I was helping with the summer wildfowl count at Rutland Water today but
headed for Eyebrook Reservoir first, hoping there might be some migrants in
evidence. As I passed Wistow Pool there
were two Little Egrets roosting in a tree, but I hadn’t seen a great deal else
as I turned onto the northern approach road to the reservoir.
The water was still very high, although there was a suggestion of some
mud starting to appear around the inlet.
Three Little Egrets were observed along the Leicestershire shore and a Common
Kestrel was observed along the Rutland bank but there was very little else and
so I continued onto Rutland Water to to begin the count.
As usual I was assigned to count South Arm Three and Lagoon One and after
parking at the bottom of Lyndon Road, I heard a Lesser Whitethroat but was
unable to locate it. I walked towards
the Old Hall to check the bay on the other side of a small cops but found very
little in the bay with just a couple of Mallard and Eurasian Teal. An Egyptian Goose flew in and two Mute Swan
were visible further out, but I was soon making my way back towards the cattle
grid to count the rest of the arm. I
took shelter from the now fresh southerly wind behind the small copse, which
enabled me to count the south shore from Goldeneye Hide to Brown’s Island. There wasn’t a great deal, just a few Greylag
Geese and Tufted Ducks and several Great Crested Grebe. As I walked out towards the point to count the
rest of the arm the wind was making it almost impossible to use the scope, and
so I decided to go to Lapwing Hide on the Egleton Reserve to complete it.
I parked in the Egleton car park and then walked towards the northern
lagoons and Lapwing Hide. I saw a Willow
Warbler and Blackcap and heard several more of both species and I also heard my
second Lesser Whitethroat of the day and several Common Chiffchaff.
As I had hoped I was able to shelter from the wind in the hide but all I
could find were several more Tufted Duck and two Common Goldeneye. I called Steve before leaving the hide and
found he and Terry were counting Lagoon Four from Plover Hide. He informed me that both the American Wigeon
and Bar-tailed Godwit were visible from the hide and so I took a break from
counting and went to Plover Hide.
When I arrived Steve and Terry were still there, and the Bar-tailed
Godwit was on the end of island two but the American Wigeon had
disappeared. After a brief search I left
the hide with Steve and Terry and started to walk back to count Lagoon
One. As we approached the gate to
Shoveler Hide a Lesser Whitethroat sand and after Steve located it we all had
nice views before it disappeared. Steve
and Terry continued onto Shoveler Hide to continue their count and I made my
way back to the Birdwatching Centre to start the count on Lagoon One. As I approached the Badger Hide I heard yet
another Lesser Whitethroat and possibly my forth of the day.
There were eight Common Shelduck, a Northern Pintail and five Common
Pochard on the lagoon and six Common Terns were quartering over the water,
which were my first of the year. After
completing the count, I called Tim, who asked if I would count the Wet Meadow
and so I went to Snipe Hide, seeing a couple of Common Chiffchaff as I reached
the end of the wooded area behind Lagoon One.
There were another four Common Shelduck and a pair of Northern Pintail on
the flashes and I heard a Eurasian Curlew calling several times but didn’t see
it and suspect it was on Lagoon Five.
Steve had called me to inform me that there was a possible Lesser Scaup
on Lagoon One. Apparently, the bird was
right at the back of the lagoon and asleep most of the time and although Steve
was sure it was a scaup of some kind he hadn’t seen it sufficiently well to be
certain as to what it was.
After lunch I went to the viewing area to try and locate the unidentified
scaup but could only find Tufted Ducks and when Steve joined me he was unable
to relocate it and presumably it had flown off or gone out of sight behind and
island or into some vegetation.
With little else I went to Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four seeing both a
Common Chiffchaff and a Blackcap in the area around the Badger Hide and a
Willow Warbler as I neared the end of the Winter Trail. When I reached the hide, there were other
birders in the hide, but they hadn’t seen the American Wigeon. Another group of birders then arrived and
after the first group had departed one of them found the American Wigeon, which
was in the southwest corner. I pointed
out the Bar-tailed Godwit to them and alerted then to three Western Yellow
Wagtails flying over. There was also a Pied
Avocet, six Common Ringed Plover and six Dunlin on the lagoon but other than a
few more Common Shelduck little else and I moved onto Shoveler Hide.
All I could find of note from Shoveler Hide were a pair of Common
Pochard, a Little Grebe and the second-summer Mediterranean Gull. After sitting in the hide for a while I
decided to go to the Lyndon Reserve before coming back to the VTC for a
recorder’s meeting.
When I arrived, the centre was still open and so I spent a few minutes
observing the feeders and was rewarded with eight Eurasian Tree Sparrows and a
female Brambling. From the centre I went
to Teal Hide where I could see one of the Western Ospreys on the nest and found
a pair of Eurasian Oystercatcher below Lax Hill. I scanned the water towards Manton Bay and
eventually found the Great Northern Diver before I went back to the VTC.
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