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.
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