It was a rather dull overcast day with light winds when I left home for
Eyebrook Reservoir. A Red Kite between
Kibworth and Tur Langton was the highlight before I approached the reservoir
for the north.
When I approached the reservoir, I continued along the Leicestershire
bank and went into the northern corral to view the inlet. The mud in front of the corral was devoid of
birds but there were plenty of wildfowl, which were mainly Eurasian Teal. As I scanned the Rutland shoreline I found a
Black-tailed Godwit, two Green Sandpiper and three Common Greenshanks and there
was also a couple of Little Egrets.
Having swept the Rutland bank I worked through the wildfowl, which
included Gadwall and Mallard and also single Northern Shoveler and Northern
Pintail.
From the corral I went to the bridge where I found a couple of Common
Chiffchaffs but there was little else in evidence and so I drove around further
and stopped to view the inlet again. As
I scanned the Leicestershire shore all I found were three Little Egrets and a
further couple of stops before the Stoke Dry car park produced nothing of note
and I headed for the North Arm at Rutland Water.
After passing through Preston I had what was to be my only Common Buzzard
sighting of the day with a bird perched in a roadside tree. I continued onto the North Arm and parked
near Tim’s cottage and walked down the unnamed road towards the gate. I didn’t see a great deal and after going
through the gate found Steve and Terry near the spit. They pointed out the Great Northern Diver,
which was off Barnsdale and said there were a few waders on the north
shore. As I started to scan the north
shore for the waders a Western Yellow Wagtail flew over. I found fifteen Common Ringed Plover, five
Little Ringed Plover and three Dunlin on the north shore and there was a Little
Egret and a Eurasian Curlew on the south shore.
Steve and Terry then left for Frampton Marsh and just after they left I
found the female Common Scoter that has been present for a few weeks now. Eight Black-tailed Godwits then flew over
heading east but then turned, coming back down the arm before veering off
towards the reserve.
I walked back to the road and after a brief chat with Tim went into the field
to view the fishponds. There were two
Little Egrets resting in the trees and I counted twenty-three Little
Grebes. I heard a Common Sandpiper
calling on several occasions but never actually saw it and a Eurasian Jay flew
over. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker
calling and found it in a small dead tree beyond the cottage before it flew and
perched in another tree nearer the fishponds.
I stopped briefly to observe Tim’s feeders, which were empty, and all I
saw was several Eurasian Blue Tits and a Common Chiffchaff that went onto the empty
feeders.
After parking at Egleton I went to the centre and up to the viewing area
to view Lagoon One but all I found were a couple of juvenile Ruff, a Snipe and
six Little Egrets. With nothing else
obvious I decided to go to Fieldfare Hide where I was hoping there would be
some good wader habitat.
As I left the woodland on the edge of Lagoon One I heard a Blackcap and
whilst looking for this I found a Common Whitethroat, but the Blackcap remained
elusive. I went into Snipe Hide to view
the Wet Meadow and was surprised to find that the flash was now full but there
wasn’t a single bird and I was soon making my way to Harrier Hide on Lagoon
One.
There was some good wader habitat in front of Harrier Hide but all I
found was a Western Osprey perched on a post and a couple of Little Egrets and
a Red Kite drifted over.
Western Osprey on Lagoon One
Little Egret alighting on Lagoon One
Little Egret over Lagoon One
From Harrier Hide I made my way to Fieldfare Hide where the water was
quite low but again there were no waders and the best was fifteen Little Grebes
and a single Common Tern. As I made my
way back a Western Osprey was observed heading towards Manton Bay and when I
reached the centre I had a Marsh Tit and a Common Chiffchaff at the feeding
station.
Whilst having lunch Andy and Roger Brett arrived and after a chat they
went to the centre, but they hadn’t got much time and came back a few minutes
later having seen a Garganey, four Black-tailed Godwits and two Common
Greenshanks. When I had finished my
lunch Mike and I went down to the centre to try and locate the waders. The four Black-tailed Godwits were soon found
but there was no sign of the Common Greenshanks, but I found the Garganey near
one of the nearer islands. I then picked
up two Common Kestrel over Lax Hill and shortly afterwards the Northern Lapwing
took to flight but soon came down again and we couldn’t find any reason for the
disturbance. We were about to leave the
centre when they took to flight again and this time they went much higher and
as we scanned I picked up a Peregrine Falcon that then flew over the centre.
I then left the centre and headed for the northern lagoons and when I
arrived in Shoveler Hide another birder said that there didn’t appear to be very
much, however a female Common Goldeneye had been reported earlier. There was plenty of wildfowl and so I scanned
through them finding Gadwall, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Common Pochard and Tufted
Duck but not the Common Goldeneye. A
Common Greenshank was then heard and picked up in flight before it landed and
then walked out of sight behind the reed island. Gerry then joined us and shortly afterwards
the Common Greenshank reappeared and was followed by a winter male Ruff. Gerry went down to Northern Lapwing Hide to
look for a Black Tern in South Arm Three and I went to Buzzard Hide shortly
afterwards to get a different view of Lagoon Three.
I heard a Water Rail call on several occasions, but it didn’t reveal
itself and when I looked back at the distant island all the wildfowl had come
off and were presumably disturbed by the Great Egret that was now on the
island.
Great Egret
A WhatsApp message from Gerry arrived indicating that he had found the
Black Tern and so I set off for Lapwing Hide.
I met Gerry as I approached the hide who then gave me some idea where
the bird was feeding. I set the scope up
in the hide and began to scan the area and soon found the Black Tern. Gerry then came back in saying that there
were two Green Sandpipers on Lagoon Two and went to the other end of the hide
to find them and when he did I had a quick look through his scope. I then found two female Eurasian Wigeon
amongst the raft of wildfowl in front of the hide, which was the only sighting
of the day.
Female Eurasian Wigeon
From Lapwing Hide I made my way to Dunlin Hide hoping for some gulls on Lagoon
Four but when I arrived there were just a few Black-headed and Great
Black-backed Gulls and other than a party of Egyptian Geese on the near island
and two Western Osprey on the perch and nest there was little else. The Western Osprey appeared to be a pair and
was hopefully one of the unpaired males and a new female and not one of the
breeding females hoping for a free meal.
If it is a new female, then she will possibly return next year and breed
with the male. I scanned the gulls
before leaving and found a Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gull and two
Eurasian Curlew amongst the other gulls.
Western Ospreys on the Lagoon Four nest
When I got back to the centre Steve and Gerry were there with Steve
having returned from a successful visit to Frampton Marsh. There were now five Black-tailed Godwits and
five immature Ruff at the back of the lagoon and a Common Sandpiper on the long
island. A Eurasian Sparrowhawk then flew
over the Brown’s Island and Gerry picked up two Northern Pintail near the tree
in the centre of the lagoon. I was
thinking of departing when an adult Eurasian Hobby flew in front of the centre
towards the Wet Meadow and finally Steve found two distant Red Kites over
Lyndon.
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