It was rather dreary start to
the day with some light drizzle but it did become dry by about 10:00, although
it remained overcast and quite breezy all day.
I went to Eyebrook Reservoir
first this morning seeing a single Buzzard near Cranoe on route. There was no sign of the Little Owls today
but I did see a Green Woodpecker close to the bridge again. A Little Egret was also feeding in the inlet
stream and I saw ten Dunlin in flight over the exposed mud. There was a drake and a red-headed Smew off
Holyoaks and the Nuthatch was again on the feeders at Stoke Dry.
At Rutland Water I went
straight to the Egleton Bird Watching Centre and after checking the book and
seeing very little from the centre I set off for Snipe hide on the Wet
Meadow. There was a single drake Pintail
on the flash and I counted twenty-two Shelduck with another four visible on the
Wet Meadow. There was also a couple of
Oystercatchers on the meadow, four Curlew flew in and two Redshank flew
over. Whilst scanning the area I picked
up the Great White Egret heading towards Fieldfare hide and south arm three but
I eventually moved on to Shelduck hide on lagoon six. Looking at lagoon seven before entering the
hide I found another three Pintail, a Ringed Plover and two Dunlin. From Shelduck hide there was another three
Pintail and quite a few Tufted Duck but little else and I saw nothing else from
the 360° hide. I called at Mallard hide
on route back to the centre but other than picking up the Great White Egret again
flying from behind Brown’s Island and then coming down on lagoon two there was
nothing else.
After some lunch I set off
with Rick towards lagoon three and saw the Great White Egret still on lagoon
two on route. As we approached lagoon
three Rick went to Shoveler hide whilst I carried on to Bittern hide.
Views of lagoon three from Bittern hide
I sat in Bittern hide for
quite a while and whilst it was fairly quiet a Little Egret landed in front of
the hide, a pair of Shelduck and a drake Pintail were observed towards Shoveler
hide, a male Smew was found beyond the right hand tern rafts, a Green
Woodpecker flew in front of the hide and a Sparrowhawk was observed to the left
of Hambleton.
I moved to the nearby plover
hide to view lagoon four and found a drake and two red-head Smew just to the
right. There was another two
Oystercatchers and I found a couple of Ringed Plovers and three Dunlin. I also saw two Red Kites soaring to the left
of Burley Wood and a third over the church at Oakham and there was a single
Buzzard over Burley Wood. I eventually
moved off to sandpiper hide to get a different view of the lagoon. I found the two Ringed Plovers but there was
no sign of Dunlin. There were at least
twelve Pintail on the lagoon and another six Shelduck and I found another
Sparrowhawk and a Raven over Burley Wood.
A further visit to the Bird Watching Centre produced nothing new and
with the weather being rather grim I called it a day and set off home.
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