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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Leicestershire and Rutland Birding/Local Patches (1 Viewer)

last time we were there Adam there was a flock of 20 plus long tailed tits in the hedge that bordered the canal, lovely little birds
 
Possibly a new county record for number of species of ducks seen at a county site in one day yesterday - Terry Sherwood and I saw 18 species at Rutland Water. Nothing surprising, we knew they were all there and it was just a case of finding them all. Pity we could not find a Red-crested Pochard to make 19.

The 18 included 3 Shelduck, 3 Mandarins, Green-winged Teal, 60 Pintail, 2 Scaup, 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 Common Scoter, Red-b Merganser, 10 Goosanders and 3 Smews.

Steve
 
I'm thinking of heading over to Rutland Water on Tuesday (currently 4 lifers for the missus there). Where is the best place to park to view to the North Arm? And the Dam?

Thanks in advance

Adam
 
I'm thinking of heading over to Rutland Water on Tuesday (currently 4 lifers for the missus there). Where is the best place to park to view to the North Arm? And the Dam?

Thanks in advance

Adam

For the north arm park along the private road that forks off the Hambleton road: unless you are there before 8.45 there will be a line of cars already. Walk to the end and through the metal gate, carry on to the scrubby area past the end of the road. Long-tailed Ducks usually out to the left, can be distant.
Alternatively look from the end of the road down past Barnsdale Hotel (better if it is sunny or a north wind) or else the small carpark just before the road rises up Hambleton hill.

For the dam there is a pay carpark, Sykes' Lane, at the north end or free roadside parking at the south end, along the Empingham to Normanton road. Usually you need to walk the length of the dam, about a mile, to see everything as the birds are stretched all along.

I will be there tomorrow - feel free to ring me if you need any info. I will PM my mobile number. Or I would if your inbox was not full.

Steve
 
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For the north arm park along the private road that forks off the Hambleton road: unless you are there before 8.45 there will be a line of cars already. Walk to the end and through the metal gate, carry on to the scrubby area past the end of the road. Long-tailed Ducks usually out to the left, can be distant.
Alternatively look from the end of the road down past Barnsdale Hotel (better if it is sunny or a north wind) or else the small carpark just before the road rises up Hambleton hill.

For the dam there is a pay carpark, Sykes' Lane, at the north end or free roadside parking at the south end, along the Empingham to Normanton road. Usually you need to walk the length of the dam, about a mile, to see everything as the birds are stretched all along.

I will be there tomorrow - feel free to ring me if you need any info. I will PM my mobile number. Or I would if your inbox was not full.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for that. Turns out today was Christmas tree putting up day. Maybe over to Rutland at the end of the week instead now.

Adam
 
RUTLAND WATER VISIT 14 / 12 / 2013

Started out at 05.10 by taxi to Halesowen bus station for the 5.22am bus to Birmingham, then onto New Street Rail station for the 6.20 Train to Oakham after a short taxi ride got to Rutland around 7.50am

On arrival no one in the visitor centre so had to pay for my permit on return (around12.30pm) so off I went to the hides from the left of the visitor centre, first port of call was the Tree Sparrow viewing area just by the Visitor Centre some great views of Chaffinch, Goldfinch & Greenfinch for early in the morning but not much else around here so returned a little later in the day (13.30).

On my walk about from hide manage to see hundreds of Redwing actually to many too count as they were on the reserve and flying over along with the ones on the reserve were Fieldfare, Mistle thrush, Starling, Song thrushes and in the bushes in the paddock was a single Brambling.

A little further round and you could see Wren, Robin and one of my highlights of the day a MUNTJAC DEER walked across the path right infront of me (no further than 6ft away) it just stopped for a couple of seconds looked at me and then run into the undergrowth (go on I know everyone runs away from me lol) but just to see one that close it was great.

On to the first main hide the Shoveler Hide a little let down this time with very few species around but did manage a reserve lifer GOOSANDER (2 pairs) just off to the right of the hide. A few Goldeneye were hanging around but no sign of the Smew reported over the last couple of days (they did appear later in the day but I didn’t get round to seeing them).

On to Lagoon 4 again not too much to tell you about but did have a reserve LIFER in the shape of a COMMON SCOTER drop on to the pool for a few seconds before one of the Mute Swans thought hey I don’t like you so off went the Scoter towards the sailing club.

TODAYS SPECIES SEEN –


TREE SPARROW VIEWING SCREEN –

Blue tit, Jackdaw, Pheasant (1xm, 3xf), Great tit, Marsh tit, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Greenfinch, Coal tit, Collared dove, Goldfinch, Wren & Treecreeper

WALK ABOUT -

Jackdaw, Blue tit, Carrion crow, Fieldfare, Redwing, Pheasant, Great tit, Black headed gull, MUNTJAC DEER, Rabbit, Robin, Magpie, Blackbird, Green woodpecker, Song thrush, Starling, Lesser black backed gull, Mistle thrush, Brambling, Redpoll & Siskin

SHOVELER HIDE –

Cormorant, Grey heron, Wigeon, Redshank, Tufted duck, Pied wagtail, Carrion crow, Coot, Gadwall, Teal, Lapwing, Mute swan, Moorhen, Great crested grebe, Pochard, GOOSANDER (2Xm & 2xf) & Little egret

LAPWING HIDE –

Goldeneye, Wigeon, Gadwall, Cormorant, Mute swan, Tufted duck & Sparrowhawk

SMEW HIDE –

Little egret, Wigeon, Gadwall, Pintail, Black headed gull, Mallard, Mute swan, Tufted duck, Teal, Blackbird & Wren

BUZZARD HIDE –

Teal, Wigeon, Mute swan, Egyptian goose, Pintail, Gadwall, Mallard, Great crested grebe & Tufted duck

BITTERN HIDE –

Gadwall, Moorhen, Canada goose, Carrion crow, Wood pigeon & Cormorant

SANDPIPER HIDE –

Wigeon, Mute swan, Carrion crow, Black headed gull, Lesser black headed gull, Lapwing, COMMON SCOTER, Mallard, Wood pigeon, Tufted duck, Shoveler, Herring gull & Shelduck

GREBE HIDE –

Pintail, Wigeon, Mallard, Wood pigeon, Gadwall, Tufted duck, Black headed gull, Cormorant, Mute swan, Lapwing, Grey heron, Little grebe & Pied wagtail

VISITOR CENTRE -

Greylag goose (x10), Blue tit, Moorhen, Golden plover (x37), Goldfinch, Dunlin (x5), Lapwing, Pintail, Teal, Great black backed gull (x3), Lesser black backed gull (x7), Mallard, Kestrel, Redshank (x5), Cormorant, Wigeon & Sparrowhawk

Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Birding New Year

Adrian
 
Had a cracking day at Eyebrook res today.
Highlights,
2 X smew
3 X red kite
2 x Green woodpecker
2X shoveler
1 X little Egret
1 X Great Black Backed
As well as all the usuals.
 
2013 records

If anyone still has 2013 local rarity descriptions to send me can they please do it as soon as possible.

There are quite a few reports that are as yet unsubstantiated, such as four of the five Yellow-browed Warblers. If you are unsure whether a submission is needed for a particular bird just ask.

Cheers
Steve Lister
LROS county recorder
 
Nice start to the year with a bit of patch work at Watermead Country Park (North). 53 species seen in total, with Cetti's, kingfisher, water rail and pied wagtail heard but not seen, plus regulars like coal tit, golden plover, snipe and little egret being absent. Could have easily made 60 if the weather had been better.

Highlight must have been a woodcock seen in the low light of roughly 7am, with a green sandpiper a close second.

Adam
 
A good start at Swithland Res too, with the nine-day Black-throated Diver joined by both a Shag and a male Smew this afternoon.

Still one Scaup, three Goosanders and five Little Egrets.

Steve
 
A couple of shelduck were seen from the Plover Hide at Watermead CP North today.

But the best sighting of the day has to be a mistle thrush at Leicester Royal Infirmary...feeding well grown young in the nest!! It must have been sat on eggs since New Year's Day!! I know it's been unseasonably warm, but I would never have imagined seen young in the nest on 22nd Jan :)

Adam
 
Nice starling murmuration over the A46 by Wanlip at about 4:45 this evening. Me and my girlfriend came off the A46 and pulled up by the sewage works to watch them for about 15 mins or more. They showed wonderfully, throwing all sorts of shapes in the sky until they appeared to go down in the fields behind the sewage works. Hard to get a good read on numbers due to the distance between us and the flock, but easy 5-6k birds, maybe up to 10k, just hard to gauge from that far.

Adam
 
Now is a good time to look for wild geese in the Soar valley as there are plenty of flooded and waterlogged meadows suitable for pulling in odd Pink-feet, White-fronts or even a Bean or Brent.

Checking carefully through the flocks of feral Greylags is a good tip.

Steve
 
Rutland water visit 23/02/2014


What a day it was not meant to be a day at Rutland but the original venue was cancelled due to transport problems after the very recent bad weather (flooding), so the Stourbridge RSPB Group decided to visit Rutland instead.

On arrival (10.00) at the Dam (first port of call) we could either return to the coach on the car park or venture over the Dam to the other side and be picked up at the top of the road, most of us decided to walk over the dam to see what was around on the other side as their wasn’t much around the car park area.

Windy wasn’t the word it took all our time to stand let alone do anything else but we did get in some bird watching while crossing over seeing Goldeneye, Little grebe and Goldcrest to name a few.

On to Egleton now (11.20) the weather was still very overcast with high winds so off we went to the main lagoon hides again as with the weather so unpredictable, I felt if we went to the hides on the right of the Visitor Centre we wouldn’t see many species of birds.

With plenty of standing water still around and some of the group not wanting to paddle through standing water a few of us continued on towards the Lapwing hide, after opening the window it was quite obvious that their wasn’t going to be many birds on the water as it was very choppy and at a very high level we did manage to see a few species from the hide but nowhere near what I would normally expect (list of all species seen on my blog link at bottom of page).

Did notice a lot of storm damage around the reserve with many wood panels lying on the ground and water free standing in fields and on paths, this did not distract from a very enjoyable day out again.

Managed to catch a Reserve Lifer in the way of a Mediterrean Gull on Lagoon 4 island 8 it didn't want to play so we could get an ID early so waited around for around 20 minutes so as to be 100% and sure enough it was then within 5 minutes a second one turned up flying over the lagoon before setting down on island 8 for a few seconds then off over the hide towards lagoon 3, we also had a great view of a Red Kite chasing 3 Black headed gulls it was fairly low and looked absolutely beautiful when it turned to the left and up first time I've been so close to one and actually been able to see the wing feathers without binoculars.

Company was great as always looking forward to the next group trip to Wales

full list of species seen on my blog updated 25/02

http://www.birding.uk.com/forum/blogs/adrian-k/
 
Lockington Gravel Pits aka Warren Lane

To save anybody wasting their time, what was the very attractive (to waders) pit alongside Warren Lane has now been pumped out and filled with earth. This was always the owner's plan, and thanks to them for agreeing to delay the final work for two years to allow birds such as LRP and Oystercatcher to breed. The work this year has been completed before anything starts nesting, and hopefully the few birds that had arrived, notably Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers and Shelducks, will soon find other suitable areas not too far away.

Steve
 
From 'The Rutland Osprey Project' Facebook page...

"FIRST OSPREY BACK IN RUTLAND! 03(97) arrived back at his nest at Site B this morning. Fantastic!"
 
My first willow warbler and blackcap of the year this morning in a walk in Mountsorrel. The horse paddocks from Bond Lane to Castle Hill look like they have a chance of turning something up during migration, as does the old tip/quarry works. Will have to venture up there a few more mornings when I get chance.

At Watermead Country Park north recently, there has been redshank from the Plover Hide, along with several snipe. 2 sand martins by the Sand Martin hide on Friday, as well as 5 by King Lear's Bridge.

Adam
 
Can anyone help visiting Rutland again sat (29/03/2014) and would like to know where to see the following Black necked grebe, Slav Grebe & Long tailed ducks I know they are on the north arm area but where would be the place to get off the Shore-link bus to have a chance of seeing these species please.
Also which would be the best hide to see the Osprey from

Any help would be gratefully received

Kind Regards

Adrian
 
Rutland Water and Lyndon Nature Reserve Visit 29/03/2014

Usual start time 5am from the house taxi, bus & taxi again before arriving at Rutland around 7.40am a little misty and cool on arrival.

I started with the usual hides first port of call today was the garden feeding station quite a lot of activity around the feeders today with a great view of a pair of spotted woodpeckers changing places on feeders did manage to get a few photographs will upload later.

Onto the Redshank Hide next not too much to report from here as the water levels where still very high and much activity on the water did see a pair of Great Crested Grebes displaying to each other this went on for around 5 minutes before they disappeared behind the reeds.

On to one of my favourite hides on the reserve the Shoveler Hide but again this was a little disappointing with the water levels so high there was very little chance of the usual waders but did manage to see a pair of Goldeneye on the other bank.

Next came what turned out to be the best hide of the day, the Sandpiper hide here we managed to see some great species even though the water level again was very high and most of the scrapes had disappeared under the water but hey it didn’t spoil my enjoyment first along came a Greenshank, then a Dunlin, followed by Avocets, Redshanks, Little Gull, Spotted Redshank and finally a Ringed plover great few hours on my favourite midland reserve.

On the Walk around the reserve the highlights have to be the Marsh Harrier over the field just to the right of the car park very low and being chased by Jackdaw and Carrion Crows. There were many Chiffchaff around the reserve today and they all seemed to be singing well, also singing well were the Cetti’s Warbler at least 3 around the reserve.

Just before you pull onto the reserve there is a small brook at the side of the road here I managed to see a pair of Grey Wagtail as they were flying into the reserve car park area I have decided to count them as seen on reserve as I did see them cross into the reserve car park area.

Now onto Lyndon Reserve I visited here to see the Osprey on the nest and guess what I wasn’t let down she was there sitting on the next before moving to the branch perch to the left of the nest with great views of House Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Willow tit, Marsh Harrier, Little Gull and Red Legged Partridge just a few highlights of what turned into one brilliant day out.

Will visit Lyndon again as the staff where very friendly and they gave great advice and answered all questions asked of them with great enthusiasm and it was very infectious.

Please note a little more info on my blog along with ALL species seen and a few counts just to add a bit of interest hope you enjoy.

Adrian

link to blog - http://www.birding.uk.com/forum/blogs/adrian-k/
 
Common tern on King Lear's lake at Watermead Country Park north yesterday. Also, 2 LRP and 2 redshank from the Plover Hide. Redshank in the morning and LRP in the afternoon suggests they were all just moving through and dropped in briefly, nice to see stuff on the move.
30+ sand martins in the wall too.

Adam
 
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