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| Male Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus |
Rutland Water
Back from over a month away from the UK on a New Zealand
holiday and the first chance I have had since returning last Sunday to actually
do a little birding. What better way
that on a bright, sunny morning following the clearing of early morning fog
than to drop into my local patch at Rutland Water.
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| Male Greenfinch Carduelis chloris |
Fortunately the dry weather of the past week or more had
dried out the paths so that, even had I not put on the walking boots, I might
have survived in trainers. On the other
hand, there was no shortage of water with all the ponds looking decidedly
full. So much for waders; the only
species seen were the wintering Lapwing and a pair of Avocet. On the other hand, the corvids were out in
full cry with numerous local Jackdaws and Rooks along with regular sightings of
both Magpie and Carrion Crow. Of the
smaller birds, there seemed to be a great number of both Blackbirds and Robins
about the reserve but the feeding station numbers were much lower than on
previous visits. But not to complain as
I had a couple of male and a female Reed Bunting in residence. When did I last see more Reed Buntings than
either Goldfinch or Greenfinch?
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| Male Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus |
Arriving just before 10am I sat in the car doorway putting
on my boots when a dark shape shot out of nowhere into the bush in front of
me. Retrieving my bins from the back
seat I scoured the bust just the other side of the fence but without
success. Assuming the bird had already
disappeared, I stood up to take a closer look when she dashed off from almost
under my feet; a very powerful looking female Sparrowhawk and a cracking stat
to the visit. Lots of feeding
Blackbirds, Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws as I made my way down to the Visitors
Centre and, during a very brief stop at the main feeding station, I picked up
both Blue and Great Tits along with a female Reed Bunting. Payment complete, I spent a little more time at
the feeding station trying out the new lens, including shots of both Mallard
and female Pheasant.
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| Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus all set for courtship display |
Then it was off to the hides of lagoon 4 and 3. All comparatively quiet compared with my last
visit in January and most of the ducks seemed to have moved on. Lagoon 4 provided a good number of Mute Swans
along with both Canada and Greylag Goose.
A number of mallard but more Shelduck and then a pair of Avocet and a
single Little Egret. Also seen was a
lone Pied Wagtail, the first pair of Great Crested Grebes and, of course, a
fair number of Lapwing. Lagoon 3 was no
better with mainly Tufted Duck plus a few Goldeneye, Pochard and Gadwall along with more
Great Crested Grebes.
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| Fieldfare Turdus pilaris |
Making my way back to the start I then took a walk down to
Lagoon 1 and this was even more disappointing, perhaps due to the on-going
repair work which seemed to have disturbed the birds. However, on my way back to the Visitors Centre I did chance to look up and see a lone Starling with a paler bird on the
next branch. Too big for a female
Blackbird and closer inspection revealed a single Fieldfare. Having already recorded a Song Thrush this
only left Redwing and Mistle Thrush as the missing birds for the morning.
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| A trio of the hundreds of happily grazing Wigeon Anas penelope |
Time to call it a day and head home via the Burley Fishponds
and the Northern Arm. At last I found the
Wigeon flock which seem to have split into two sections with one on either side
of the fishpond busy grazing the fields along with a solitary Egyptian
Goose. More Canada and Greylag Geese on
the water plus a small number of Cormorant and the odd Heron. Meanwhile, a quick walk down to the water’s
edge overlooking the Northern Arm duly produced the already noted trio of
Black-necked Grebes on the far bank in the company of a single Slavonian Grebe;
very nice too.
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| Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus with Wigeon Anas penelope |
So, along with the distant calling Great Spotted Woodpecker
heard soon after my arrival at the site, that made a grand total of 47 species
for the morning. Great to be back
amongst the birds again!
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| Male Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs |
Birds seen:
Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Egyptian Goose,
Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goldeneye, Pheasant,
Great Crested Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little
Egret, Heron, Sparrowhawk, Moorhen, Coot, Avocet, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Great
Spotted Woodpecker, Rock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Robin, Pied
Wagtail, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie,
Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Rook, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch,
Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.
