The weather forecast for today wasn't good with rain expected around
mid-morning and so I left early to try and get a few hours in before it
arrived. I didn’t see a great deal as I
made my way to Eyebrook Reservoir and there was still no sign of the Little Owl
in the old oak with my last sighting and only sighting this year being on
January 24th. I stopped
briefly at the bridge, but it was very quiet with just a single Blackcap being
heard. The water level had dropped
slightly and there was a small area of mud at the inlet but there was no sign
of any waders and so I moved further along where I found two Little Egrets on
the Leicestershire bank and then saw two more in flight towards the
island. There were seven Common Terns
over the water along with a few hirundine, mainly Sand Martin but also a few
Barn Swallows and a single Common House Martin.
A Red Kite was observed towards the plantation but with nothing else I
moved on to the Egleton car park at Rutland Water.
It was still dry when I arrived in the car park and I headed for the
northern lagoons. I stopped briefly at
the feeding station where I saw a female Brambling before continuing along the
path to the lagoons. There wasn’t a
great deal of song, but I did hear several Common Chiffchaff and Blackcap, a
single Willow Warbler and my first Garden Warbler of the year but I was unable
to locate it. I met Stephen, who was
coming back from the lagoons before he commenced his volunteer duties, who
informed me that he had seen Common Ringed Plover and Dunlin on Lagoon Four. As
I continued along the Winter Trail I saw a Red Kite to the northwest and on
reaching the gate at the end of the Winter Trail I decided to head for Plover
Hide on Lagoon Four. I met Steve and
Terry who were heading for Sandpiper Hide and after a brief chat I continued
onto the hide, hearing a couple of Sedge Warbler and the Common Nightingale
near Bittern Hide.
When I entered the hide three other birders were also present but two
left almost immediately and I was able to view the lagoon from the left-hand
side of the hide. I soon found several
Common Ringed Plover on the exposed rocky area, along with several Dunlin and
eventually managed to count twenty-four Common Ringed Plover and eight
Dunlin. As I scanned around the lagoon a
Black-tailed Godwit flew into the view of the scope and trying to follow it I
lost it and couldn’t find it again.
There were seven Eurasian Oystercatcher and at least four Common
Redshank on the lagoon and there was a male Western Osprey on one of the
perches. I then found a Common Sandpiper
bathing near island three, which was then joined by a second. There were eight Common Shelduck scattered
around the lagoon, but I could just find a single pair of Eurasian Wigeon.
I eventually moved onto Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three where there were
four Common Pochard just in front of the hide, the second-summer Mediterranean
Gull was still amongst the breeding Black-headed Gulls and there were six
Common Terns over the water. Steve had
told me that Terry had seen a couple of Common Swift earlier but there was no
sign but with plenty of hirundine visible over South Arm Three I moved onto
Lapwing Hide.
There were sixteen Common Tern feeding over the arm but there was still
no sign of any Common Swift and so I went back to Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four
hearing a Eurasian Reed Warbler as I did so.
From Dunlin Hide I only saw much of what I had seen from Plover Hide,
although there were nineteen Common Terns resting on the end of the spit on
island ten. As it started to rain I
decided to go to Sandpiper Hide, hearing a Lesser Whitethroat as I walked up
the slope to the hide. Again, I saw
nothing new and eventually headed back to the centre in some light rain. I managed to get a brief view of a Blackcap
on the way back but there was still no sign of the Garden Warbler.
When I entered the centre Stephen had been watching a Common Sandpiper,
but it had disappeared and all I saw before going for my lunch was a pair of
Common Pochard.
After lunch I went back into the centre with Steve and Terry when there
were two male and a female Common Pochard and a larger number of
hirundine. They were mainly Sand Martin
but there was also good numbers of Barn Swallow and a few Common House
Martin. As I continued looking through
them I picked up a single Common Swift that was quite distant but eventually we
had eleven briefly over the lagoon.
Terry went off to the Wet Meadow and shortly afterwards I decided to go
back to the northern lagoons. I checked
the feeders again and found a male and a female Brambling, with the male
beginning to look rather smart although it was still someway off from being in
full breeding plumage.
I had noticed that there was considerably more activity over South Arm
Three than when I visited earlier and so I checked Lagoon Three from Shoveler
Hide to see if there was any increased activity. The Mediterranean Gull was still amongst the
Black-headed Gulls but there was very little happening over the lagoon and so I
moved onto Lapwing Hide to view Lagoon Three.
When I reached the hide, there was a fishing boat in the left-hand corner
and most birds had moved but there were still two groups feeding over the
water. Most were Black-headed Gulls with
just a few Common Terns scattered amongst them and nothing unusual.
The rain was now steady and so I went to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four
where there were still plenty of Common Ringed Plover and Dunlin and I managed
to count eleven Dunlin, which was an increase on this morning. Terry joined me in the hide and it wasn’t too
long afterwards that Steve, who was in Dunlin Hide, called to say that there
was a Little Ringed Plover on the end of island seven. I scoped the end and found the bird feeding
along the shoreline but as Terry was about to look it ran out of sight. Fortunately, it soon returned and even raised
its wings to reveal there was no wing-bar, making the identity easier. Lloyd then joined us in the hide but other
than seeing one of the Common Sandpipers again we didn’t have anything else
new, although seeing a Red Kite in flight in heavy rain was a little unusual.
I eventually made my way back to the car park and with the rain still
persistent and heavy I called it a day and headed off home. Despite the weather it hadn’t been a bad day
with seventy-eight species recorded, two of which, Common Swift and Garden
Warbler were new for the year.
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