Thursday 5 December 2013

Back to Rutland Water

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Another calm day, the calm before the storm as it turned out, so off early to Rutland Water for the morning arriving at the North Arm just before 9.30.  A little cloud in the sky but very quickly clearing to become bright and sunny even if somewhat cold.  As I said above, come today and it is blowing a gale and I would certainly not have even attempted a visit!  But, duty called and i was determined to see if the Long-tailed Duck I missed last Wednesday might still be present.

A pair of the numerous Wigeon Anas penelope at Rutand Water
Lots of duck on the water as I arrived having already recorded all the "black birds" of Crow, Rook, Jackdaw and lots of male Blackbirds plus numerous MagpiesMute Swans were immediately obvious and this is the water which, at present, seems to be home for the numerous Coots along with a good smattering of Moorhens.  The predominate duck was still the Wigeon but also a few Mallard and the odd Shoveler.  Work with the bins and scope duly revealed both Gadwall and Teal along with numerous Cormorants and many Egyptian Geese.  A walk to the far end of the lane to look at the main water eventually produced a distant view of the sought-after Long-tailed Duck and I even picked up the three Black-necked Grebes that had been present for the past few weeks.  Not to forget that there were also plenty of Great Crested Grebes about along with a handful of Grey Herons a solitary Little Egret.  Apart from the ducks there was a flock in excess of 200 Lapwings resting on the far bank plus a small number of Tufted Duck on the water in front.  Immediately in front of me a lone Pied Wagtail was feeding and I decided it was time to make my way round to the main entrance, pay my entrance fee and explore the feeders and inner lagoons, etc.

Time for this Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus to stretch a wing
Just as I set off a little Wren dashed across the road and my first Robin of the day seem to wave me off on my very short journey.  Lots of Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons in the car park area and my first Redwing of the morning along with more Blackbirds.  The feeders were being visited by mainly Blue and Great Tits along with Chaffinches, Greenfinches and a small number of Goldfinches.  Below the feeders, the usual handful of Mallard and a couple of hen Peacocks.

Marsh Tit Parus palustris
Working my way over to Lagoon 2 I came across one of the reserve's ringers and just in time to watch him process a Marsh Tit.  Was this to be my only sighting?  Fortunately no as upon returning to the car park at the end of my visit a final check on the feeding station not only produced a "flying wild" specimen but also more Robins and a single Dunnock.

A call at the Redshank Hide seemed, initially, to be a waste of time and the departing birder informed me that nothing was about.  I was all set to leave a few minutes later when I thought I would have just one more concentrated look at the gullies as this was where my friend Ron recorded his Water Rail the previous Wednesday.  Was that a Moorhen walking out of the reed into the muddy gully?  No, it certainly was not.  The Water Rail was still about and quite content to feed out in the open.  The only down side was that i was looking directly into the sun and the bird was in the shade.  How clear the photos will be will be decided at the end when Lightroom gets to work on the original RAW shots.

That very elusive and shy bird, the Water Rail Rallus aquaticus

Then it was on to Lagoon 4 which was very full and contained relatively few birds.  mainly Mute Swans but a few Teal and, of course, I managed to pick up  pair of Shelduck along with the Black-headed Gulls.  So on to the Buzzard Hide overlooking Lagoon 3.  Again, lots of duck and Great Crested Grebes on the water despite the chaps undertaking some maintenance work on one of the nearby rafts. On the other hand, as soon as the completed their work the ducks seemed to quickly move in.  On the open war the front of a few Goldeneye and the the Smews on the far side were disturbed and flew around and immediately over the heads of those in this hide.  We even found a small party of Common Pochards and a number of Pintails. A Goosander put in a fly-by appearance at close quarters.

Redshank Tringa totanus
On the muddy wastes in front and to the side of the hide a couple of Redshanks were busy feeding as were a small number of Teal.  A pair of Egyptian Geese were also in close proximity.  Meanwhile, the steep bank at the side of Lagoon 4 had produced a dozen feeding Meadow Pipits to go with the handful of Pied Wagtails at the neighbouring water.  There were small flocks of Common Starlings in the area and then it was time to start the return journey to the Centre and neighbouring car park.  Along with a single Fieldfare seen from the Osprey Hide I also recorded more Redwings and a few feeding Long-tailed Tits high in the canopy of the trees to the left.
Scaup Aythya marila and with Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula below


Leaving the car park I returned in an anti-clockwise direction to take a look at both Manton centre and the dam.  The former was closed but I could see large numbers of both Greylag and Canada Geese on the opposite bank.  At the dam I may not have found the promised Red-breasted Merganser but in with the Tufted Ducks I could see a couple of Scaup.  Add on both Little and Great Crested Grebe and I was almost "birded out" but, right at the end, a rather lovely Green Woodpecker left its feeding area on the grass verge and flew across the road immediately in front of the car.  Wonderful birding and a total of 53 species recorded.


Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus
Pintail  Anus acuta
Teal Anus crecca

 
Birds seen:
Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Gadwall, Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye, Smew, Goosander, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Heron, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Lapwing, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch.


 Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information.

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