A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - April 7, 2018

It was overcast as I left home and headed for Eyebrook Reservoir and as I went past Wistow Pool there were three Little Egrets roosting in a tree and I saw a Common Kestrel just after passing through Tur Langton.  I didn’t see too much else before I turned onto the northern approach road to the reservoir, with a Eurasian Bullfinch being the best.

As I parked at the bridge there was a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the tree near the feeders, but a single Eurasian Tree Sparrow was the only other bird of note.  The water level had fallen since my last visit but was still very high and consequently there wasn’t a great deal at the inlet.  A Barn Swallow up high was my first here this year and as I drove along the Rutland side I found a Common Kestrel and two more Barn Swallows and a House Martin.

David had called to say that he had seen a Common Kingfisher in the North Arm at Rutland Water but not a lot else.  I didn’t expect to see the Common Kingfisher but went to the unnamed road in the North Arm.  As I moved down the road there were two Eurasian Oystercatcher on the shore of the fishponds and a Eurasian Jay flushed from the side of the road.  There were just Eurasian Blue and Great Tits visiting Tim’s feeders and as I moved down the road Tim appeared, and I stopped and had a chat.  I told him about David’s Common Kingfisher sighting and he indicated that it was probably the first at the reservoir this year.  I stopped briefly at the far end where I heard both Common Chiffchaff and Blackcap and another look at Tim’s feeders produced a Coal Tit and two Common Reed Buntings.  As I had one final scan of the meadows a Mistle Thrush flew in but there was nothing else and I went to the Egleton car park.

David had called again to say that he had seen a Willow Warbler and a Sedge Warbler in the scrub just beyond Shoveler Hide but I went into the centre first to check out Lagoon One seeing another Great Spotted Woodpecker over the car park.

I could see a couple of Eurasian Oystercatcher on the meadow to the right and beyond there were two Little Egrets on the Wet Meadow.  There were two Common Shelduck on the lagoon and I could see another on the Wet Meadow but other than a single Northern Pintail and Common Pochard I couldn’t find anything else of note.

As I approached the gate at the end of the Summer Trail I met David and he walked back with me to view the area beyond Shoveler Hide.  As we approached the area I heard a Sedge Warbler start singing and there was a second further along but neither revealed themselves and eventually I heard a Willow Warbler but again didn’t see it.  Whilst trying to see the Willow Warbler and Sedge Warblers I did see a Eurasian Jay and a three Common Chiffchaff.

I went into Bittern Hide with David but didn’t see a great deal and he went back to the centre whilst I went into Plover Hide to view Lagoon Four.  There was another Little Egret on the northern bund and I counted fifteen Common Shelduck, six Eurasian Oystercatcher and three Common Redshank.

As I walked back towards Shoveler Hide I heard the Willow Warbler, but the Sedge Warblers had gone quiet and I continued onto Shoveler Hide.  I soon found the second-summer Mediterranean Gull on one of the islands but with little else I moved onto Lapwing Hide.  There were a few fishing boats on the water and consequently most of the birds were quite distant, but I did find the Black-necked Grebe, which wasn’t too far out.

As I started to go back I heard a Cetti's Warbler and the Sedge Warblers were singing again as I walked back towards Bittern Hide but they were remaining out of sight.  Another visit into Bittern Hide produced a Barnacle Goose and the Mediterranean Gull again.

As I walked back one of the Sedge Warbler was still singing but still proving to be elusive when I received a WhatsApp message from Chris Park indicating that the American Wigeon was still on Lagoon Four.  I thought I might be able to catch Chris and suspected that he would probably be in Dunlin Hide and so headed for there.  As I was approaching the hide there were quite a few Eurasian Wigeon in flight and I thought that is just my luck as something had clearly disturbed them.  I found Chis just at the bottom of the hide and he said that the American Wigeon was to the left of the hide and showing well.  He came back in the hide with me, but the bird had obviously moved but he then found it in the far left hand corner.  This bird has been very elusive this year and my last sighting was on February 24^th and this is only my third sighting this year.  We then noticed a Western Osprey on the ‘T’ perch, which was obviously the reason for the disturbance and this then dropped into the water to bathe and a Barn Swallow flew over.

We eventually left the hide and I went for my lunch, whilst Chris went onto Lapwing Hide.  I had heard another five Common Chiffchaff and three Blackcaps between leaving the car park and getting back but there was a distinct lack of other migrants and perhaps most surprising I hadn’t seen a single Sand Martin.

After lunch I went back to Dunlin Hide and whilst on the phone to my wife I heard a Grey Plover call but couldn’t locate it and so I continued onto Dunlin Hide hoping that it might be on Lagoon Four.  As I approached the hide there were three Little Egrets on the bund to the west.  There was another birder in the hide who thought he had seen the American Wigeon but wasn’t too sure but as I scanned between the hide and island eight I found it feeding alongside several other Eurasian Wigeon.  There was a Curlew on island seven and then two Western Yellow Wagtails were observed in flight and on the island.  Two Common Buzzard and a Red Kite then flew with the kite being harassed by a number of Northern Lapwing.

From Dunlin Hide I went back to the centre where I found Chris and Ricky.  There were three Eurasian Curlew towards Harrier Hide and I noticed a Western Barn Owl perched on the edge of the trees at the back of the lagoon.  There was also more Sand Martin over the man-made nesting bank and at one point there must have been at last 100.

Ricky then left and shortly afterwards Chris and I left hearing a Willow Warbler sing several times but when we went to where we thought it was it stopped singing but a male Blackcap did reveal itself.  We heard the Willow Warbler again as we went back to the road and it had clearly moved but then went quiet again and we continued back to our cars.

I had recorded seventy-nine species today that included two-year ticks, Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler, and the Grey Plover was a county year-tick.  My year list now stands at 171 and my county year-list has moved onto 135.