A Visit To Rutland Water - on Thursday 2nd March, 2017

John and I had missed a few Thursday afternoons out of late, but we did manage to get out on this day. It was my turn to drive, and I picked up John at his house at 13h30. The late start was because we were going to have a late finish, with an Osprey Volunteers' pre-season meeting starting at Rutland Water at 17h00.

Sadly, there was no sign of the Little Owls at my Site No.41, where the nest tree had come down in the gale on 23rd February. 

Close to the place where we'd seen a pair of Stonechats on our previous outing, we found them again. Once more it was only the male that was in any way obliging, and the sun was in totally the wrong direction.

Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) (male)

Our first, and only, Little Owl for the day was seen at my Site No.37, partially obscured by branches as is normal for this site - and the light was behind it too.

Little Owl (Athene noctua) - my Site No.37

We eventually ended up at Rutland Water, on the Egleton side of the reserve and, having checked in, set off towards the various hides to the north of the visitor centre.

From Grebe Hide, on Lagoon 2, we watched the interaction between Coot and Moorhen. In the second image, the Moorhen seems to be squawking at something.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Coot (Fulica atra) -  Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

From Grebe Hide I took the following image of a Canada Goose. I'm only showing it because I found that, in this pose, it struck me as how small the bird's head appears compared to the rest of it!

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

There was also  a pair of Gadwall present here.

Gadwall (Anas strepera) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Gadwall (Anas strepera) (male) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

From here, we moved on to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon 3.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Amazing Circus Shoveler:-

Shoveler (Anas clypeata) (male)  - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

This duck was, for quite some time, continually turning complete somersaults in the water. There now follow quite a few shots of this - as some of you will know, I do have a bit of a thing about water, particularly where there are splashes, or light variations on ripples. We start with the bird at rest - momentarily!

Shoveler (Anas clypeata) (male)  - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

So, can you do that?

 Here we go again!

Shoveler (Anas clypeata) (male)  - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

From Shoveler Hide we moved on, at John's suggestion, to Plover Hide on Lagoon 4, in the hope of seeing Smew. As we arrived, a drake Pintail was in front of us. It had suddenly become overcast and, as it was now 16h42, light levels had fallen significantly.

Pintail (Anas acuta) (male)  - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

I spotted a drake Smew in the far distance, and it stayed there for ages. Attempts at anything other than a record shot came to nothing. In the meantime I occupied myself with some of the nearer birds.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

These Great Crested Grebes were starting their courtship.

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

As well as the drake Smew we'd started seeing redhead Smew. Eventually we had 6 redheads. I suspect that at least one of them was an immature male. Here's an image of four of them - they stayed very distant.

Smew (Mergellus albellus) (redheads) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Here's one of the birds on the nearby island, with a female Mallard for size comparison.

Smew (Mergellus albellus) (redhead) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

At 17h08, with the light very bad, a redhead Smew came drifting by in front of the hide. This was the nearest thing to a close shot that we managed.

Smew (Mergellus albellus) (redhead) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Suddenly, at 17h18, there was a brief break in the cloud, and the drake Smew had come somewhat nearer and was now less than 100 metres away. This enabled some record shots to be taken which show some key features of this spectacular bird.

Smew (Mergellus albellus) (drake) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Smew (Mergellus albellus) (drake + redhead) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

It was time to set back towards the car park, but we called in at Sandpiper Hide, also on Lagoon 4, to check it out. Nothing interesting was seen from this hide, so we started to leave. I was already out of the hide when a Peregrine Falcon flew past. I rushed back into the hide, and we found that it had landed on the Osprey nest, probably around 300 metres from the hide. It was now 17h40, and the light was dire - it was extremely difficult to get focus.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

There is some concern as to whether the Peregrine will vacate this nest when/if the Ospreys return.

As we left, the Starlings had gathered. We could only dream of what this scene might have been like if we'd had 'murmuration numbers'.

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - Rutland Water, Egleton Reserve

Half an hour later we were back at the car, and found a pleasant spot to have our picnic tea. We then continued to the Volunteer Training Centre, where we were amongst the first to arrive, and were able to enjoy coffee and biscuits before the meeting. It was good to meet up with old friends and meet some new faces.

Having dropped John off at his place, I had another treat on my way home. I spotted a Barn Owl at a location I've not seen one before - it flew across in front of me as I neared a corner.

I seem to remember that, a while back, I hinted on a post to feature some of my garden birds. Maybe - - - .

Thank you for dropping by.

Rutland Water - the first quarter of 2015

I've been visiting Rutland Water on a relatively frequent basis for around nine years now, mainly as a volunteer on the Osprey Project. This winter, before the return of the Ospreys, pal Titus and I found ourselves making weekly visits to this place, largely because of the waterfowl. 

However, the main attraction is the Ospreys. The Osprey season is now in full swing, and the best place to observe them is from the Lyndon side of Rutland Water Nature Reserve, where there is an active Osprey nest in Manton Bay. Shallow Water Hide gives the clearest and closest (just) views of the nest, but Waderscrape Hide (nearer to the visitor centre) has been totally rebuilt and is now a very comfortable location, and still gives excellent views of the Ospreys. It is further enhanced by the presence of the volunteers who will keep you informed of the latest situation, and make the two project 'scopes available for you to watch the Ospreys. Also new for this year is a TV screen in the hide with a direct hook-up to the nest cam.

If visiting, please bear in mind that the Osprey is a protected species and, therefore, the observation facilities have to be at a safe (for the Ospreys!) distance from the nest. You may, however, be lucky and get a closer view of an Osprey on one of its fishing sorties.

Here are a few of my recent Osprey images:

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (female - 'Maya') - from Shallow Water Hide on 23/04/2105

Now here's a tip:- If you want really close-up photo opportunities of Ospreys fishing, only about 10 minutes away from Rutland Water by car you can find River Gwash Trout Farm and Horn Mill Trout Farm (both under the same ownership). Both these establishments have a hide set up overlooking the ponds where Rutland Ospreys go to fish. You could have an Osprey take a fish just 5 metres in front of you! The charge of £60 per session may sound a lot, but it is really good value for money. You can find a link here.

A dull weather visit to the Egleton side of Rutland Water on 22nd January gave some distant record shots of Smew. There seem to have been quite a few of these round this last winter. There were also good numbers of Teal and Pintail.

Smew (Mergellus albellus)  (2 male, 1 female) - Egleton Reserve on 22/01/2015

Teal (Anas crecca) (1 male, 2 female) - Egleton Reserve on 22/01/2015

Pintail (Anas accuta) - Egleton Reserve on 22/01/2015

A return to Egleton Reserve in dull weather on 12th February brought a similar selection of birds, but slightly closer views of  Pintail and Smew.

Pintail (Anas accuta) - Egleton Reserve on 12/02/2015

Smew (Mergellus albellus)  (male) - Egleton Reserve on 12/02/2015

The following week, on 18th February we were lucky to have fine sunny weather. We were hoping to get better views of the Great White Egret that we'd had very distant views of on previous visits. We were a bit more fortunate on this occasion!

Great White Egret (Egretta alba) - Egleton Reserve on 18/02/2015

If the GWEs increase in numbers like Little Egret have done over the past ten years, they're going to be a common sight in future. Those smudges in the background of the last two images are Lapwing. There were hundreds of them around.

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - Egleton Reserve on 18/02/2015

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Egleton Reserve on 18/02/2015

There were also good numbers of Curlew around.

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Egleton Reserve on 18/02/2015

It was another very dull day when we returned to Rutland Water on 5th March. However, we were drawn there by reports of an Avocet. This was duly found and photographed on Lagoon 4 at some distance - in much deeper water than I'm used to seeing them in!

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) - Egleton Reserve on 05/03/2015

There were three Smew visible, and also a few Pintail still.

Smew (Mergellus albellus) - Egleton Reserve on 05/03/2015

Pintail (Anas accuta) (male) - Egleton Reserve on 05/03/2015

A visit to the Lyndon reserve on 26th March didn't yield much in the way of images. The Kestrel image was from the Visitor Centre, and the gull flock was over the South Arm as we made our way back to the car park in the evening.

Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) (female) - Lyndon Reserve on 26/03/2015

Gulls - South Arm,  from Lyndon Reserve on 26/03/2015

There was little photographed on our visit to Lyndon Reserve on 2nd April, but an enjoyable time was had, nevertheless. The Moorhen image shows how calm the water was that day. I've included the Teal image, purely because it shows how, in some light conditions, the green head flash can show quite blue. The last two images were taken on our walk back to the car park.

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - from Shallow Water hide on 02/04/2015

Teal (Anas crecca) (male) - from Shallow Water hide on 02/04/2015

Reed Bunting (Embeiriza schoeniclus) (male) - from Waderscrape hide on 02/04/2015

Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba ssp. yarrellii) - Lyndon Reserve on 02/04/2015

Reed Bunting (Embeiriza schoeniclus) (female) - Lyndon Reserve on 02/04/2015

On 16th April, we had a fine sunny day for our visit to Lyndon Reserve. At Shallow Water hide we had good views of a drake Shoveler, but his lady was not so obliging. It was also heart-warming to see the Common Terns back on the reserve.

Shoveler (Anas clypeata) (male) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Coot (Fulica atra) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Teal (Anas crecca) (female) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

Teal (Anas crecca) (male) - from Shallow Water Hide on 16/04/2015

I've already shown (above) some Osprey images from our visit to Lyndon Reserve on 23rd April. Here are a few non-Osprey images from that day. I'm including a few more of drake Teal as most images show them side-on, but they do look very attractive and a little different from other angles. I particularly like the view from the tail-end with those wonderful rump markings!

Shelduck (Tadorna tadornaa) (female) - from Shallow Water Hide on 23/04/2015

Teal (Anas crecca) (male) - from Shallow Water Hide on 23/04/2015

The air at Rutland Water was full of the song of various warblers on that day, and as we walked back to the car park several Whitethroat were heard, although this was the only one we saw.

Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)  - Lyndon Reserve on 23/04/2015

In summary, Rutland Water is an absolutely wonderful place to visit at any time of year. If you've never been it really is worth making the effort, but be warned - you'll need at least three days to do the place justice! For a start, there are the 36 hides to visit, plus the two visitor centres at Egleton and Lyndon!

Thank you for dropping by. Unless anything really spectacular happens my next post will be on owls - it's been an excellent month so far!