When I left home it was grey, overcast and rather miserable but warmer
than of late. I headed for Eyebrook
Reservoir seeing a Western Barn Owl near Stonton Wyville on route but not
surprisingly there was no sign of the Little Owl as I approached the reservoir.
I stopped on the bridge where I found the water level exceptionally high,
but the feeders were empty and there was very little except for a Eurasian
Wigeon and several Mallard and Eurasian Teal.
A Red Kite flew over, which was my first at the site this year and as I
pulled away from the bridge there was a Western Barn Owl hunting over the
meadow. It dropped into the ditch at the
roadside but then flew back over the meadow and continued hunting. I stopped to view the inlet where there were
a few more Mallard and Eurasian Teal and a further stop along the reservoir
produced just Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe.
With Eyebrook Reservoir so quiet I was soon on my way to the Lyndon
Reserve at Rutland Water. As I drove
down the road to the reserve a Eurasian Curlew flew over heading south and on
reaching the car park I found Paul tidying up the mock Western Osprey nest just
outside the centre.
I joined him in the centre as he was turning on the live link to the
Western Osprey nest, indicating that the female had laid her third egg
overnight. When the link was established
the female was sitting but the male then appeared, and the female allowed the
male to take over revealing the three eggs.
After a brief view of the feeders where there were a couple of Eurasian
Tree Sparrow I went down to Teal Hide to view the South Arm.
I could see that the female Western Osprey was now back on the nest and
the male was on the ‘T’ perch but there was very little else. I continued scanning but hadn’t found
anything else when Malcolm arrived. We
then spent quite some time scanning and were about to move on, when Malcolm
thought he had one of the divers towards Hambleton. He found it again when it surfaced and gave
directions when I eventually got on it.
It was one of the Great Northern Divers and proceeded to gradually come
closer but after looking at a third Western Osprey over South Arm One we
couldn’t find it again. As we were about
to leave the hide I noticed the diver and it was now not more than fifty meters
from the hide; how it had got so close without either of us seeing it was a mystery. It continued feeding as it headed off towards
Manton Bay.
When we got back into the centre Paul made us a cup of tea whilst we
watched the feeders. There was a good
number of birds visiting and eventually a Lesser Redpoll appeared, and we eventually
had three but the rather smart Mealy that Malcolm had seen on Sunday didn’t but
we did have as many as six Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
Roger had arrived and had gone to Teal Hide to look for the diver and
when he returned he asked if I had seen Steve’s message. I hadn’t but had heard WhatsApp bleep and
when I looked found that Steve had found a Slavonian Grebe almost in full
summer plumage at the dam.
We decided to go in one car as I have an annual parking permit and after
reaching the car park we walked the short distance onto the dam and found the
Slavonian Grebe was still quite close.
It was well advanced into summer plumage and as we took some photos it
gradually swam further out. There was a
single Red Kite and Common Buzzard to the east of the dam but with little else
we returned to the car and went to Luffenham Airfield.
Adult Slavonian Grebe
Adult Slavonian Grebe
From Lyndon we went to the North Arm and as I drove along the unnamed
road there were two Eurasian Oystercatcher on the shore of the fishponds. There was a Great Spotted Woodpecker on one
of Tim’s feeders and a Common Redshank on the north shore with the two Barnacle
Geese visible in the field. However, the
North Arm was quiet with a single Little Egret being the best. Scanning Burley produced two Western Osprey,
a Red Kite, two Common Buzzard and a Peregrine Falcon.
After some lunch we went into the centre where we found a pair of
Eurasian Oystercatcher and a Curlew and could see six Common Shelduck on the
Wet Meadow and three Common Pochard on the lagoon.
Steve had called to say that there was a Pink-footed Goose and a Western
Yellow Wagtail on Lagoon Four and so we headed off to the northern lagoons
seeing a Common Chiffchaff near Badger Hide before going into Sandpiper Hide on
Lagoon Four.
Malcolm found the Western Yellow Wagtail but there was no sign of the
Pink-footed Goose and on calling Steve, who was still in Dunlin Hide, he hadn’t
seen it for a while and we assumed that it had moved. As we scanned the lagoon we found eight
Common Shelduck, a pair of Northern Pintail, a Common Pochard, five Eurasian
Oystercatcher, two Common Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and three Common Redshank and
there was a Red Kite just to the west of the lagoon.
We eventually gave up on the Pink-footed Goose and went to Lapwing Hide
to view South Arm Three. There was
another birder in the hide when we arrived but he hadn’t seen anything of note,
but I soon found the two Black-necked Grebes, one of which was now in full
summer plumage and shortly afterwards we located the winter plumaged Slavonian
Grebe.
We went into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three were we found a pair of Common
Shelduck and the second-summer Mediterranean Gull, which had now been present
for over a week.
Second-summer Mediterranean Gull
Steve then called to say that there were two Barn Swallows over the
western bank on Lagoon Four and we considered going but Roger then found one
over Lagoon Three. It wasn’t long
afterwards that I noticed a party of Black-headed Gulls coming over from Lagoon
Four and as I looked I picked out an adult winter Little Gull, which then
landed on the water. I alerted Malcolm
and Roger and called Steve but while I was talking to Steve, Malcolm and Roger
had lost it. We soon found it again but it
spent little time on the water and eventually flew off towards the South Arm.
Adult winter Little Gull
Adult winter Little Gull
Adult winter Little Gull
Roger then called it a day, Malcolm went back to Lapwing Hide and I went
back to Sandpiper Hide. Malcolm soon
joined me in Sandpiper Hide as the grebes he was hoping would be closer were
still in the same area and with nothing new on Lagoon Four we made our way back
to the centre.
When we got back to the centre David was there with his wife, Trina. They had been out checking on a walk they
were organising and had called at Rutland Water on their way home. David was trying to find the three grebes in
South Arm Three, and with Malcolm’s help was successful. There was a party of hirundine over the back
of the lagoon, mainly Sand Martin but also a couple of Barn Swallows. As I continued to look through them I was fairly
certain that there was a House Martin. I
alerted David and Malcolm who then both picked it up through their scopes.
David and Trina then departed and it wasn’t long afterwards Malcolm and I
called it a day seeing another Great Spotted Woodpecker from the car park
before we left.
It had been a good day with eighty species recorded with Barn Swallow,
House Martin, Northern Wheatear and Western Yellow Wagtail all being year-ticks
and the Little Gull a county year-tick. My
year-list now stands at 169 and my county year-list at 132.
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