David and I were out locally today and after transferring my gear into
his car we set off for Eyebrook Reservoir.
We didn’t see much on route and there was no sign of any Little Owls in
the old oak and so we continued and parked at the bridge.
Initially it appeared quiet, but we did hear both Blackcap and Garden
Warbler and then we heard a Common Kingfisher call and I saw it fly down stream,
but it disappeared, and David had to be content with just hearing it. It was the first I had seen in the counties
this year and only the third overall and I suspect they were hit hard during
the ‘Beast from the East’. David then
cried Western Barn Owl and it was quartering the ground south of the
bridge. It was in flight quite some time
and I managed to get a few decent photos on one occasion when it came close to
the bridge. David then saw a Eurasian
Tree Sparrow and this time is my turn to being content with just hearing one.
Western Barn owl
Western Barn owl
Western Barn owl
Western Barn owl
Western Barn owl
We moved to view the inlet where there is now some exposed mud, although
most of it looks rather dry and uninviting and it wasn’t surprising when there
wasn’t anything. We did hear and then
see a Sedge Warbler and a female Common Kestrel provided some nice photo
opportunities. There were at least
fourteen Common Terns over the reservoir and I picked up a single Common Swift
high above the reservoir and we heard a Common Whitethroat as we were leaving
for the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water.
Female Common kestrel
When we arrived in the car park at Egleton we decided to go straight to
Lagoon Four and specifically to Plover Hide.
We heard at Common Chiffchaff, a Sedge Warbler, three Blackcaps and five
Garden Warblers before reaching the hide.
There were three Little Ringed Plovers on the area of stones and the
Black-winged Stilt was feeding in the water beyond there. There were three Little Egret on the lagoon
and two Eurasian Oystercatcher on island six were escorting two downy young and
another two birds on island three were also escorting two birds, whilst another
Eurasian Oystercatcher was on island two.
There were several pairs of Greylag Geese with broods on the lagoon, a
pair of Egyptian Geese were escorting four well grown young and there were at
least eleven Common Shelduck scattered around the lagoon. A Pied Avocet was feeding towards Dunlin Hide
and there were four Common Redshank and possibly more but they were quite
mobile and difficult to count.
A visit to Shoveler Hide produced a couple of Sedge Warbler and
at least one Eurasian Reed Warbler could be heard singing. Four Common Pochard remained on the lagoon
but there were just three Common Terns feeding over it. Two more pairs of Greylag Geese were
escorting young, a Mallard was seen with just a single downy young bird and a
pair of Coot were tending to a brood of five.
Osyercatcher with young
Osyercatchers with young
Western Jackdaw on Lagoon Four bund
As we walked to Dunlin Hide we heard another Sedge Warbler and a Lesser
Whitethroat and once in the hide I counted thirty-three Common Terns on the
spit running away from island ten. Two
Common Buzzards were observed towards the fishponds and two ringed plover-type
birds landed briefly with one at least being a Common Ringed Plover. A Hobby was observed over Lagoon Three as it
drifted off to the south before we made our way back to the centre.
Black-winged Stilt
Black-winged Stilt
Black-winged Stilt
Common Blue Damselfly
Two Western Osprey were observed over the centre and then fishing over the lagoon with both succeeding in catching a fish. A Little Egret flew over and a Little Grebe and a Eurasian Reed Warbler were heard. As we walked back to the car a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard calling and a Red Kite was observed over the fishponds as we were leaving the reserve and heading for Ketton.
We arrived at Ketton at around 12:00 seeing a Eurasian Sparrowhawk as we
ate our lunch before entering the reserve where we spent around two hours. We found a couple of Grizzled Skippers on the
top section near the car park and I may have also had a Brown Argus but didn’t
see it well enough before it disappeared.
Grizzled Skipper
Grizzled Skipper
We dropped down into the barbecue area and found several more Grizzled
Skippers, an Orange Tip, several Brimstone, two Small Heath and a definite
Brown Argus.
Brown Argus
We then went into the larger quarry where we found another Orange Tip,
more Brimstones, two Green Hairstreaks, two Common Blue, two Dingy Skipper,
another Grizzled Skipper, a Laticed Heath and several Burnet Companion.
Green Hairstreak
Common Blue
Dingy Skipper
Burnet Companion
We also saw a couple of Common Kestrel and heard Common Chiffchaff and
Blackcap whilst on the reserve and after a successful couple of hours we drove
to Steadfold Lane on the other side of the cement works.
We scanned the buildings and found a Raven and then David picked up a
Peregrine Falcon flying beyond the buildings.
There were also a couple of Common Whitethroats singing close by, one of
which we saw briefly.
From Ketton we returned to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water seeing
another Common Whitethroat as we entered Empingham and a quick check on Burley
Fishponds produced a drake Common Goldeneye.
Once back on the reserve we went back into the centre and up into the
viewing area where there were a pair of Eurasian Coot tending to just one young
and there was a single Little Grebe.
As we walked towards the northern lagoons again we met Ricky and Graham
and whilst talking to them we saw a female Blackcap and just after moving on we
stopped to chat to Andy Mackay who had seen a Great Northern Diver from Lapwing
Hide and so we headed there first hearing Eurasian Reed Warbler as we walked
down the track to the hide.
David found the diver lazing on the water almost immediately and despite
the distance and heat the visibility was surprisingly good but other than
thirteen Common Tern there wasn’t a great deal else and we went back to
Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three where we found a Mallard with a brood of nine.
From Shoveler Hide we moved to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four, where we found a Dunlin and watched a Red Kite and a couple of Western Ospreys soaring over the lagoon and I heard a Common Cuckoo.
We walked back towards the centre and stopped to view Lagoon One from the
Rutland Gate to look for a Whimbrel, which we found on part of the long
island. Chris Hubbard who had been in
Sandpiper Hide with us then joined us and shortly afterwards I picked up the
female Ruddy Duck.
It had been an excellent day with eighty-seven species recorded and also
a good selection of insects and Kingfisher was a county year-tick moving my
total onto 162.
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