It was a late start today following the good moth catch and I didn’t
leave home until 07:55. I headed for
Eyebrook Reservoir seeing a Little Egret flying along the River Sence near
Wistow but little else before arriving at the reservoir.
A stop at the inlet bridge just produced a singing Blackcap and so I soon
moved on to view the inlet. There was a
Green Sandpiper feeding in the shallows and a party of Northern Lapwing dropped
in but didn’t stay long and moved off to the north. There was a pair of Greylag Geese escorting a
brood of three and I saw a female Mallard with a brood of ten a little further
down the reservoir. There were good
numbers of both Gadwall and Mallard and a single Eurasian Teal around the inlet
area and I counted eighteen Common Tern over the reservoir. A Red Kite and a Common Buzzard were observed
over the Leicestershire fields and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over before
I moved off to the Egleton reserve at Rutland Water.
As I left Uppingham there was a Common Kestrel over the A47 roundabout
and I arrived at Rutland Water around 09:30.
I decided I would go to Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow first and heard a
Common Chiffchaff and four Blackcap before I reached the hide and saw my first
Ruddy Darter of the year.
Ruddy Darter
There was a pair of Pied Avocet on the flash near the hide, with one
appearing to be sitting on a nest and there was a single Common Shelduck on the
water. A Eurasian Oystercatcher and a
Little Egret were visible on Lagoon One but after a while with little else I moved
to the 360 Hide.
Pied Avocet on the Wet Meadow
There was a Little Egret and four Eurasian Oystercatcher on Lagoon Five
and a Red Kite drifted over causing some disturbance and as I left the hide I
found another Eurasian Oystercatcher on Lagoon Eight. I heard another two Common Chiffchaff before
I reached the centre and then continued to the northern lagoons.
European Goldfinch
European Goldfinch
As I walked along the path to the northern lagoons I saw two Great
Spotted Woodpecker and a Blackcap and heard a Green Woodpecker, a Willow
Warbler, two Common Chiffchaff, five Blackcap and two Garden Warblers.
I went into Sandpiper Hide to view Lagoon Four first where I found eight
Common Ringed Plover, a Little Ringed Plover and six Dunlin and there were
twelve Eurasian Oystercatcher, three of which were escorting young birds. I then found a Common Redshank on island one
and a young bird, which appeared to be lame.
There was a single adult Yellow-legged Gull amongst the Great
Black-backed Gulls roosting on the end of island six. There were far fewer terns on the lagoon
today with just eight resting on island ten spit and I suspect that the
breeding birds have probably been predated.
There was a single Western Osprey and a Common Buzzard towards Burley
and a Common Kestrel was hunting near the Volunteer Training Centre and just
before I left the hide I found a Eurasian Hobby hawking towards Burley.
Brimstone near Sandpiper Hide
I went back to the car for lunch before going back into the centre to
view Lagoon One. It was quiet on the
lagoon with nothing of real note and I was considering calling it a day at
Rutland Water when five Black-tailed Godwit flew over. They headed towards Lax
Hill before circling and coming back and I thought that they would drop onto
the lagoon but after making a low pass they gained height and headed off
south. I called Steve to make him aware
and he said that he had seen a couple of Eurasian Wigeon on Lagoon One and so I
went through the ducks on the long island with the scope and found the two
males close to several Northern Shoveler.
Black-tailed Godwits
I finally decided I would stay at Rutland Water and set off back to the
northern lagoons and met Terry coming back.
Whilst we were talking he picked up a Eurasian Sparrowhawk that I saw
briefly and then a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over and a juvenile Garden
Warbler appeared over our heads.
I eventually continued to the northern lagoons with Terry going to the
centre to look for the Eurasian Wigeon.
I went to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three where initially there appeared
to be very little with just six Common Pochard, a Little Egret and six Common
Terns. As I scanned the tops of the wood
I found a Red Kite and a Western Osprey, and a Eurasian Reed Warbler provided
some intermittent views to the left of the hide. I then picked up a Eurasian Sparrowhawk over
the wood and another Red Kite and two Common Buzzard towards Burley and then a
female-type Western Marsh Harrier appeared over the reedbed. I called Steve to make him aware and he
managed to pick it up from Sandpiper Hide before it disappeared beyond the wood
and wasn’t seen again. There were two
Mute Swan escorting a brood of five quite close to the hide and a second brood
was observed closer to the reedbed.
Mute Swan with cygnets
I joined Steve in Sandpiper Hide and he pointed out three Eurasian Curlew
at the end of island one and we then found a forth on island seven. As we went through the waders we found ten
Dunlin and four Little Ringed Plover, although I couldn’t improve of my earlier
count of eight Common Ringed Plover, although I did find a second Common Redshank.
I eventually left Steve in the hide and headed back to the car park
seeing one of the Spotted Flycatchers just before I reached the car park.
Spotted Flycatcher
Spotted Flycatcher
After a coffee I set off for home seeing a Common Buzzard over the road at Gunthorpe.
No comments:
Post a Comment