When I left home this morning it was quite windy and overcast but felt
quite warm. I headed for Eyebrook
Reservoir and saw five Red Kites before reaching the southern approach road to
the reservoir.
I stopped at the gate leading to the fishing lodge but not seeing
anything of note other than a few of the probably released Red-legged Partridges,
I drove around to the island corral.
There were Gadwall, Mallard, Eurasian Teal and Great Cormorant and a
single Grey Heron but the only thing of note was another Red Kite over the
island.
I stopped briefly at Holyoaks Farm gate where there were even more
Red-legged Partridge, with many more between there and the northern
corral. As I entered the corral I could
see a Common Greenshank in the near bay and there was a single Ruff on the far
side of the stream. As I scanned the
water and shore I found eight Northern Pintail and then came across a party of
juvenile Ruff. One bird was clearly
smaller than the Ruff and initially I thought it might be a reeve but when I
increased the magnification on the scope I could see that it was a Wood
Sandpiper. I heard a Western Yellow
Wagtail call, which then flew overhead before heading back across the
reservoir. As I continued scanning the
water I found a Little Egret in the stream and nine Little Grebes and a
Yellow-legged Gull on the water. A stop
at the bridge just produced another Red Kite over the road and a further stop
along the Rutland side just produced yet another Red Kite between Stoke Dry and
the reservoir.
From Eyebrook Reservoir I drove to the Lyndon Reserve where the centre is
now closed following the departure of the Western Ospreys and on checking the
feeding station I found that the feeders had been removed. Several Blue and Great Tits were still
visiting the small bushes looking for food but were obviously
disappointed. I haven’t seen any Eurasian
Tree Sparrows during my last few visits and I suspect that if the feeding
station is not maintained in the winter the species might well become a former
breeder at the site. A Common Chiffchaff
made a brief visits to the bush before I decided to move onto Wader Scrape
Hide.
As I walked onto the main path there was a female Common Kestrel perched
on the wires, which flushed as soon as it saw me. I had two more Common Chiffchaff near Deep
Water Hide and when I reached Wader Scrape Hide I could see that there were
plenty of birds on the water.
After opening the end shutter, I began scanning the shore and the water
to see if there was anything of note.
There were seven Little Egrets scattered around the bay and I then found
two Common Ringed Plovers between me and the site of Shallow Water Hide and
then I picked up a third bird, which turned out to be a Little Ringed
Plover. There were good numbers of both
Gadwall and Eurasian Coot along with smaller numbers of Northern Shoveler,
Eurasian Wigeon; Mallard and Eurasian Teal and I found four Northern Pintail
and nine Little Grebe. There was a
single Green Sandpiper on the far side of the bay and I then noticed a bird
perched in the dead tree to the right of the hide, which turned out to be a
juvenile Peregrine Falcon. It sat there
a while before flying off towards South Arm Three and disappearing.
Juvenile Peregrine Falcon
As I walked back I found a party of birds feeding in the bushes which
included Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits and two Common Chiffchaff and I heard
a Eurasian Treecreeper on several occasions but was unable to find it. A visit into Deep Water Hide didn’t produce
too much but there were several Common House Martin feeding low over the water,
which disappeared as soon as it started raining. The female Common Kestrel was back on the
wires as I walked back, and I manged to get a distant photo before it flew off
again.
Juvenile Grey Heron from Deep Water Hide
Female Common Kestrel
It was still drizzling when I got back to the car and so I went to the
Egleton Reserve. After putting on some
wet weather gear I set off to the centre but stopped briefly at the feeding
station. There were a few Blue and Great
Tits visiting the feeders and seven European Greenfinch were occupying two
feeders. As I watched they suddenly
called and flew off with the other birds and a second later, a male Eurasian
Sparrowhawk appeared and perched briefly on one the feeders before flying off.
With the feeders now empty I went into the centre to view Lagoon
One. Stephen said that he had been
watching two Great Egret when a third one arrived but when I went up into the
viewing area I could only find two. I
found two juvenile Black-tailed Godwits on the long island and there were four
Little Egrets. I looked at the pool near
Harrier Hide and found the Common Greenshank, which has been loyal to this area
for a week or two. I then picked up a
Common Sandpiper on the long island and found three Northern Pintail feeding of
the north end. A scan of Lagoon Two just
produced a single Little Egret and I then moved on to the northern lagoons.
I went into Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three and found six juvenile Ruff
just in front of the hide and five Black-tailed Godwits feeding near the reed
island. I then found several Common
Snipe against the reedbed and then more, that were closer, near the reed island
and I finished with twenty-four, which is a good number. A juvenile Green Sandpiper then joined the
Ruff and I took some photos as they came quite close. Malcolm then entered the hide having been in
earlier and to several other hides, but he said he hadn’t seen anything
new. As we were talking I picked up a
juvenile Western Marsh Harrier over the reeds and a Eurasian Curlew as it flew
in. Most of the birds then suddenly took
to flight and I picked up a falcon but lost it behind the reeds twice before I
saw it well enough to identify it as a juvenile Peregrine Falcon. We then watched as it made several attempts
to catch one of the Black-tailed Godwits, but it eventually gave up and the
godwit survived. Mike had also joined us
in the hide and we decided to go to Crake and Lapwing Hides as Malcolm had seen
Water Rail and both Sedge and Eurasian Reed Warblers from Crake and Red-crested
Pochard from Lapwing, whilst Malcolm made his way back to the centre.
Juvenile Ruff
Juvenile Ruff
Juvenile Ruff
Juvenile Ruff
Common Snipe
Juvenile Green Sandpiper
Juvenile Green Sandpiper
Juvenile Grey Heron
Juvenile Marsh Harrier
When Mike and I entered Crake Hide there was no sign of any of the birds
Malcolm saw but we did hear a Water Rail call on a couple of occasions and
decided we would call again after we had been to Lapwing Hide.
We soon found two eclipse male Red-crested Pochard from Lapwing Hide and
although there were plenty of birds we couldn’t find anything of note and
returned to Crake Hide.
Eclipse drake Red-crested Pochard
There was still no sign of the Water Rail or warblers from Crake Hide and
we were thinking of going when I caught sight of a Eurasian Hobby over Lagoon Three,
but it disappeared, although Mike did eventually see it over the wood at the
far end of Lagoon Three. Pleased with
the Hobby and about to leave when a Eurasian Bittern flew low over the Lagoon
Three bund and disappeared onto Lagoon Three.
I called Bittern, but I think Mike had already seen it and he suspected
that it had come out of the reeds to the left of the hide. An unexpected bonus and my first this year in
the counties and we had been very fortunate in being in the right place at the
right time.
We made our way back along the track and went up into Sandpiper Hide on
Lagoon Four. There was a Common
Greenshank on island one and I called Malcolm to see if he had seen the bird on
Lagoon One, but he hadn’t been able to find it and this may have been the same
bird, although the bird had been very loyal to Lagoon One for some time. There were sixteen Northern Pintail scattered
around island seven and five Yellow-legged Gulls were amongst the Great
Black-backed Gulls resting on an area of exposed mud, along with a single
European Herring Gull.
We eventually headed back to the car park for lunch and after lunch I
went to the North Arm to look for the Great Northern Diver. I stopped briefly near the cottage but other
than a single Eurasian Jay it was quiet, and I drove to the far end of the
unnamed road and parked by the gate. I
went through the gate and initially went into the brick hide as it was still
drizzling and scanned the North Arm from there.
There were three Little Egrets on the bund and I counted twenty-four
Little Grebes but as the rain stopped I went out onto the spit. There was a single Common Tern towards
Dickinson’s Bay and a Yellow-legged Gull was on the water. As I scanned the southern section I found a
Northern Pintail and another Little Egret and there was a Eurasian Curlew on
the north shore. Malcolm then joined me
having been to the end of the Hambleton Peninsular looking unsuccessfully for
the Red-necked Grebe but declined going to Barnsdale to look for the diver and
the grebe and said he was going to Eyebrook Reservoir to look for the Wood
Sandpiper.
He left and shortly afterwards I went back to the cottage and into the
field to view the fishponds. There were
another four Little Egrets and a Common Kestrel flushed off the old man-made
Western Osprey platform as I walked into the field. As I scanned the far end I found two Green
Sandpiper and a Common Chiffchaff and counted another twenty-six Little Grebe
and there was also an adult male Ruff.
Having exhausted the fishponds I drove to Barnsdale and walked down the hill to view the North Arm but there was still no sign of the either the Great Northern Diver or the Red-necked Grebe, although I did have a second Common Tern. I went though the gate to view Dickinson’s Bay but saw very little and went back to view the North Arm again. I scanned the area several times and eventually found the Red-necked Grebe but not the diver and I decided to finish the day at Eyebrook Reservoir.
When I arrived at Eyebrook Reservoir I parked along the Rutland bank and
found twelve Common Ringed Plover and six Dunlin on the Leicestershire side and
there were also six Snipe, none of which I had seen this morning. I did see the six Ruff and the Common
Greenshank but there was no sign of the Wood Sandpiper and after a Red Kite
flew over I called it a day and headed off home, seeing a Common Buzzard as I
approached Tur Langton.
Not a bad day with seventy-seven species recorded one of which, the
Eurasian Bittern, was a county year-tick.
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