David and I were out for a
day’s local birding and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir. We didn’t see anything of note on route but
we pulled up behind Malcolm to view the old oak but there was no sign of the
Little Owl. We did have a Kestrel fly
over as we searched for the owl and a Red Kite was observed at we moved on
towards the reservoir.
We went along the
Leicestershire side of the reservoir as far as the Holyoaks Farm entrance and
then turned back and parked near the northern coral. The annual shoot hadn’t yet started and our
little excursion to Holyoaks produced over 100 Red-legged Partridge. From the coral there were four Dunlin and
three Ruff on the mud amongst the Lapwing and gulls and there were three
Shelduck close by and a Little Egret on the Rutland shoreline.
We drove around to the Rutland
side where we joined Malcolm who told us that he had found a Stonechat. He gave David and I directions and we then
found a pair, which although distant provided some nice views through the
scope. There was now a Yellow-legged
Gull amongst the gulls, which we hadn’t seen from the Leicestershire side and
Malcolm picked up a Snipe, which was flushed with another by a Kestrel. As we scanned the wildfowl we found a couple
of Pintail and a single Shoveler. A
distant Red Kite was then observed and we heard Golden Plover calling and
picked two up as they circled above the reservoir before joining the Lapwing on
the ground. We moved further along the
road to view the wildfowl but didn’t find anything unusual but did see a
Buzzard on the Leicestershire side and another Red Kite over the Rutland
fields.
We then agreed to meet in the
Lyndon car park and David and I went across country, whilst Malcolm took the
more direct route. We made a couple of
stops on route seeing two Treecreeper in the Lyndon church yard.
When we arrived in the car
park, Malcolm was returning from viewing the feeders and indicated that he was
now going to Luffenham to see if there were any Wheatears on the airfield. David and I went to view the feeders but they
were very quiet with just two Brown Rats in attendance. We did see a single Tree Sparrow in the
hedgerow before we moved down to Teal Hide.
As we scanned Manton Bay and
the South Arm we found three Great White Egrets around Heron Bay along with a
Little Egret. There were masses of Coot
both in Manton Bay and South Arm Two and good numbers of both Tufted Duck and
Great Crested Grebe and there were over a hundred Cormorants on the bunds but
the only other bird of note was a Yellow-legged Gull stood on the bund. As we went back to the car there was more
activity on the feeders and we had five Tree Sparrows as they flew back to the
hedgerow but other than a few Blue Tits and Chaffinches there was nothing else
in attendance.
We had agreed to meet Malcolm
in the North Arm and as we drove up the hill from the reserve a Red Kite flew
over and then we had another as we drove towards Manton and then a Buzzard
alongside the A6003 at Gunthorpe.
When we parked along the
unnamed road in the North Arm, Malcolm hadn’t yet got back from the
airfield. David and I scanned the north
shore of the fishponds and found another Great White Egret along with a Little
Egret close to the bund before going through the gate and heading towards the
point. David found a Greenshank on the
north shore but with little else we moved into the field to view the spit. There as a single Ringed Plover and a Dunlin
on the shore and a party of twenty-six Pochard amongst the more numerous Tufted
Ducks.
David had heard and seen a
Chiffchaff in the hedgerow and I went and looked for it and saw it quite well
as it fed in the hedge. When I returned
Malcom had arrived and we then spent some time looking for the Red-necked Grebe
but only found another Little Egret.
Steve then called to see if I was on site and during our discussion he
said that he and Terry had seen the Red-necked Grebe from the fisherman’s car
park.
With still no sign of the
grebe we went to Fisherman’s car park and after climbing over the gate began to
scan the north arm. It wasn’t long
before Malcolm said I’ve got it and after providing directions we all had good
views through the scope.
Steve had also mentioned that
there was a small number of hirundines in the South Arm and so we went to the
Old Hall hoping to see them. David did
have several briefly above the treeline but once they dropped we were unable to
relocate them, despite moving our position.
During the time looking for the hirundines we did see a Great White
Egret, which was presumably one of the three we saw earlier, three Little
Egrets on Brown’s Island, a Buzzard over Lax Hill and a Red Kite, Sparrowhawk
and two Kestrel over the Lyndon fields.
From the Old Hall we went to
the Egleton car park for lunch, having a Jay fly across Church Road as we
approached the village. After lunch
Malcolm suggested that we go to Lagoon Five as had seen both Whimbrel and
Curlew there on Sunday. We decided to go
into the centre first to see what was in the book and to view Lagoon One.
There were five Curlew-type
birds visible on the long island and we suspected that one might well be the
Whimbrel but it had its head on its back.
Four were Curlew and whilst waiting for the fifth to raise its head I
counted twenty-nine Pintail and found another Great White Egret. The fifth bird did eventually raise its head
and were able to confirm our original suspicions that it was a Whimbrel. A Buzzard was then picked up at the back of
the lagoon and proceeded to then fly over lagoon two and disappear behind the
centre.
A Spotted Flycatcher had been
reported near Grebe Hide on Lagoon Two but a visit to the hide and time spent
looking or it outside the hide proved futile and we moved onto Dunlin Hide on
Lagoon Four.
We had heard that the presumed
second American Wigeon had been a little elusive this morning as it was hiding
in the corner to the left of the hide.
However virtually the first bird I saw as I started to scan towards the
western bund was the American Wigeon feeding along the water’s edge. There was also a Ruff and a Dunlin on the end
of island eight and shortly afterward Malcolm found a Little Stint with a
Dunlin. There were a couple of
Yellow-legged Gulls on the exposed area of mud and a Herring Gull sitting
between them. There was also sixteen
Pintail on the lagoon and David found a Greenshank.
We eventually moved off
towards Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three and had a Grey Wagtail fly over as we
were approaching the gate to the track leading to the hide. There was a single Green Sandpiper on the far
side of the island in front of the hide and four more Pintail were feeding to
the left and a couple of Pochard amongst the Tufted Duck. A trip to Lapwing Hide didn’t produce
anything of note, although a Little Egret was seen on Lagoon Two but we were
unable to find the second American Wigeon.
Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant
A visit to Buzzard Hide on
Lagoon Three produced a Red Kite, two Buzzard and a female-type Marsh Harrier
and David found a female-type Goldeneye amongst a small party of Tufted Ducks.
When we went back into
Shoveler Hide we found Steve and Terry in the hide and not long afterwards
Steve announced he had a Garganey, which promptly disappeared behind and island
before anyone else got on it. It wasn’t
too long before reappeared along with a Teal and we were all able to get good
views of what was a juvenile female.
Steve and Terry had seen three
Little Stints on Lagoon Four and so we went to Sandpiper Hide to try and find
them. David saw three waders in flight
and I saw then drop on one of the islands the gulls were roosting on. When I looked initially I saw a single Dunlin
but then found the Little Stints and got David and Malcolm onto them. David left the hide a few minutes before
Malcolm and me and on looking for the stints I found four Dunlin, which we hadn’t
seen before.
We caught David up near the
ringing area close to the Badger Hide after Malcolm and I had just seen our
first Bullfinch of the day. David then
got Malcolm and I onto a Great Tit, which again, surprisingly, was our first of
the day. Malcolm then found another
Bullfinch and whilst looking for this I found a Chiffchaff and then Malcolm
picked up a Lesser Redpoll, which was our first of the autumn.
We had also seen several
Chaffinch and when we walked a little further some birds flew into the trees on
the opposite side of the small bridge, which David said were Chaffinch. However, as I looked, a bird perched caught
my eye and on raising the binoculars I realised that it was a Spotted
Flycatcher. I got David and Malcolm on
the bird and Malcolm managed to get a nice photo in what was awful light. In David's defence there were also several
Chaffinch, which is what he had seen fly across the path, but fortunately I was
attracted to the Spotted Flycatcher, which turned out to be my first ever
October Spotted Flycatcher in the counties.
We went back into the centre
and David and Malcolm went up to the viewing area whilst I had a chat to the
volunteers. When I joined them in the
viewing area they had found three Little Stints with a couple of Dunlin and
Ringed Plover. I soon found the Dunlin
and Ringed Plover but the Little Stints had disappeared but they soon
reappeared. David also found a single
Snipe on one of the islands towards the back of the lagoon and the Whimbrel six
Curlew were on the same isalnd. As we
continued to look at the group of waders a second Ringed Plover appeared and
there were now five Dunlin and then both David and I though there were four
Little Stints. David went back to the
car leaving Malcolm and I to confirm the number of Little Stints and we
eventually agreed that there were four.
Presumably these waders were
some of those we had seen earlier both in the North Arm and on Lagoon
Four. I called to Steve who was still in
Shoveler Hide to let him know what was on Lagoon One and he said he would text
me when he got into Dunlin Hide if there were any Little Stints still on Lagoon
Four.
After getting back to the car
I had a coffee and changed my boots and David and I set off for home. It wasn’t long before a text arrived from
Steve indicating that there was just a Greenshank on Lagoon Four, confirming
the stints on Lagoon One were at least some of the birds we had seen earlier.
As we approached King’s Norton
a Hobby flashed across the road but higher than the car and David missed it and
a detour to the other side of the village unfortunately failed to find it.
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