A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - November 4, 2017

I was out on my own today as David was in Norfolk, Roger was heading for Panama and Malcolm decided that it wasn’t worth going out because of the weather.  When I left home it was raining, which became heavier as I reached Eyebrook Reservoir.  I hadn’t seen very much on route, although a Red Kite was a surprise as I dropped down the hill towards the reservoir.

I parked at the bridge briefly but soon moved to the gateway to view the inlet; it was still raining heavily, although I could view the inlet through the bins.  There was c.250 Golden Plover and I could also make out several Dunlin and a Ruff and ten Snipe flew into the stream area.  The rain eventually stopped and I was able to scope the area and found twelve Dunlin and three Ruff.  There was a single Shelduck, a drake Pintail and twenty Shoveler amongst the more common Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal and Mallard and there was also a few Tufted Duck.

I moved onto the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water and had a single Redwing fly over as I got out of the car and on hearing Whooper Swans calling saw twenty flying low over the water heading east.  I initially viewed the feeders but there were just Blue and Great Tits and a single Dunnock.  Just before I set off for Wader Scape Hide a Sparrowhawk flew over being harassed by a Carrion Crow.  It was very quiet as I walked to the hide with very little being seen or heard.

As I entered the hide I could see what I thought might be a Great White Egret on the far side and on opening the flaps I could see that there was not just one but three Great White Egrets.  As I scanned around the area I eventually had six Great White Egrets in Manton Bay and two more in Heron Bay and there was also nine Little Egrets.  As I scanned the shoreline I found three Dunlin but couldn’t see any more waders but a Sparrowhawk then caused some disturbance and there were seven Dunlin flying amongst the Lapwings.  When the birds settled again I caught sight of a Green Sandpiper in flight and then saw it on the ground before it walked out of sight.  I then noticed a Curlew type bird and when I got the scope on it realised that it was a Whimbrel and it looks as though this bird might over winter for a second year, although there is some doubt about its origin.  I counted twenty-four Pintail in the bay and found a single drake Goldeneye in South Arm Two.

I called in Deep Water Hide on the way back to the centre and found two more Great White Egrets and a Little Egret feeding at the base of Lax Hill but when I got back to the centre there were even fewer birds on the feeders.

As I reached the main road from the Lyndon Reserve ten Redwing flew over and six Egyptian Geese flew over the road as I approached the unnamed road in the North Arm.

I had my lunch whilst scanning the fishponds and part of the North Arm and found yet another Great White Egret feeding on the north shore and there were six more Little Egrets in the fishponds.  After finishing my lunch, I walked out to the spit where I counted fifty-nine Pintail and eighty-three Pochard and there were also good numbers of Wigeon and Tufted Duck with smaller numbers of Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and Shoveler.  I then found three more Little Egrets on the bund, another on the south shore and a fifth in Dickinson’s Bay and there was yet another Great White Egret feeding along the southern shore.  This took my daily count to twelve and with fourteen being reported earlier in the week it is quite a remarkable increase.

From the North Arm I drove to the Egleton Reserve and then walked to the centre spending a few minutes observing the feeders where there was a Marsh Tit before going in to view Lagoon One.  There were six Shelduck and seven Pintail on the lagoon and a Sparrowhawk flew over, which was my third sighting of the day.  There were a few Shoveler and Cormorants roosting on the lagoon but otherwise it was quiet and moved onto the northern lagoons.

As I walked along the path it was very quiet with very few passerines in evidence and a visit into Osprey Hide failed to produce the American Wigeon or the reported Red-crested Pochards.  As I went through the gate I met Ricky and Graham but other than a Marsh Harrier, Water Rail and circa eight Golden Plover they hadn’t seen much else and after a chat I continued onto Lapwing Hide.

There was a party of Wigeon feeding in front of the hide and another birder found the American Wigeon amongst the flock.  It was quite distant but I did take a few record shots as it is now fully moulted.

American and Eurasian Wigeon

There were also three drakes and a female Red-crested Pochard towards Brown’s Island and twelve Goldeneye towards the Old Hall.

A visit into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three to look for a drake Scaup produced very little, a single Pintail being the best and I soon moved onto Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four.

When I opened the flaps in the hide there appeared to be very little on the lagoon, certainly close to the hide.  As I scanned there were quite a few gulls in the pre-roost assembly that contained all five commoner gulls, but I couldn’t find anything unusual.  There was a mixed flock of Golden Plover and Lapwing on island one that contained at least fifty Golden Plover but other than three Little Egrets in front of the hide that was basically it.

I called in Redshank Hide on Lagoon Two on the way back to the car park and was rewarded with a single Water Rail.  With the centre now closing at 16:00 I viewed Lagoon One from one of the gates and found that there were now eight Shelduck on the lagoon.  I then picked up a Barn Owl towards Harrier Hide but it was only on view briefly before it disappeared behind a bush and didn’t reappear.  Whilst at the gate I heard my only Cetti’s Warbler of the day and four Redwing flew over.

Despite the weather it hadn’t been too bad a day with seventy-two species recorded but it was disappointing to see so few passerines both in terms of numbers and species.