I left home this morning in
bright sunny conditions and it turned out to be a very pleasant early autumn
day. I made my way to Eyebrook Reservoir
seeing plenty of Red-legged Partridge along the Stockerston Lane as well as a
Red Kite just to the left of the road and circa forty Swallow over the road.
It was a quarter-to-eight as I
turned onto the southern approach road and I went down the hill and parked near
the entrance gate to the Fishing Lodge.
The famer had cleared the field of the oilseed rape crop and left an
almighty mess by depositing a significant amount of mud on the road, which when
wet would present a risk to other road users.
There were fewer birds in the
area and nothing of note and so I moved on to view the hedgerow running
northwest from the reservoir. There were
more birds in the hedgerow here with a mixed flock of Blue and Long-tailed Tits
and there were a few Blackbirds dropping into the field to feed and small
passerines dropping into the field a little further away turned out to be
Yellowhammers. A stop at the coral to
view the island produced just two Pintail.
I stopped briefly at Holyoaks Farm entrance where there were plenty of
Red-legged Partridge before parking near the northern coral.
I went into the coral to view
the Rutland shore and the inlet and found three Ringed Plover, three Dunlin,
three Ruff, a Snipe and a Greenshank. It
was difficult observing the wildfowl from here due to the light and so I moved
on and checked out the old oak for a Little Owl. As I stopped and opened a window I heard a
Little Owl call and it then called several more times and was clearly in the
tree but I just couldn’t find it and moved onto the Rutland side of the
reservoir.
I parked overlooking the inlet
and found two Buzzards perched in a hedge on the Leicestershire side and there
was a Red Kite soaring just right of Holyoaks Wood. A Little Egret flew over the reservoir and
there were a few Swallows and House Martins feeding high over the fields to the
northwest. A sign of autumn movement was
a couple of Skylarks and four Meadow Pipits, which I haven’t seen here for some
time.
I eventually moved onto the
Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water seeing a Red Kite over Lyndon Road as I
approached the reserve entrance. The
feeders were empty and consequently there wasn’t any birds and I moved along
the path towards Wader Scrape Hide. I
observed three Tree Sparrows as I approached Deep Water Hide but when I got
into Wader Scape Hide there were few birds in Manton Bay. I then noticed that Lloyd was up a ladder inspecting
the Osprey nest and Kayleigh and Dave were in a boat below. I did find a Ruff feeding near Manton Bridge
and a single Little Egret nearby but other than a few Little Grebes and
numerous Coot there was little else on the water. The Water Rail hadn’t appeared during my
visit but I did hear it call just before I left the hide.
I called at Tufted Duck hide
where there were numerous Cormorants on the bund and small number of birds
feeding in the small area in front of the hide, including Gadwall, Teal,
Mallard and Little Grebe and a Kingfisher perched briefly on a post before
flying off and I could see two Little Egrets in Heron Bay.
Juvenile Cormorant
Teal
Steve had called whilst I was
in the hide to see where I was as he and Terry had completed their circuit of
the reservoir and were now in the car park.
They had seen a Black-necked Grebe and Black Tern in the North Arm and a
few Yellow Wagtails during their circuit but nothing else of note. I informed them on the Manton Bay situation
and he and Terry decided to go down to Teal Hide. As I walked back to the centre a Red Kite
drifted over the reserve and I had seen a couple of Comma, a Speckled Wood and
a Common Darter before I reached the centre.
Comma
Comma
Common Darter
I joined Steve and Terry in
Teal Hide and whilst with them had at least thirteen Buzzards between Hambleton
and Manton Bay and two distant Hobbies and a Raven over Burley and there was a
Common Sandpiper near Fieldfare Hide. As
I left the hide a Chiffchaff called and I saw it briefly and at the feeders
there was a Tree Sparrow and couple of Greenfinch feeding on the little
remaining food.
It was now after twelve and so
I went to the Egleton car park and had lunch with Mike Chester. Just as I had finished Steve texted to say
that there was a Little Stint and a Curlew Sandpiper in the North Arm.
Mike and I shot off around to
the North Arm as I was keen to see the two birds as the Curlew Sandpiper was a
county year-tick and the Little Stint was my first local autumn record. When we arrived Steve and Terry were on the
end of the spit and the Little Stint was feeding to their right with fifteen
Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin. The Curlew
Sandpiper had apparently flown off with a party of Dunlin and hadn’t
returned. Steve and Terry then went to
Egleton for their lunch, leaving Mike and I still looking for the Curlew
Sandpiper. There was a Great White Egret
on the far shore and I found the Black Tern amongst a party of gulls resting on
the northern spit and a single Yellow-legged Gull was observed close by. As I scanned through the wildfowl I found a
Pintail and then the Black-necked Grebe.
Having no luck with the Curlew
Sandpiper I went to the Egleton Reserve and Mike called it a day. After a quick word with Steve I went down the
service road to Dunlin Hide hoping that the Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin had
dropped onto Lagoon Four.
There were three other birders
in Dunlin Hide when I arrived and they advised me that the only Dunlin they had
seen were three to the left of the hide.
I checked out the three Dunlin and whilst doing so one of the other
birders indicated that there were more Dunlin in flight but I didn’t get on
them before they disappeared behind one of the islands. A few minutes later I picked them up in
flight and they flew towards the hide but landed behind island seven. When they didn’t appear, I decided to go to
Sandpiper Hide as I thought they would be on visible from there.
When I opened the flap, they
were still there and I counted fourteen birds but when I got the scope on them
I was pretty sure that they were all Dunlin.
They then flew again and landed further away behind island six. Steve and Terry then came into the hide and
informed them there was a flock of Dunlin but that I didn’t think the Curlew
Sandpiper was with them. Steve then picked them up coming from behind island six
and eventually he and Terry agreed they were all Dunlin. There were ten Pintail on the lagoon and four
Little Egrets were dotted around the area.
Other waders on the lagoon included a Ringed Plover, three Ruff and two
Greenshanks and there were four Yellow-legged Gulls resting in the usual
area. Terry then said what’s that
calling, which he thought might be a Kingfisher and he then picked it up to the
left of the hide. He then departed and
shortly afterwards there was considerable disturbance and I picked up a bird of
prey gliding along the back of the lagoon.
It looked quite large and I assumed it would probably be one of the
Marsh Harriers but when it started active flight it was clearly a falcon. It looked rather large and long-winged for a
Peregrine but it then turned and flew off to the northwest and neither Steve
nor I were certain of its identity.
Steve then left and followed shortly afterwards and headed for Lapwing
Hide. Terry was coming back from Lapwing
Hide and hadn’t seen very much but I continued but except for a distant Common
Sandpiper I got the same result.
Migrant Hawker near Lapwing Hide
As I walked back along the
track a Hobby flew over and on entering Buzzard Hide another birder was scoping
a perched falcon he though was a Peregrine.
When I got my scope on it I was sure it was a Hobby and after some
discussion he agreed. On scanning the
birds on the lagoon, I found three Pintail and a single Pochard. The two Marsh Harriers were then observed
above the reedbed with one eventually flushing the Hobby before I moved to
Shoveler Hide.
There were four Green
Sandpipers to the left of the hide along with a Greenshank, which was
presumably one of the two birds observed on Lagoon Four. Another birder then pointed out a Garganey on
the island that was roosting and then Steve called to say that Norman had
called him and that the Curlew Sandpiper was back in the North Arm.
I therefore left Shoveler Hide
and headed back to the car seeing a Jay in flight before reaching the car. I drove around to the unnamed road and saw
another Jay as I drove down to the gate.
I found that Norman was still there and scanning the north shore and he
advised me that the Curlew Sandpiper had flown there with some Ringed Plover
and Dunlin. I located the party of
birds, which were well spread out but could only see Ringed Plover and
Dunlin. Norman then indicated that there
some waders along the shore to the right of the spit. These were much closer and it were easier identify
and I soon picked out the Little Stint but the Curlew Sandpiper wasn’t
there. They then flew off and appeared
to go quite high but might have gone to Lagoon Four. When we searched the far shore, those birds
had also disappeared and so I called Steve hoping he might be on Lagoon Four
but he wasn’t. He was on lagoon two and
informed me that there was a Bar-tailed Godwit around and that the American
Wigeon was still there. As I was talking
to him I noticed that there were some waders back on the shore just right of
spit and finished the call. The birds
flew as Norman and I started to go through them and we were both thought one of
the birds showed a white rump. Fortunately,
they dropped back down again and we found the juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and
Little Stint were both there along with nineteen Ringed Plover, six Dunlin and
a Ruff.
It had been a good day and
nice to finish with a county year-tick and what is at present the only county
Curlew Sandpiper of the autumn.
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