A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 8, 2018

Roger and I were out today and headed for Saddington Reservoir first as there had been a Red-breasted Merganser present for at least two days.  When we arrived at the reservoir it was overcast and feeling quite cool in the freshening wind.  I walked up onto the dam and found a single Goosander but within a few seconds six more surfaced and when they saw me they took to flight and landed in the middle of the reservoir.  As I scanned I found the female Red-breasted Merganser a little further out and alerted Roger.  We eventually had eight Goosander but other than two Great Cormorants flying over there was little else and we left for Rutland Water.

We went via Eyebrook Reservoir to check out the old oak for the Little Owl, which wasn’t on view and all we saw was a single Little Egret.

We headed for the North Arm at Rutland Water and found several Fieldfare and Redwing in the field just beyond Egleton village and the forty-four Barnacle Geese were still in the field near the Volunteer Training Centre.  We stopped briefly to view Tim’s feeders but only saw Blue and Great Tits and continued and parked at the end of the unnamed road.

We walked out onto the spit to view the North Arm and it wasn’t long before Roger found the Black-necked Grebe just off Dickinson’s Bay.  There were three more Barnacle Geese on the north shore and a pair of Goosander on the edge of the fishponds.  There was a Common Redshank on the south shore and Roger found two more on the north shore and I found eight Dunlin.  I thought I had heard a Curlew and shortly afterwards two flew in and landed on the north shore.  As we walked back to the car we had a Goldcrest, Eurasian Nuthatch and Eurasian Treecreeper.

Pleased with our success in the North Arm we went to the Old Hall to look for the Red-necked Grebe in South Arm Three.  When we arrived, it felt much colder in the now brisk southwest wind and the water was quite choppy.  We spent a good forty-five minutes looking unsuccessfully for the grebe but did find two male and a female Scaup and two Red Kites were observed over Hambleton.

Our next target was to try and find one of the Great Northern Divers and we went to the end of the Hambleton Peninsula as we felt we would be sheltered from the wind.  After parking we walked down to Barnhill Creek and found a juvenile Great Northern Diver feeding in the creek.  Presumably this bird is the one that appears to have been quite loyal to the area since its arrival, although it hasn’t been reported recently.  We walked further along the track to view the North Arm and then walked along the shore back to the creek but found nothing else of note.

It was now approaching lunchtime and so we went to the Egleton car park where we had lunch and seeing a Kestrel before going to the visitor’s centre.  From the viewing area there were three Common Shelduck, three Pintail, a female Goosander and a Great Egret on the lagoon and twelve Snipe were flushed by the Great Egret when it flew.

The American Wigeon had been reported on Lagoon Five twice recently and so we went to the 360 Hide to look for it.  There were plenty of Eurasian Wigeon on the lagoon but there was no sign of the American Wigeon and the only birds of note were a Common Pochard and a Little Grebe.  As we left the hide there was a Red Kite over Lax Hill and a single Eurasian Oystercatcher feeding on the slope.

A visit to Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow produced three Common Shelduck and further views of the Great Egret and another Eurasian Oystercatcher on Lagoon One but with little else we made our way back to the centre.

When we got back to the centre it started to rain and with a report of three Lesser Redpoll on the feeders we went to observe the feeding station.  There was plenty of activity around the feeders and it wasn't too long before two of the Lesser Redpoll appeared and provided some nice views.

As the rain eased we went to Grebe Hide to check out Lagoon Two as another birder claimed that the American Wigeon had been seen, although we didn’t speak to anyone who had seen it.  As we walked along the tack Lloyd was with two volunteers who were examining the Barn Owl nest box, but it soon became clear that there were no Western Barn Owls in the box and Lloyd then cleaned the box out.  We did see a Red Kite over the large meadow before we reached the turning to Grebe Hide but other than a single red-headed Smew and a male Pintail there was nothing else of note.

We continued onto Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four were we found two drake Smew along with four more red-heads and a male a two female Goosander.  Three more Eurasian Oystercatchers were observed and there was a Curlew on one of the islands.

Our final call was to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three were there was another Curlew feeding to the left of the hide.  On the water we found six Common Shelduck, four Pintail and a Common Pochard, amongst the more numerous commoner species.  As I continued to scan a picked up a female-type Western Marsh Harrier, which then landed in one of the bushes on the edge of the water and shortly afterwards I saw a female towards the far end of the reedbed.  I asked Roger if the harrier was still in the bush, which it was and alerted him that I had another female-type bird.  The second bird flew along the full length of the reedbed and was watched by the first bird but there was no interaction.  The second bird eventually flew over south and the first then flew over the reedbed and disappeared.

We eventually called it a day and after reporting the sighting of two Marsh Harrier set off for home seeing a Common Buzzard perched in a tree as we left the reserve.

On the way home, we had a Red Kite after passing through Tugby and a Kestrel just after passing through Skeffington.