrets visible and on scanning a few ducks close to the near island I found an immature Shelduck, several Teal and a Shoveler and another bird, which was asleep, I thought was a Garganey.  I continued to watch the possible Garganey and it did raise its head briefly allowing me to confirm its identity.  There was also twenty-six Common Tern around and on the rafts and good numbers of Sand Martin over the water with smaller numbers of House Martin and two Swift.  I was then surprised to see a juvenile Marsh Harrier flying over South Arm Three, which proceeded to fly over the lagoon before dropping into the reedbed.

I went back to Sandpiper Hide where I found a Redshank and three Yellow-legged Gulls and a single Common Gull.

With no sign of anything else of note I went back to the car and drove to the unnamed road to view the North Arm.  I scanned the north shore from the shelter but other than a single immature Shelduck there was little else of note.  With the rain easing I walked out into the field to the right and a Green Sandpiper flushed and there was a second immature Shelduck.  Numerous Sand Martin and smaller numbers of House Martin were over the water and a single Osprey flew over but with little else of note and the weather beginning to close in again I called it a day and headed off home.

A day in Rutland and Lincolnshire - August 5, 2017

I picked David up around 06:30 and we headed to the Egleton car park where we met Malcolm before continuing to Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire.

There had been a good selection of waders at Frampton recently that included Little Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper and we were hoping for more of the same today.

When we arrived, we drove to the parking area near the sea wall as our plan was to walk along the sea wall towards East Hide and then complete the circuit back to the car.  Our only concern was the weather as the forecast was for heavy showers and getting caught on the sea wall would not be pleasant.  However, on arrival it was dry and quite bright with only slight north-west wind.

We scanned the area to the north of the parking area and found a couple of Spotted Redshank and quite a few Ruff, along with good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets.  To the south we found three Ringed Plovers, a Common Sandpiper and three Greenshanks and two Golden Plover and three Snipe flew over.

We eventually reached the sea wall finding two Whimbrel on the saltmarsh and as we started to make our way towards the East Hide the number of Black-tailed Godwits was more evident and I suspect that there must have been well over 500.  We also found another two Spotted Redshanks and there was a good number of Dunlin scattered over the area.  We spent quite some time scanning through the Dunlin but other than three Ringed Plovers we couldn’t find anything else.  David moved further along the bank leaving Malcolm and I still going through the Dunlin.  As we were scanning all the birds suddenly took to flight and we picked up a Peregrine overhead that just appeared to pass over.

Most of the birds started to return but some, particularly some of the Black-tailed Godwits had gone off to the Wash and shortly afterwards the birds around the 360 Hide area took to flight when we picked up two Spoonbills.  We re-joined David who had found a couple of Yellow Wagtails of which we must have had fifteen by the end of the visit.  David had gone on ahead again and when we joined him he pointed out the long staying Whooper Swan, which was with a party of Mute Swan in front of the East Hide and I then picked up a Marsh Harrier over the saltmarsh.

We hadn’t seen a great deal else as we entered East Hide where we found the Whooper Swan and the two Spoonbills.  There was also a party of Ruff and there was a number of Shelduck and Avocets roosting along with even more Black-tailed Godwits and a Greenshank near the Whooper Swan.  David then noticed a party of five or six small waders and suggested there was a summer plumaged Knot with them.  I soon had the birds in the scope and could see they were all Dunlin except for the presumed Knot, which when I had a good look I was sure was a summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper.  Malcolm was now also on the birds and agreed with my identification and when David had another look he also agreed.

We continued walking around the circuit and called in Reedbed Hide but other than masses of Canada Geese there was little else.  When we reached the turning back to the sea wall we scanned the area towards the 360 Hide as this is where the Pectoral Sandpiper had been yesterday along with Common and Wood Sandpipers.  David found a Common Sandpiper and we then had two Little Ringed Plovers but there was no sign of the other two sandpipers, although the Wood Sandpiper was reported later.

When we got back to the parking area there was further disturbance and we picked up three Spoonbills, which then alighted not too far away from us.

Spoonbills

Spoonbills

Spoonbill

Spoonbills

Spoonbills

We drove back to the main car park for lunch where we found other birders watching Turtle Doves in the hedge.  After parking we got the scopes on the birds, seeing three but only one was showing well.  There were plenty of other birds in the hedgerow and we saw a Willow Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Whitethroat, at least ten Tree Sparrows and several Goldfinches.  The Turtle Doves remained on view the whole time we were having lunch but disappeared shortly afterwards.

We decided to walk along the footpath to look for some Green Sandpipers that had been reported earlier.  David and I sat down on the bench overlooking the marsh and although there were several areas of open water there was no sign of any Green Sandpipers.  David then said Malcolm has got something and we walked back down the path and found he had been photographing a Turtle Dove but it flew off as David and I reached him.  He then walked further down the path and found five Green Sandpiper and when we joined him we found a sixth bird.

Male Linnet

We had seen several showers to the south but it had remained dry during the whole of our visit but it was now looking a bit threatening and so we went back to the car after an excellent morning at this supper reserve.

We set off back to Rutland Water and ran into some heavy rain not long after leaving the village of Frampton and it was clear as we made our way back there had been plenty of rain between Frampton and Rutland Water.

We had called Ken who had been to the Birdfair Volunteer’s Meeting earlier to see if he had seen anything.  He was in Sandpiper Hide and had seen Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Curlew and a probable Whimbrel but nothing else.  As we approached the centre Chris Park was coming out and he informed us that there was a Garganey on Lagoon Five and so we set off for the 360 Hide.

When we got to the hide another birder informed us he had a Curlew but hadn’t seen the Garganey.  We scanned the lagoon but there was no sign of the Garganey but I then noticed a bird emerge from behind an island and when I got the scope on it I could see it was the Garganey.  It was a rather nicely marked bird and the facial markings really stood out.  There a was another heavy shower whilst we were in the hide and second Curlew came in and when it landed near the first there was a bit of an altercation between the birds, with one eventually flying off to another island.

As the rain eased we headed for Snipe Hide and found nine Green Sandpipers on the Wet Meadow flash.  Chris picked up an Osprey and we then had a second more distant bird.  We called at Mallard Hide to look for a Great White Egret without success but did have a couple of Hobbies over Brown’s Island before we called it a day.