It was overcast and much cooler than of late when I set of for Eyebrook
Reservoir this morning and a Red Kite near Cranoe was the only bird of note
before I turned onto the northern approach to the reservoir.
I stopped briefly to look at the old oak and there was still no sign of
any Little Owls and I am now pretty sure they are no longer in residence. A stop at the bridge wasn’t very productive
with just a Blackcap heard, although there appeared to be quite a number of
swifts and hirundine over the reservoir and I therefore went further around to
view the inlet.
I noticed a bird perched in the dead tree in the fields on the Rutland
side, which turned out to be a Western Osprey and after parking when I checked
it had disappeared and a few minutes later a bird passed over carrying a
fish. There wasn’t anything of note on
the small area of mud but there did appear to be more wildfowl present but they
were mainly Gadwall and Mallard, although I did find a single Common Pochard
and two Tufted Duck were also observed.
There were good numbers of both Barn Swallow and Common House Martin
over the reservoir, with Common House Martin being more numerous and also a
good number of Common Swift, which was a welcome sight as they have all been
quite scarce so far this year. As I
scanned the reservoir I could only find six Common Terns but there were perhaps
others on the rafts. As I scanned the
hillside on the Leicestershire side I picked up a Red Kite and then a Common
Buzzard and I also heard a Sedge Warbler but with little else I moved off to
Rutland Water.
My intention was to go to the North Arm but when I arrived in Egleton
village the road was closed and I even tried two other routes through the
village but found there was no access to Church Road, although the signage was
a bit to be desired with the final road not indicating closure until I reached
the far end. Frustrated I went to the
Egleton car park and after a chat with Penny set off for Lagoon Four.
I found a single Pied Avocet and two Little Egrets but there appeared not
to be any other waders other than a few Eurasian Oystercatcher and Common
Redshank. Tim then joined me and he left
not seeing too much else, although he did find a Common Ringed Plover. He left the hide as he was working today but
called me a few minutes later indicating that there were two guys in white
suits spraying the meadow and asked if I could get a photo as he felt it wasn’t
right that it should be happening on a nature reserve and just afterwards I saw
a group of small waders in flight at the back of the lagoon but they dropped
out of sight.
I left the hide and headed for Plover Hide where I was hoping that I
would be able to find the waders. As I
walked around the path I found the two guys spraying but as they were walking
towards me I found it difficult taking photographs, although I did get a couple
later on my phone. I did ask then what
they were up to and one of the guys explained that there were doing selective
spraying and were targeting Creeping Thistle as they were quite invasive and
would possibly take over the meadow if not dealt with. Having listened to their explanation I
carried on to Plover Hide still feeling I shouldn’t be visiting a nature reserve
and coming across men in white suits spraying the vegetation.
When I got into the hide I soon located the waders and counted twenty-six
Common Ringed Plover and seven Dunlin.
There were four Eurasian Oystercatchers on the lagoon but I only found
one young bird, which appeared to be unattended and I also found a single
Little Ringed Plover.
Oystercatcher
Black-headed Gull chicks
I left the hide and went into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three, hearing a
Eurasian Reed Warbler, three Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler before reaching the
hide. From the hide there were three
Common Terns over the water, two drake Common Pochard on the lagoon and a
Eurasian Reed Warbler singing close to the hide. Jeff arrived with the group he was leading
today and shortly afterwards Mike Chester arrived. There was a Common Buzzard over the woodland,
a Western Osprey flew over heading towards Burley and a female Mallard appeared
with a brood of seven.
Jeff had left with his group heading for Sandpiper Hide and so Mike and I
went to Dunlin Hide to get another view of Lagoon Four. A Sedge Warbler was heard as we left the path
from Shoveler Hide and when we entered the hide we found the waders were
feeding on the near spit. There were now
eleven Dunlin but I couldn’t get any more than twenty-two Common Ringed Plovers,
although I then noticed another three on the distant spit. Presumably the male, of a pair Egyptian Geese
escorting seven half grown young, got quite aggressive with a female Mallard
escorting a brood of eight. The Mallard
swam away but the goose followed them but eventually stopped the pursuit and
returned to the female. I have in the
past seen Egyptian Geese attack young Mallard and they seem obsessed with
protecting their young even when the threat is none existent. A Little Grebe was observed just before we
left the hide and headed back for lunch.
The two guys were still spraying and as we made our way towards them and
the Summer Trail, we could actually smell the herbicide as the wind was blowing
it towards us. We heard a couple of
additional Common Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap on the way back and after lunch we
went into the centre and up to the observation deck to view Lagoon One.
There wasn’t a great deal on the lagoon with four Common Shelduck and a
couple of Common Terns being the highlight.
The Western Ospreys flew over with one hovering over the lagoon briefly
before flying off north. Steve and
Terry, who were also in the viewing area moved on to the northern lagoons,
whilst Mike and I decided to go to the southern lagoons.
We heard a Common Chiffchaff and a Blackcap and actually saw another
Blackcap briefly before we reached the 360 Hide. There was a single Common Shelduck and Little
Egret visible on Lagoon Five from the hide and three Eurasian Oystercatcher
were feeding along the bank running north from the hide. With no sign of the Bufflehead we walked down
to Shelduck Hide to get a different view of the lagoon and heard yet another
Common Chiffchaff on route.
We checked Lagoon Seven from the ramp to the hide and found a Little
Egret and five Common Terns. There were another two Little Egret visible on
Lagoon Five and two Little Grebes were observed with a Red Kite appearing
between the hide and the centre, with still no sign of the Bufflehead, Mike
called it a day leaving me in the hide.
A single Common Tern was feeding over the lagoon and occasions it came
quite close and was able to get a few shots as it did so but I then made my way
to Snipe Hide on the Wet meadow.
Common Tern
Common Tern
Two Western Osprey were observed over Lax Hill as I left the hide and
there was a single Common Shelduck on Lagoon Eight. There were two more Common Shelduck on the
flash just outside the hide and a Common Moorhen was observed with three young
and a female Mallard appeared with a brood of nine. Lloyd came into the hide and we had a chat
about the breeding Western Ospreys and apparently seven of the eight now have
young but some of the unpaired males were causing a few commotions at some of
the sites. A Hobby was observed rather
distantly over Lagoon Two area but when I got back to the centre I had better
views of two birds that were hawking over Lagoons One and Two and a final check
on the Spotted Flycatchers produced a brief view of one of the birds and a
Great Spotted Woodpecker was observed at the feeding station.
Not one of my better days at the reserve with only sixty-eight species
recorded during the day of which just sixty-four were at Rutland Water.
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