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| Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopus major |
Friday 19 May
back in the UK this week and I had hoped to have at least one day at my local patch, Rutland Water. Funeral and paperwork follow-up most of week and Thursday dry and mainly sunny but with more rain due on both today and tomorrow I had to put the domestics first so washing and ironing sorted. (I'm going to make a great wife for somebody with all this domestication!) But enough of this; I'm going stir crazy so drove over to
Rutland Water in the, now, light rain and spent just over an hour at the main Visitors Centre checking out nearby fields and adjacent hide. Not bad to reach almost forty species then a quick drive down to the bridge overlooking the feed into
Manton Bay which revealed about a score of
Tufted Duck along with
Mute Swan and
Great Crested Grebe plus the nest-sitting
Osprey and visiting male. Also helped to pick up a pair of
Magpie as I departed to take the final tally up to
41 species in under two hours. Now home and starting on this blog and it looks as if it might finally be clearing up - for now.
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| Distant record shot of Common Tern Sterna hirundo |
Approaching the site I had many
Woodpigeon and
Carrion Crow along with
Blackbird and my first
Barn Swallow of the day. A short stop at the Northern Arm produced many
Greylag Geese,
Cormorant,
Heron,
Tufted Duck and
Great Crested Grebe along with the resident
Mute Swans. A
Common Tern was resting on a fence at the side of the water and further study produced more individuals including a nesting platform. I even had an adult and couple of juvenile
Pied Wagtails feeding on the damp road. With a couple of
Back-headed Gulls flying overhead I looked in the final field before
Egleton to see the local
Jackdaws and also found a single
Oystercatcher feeding in the grass. Sitting in the car park, in addition to the resident jackdaws a lone
Mistle Thrush was feeding on the ground immediately in front of me and there was a handful of
Common Starlings in a bear tree behind me.
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| Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus about to be eaten by a lamb! |
So off to the
Visitors Centre to make use of their scope so that I could leave mine in the car and out of the rain. Another
Pheasant close by and a male
Chaffinch in front of me, not to mention all those
Jackdaws. From the Visitors Centre I could see a good number of both
Canada and
Greylag Geese along with
Tufted Duck,
Mallard and a single
Shoveler. A single
Little Egret was hiding in the long grass and certainly no shortage of
Black-headed Gulls along with a few
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and the odd
Herring Gull. Whilst I did see plenty of both
Barn Swallow and
House Martin by far the majority of hirundines were the
Sand Martins using the artificial nesting bank. A handful of
Common Swift dashed low across the water before I moved on.
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| Male Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula |
Back at the hide overlooking the feeding area there was a constant movement of both
Blue and
Great Tit along with the occasional visiting
Chaffinch, the odd
Goldfinch and a single adult male
Greenfinch. Lovely to see
Dunnocks again and both juvenile and adult
Robin. Even a pair of male
House Sparrows put in an appearance. At the back a number of
Jackdaws were taking advantage of the food on offer and completely ignored by the pair of
Moorhen on the small pond. The a flash of red and I was entertained to a feeding
Great Spotted Woodpecker. Got in a few photos before it was chased off by the
Jackdaws but returned to feed on a closer feeder; lovely for me.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopus major antics |
And then, as described in the opening paragraph, it was off to see one of the breeding pairs of
Osprey and also recording a pair of
Magpies. Still a light drizzle when I got back to Stamford and now, well into the evening, it is only just starting to clear up but with more showers promised for the morning.
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| The distant Osprey Pandian haliaetus has landed |
Birds seen:
Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Heron, Osprey, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch.
More photos from a very damp Rutland Water this morning:
Dunnock Punella modularis
Robin Erithacus rubecula (adult and juvenile right)
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| Great Tit Parus major |
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| Female Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs |
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| Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus |
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information.
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