I headed for Eyebrook
Reservoir seeing a Kestrel just after passing by Wistow Pool but other than a
few Red-legged Partridge hadn’t seen a great deal else before reaching the
reservoir.
I parked near the gate to the
fishing lodge where I found thirty-three Red-legged Partridge in the field but
with little else I moved onto the island coral.
I scanned the western shore I found a pair of Pintail and quite a few
Pochard amongst the other wildfowl but there was no sign of the Ferruginous
Duck.
I next stopped on near the
fencing on the other side of the island and where I found a drake Pintail and a
few more Pochard but still no Ferruginous Duck.
I scanned the far shore and found a large concentration of Pochard but
due to them diving and the swell on the water it wasn’t easy and if the
Ferruginous was with them I didn’t see it and moved onto the northern coral.
There were seventeen Dunlin
and 460+ Golden Plover on the mud and there was a Little Egret on the far
shore. There were plenty of Teal and
Lapwing around the stream, along with three Grey Heron and there was quite a
few Black-headed and Common Gulls on the water.
Looking south along the reservoir there were plenty of birds on the
water between the coral and Holyoke's and on scanning through them I found
plenty of Wigeon and Coot, with smaller numbers of Gadwall, Mallard and
Shoveler. As I looked across the far
side I picked up two Red Kites over the fields and a Buzzard perched in a tree.
I was going to drive around to
the Rutland side but a message from Steve indicated that there was a Curlew
Sandpiper with a party of Dunlin in the North Arm at Rutland Water and so I
decided to go there.
As I drove down the unnamed
road I scanned Tim’s feeders and found a Great Spotted Woodpecker was on the
feeders with a few Blue and Great Tits.
After parking at the far end, I walked out to the spit to few the north
shore. The two Barnacle Geese were on
the north shore and I counted seventeen Pintail amongst the more numerous
Wigeon, Teal and Mallard but there was no sign of any waders. I walked a little further to view the
southern bay where I found five Great White Egrets and counted another
sixty-five Pintail. There was a large
number of birds in this section that also included Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal,
Mallard, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye but there was still no sign
of any waders. Two Grey Wagtail then
flew over, but I lost then when they dropped below the treeline. I called Steve to see where he had actually
seen the Curlew Sandpiper and he indicated that it was on the north shore with
about forty Dunlin, but they had flown onto the spit briefly before going back
to the north shore. He also said he and
Terry had seen a Common Scoter and Caspian Gull from Whitwell and that the
three Red-breasted Mergansers were in the southern corner of the dam. I scanned the north shore another couple of
times but with still no sign I called it a day and went to Whitwell.
As I arrived at Whitwell Steve
and Terry were just leaving, indicating that the Caspian Gull had flown off and
they couldn’t find the Common Scoter off the peninsular but that the mergansers
were still visible.
I walked out to the western
entrance to the creek and scoped the southern corner of the dam but couldn’t
find the mergansers and on scanning for the scoter had no joy with that
either. It was turning out to be a bit
of a disastrous day and my only consolation was three Little Egrets and a
Redshank in the creek.
I toyed with the idea of going
to Sykes Lane car park and viewing the dam from there but decided to go to the southern
end and view the dam. I parked off the
road and scanned the dam but there was still no sign of the merganser and I
found out later that they had apparently flown off to the south shore. As I continued scanning with bins I picked a
bird up mid-water that dived and I considered diver or Cormorant, expecting the
latter. I got the scope on the area and
when it hadn’t resurfaced quickly I began to favour diver. I picked it up again but it dived almost
immediately but then next time I got on it long enough to identify it as one of
the Great Northern Divers that are now present.
A quick call at Normanton
didn’t produce anything and I moved onto the Lyndon Reserve. I walked down to the Teal Hide, seeing a
single Tree Sparrow and Coal Tit at the feeders, and joined Steve and Terry in
the hide. Steve had seen five Great
White Egret, but I could only find four and he then found a couple of
Black-tailed Godwits near Goldeneye Hide.
There was also fifty-six Dunlin but after seeing them in flight on
several occasions both Terry and I were satisfied that none were showing a
white rump and therefore the Curlew Sandpiper wasn’t with them. There was a single Redshank feeding along the
shoreline and I counted another twenty-five Pintail. Steve then located four female Goosander and
Terry then found a male close by. There
was a party of Linnet I had seen in flight several times and whilst trying to
get Terry and Steve onto them I saw a Sparrowhawk flash through where I thought
they had landed and I didn’t see them again.
Steve then said I think I might have the Red-necked Grebe and increasing
his magnification confirmed it and both Terry and I were able to get on it, although
it was quite some distance away. I could
see a group of Red-crested Pochard on the far side and thought that there was
at least thirty.
With nothing new being found
for a while I went back to the car for lunch and whilst doing so had two Great
Spotted Woodpeckers and a few winter thrushes.
Steve and Terry headed off for the Egleton Reserve whilst I decided to
walk to Wader Scrape Hide to view Manton Bay.
When I reached the hide, there
didn’t appear to be some many birds as of late, but I did find three Curlew and
the Whimbrel was feeding between myself and Shallow Water Hide and there was a
single Redshank on the near shore. On
the far shore there was a Great White Egret, which was presumably Steve’s fifth
bird but other than a few Little Egrets there wasn’t much else, and I made my way
back to the centre.
As I approached the centre
there was a Tree Sparrow perched in the hedge and on continuing along the path
three flew off to the south.
Disappointed that I hadn’t
seen the Curlew Sandpiper earlier I decided to go back to the North Arm and
give it another go. As I walked towards
the spit I picked up two Redshank that then landed on the spit and began feeding. I had scanned both the north and south shores
several times without finding any more waders when suddenly I picked up a party
of Dunlin in flight with some Lapwing.
They landed on the far side, but I could see them and scanned through
them but the distance and the fact they were feeding amongst the Lapwing and
some gulls didn’t make it easy. They
flew several times and on one occasion I thought I saw a white rump, but I
wasn’t certain and after several more scans through the birds was beginning to
think that the Curlew Sandpiper might not be there and even if it was I wasn’t
going to see it. When suddenly a single
bird flew, and I was pretty sure it displayed a white rump and it landed away
from the main flock and I was able to see it was indeed the Curlew
Sandpiper. It is funny how your luck can
suddenly change, and it was worth the effort as I had only seen three Curlew
Sandpiper in November previously and this was the latest by some sixteen days.
I went to the Egleton Reserve
to finish of the day and walked towards the northern lagoons seeing a Marsh Tit
near the badger hide and c.1000 Golden Plover in flight over Lagoon Four as I
walked along the path. I met Terry as I
approached Shoveler Hide and whilst chatting a party of Linnets flew over and I
then continued onto Crake Hide. There
was a single Little Egret in the water and it wasn’t long before I had seen
three Water Rails and then continued to Lapwing Hide. There wasn’t so many birds close to the hide
today and apparently the American Wigeon had gone back onto Lagoon Two. I scanned through the birds and noticed a
concentration of Goldeneye and on counting them found there were 115 and
presumably they were likely to roost in the area. A scan of Lagoon Two from the hide and then
from Smew Hide failed to produce the American Wigeon and I moved to Shoveler
Hide.
I found Steve in the hide who
hadn’t seen a great deal but indicated that a Marsh Harrier had been
performing, which I did see before starting to make my way back to the
car. There was a guy mothing near the
gate and after a brief chat about what he might catch, I continued back to the
car.
As I approached the gates that
overlook Lagoon One I felt a few spots of rain and with it now being almost
dark I went straight back to the car and thankfully I did as it started to rain
quite heavy before I set off for home.
Despite missing several good
birds earlier today the day gradually improved with the Curlew Sandpiper being
the icing on the cake, making it a good end to the day.
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