Roger and I decided to go to Great Glen this morning in the hope of finding
a Common Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail as David had seen them here recently.
It was a very pleasant spring morning and a welcome change to the rather dreary
weather we have had over the last nine days.
After parking in the village, we walked the short distance to the
footpath that passes a small lake. The
footpath was much wetter than I have known it before and when we reached the
lake there was a single Mute Swan, twelve Canada Geese and several Mallard on
view. Two Grey Herons were standing on a
fallen tree but if there were any birds on nests they weren’t visible. A pair of Gadwall was more unusual but there
was no sign of the Common Kingfisher.
We moved away from the lake and after we had passed through the gate I
picked up a bird as it flew from over the wood heading northwest. The bounding flight initially suggested a
Eurasian Skylark and as I raised my bins a second bird appeared and they both
continued flying away from us. Roger had
also got on them by now and it was obvious they weren’t Eurasian Skylarks. They were quite chunky birds with rounded
wings with a rather broad wing-bar. The
general colouration of the birds was pinkish-brown, and we realised we were
watching two Hawfinches. As they moved
further away the wing-bars remained quite prominent and quite striking.
We continued to the sewage treatment works where we found a single Pied
Wagtail and two Eurasian Magpies on the filter beds. As we reached the eastern end of the works I
picked up a Grey Wagtail in flight and then obligingly it landed on a rail. It was a male and remained on the rail for
quite some time giving good views before it flew onto the top of a tank and out
of sight. We moved a little further away
and Roger then picked it up again when it came close to the edge before
disappearing again. There was another
Blackcap singing and as we walked back we had a Yellowhammer, Common Reed
Bunting and eventually found a Common Chiffchaff. A further stop at the lake failed to produce
the Common Kingfisher and so we returned to the car seeing a Great Spotted
Woodpecker as we did so.
We had received a WhatsApp message regarding eighteen Common Scoter at
Eyebrook Reservoir and as it was a county year-tick for Roger we headed for the
reservoir. A Red Kite just before we
turned towards Slawston was the only bird of note before we reached the
reservoir.
We approached the reservoir from the south as we thought the Common
Scoter were most likely to be in the southern section. There was no sign from the railings in the
west corner and so we continued along the road turning towards the bridge and
the stopping briefly to view the inlet.
With the water level still very high there was very little and so we
drove further along the Rutland bank and parked in one of the parking areas. Initially it appeared that the Common Scoter
had perhaps moved on but then Roger picked them up some distance away. They were rather difficult to count as they
were constantly moving and changing direction in a tight flock. Eventually we were both happy that there were
eighteen birds, but we couldn’t determine how many males or females there were. Other than the scoter it was very quiet with
just a single Red Kite and a Common Buzzard worthy of note.
From Eyebrook Reservoir we went to the North Arm at Rutland Water seeing
one of the Manton Bay Western Ospreys as we went over Manton Bridge and three
Brimstone butterflies between Uppingham and Gunthorpe. As we drove down the unnamed road we stopped
briefly to observe the fishponds where there were lots of Tufted Duck and I
found a single Common Pochard. After
parking we walked out towards the spit and I found the pair of Common Scoter
that Erik had reported earlier, which were alongside a male Common Goldeneye. Chris Park then joined us and after seeing
the Common Scoter he found a pair of Mandarin Duck on the north shore. There were two Eurasian Oystercatchers in the
arm and a Common Redshank flew over after being disturbed from the south
shore. We turned our attention to Burley
Wood, where we had a single Red Kite, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and at least four
Common Buzzard and two more Common Buzzard were observed over the wood behind
us. There was a Blackcap singing near
Tim’s cottage, but only Blue and Great Tits were observed at his feeders.
With nothing new appearing in the North Arm, we made our way to Egleton
and the visitor’s centre to view lagoon one.
It was very warm in the viewing area and initially all I found was a
couple of Common Pochard, but I then picked up a tern over Lagoon Two that
continued heading south over Lagoon One towards Lax Hill where we lost it. When I first saw it, I assumed that it would
be a Common Tern but as it flew across the lagoon I thought that it might be an
Arctic Tern, but we couldn’t confirm it before it was lost. Chris then came up to the viewing area and as
I was explaining he had just missed a tern he picked one up over Lagoon two,
which we assumed would be the same bird.
We managed to get the scopes on it and again and we all suspected it was
an Arctic Tern but the bright sunlight wasn’t making it easy and so we decided
to go to Common Redshank Hide on Lagoon Two.
The hide was quite full when we arrived but we all managed to get a seat
and we soon picked up the tern. It was
now feeding at the far end of Lagoon Two but did come closer on several
occasions and eventually we were all happy it was indeed an Arctic Tern and
Chris sent a WhatsApp message out. He
then cried Little Gull and I had brief views of an adult winter Little Gull as
it flew towards the far end of the lagoon.
Satisfied with the Arctic Tern, Roger and I went back to the car park
for lunch while Chris continued onto the northern lagoons.
After lunch Roger and I made our way to the northern lagoons and in
particularly to the area of scrub between Shoveler and Bittern Hides. A birder returning had seen both Sedge
Warbler and Common Whitethroat early in the scrub and we continued with some
optimism. When we reached the area, it
appeared fairly quiet and all we heard was a single Blackcap and so we
continued onto Plover Hide.
Primrose from the inter Trail
Colt's-foot near the Lagoon Four sluice
The water level on Lagoon Four is now beginning to drop nicely and there
were at least nine Common Redshanks feeding amongst the exposed areas but other
than a few Eurasian Oystercatchers there appeared to be no other waders. A then picked up a first-summer Little Gull
that was just the other side of island three.
It remained in view for quite some time as it bathed before it eventually
disappeared. As I scanned the far side
of the lagoon I had seen five Eurasian Curlew but when I scanned again I found
seven birds and on close inspection identified one a Whimbrel and probably the
bird that has wintered here for two years; it is surprising how illusive it is
at times.
First-summer Little Gull
First-summer Little Gull
First-summer Little Gull
Great Crested Grebe
Displaying Great Crested Grebes
Greylag Goose
With little else we walked back but the Sedge Warbler and reported Common
Whitethroat were still quiet and so we went to Shoveler Hide. There was quite a crowd with Chris, Ricky and
Graham all being present. The
second-summer Mediterranean Gull was still on the island with the Black-headed
Gulls and there was a good number of Northern Shoveler and Common Goldeneye on
the Lagoon. The Arctic Tern and the
first-summer Little Gull were also feeding over the water and apparently the
winter adult Little Gull had also been present but there was no sign whilst we
were in the hide. Tim then arrived and
shortly after he had departed Roger and I left as Roger needed to be back home
for 18:00.
Second-summer Mediterranean Gull
We did have time to have one final look for a Sedge Warbler but again got
the same result, but we did have a party of hirundine circling high over Lagoon
Four, which were mainly Common House Martins with a couple of Sand Martin
amongst them.
We didn’t see a great deal else walking back to the car and after a
coffee were soon on our way home after a good day’s birding. We had recorded seventy-four species with
one, the Arctic Tern, being a year-tick and another, the Hawfinch, being a
county year-tick. My totals now stand at
173 and 139 respectively.
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