A day in Rutland - May 12, 2018

This was the day of our local bird race around Rutland and I joined Tim Appleton. Dave Cole, Terry Mitcham and Chris Park at Tim’s cottage at 04:00 and we then drove the short distance to Burley Wood for our first target bird, Woodcock.

As we walked up the ride dawn was just breaking and we started to add species on call with our first being Egyptian Goose at 04:02.  When we reached the clearing where we had seen Woodcock last year we had also added Robin, Woodpigeon and Blackbird.  As we stood waiting for the hoped for Woodcock we heard our only Cuckoo of the day and there was at least one Tawny Owl calling.  At around 04:40 with no sign of the Woodcock or Grasshopper Warblers that had been reported we made our way back to the vehicle when our total had reached sixteen.

From Burley we went to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water and entered through the gate to the Volunteer Training Centre where we added Whitethroat and Great Black-backed Gull but there was no sign of the Grasshopper Warbler that had been singing regularly over the past few weeks.  As we moved around to Plover Hide on Lagoon Four a Red Kite flew over and both Lesser Whitethroat and Nightingale were heard before we reached the hide taking the total onto twenty-one.

Once in Plover Hide birds came thick and fast and when we departed the total had reached thirty-nine with Barnacle Goose; Greylag Goose; Shelduck; Gadwall; Teal; Great Crested Grebe; Grey Heron; Little Egret; Eurasian Oystercatcher; Avocet; Ringed Plover; Little Ringed Plover; Curlew; Dunlin; Redshank; Black-headed Gull; Jackdaw and Sedge Warbler all being added.

We then moved to Sandpiper Hide for a different view of the lagoon and added Garden Warbler as we approached the hide.  From the hide we soon found a number of new species that included, Canada Goose; Mute Swan; Shoveler, Wigeon; Tufted Duck, Cormorant; Moorhen, Grey Plover, Common Tern; Rook; Sand Martin; Starling; Linnet and Reed Bunting and perhaps the most unexpected bird of the day there were two Little Terns and the total had risen to fifty-five.

Not surprisingly the pace was now beginning to drop, and we only added Pochard, Arctic Tern, Hobby, Reed Warbler from Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three and a visit to Lapwing Hide overlooking South Arm Three only produced a Common Sandpiper, which only two of us saw.

As we walked back we added Swift, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Stock Dove and Blue Tit and added Coot and Lapwing, which we had forgot which we had seen on Lagoon Four and we added Willow Warbler before we left the reserve for Whitwell.  As we approached the car park at Whitwell we added Magpie, Greenfinch and Red-legged Partridge and then Pied Wagtail and Swallow whilst making an unsuccessful search for a Great Northern Diver.

A quick visit to Normanton produced four drake Mandarin Ducks and at Luffenham Airfield we found House Sparrow, Eurasian Skylark, Kestrel; Wheatear and Meadow Pipit, raising the total to seventy-nine.

From the airfield we went back onto the cycle track at Rutland Water and drove towards the Lyndon Centre.  A stop in Berrybut Spinneys produced a Nuthatch but not the Spotted Flycatcher reported yesterday.  Another unsuccessful stop for Grasshopper Warbler produced a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Long-tailed Tit before we reached the Lyndon Centre.

A single Tree Sparrow soon obliged at the feeding station, species number eighty-two and when Chris and I went to Teal Hide he found a Great Northern Diver and we could eventually add Osprey, which were in Manton Bay.  Tim and Terry joined us to ensure they were added to the list, but we then had an unsuccessful search for a Little Owl before adding Dunnock on route to Wader Scrape Hide and Water Rail from the hide.

We left the reservoir and headed for Ketton seeing a Buzzard and Yellowhammer before reaching the cement works.  We soon added Raven and Feral Pigeon and a House Martin was observed and a Mistle Thrush heard but with no sign of the Peregrine we drove to the other side of the works to get a different view.  A Herring Gull flew over and when we were about to give up on the Peregrine, Chris found one perched on top of one of the buildings and we suspected that it had just flown in.

A brief visit to Tinwell added Goldcrest and Collared Dove and at Exton Park two Grey Partridge took the total onto ninety-eight but with nothing added at Fort Henry Fishponds we headed back to the fishponds at Rutland Water.

We went into the meadow and walked alongside the dense area of the ponds where we heard Little Grebe and then found a Western Barn Owl, which was species number one hundred.

When we got back to the centre having dipped on Black-tailed Godwit on Lagoon Three and dipping on a Ruddy Duck on Lagoon One we heard that the Black-tailed Godwit was on the Wet Meadow and so we went to Snipe Hide.  As we approached the hide a couple of Swift flew over and as Tim looked he spotted a Sparrowhawk just above the bushes.  The Black-tailed Godwit was located on the small flash in front of the hide, but the weather was now beginning to turn for the worse and another dip on the Ruddy Duck persuaded us not to go back to the southern fields.

As it was now raining steadily we were hoping that perhaps something might drop in on Lagoon Four and went to Dunlin Hide.  Nothing had dropped in, but we did add Yellow Wagtail and a call from Erik had us back to the far side of Lagoon One where we added Green Woodpecker.

We finished off in Plover Hide on Lagoon Four where we added our final two species Lesser Black-backed Gull and Common Gull before we called it a day as the weather was getting worse.  We had finished on 107, which was not too bad but fell short of our record of 119 last year.