A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - February 20, 2018

It was overcast with some intermittent rain when I left home and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir and was still raining a little as I turned along the northern approach road.  I had seen a Red Kite and a Common Buzzard from Blaston on route but otherwise it was quiet.

There was no sign of the Little Owl in the old oak and there was a Stock Dove sitting almost on the edge of hole, which made me wonder if the owls are still in residence.  There was very little around the feeding station at the bridge and the water level is now quite high, which meant that other than a few Northern Lapwing and gulls there was also nothing unusual at the inlet.  The best was a single Common Buzzard over the Leicestershire fields and with very little else and I was soon on my way to the North Arm at Rutland Water.

I stopped to view the geese in the field from Church Lane and found the forty-four Barnacle Geese and eight Egyptian Geese, but no Greater White-fronted Geese and they have now almost certainly moved on.  I stopped briefly to view Tim’s feeders where the best was a Coal Tit before parking at the far end of the unnamed road.

There was a single Barnacle Goose and a Common Redshank along the north shore and I found the Black-necked Grebe towards Dickinson’s Bay.  On the southern shore there were two more Egyptian Geese, a Common Shelduck and another Common Redshank.

From the North Arm I went to the Visitor's Centre at Egleton and after a brief chat with Stephen set off for Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow.  Two more Egyptian Geese flew over as I approached the hide but there were fewer birds than on Sunday with just eight Common Shelduck, eight Northern Shoveler and five Common Pochard of interest and there was a Red Kite to the north and a Common Buzzard sitting on the old kestrel nest box and I could see a couple of Eurasian Oystercatcher on Lagoon One.

With little else I walked to Harrier Hide where I found another couple of Common Shelduck and more Northern Shoveler but a scan off Lagoon One produced nothing new and I moved onto Pintail Hide on Lagoon Six.

There were two male and three female Goosander on Lagoon Six as well as two more Eurasian Oystercatcher but two and then the other three Goosanders flew off.

Male and female Goosander

Male and two female Goosanders

Female Goosander flying off

A scan of Lagoon Eight produced nothing and from the 360 Hide on Lagoon Five I found yet another pair of Eurasian Oystercatcher, a Common Redshank and two Common Pochard.  I went down to Shelduck Hide to get a different view of the lagoon but found nothing new on either Lagoon Six or Seven.

Drake Gadwall on Lagoon Five

Eurasian Wigeon on Lagoon Five

European Robin

A further visit to Snipe Hide produced four Eurasian Bullfinch as I approached the hide but nothing else.

A visit to Mallard Hide on Lagoon One produced a Eurasian Curlew feeding in the grass at the edge of the lagoon but with little else I moved back to the centre.

A brief stop at the feeding station produced a Marsh Tit, two Lesser Redpoll and a Reed Bunting along with good numbers of Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch and European Goldfinch.

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

I went into the centre and joined Steve and Terry in the viewing area and saw a drake Northern Pintail and another Eurasian Curlew on Lagoon Two and Terry found a European Stonechat near Mallard Hide.  A Eurasian Sparrowhawk flew over just after Gerry joined us and after a quick look at the feeders we went back to the cars for lunch.

Several small parties of Redwing flew over whilst we were having our lunch and when I had finished I set off for the northern lagoons.  I headed for Grebe Hide first but hadn't seen anything of note as I entered the hide.  There were eight Common Pochard and yet another Eurasian Oystercatcher but there was still no sign of the American Wigeon and it looks as though it might have departed.

When I arrived at sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four there was a small group of birders there, but I settled down to the right and began scanning the lagoon.  There was a male and two female Goosander and I suspected that they were possibly the same birds I had seen earlier on Lagoon Six, particularly when I found another male and female.  A red-headed Smew then swan in front of the hide and I found five Eurasian Oystercatcher scattered around the lagoon.  One of the birders then began talking about a possible rare grebe but when I scanned the far side of the lagoon I found two male and six red-headed Smew and he then indicated that he had been watching a red-head.  Two more red-heads appeared and began swimming towards the distant group of Smew and I suspect that I had seen two males and nine red-heads.  Another of the group indicated that there were some waders on one of the islands that turned out to be ten Dunlin, but they then flew low over the lagoon and I lost them and couldn’t find them again.  A Little Egret feeding along the western bank was my only sighting of the day and there are clearly far fewer on site now with no sightings of any Great White Egrets today.

Feeling I had exhausted Lagoon Four I moved to Shoveler Hide where I found Mike, Steve and Terry, who hadn’t seen too much but did point out a couple of Northern Pintail and I then found a third.  There was also five Common Shelduck and nine Common Pochard, but the number of dabbling duck was far fewer than of late and possibly due to the high water levels.  Mike and Terry called it a day and Steve went to Plover Hide on Lagoon Four, whilst I went to look at the new Lapwing Hide.

The hide isn’t quite finished yet but is open and is quite like the older one but perhaps a little smaller.  There were quite a few Common Goldeneye on the main water and I found a single immature/female Greater Scaup before I went back to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four, where I didn’t find anything new.

I decided that I wold go to the Lyndon Reserve in the hope of finding a Great Northern Diver seen by Steve and Terry earlier.  After parking in the car park, I went a viewed the feeders where there was quite a bit of activity, which was mainly Eurasian Blue Tits but also included Great Tit, European Robin, Dunnock, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch and Reed Bunting and also a couple of Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

When I got down to Teal Hide the floor in the left-hand corner was soaked, which was being caused by the waves hitting the side of the hide and the water then splashing up and coming through the flaps.  I looked towards Manton Bay initially and saw very little before looking out towards Lax Hill.  There were a few Great Cormorant along the shore and a party of gulls resting near Goldeneye Hide and as I scanned further along the shore I found the Great Northern Diver slightly to the left of the hide and about mid-water.  I then found it again a few minutes later when it had moved further east and was almost invisible at times with just the head showing above the waves.

It perhaps hadn’t been one of my best days, but I had recorded seventy-six species in what were quite windy conditions towards the end of the day.