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| Little Egret Egretta garzetta |
Sunday 9 October
Still a case of making the best of it as I headed over to the local patch at
Rutland Water in dry weather this morning, arriving by 8.30 and the promise of later sunshine. Local
Common Starlings playing around the chimney pots and then
Rook,
Crow and
Magpie before hitting the car park (with my one eye this could have been a literal statement!) and welcomed by both
Wood Pigeon and
Jackdaw. Ere long I also added
Blackbird to the list but the feeding station only provided
Chaffinch and
Blue Tit.
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| Lapwing vanellus vanellus |
All very quiet and nobody about so straight over to the
Sandpiper Hide overlooking Lagoon 4 where i found the awakening
Canada Geese flock. A few
Great Black-backed but mainly
Black-headed Gulls and the occasional
Lapwing on the far bank where I also found the single
Pied Wagtail. Strange to see a pair of
Egyptian Geese in front of me with four very young goslings; late breeders or yet another clutch?
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| First winter Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus |
On the far water a score or more
Mute Swans but they decided that this was not the water for them as they clattered over to the neighbouring lagoon. Nearer to me a pair of
Shelduck and no shortage of either
Wigeon or
Teal. Deciding that two geese species seemed on the miserly side I scoped the far bank again and duly found a small flock of
Greylag Geese.
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| Wigeon Anas penelope |
And so onto the
Shoveler Hide overlooking Laggon 3, again on my own. Now we had a plentiful supply of ducks with a dozen or more
Moorhen nearer the hide. No shortage of
Mute Swans and there were scores of
Cormorants. Surprisingly few
Great Crested Grebes but plenty of
Teal and scores of
Wigeon. The
Coot flock were on the far side and only a handful of
Shoveler seen along with a similar number of
Common Pochard as a lone
Heron flew across the water.
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| Grey Heron Ardea cinerea |
The
Crake Hide overlooking the same water produced the first
Little Grebe and there were a dozen
Little Egrets present along with a few
Tufted Duck and a handful of
Gadwall. Nothing new at the
Lapwing Hide overlooking the top of the
South Arm but there must have been at least 50
Great Crested Grebes present.
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| Gadwall Anas strepera |
So back to the Visitors Centre and meet up with friends before taking a second look at the feeding station which, on this occasion, produced both
Great and
Blue Tits,
Chaffinch,
Goldfinch and
House Sparrows on the feeders and
Robin and
Dunnock feeding below on the spill.
Finally, a stop to check out the
North Arm but no sign of the ruddy Ruddy Duck that had been seen a few days earlier. However, the water was very busy and this was where most of the
Tufted Ducks and Coots seem to have gathered along with both
Greylag and a few
Canada Geese. Again, no shortage of
Wigeon,
Teal and
Cormorants along with both
Little Egret and
Heron. Scoping the far bank produced a pair of
Barnacle Geese and a number of
Lapwing and many, many
Egyptian Geese. Both
Little and
Great Crested Grebe were also present and on checking the main water I not only found yet more
Great Crested Grebes but also a pair of
Black-necked Grebes.
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| Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis |
No sooner had I started off for home to get the cleaning and cooking out of the way before the start of the Japanese F1 than I had a magnificent
Red Kite quartering the recently-ploughed field on my left. What a way to end a short morning's birding even if only with one eye - but the bird was on my left so no problem!
Birds seen:
Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Heron, Red Kite, Moorhen, Coot, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch.
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| My word the Mute Swan Cygnus olor cygnets are growing fast |
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information.
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