Egrets, I've Had a Few

I sacrificed one of my remaining days of holiday to dodge work and do something birdy. Not wanting to repeat the usual routine I decided to head over to Summer Leys and see what I could find. Taking the first bus from Corby town centre at some ungodly hour of the morning meant that I got to Earls Barton before dawn.

Great White Egret at Hardwater Lake.

Setting off in the pre dawn gloom I headed down Mill Lane watching an early bird Buzzard looking for worms in one of the fields. There was not a great deal to see on the first of the lakes, just the more usual wildfowl including Shoveller. A Green Woodpecker was calling loudly while a Mistle Thrush added its voice to the still rather meagre dawn chorus. A female Stonechat was found as it fed in a rough patch of vegetation next to the river but the light remained poor. Hardwater Lake held a Great White Egret which showed distantly, I managed a poor photo before a fusillade of gun fire sent it and some of the wildfowl packing. It seemed as if rather a lot of folks were out shooting this morning as another group had put out some Canada Geese decoys and were waiting around in a hide hoping to go about their bloody business.

A small party of Goldfinches and Siskins were feeding on the reserve.

At the reserve a Cetti's Warbler was singing and there was a small party of Siskins feeding in some Alders. From the first hide a reasonable selection of wildfowl were on view though there was nothing out of the ordinary. Pioneer Hide revealed a second GWE though just its head was showing as it peeked periscope like over a distant bank. Keen to get a better view I legged it round to the double-decker hide from where I was able to get some half decent views.  Edging closer I got a few photos, nothing special but better than my earlier efforts.

The Great White on the reserve showed better.

Lots of wildfowl from the screen and I may have inadvertently flushed the GWE, it was seen in flight heading away. Nothing too exciting on offer but I was happy to see Goldeneyes swimming amongst the commoner species. Large numbers of Lapwings were also on view and they were the only waders seen today. From here I moved on to the feeders where good numbers of passerines showed. Mary's Lake was notable for the number of Shovellers seen, I counted at least one hundred and ten feeding.

A couple of the passerines on view....

This was as far as I went and I made my way back pausing to enjoy further views of GWE from the double-decker, clearly it hadn't flown far. The day had one further pleasant surprise for me before I got to the village, a fine drake Pintail on the lake closest to Earls Barton Lock. I see so few of these striking looking ducks in the county so each one is appreciated. From here it was back to catch my bus stopping only to enjoy the company of not one but two Lancaster blondes in the Old Swan, it's a lovely beer and a very pleasant way of passing some time while waiting for a bus!

....and some of the wildfowl.