With David going to the Tigers
today and Roger at a wedding I was out on my own and headed for Eyebrook
Reservoir first. Other than a Little
Egret ay Wistow I hadn’t seen anything else of note as I turned onto
Stockerston Lane. I headed for the
southern approach road to the reservoir seeing well over a hundred Red-legged
Partridge in several groups before I reached the turn to the reservoir and
there were also three Red Kite close together just off the road.
I stopped opposite the gate
allowing access to the fishing lodge and found a few birds feeding in the
oilseed rape field, which turned out to be Chaffinch and there was also several
Blackbirds feeding on berries in the hedge and whilst looking at these I found
a couple of Blackcaps. I sopped again to
view the hedgerow that runs northwest from the reservoir but just found more
Chaffinch and a single Red-legged Partridge.
A stop at the southern coral
overlooking the island produced a single Little Egret and there was a small
number of Cormorants and gulls on the island spit. The gulls were mainly Black-headed Gull but
there was also a single Common, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed
Gulls.
A stop at the track to
Holyoaks Farm just produced more Red-legged Partridges and a few Pheasants and
there was no sign of the Little Owls in the old oak.
As I made my towards the
bridge Mike Snow was walking down the road but he hadn’t seen much and so I
drove further around to view the inlet where Mike joined me. One of the first birds I found was a Common
Sandpiper, which was resting near the edge of the stream. As we scanned the Lapwing we didn’t see
anything other waders, although Mike had seen three Ruff earlier. We scanned the far side and picked up three
Red Kites and there was a forth over Stoke Dry Wood. I noticed some corvids mobbing something on
the Leicestershire side and found they were Jackdaws mobbing a Raven and whilst
watching these a second Raven appeared.
A Sparrowhawk then flew over and flushed the Lapwings and Black-headed
Gulls and as we scanned the Lapwing flock I noticed two smaller birds that I
suspected would be Dunlin, which was confirmed when they landed. Mike then pointed out a Ruff on the near
shore and when the birds flew again I saw three before they dropped out of
sight again. There were quite a few
wildfowl on the water that included three Pintail and nineteen Shoveler and it
was obvious that the number of Wigeon had increased.
We eventually decided to head
to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water and look for Scaup, which had been
reported in last Sunday’s WeBS count.
After parking we checked out the feeders but there wasn’t single bird in
sight and so we set off for Deep Water Hide.
There were plenty of Tufted
Duck visible from the hide but despite scanning through them several times we
had to concede that there were no Scaup amongst them. There were a couple of Little Grebes close to
the hide and a Kingfisher flew by.
Little Grebe
We decided to go to on to
Wader Scrape Hide to check out Manton Bay and as we entered the hide two other
birders were watching and obliging Water Rail and I was able get a few shots
off. Whilst we were watching the Water
Rail a Snipe flew out of the reeds and I surprisingly then heard a Reed Bunting
singing and found it in the reeds to the right.
On scanning Manton Bay, we found a couple of Dunlin and a Green
Sandpiper but a single Pochard was the best amongst the wildfowl. We had seen the Water Rail on several more
occasions but not as close as the first views and a second Snipe flew out of
the reeds. When we got back to the
centre there were birds at the feeders that included at least six Tree Sparrows
and fourteen Greenfinch. There were good
numbers of hirundine between the centre and Manton Bay, which were mainly House
Martins but there were also good numbers of both Sand Martin and Swallow.
Water Rail
Water Rail
Water Rail
We agreed to go to the North
Arm next and I saw a Buzzard just west of the road near Manton Bridge and then
a Jay in flight over the bridge.
It felt quite cold in the
northerly wind in the North Arm and it was also quiet bird wise with no sign of
either the Red-necked or Black-necked Grebes and all we could find of note was
a single Greenshank and two Yellow-legged Gulls. Like the South Arm there were plenty of hirundines
again, which were mainly Sand and House Martins. Whilst watching the martins I
picked up an Osprey over Burley Wood that flew towards us and over the North
Arm heading off towards Lagoon Four on the reserve.
It was now almost 13:00 and so
we went to the Egleton car park for lunch.
Whilst having lunch the sun came out and it was quite pleasant and we
had eight Red Admirals and a Speckled Wood feeding on some ivy and a Chiffchaff
also appeared.
Red Admiral
After lunch Mike and I went
into the centre to view Lagoon one where there appeared to be far fewer birds,
presumably as volunteers had been working on the lagoon for at least part of
the week. We had found a couple of Great
White Egrets when Andy Mackay joined us and shortly afterwards a Kingfisher was
observed for several minutes in front of the centre.
After a heavy shower had
passed we all set off for the northern lagoons but had to take shelter under a
bush as another shower passed through.
As we approached Sandpiper Hide Ricky and Graham were returning from
Shoveler Hide having seen a few waders and a couple of Marsh Harriers.
We went into Sandpiper Hide to
view Lagoon Four and as I looked towards island seven two waders dropped down
on the far end. I got the scope on them
but they were walking away and I suspected that they were Knot but thought they
might turn out to be two of the Ruff that had been on the lagoon recently. However, as they turned I suggested that they
were two Knot but then they walked out of sight. They did reappear when both Andy and Mike saw
them and confirmed that they were two Knot, which had probably just
arrived. Shortly afterwards a juvenile
Marsh Harrier flew over and flushed everything and we didn’t see the Knot
again, although they were seen later.
After the harrier had disappeared we did find ten Ringed Plover, four
Dunlin, two Ruff and two Greenshank and there were six Pintail near island one. Most of the gulls present were Black-headed
but there was also a few Common and Great Black-backed and also five
Yellow-legged Gulls.
Juvenile Greenshank
As we moved towards Lagoon
Three a party of new trust members arrived on an escorted visit and they went
into Shoveler Hide and so we went onto Buzzard Hide. There were plenty of birds on the water,
mainly Gadwall and Tufted Duck but there were also smaller numbers of Teal,
Mallard, Shoveler and Pochard. A
different Marsh Harrier flew over but this time caused little if any
disturbance. With the next shower
approaching Andy suggested we should go to Lapwing Hide before the rain
arrived.
A quick visit into Crake Hide
produced another Kingfisher but with little else and we continued on to Lapwing
Hide. Andy, one of the reserve officers,
was already in the hide and he had just found two Black Terns feeding towards
the green bank and there was a party of duck in the far corner. When I started to scan through the birds one
of the first birds I saw was a female-type Goldeneye, which was presumably the
same bird I had seen on a couple of occasions during August. The rain had now arrived and we were stuck in
the hide for longer than I would have liked.
There were several Little Egrets and a Great White Egret near Fieldfare
Hide and the rain had brought lots of hirundines down low. They were mainly Swallows but there were also
small numbers of Sand and House Martins.
A Great Crested Grebe close to the hide had caught a fish, which looked
a little bit like a Perch but didn’t have any of the expected stripes and we
were unable to identify it. The grebe
managed to swallow the fish and I was able to identify later from the
photographs as a Ruffe, a fish I hadn’t heard of previously.
Great Crested Grebe with Ruffe
Great Crested Grebe with Ruffe
Great Crested Grebe with Ruffe
As the rain eased we set off
back to Shoveler Hide where we found three Dunlin and two Green Sandpipers and
I saw a Kingfisher briefly before Chris Park joined us. He hadn’t been in the hide many minutes when
he cried Bittern. I looked expecting it
to be flying across the lagoon but it was stood in front of the reeds alongside
the bund. I got the scope on it and the
light was showing the beautiful intricacies of its plumage superbly. We watched for about five minutes before it
moved and then disappeared into a hole leading into the reeds.
Green Sandpiper
Dunlin
Shortly afterwards Mike and I
left Andy and Chris as we wanted to get to Eyebrook Reservoir again as there
had been a Little Stint earlier. We
called in Osprey Hide briefly hoping to find the eclipse American Wigeon and
found it amongst the now more numerous Wigeon and there was also sixteen
Pintail and a Great White Egret.
View of Lagoon Two
Greta White Egret
As I approached the turn to
Stoke Dry a Hobby flew across the road and on reaching Eyebrook Reservoir I
parked overlooking the inlet from the Rutland bank. I found six Ruff and a Greenshank but there
was no sign of the Little Stint and so I called it a day and headed off home.
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