I was out with David and Roger today and after we picked David up we
headed for Eyebrook Reservoir, seeing a Common Buzzard just beyond Tur Langton,
a Common Kestrel near Cranoe and a Red Kite as we dropped down to the turning
to the reservoir.
It was no surprise that there was no sign of any Little Owls and at a
brief stop at the inlet bridge we heard Common Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden
Warbler. We also saw a couple of
Eurasian Tree Sparrows and there were two Little Egrets along the stream with a
few more Common Swift in evidence today.
We moved to view the inlet where there had been a Ruddy Turnstone and a
Wood Sandpiper yesterday. There was a
small area of mud and we had a Dunlin and a Common Redshank feeding in the
shallows and a Common Sandpiper flew in before walking up the stream and
disappearing. A Mallard appeared in the
stream with a brood of six and there were eight Common Terns around the tern
rafts. A Red Kite was observed over the
Leicestershire shore and a Sedge Warbler was heard but not seen. There was very little else on the water with
just a few Mute Swan, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe and a single Eurasian Coot.
We moved off through Stoke Dry to the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water
seeing a Common Whitethroat just after passing through the village.
After parking we headed for Sandpiper Hide on lagoon Four seeing a single
Common Chiffchaff and hearing another Common Chiffchaff, a Sedge Warbler, a
Blackcap and three Garden Warblers before we reached the ramp to the hide. There had been several WhatsApp messages
about birds on Lagoon Four that indicated that there was still a good selection
of waders present.
We entered the hide to find Common Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Dunlin
not too far away and I counted thirty-one Common Ringed Plover, fifteen
Sanderling and ten Dunlin. There was
also three Pied Avocets towards island seven, five Common Redshanks scattered
around the lagoon and a Common Greenshank between islands six and nine. As we continued to go through the waders we
found a Little Stint and a Ruddy Turnstone, seen by David earlier was found on
island six. David then found a
Yellow-legged Gull on island six and Roger found a Little Ringed Plover on
island ten. Two Black Tern were then
observed on island four and a Little Tern appeared on island ten and we
eventually had five Pied Avocets, two Little Ringed Plovers, two Little Terns
and four Black Terns. Eight Common
Shelduck, two Little Egrets and there were five Eurasian Oystercatchers all escorting
young birds. A Mallard then swam in
front of the hide with a brood of eleven young and the second-summer
Mediterranean Gull paid a brief visit. A
Red Kite was given some grief by several Northern Lapwings as it passed over
that were clearly protecting the several young we had observed. A Barnacle Goose of unknown origin that had
been showing a liking for a Mute Swan was now attached to a hybrid
Canada/Greylag goose. The hide was now
getting quite full and birds continued to be found with Chris Hubbard finding a
Wood Sandpiper on island six and someone else indicated there was a Western
Yellow Wagtail on island one, which have been few and far between this
year. A Common Sandpiper that had been
seen earlier by some reappeared on island ten, where it remained preening. This has been without doubt one of the best
periods of birding I have had on the reserve with thirteen species of wader
being present along with three species of tern, but we eventually moved onto
Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three.
Lagoon Three with the water level high had far fewer birds but there were
seven Common Pochard of note and we also heard and saw the Mediterranean Gull
again before it appeared to go back to Lagoon Four. With little else other than a few Eurasian
Reed Warblers singing we moved onto Lapwing Hide.
There were numerous damselflies on the fence near Smew Hide, with most
being Common Blue and Blue-tailed but I also saw a single Azure. When we reached the hide, we found a small
number of Common Terns along with two of the Black Terns feeding over the water
and David found the Great Northern Diver and a Western Osprey passed over.
After taking a few photos of the Black Terns we started to make our way
back to the car park for lunch, finding a Common Carpet resting on the
screening between Lapwing and Smew Hides and hearing another Common Chiffchaff,
Blackcap and Garden Warbler as we walked along the summer trail.
Black Tern
Black Tern
Black Tern
Black Tern
Black Tern
Black-headed Gull
Common Tern
Common Carpet
Whilst having lunch we had two Red Kites and a Hobby and another birder
informed Brian Moore that he had seen a Ring-necked Duck on Lagoon Three but
there had been very few birds on the lagoon and we were rather Sceptical.
After lunch Chris and Brian went to Shoveler Hide to look for the
reported Ring-necked Duck, whilst we went into the centre to view Lagoon One
from the viewing area.
There didn’t appear to be much of note on Lagoon one with four Common
Shelduck and two Little Egret being the best.
We did see a Eurasian Sparrowhawk to the south and a Western Osprey and
two Hobbies performed over the lagoon and three Eurasian Oystercatchers flew
over.
The weather had improved, and it was now bright and sunny and warmer
despite the northerly breeze and we decided we would take a slow walk along the
summer trail looking for a Hairy Dragonfly, which had been reported earlier in
the week.
However, as we were about to set off a tweet from Chris indicated that
there were two Grey Plover on Lagoon Four.
So, we dropped the idea of looking for the dragonfly and went straight
to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four, but before we got there, there was an update indicating
that there were now four Grey Plover. As
we made our way to the hide I heard my only Willow Warbler of the day.
We found Brian in the hide, who gave us directions as to where the
plovers were, but it was a while before we saw all four as they tended to
disappear behind island four. Brian then
said “Oh there is a Eurasian Curlew near the roosting gulls". I scanned across to the gulls and found the
Eurasian Curlew almost immediately, which took us to fifteen waders in a day
and all on lagoon Four. Brian then
received a text from Chris, who was now in Plover Hide, that the Eurasian
Curlew was a Whimbrel. When we went back
to the view the bird it was roosting, and we couldn’t see the head sufficiently
well to confirm the identification but we all felt it looked too large for a
Whimbrel. It did eventually raise its
head and we were able to see there was no prominent crown stripe or dark line
through the eye and that the head pattern was uniform confirming that it was a
Eurasian Curlew. We informed Chris who agreed
with us and had sent the original text based on other observers in the
hide. Whilst in the hide we saw two Red
Kites, a Common Buzzard and two Hobbies.
Grey Plovers on Lagoon Four
Grey Plover
We agreed to call at Lyndon church on the way home to look for a Spotted
Flycatcher but when we got there it was very windy and there was no sign of our
target bird.
As we were travelling along the A46 a notification from Bird Guides
reporting the Ring-necked Duck sighting on Lagoon Three and Andy Mackay sent a
WhatsApp message indicating the same, although it did indicate via Bird
Guides. We made several phone calls including
one to Chris Park, who was in Shoveler Hide but hadn’t seen it’ He agreed to send a WhatsApp message if he
found it. There was no message and
further updates confirmed there hadn’t been any further sightings.
It had been an excellent day’s birding, with the Little Stint being a
county year-tick, moving my total onto 165.
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